2018年1月6日（下午场） 托福写作考题回忆

综合

阅读： 考古学家对于埃及大金字塔内部shaft的用途提出了三种理论。

1、ventilation theory:第一种理论认为shafts用于通风。建造金字塔的工人点火照明时会产生烟雾，因此shafts是用来帮助通风。

2、star alignment theory:第二种理论认为shafts是对应星星的位置而被建造的。科学家发现shafts的位置和某些星星的位置对应。在古埃及，人们认为特定的星星代表特定的神灵。

3、Religion theory: 第三种理论认为shafts是为了帮助国王的灵魂抵达后世。因为古埃及人相信死去国王的灵魂会离开身体进入后世，所以shafts可能是灵魂前往后世的通道。

听力： 阅读中的三个理由都是不对的，没有人知道shafts被建造的真正目的。

1、通风理由是不成立的，因为只有上层的两个shafts才能通到外墙，而底下的两个是通不到外墙的，所以它们无法注入新鲜空气。而4个shafts的结构相似，作用应该是一样的，如果只有2个可以通风的话，那么通风理论是不成立的。

2、星星理论也是不成立的，因为古埃及人崇尚特定星星对应特定的神，这是在埃及王朝后期才出现的，而金字塔建造的时间很早，那个时候还没这种说法，所以不成立。

3、帮助国王灵魂通往后世也不成立，因为在别的金字塔里也发现了类似的symbolic passageway,但是是一堵actual wall,这说明古埃及人相信国王的灵魂能穿越墙面，所以不需要这样的shafts来帮助灵魂前往来世，所以不成立。

独立

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is important to read or watch the news presented by people whose views are different from your own or presented by people whose views are similar to your own?

Sample Answer:

When we open a webpage and scan the contents on it, it is easily for us to realize that there are always some people standing beside us while others remain against. Some people prefer to totally ignore the ideas opposite from theirs because they find them to be stupid and annoying information. However, in my opinion, it is usually beneficial for us to input some views different from us. My view point is based on the following reasons and examples.

To begin with, opinions varying from our own thoughts can sometimes help open up our minds. As we all know, when facing with a puzzle, methods delivered by one person are often limited, for one cannot acquire knowledge of various subjects during his short lifetime. Thus makes accepting ideas from others essential during the process of dealing with tough questions. For example, when I was still a college student, I once needed to write a paper of Freud’s theory. I chose dream interpretation as my topic and started my writing. Unfortunately, I stuck half way when I wrote almost 2000 words. The thing making me in a dilemma was I suddenly realize that my paper was just a copy of psychoanalysis theory and hardly contained anything original because I was a faithful follower of these masters. Luckily, several days before the deadline, I read through some ideas from a group of anti-psychoanalysis scholars. They proposed that some of Freud’s theory cast an over-pessimistic view on human nature and rejected the theory that people were all animal-like beings motivated by basic needs. These comments gave me inspirations to study Freud’s theory from a brand new perspective. In this case, listening to those opposite views indeed help me to finish my academic task.

Moreover, the ability to detect and understand other people’s ideas is precious and sometimes even necessary in some kinds of jobs. Individuals majoring in marketing, media, or several kinds of service industry especially need this skill. Collecting and accepting various opinions may be regarded as a necessity if they want to have a successful career life. Take the mobile phone sales as an example. Working staff with a high sales volume are always the ones good at finding and responding to customers’ needs. In contrast, some sales person lacking this ability probably find it very tough to promote items to their customers. When a young lady steps into the store and expresses that she would like to buy a mobile phone with high-definition camera, salesclerk who is good at accepting other’s ideas will immediately hand her the one she likes, while some stubborn ones may recommend her to try their newest type repeatedly regardless of her special demand for the camera. Reading through news different from our own can exercise our ability to understand other’s thoughts, which may lead to the future benefits in our career.

To sum up, it is essential for us to receive some opinions distinguished or totally opposite from our standing point. It can not only help us to broaden our mind and deliver some useful ideas, but also to effectively catch other people’s needs and would be favor of some jobs related to marketing.