提升
61. Should adults make important decisions for their older teenage children? Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents or other adult relatives should make important decisions for their older (15 to 18 year-old) teenage children. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
『分析』表明立场：这样的做法有一定的道理。支持这样的做法的理由：older teenage children还不够成熟(immature)，考虑不够周全(inconsiderate)，尤其涉及到经济相关的决定时，缺乏独立承担能力(incapable of being independent)。然而，“如何保证parents或者adult relatives所作的决定就是正确的”也是个问题。另外，总是把孩子排除在决定权之外，是否会使孩子变得“没能力做出任何决定”?the ability to make sound decision是人生道路上很重要的能力之一。相关题目：[55]、[120]。
『范文』 Parents or other adult relatives should not make decisions on behalf of their older teenage child. Nevertheless, they must take an active part in the decision-making process of their offspring. They can use their knowledge and experience to prevent their teenager from making costly mistakes while allowing him/her to gain confidence and learn from his/her smaller errors so that he/she will be able to make mature decisions of his own in the future.
Teenage children often lack the experience and knowledge to make sound decisions, and here their parents' input is valuable and necessary. Finding the right university or the right job after graduating from senior school is an example for this. A teenager has not worked before and never attended a university, and thus his knowledge in both areas is extremely limited. Here the parents should advise their child and ensure that he/she makes the right decision.
In order to be able to make sound decision in the future a young adult must gain confidence, and parents can help by engaging him/her in dialogue and providing him/her with all the necessary information. A child between the ages of 15 and 18 will be able to recognize the best arguments and reasons. Through the parents' guidance he/she will arrive at the correct decision and feel as though it was completely his/her own. Not only will he/she continue to seek the reliable advice of his/her parents, but the self-confidence gained from this experience will make it easier for him/her to make decisions in the future.
While parents should guide or direct their child, sometimes it is helpful to allow him/her to make a mistake.
This will teach the child to live with the consequences of a wrong decision and also to ponder future choices more carefully. For example, a child might ignore his/her parents' advice and pick a summer job that sounds very interesting initially, but which he/she comes to loathe almost immediately. This experience will be invaluable when the child grows up and has to find a real job.
62. What do you appreciate most in a friend? What do you want most in a friend — someone who is intelligent, or someone who has a sense of humor, or someone who is reliable? Which one of these characteristics is most important to you? Use reasons and specific examples to explain your choice. 参见：[15]