2016年3月13日
Topic 议题： the reason of collapse of Akkadine Empire
Sample answer:
The writer and the speaker have a debate on what cause the collapse of Akkadine Empire. The writer puts forward three reasons, which are opposed by the following lecture.
First, the writer claims that the collapse of empire is cause by rebellion of conquered cities. While the speaker views this issue from an opposite angle, according to him/her, Conquered cities have little chance to rebel, for their walls have been destroyed by empire army. They are easily defeated again.
Secondly, the passage states that bad weather results in shortage of food supply. However, the speaker casts doubt on this opinion by saying that Indeed, bad weather will lead to the reduction of food supply, but farmers in empire have advanced irrigation technology, which can bring water from long distance. What’s more, farmers will preserve grains.
Last, the writer argues that unfair trade leads to discontent of other countries. They united to fight against the Empire. By contrast, in accordance with the speaker, this claim does not hold water. Empire has been looking for new partners. Losses caused by some countries can be made up by resources and benefits from new countries.
3月13日托福独立写作真题：
作文题目：
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
High school students should take at least a year off to work or travel before they begin to study in university.
题型类别:教育类
写作思路：
今天的这道题目也是一道比较简单的老题(重复2014.3.23和2010.12.4)，所以备考的同学们平时更应该关注机经和以前考过的老题。教育类一直都是托福独立写作重要的话题，平时同学们在准备独立写作的时候也要准备对应的语言素材和表达，这样考试的时候才不会词穷。
写作指导：
Agree
单边
更好的选择大学的专业。大学之前很多学生都是努力学习文化知识，没有出去见识世面，而且很多孩子在大学中选择的专业都是父母的意见。进入大学前先工作一年，很多孩子都会成熟很多，知道自己到底想要什么，更有利于他们之后选择自己想要的专业，为进入社会奠定基础(lay a solid foundation for…)。
更好地学习到为人处事的方法。大学之前，很多孩子大部分时间都是和家长，几个亲密的朋友呆在一块。没有进入社会就不能接触到社会百态。工作或者旅行一年，可以让孩子接触到形形色色的人，学好如何和不同的人沟通和交流。
更好地磨练他们的意志(temper willpower)。大学之前很多孩子都实在爸妈的羽翼下生活，没有经历困难。工作和旅行一年，他们会遇到很多突发状况，这些能够很好的锻炼孩子的品质，以及培养独立解决困难的能力。这样进入大学之后，孩子们就能游刃有余的(do a job with skill and ease/accomplish a task with ease)解决各类问题。
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: After high school, students should have at least one year to work or travel. It's better than attending university straight away.
The prevailing notion is that high school students are under huge pressure. Then appears a controversy whether students should have one year to engage in other things before they attend their university. After weighing the pros and cons, I am favor of the opinion that having a gap year can produce many benefits.
First off, students can benefit a lot from traveling. As everyone knows, to maintain strong competitiveness, high school students are required to accomplish a wide range of either required or optional curriculums at school and the rights to develop their own interests have been deprived relentlessly, which has proven to be a detriment of their growth. Instead of pursuing their bachelor degree without pause in the college, traveling can help them regain chances to cultivate and perfect their personalities and release pressure. For instance, many more college graduates are reported to be indifferent to the society and show no mercy on those in need, part of which owes a lot to the fact that schools lay more emphasis on cultivating students’ academic abilities and downplay the importance of developing their overall qualities. Traveling to those places in poverty can give students a sight of those impoverished families to call on the sense of responsibility. Besides, by paying a visit to some places of interest like the Great Wall or the pyramid in Egypt, students can approach the greatness of diverse culture. What’s more, the direct access to the natural world can appease students’ inner uproar. Accordingly, a gap year can be a great asset for high school graduates.
Secondly, by taking part-time jobs, not only can students accumulate sufficient social experience but also earn some money to reduce financial stress on their families. Though economy in China keeps growing at a rate of almost 9 percent in the recent, average citizens still suffer huge pressure especially when the slump of stock market took a heavy toll on them and the majority of stock investors withdrew their money and reinvest to the real estate, further increasing pressure on the ordinary because of the increasing prices of housing. For most families from small cities and rural areas, college tuition still appears to be a great burden on them and by taking part-time jobs, students can earn some wages to relieve financial pressure, such as serving as a restaurant attendant that enables students to better develop their communication techniques and learn more about how to meet the demands of consumers or working as a salesman that will be an entirely different experience from high schools and can lead to the cultivation of the ability of presenting customers the advantages of products. Obviously, a gap year means a lot to high school graduates.
Admittedly, there is another voice that high school students are supposed to start their campus life immediately after graduation from high schools. To be more specific, maintaining high-efficiency study can lead students to be better acclimated to their college life. Instead of going to college soon, a gap year may disrupt their study schedule and weaken their learning skills. It appears to be sensible, however; the ultimate goal of attending a university is to seek a decent job and gaining social experience in advance makes students more conscious of which kind of area they are more interested in in the near future such as the serving industry or high-tech fields.
In conclusion, high school graduates had better live a different life temporarily before they go to college.