2014年8月30日托福写作真题回忆（新东方版）

综合写作：

　　独立写作：

　　A/D: the ability to maintain a small number of friends for a long time is more important to happiness than the ability to make new friends easily.

　　Friends are those who see us through in all the ups and downs of our lives. While new acquaintances often bring surprises and vitality, to maintain a close relationship with a couple of old friends can never be easy. As for me, to nourish a long-lasting friendship is of more importance.

　　The first reason is that to keep an old friend close has to stand the test of time. Fresh affection can always be exciting, but it wouldn’t be long before certain problems show up and two people no longer see eye to eye. Studies have shown that for the first three months everything goes well, but after the honeymoon period, any relationship has to face disagreements and divergences. As a problem-free friendship is non-existent, the ability to reconcile and the willingness to make compromise would mean a lot. I met Tina ten years ago when we both were invited to a local gallery opening. Both passionate about paintings and sculpture, we found us share a lot in common and hit it off quite soon. Naturally, two art lovers become close friends and later on we chose to be roommates. That’s when we realized it took a lot more than just a common interest to stay friends. She had a dog but I was allergic to animal fur; and she enjoyed Rock’n Roll while  loud music gave me nothing but a headache. Different lifestyle gives us fresh perspective at first, but turns into the source of every argument after the first year. If we chose to part ways, we could spare both some inconvenience but ended up looking for new companions. Instead, we had some serious talks about ways we wanted things to be. Then she gave her dog up for adoption and I learnt to make peace with heavy metal music. In this decade-long friendship, we all made compromises, which was hard but was all worthwhile in the end.

　　Besides, it is old friends that lend a hand whenever one is in trouble. It is true the ability to make new friends is a good indication of personal charm and popularity, but it takes some effort for the newly acquainted to build a real bond. We can only trust those who  once shared joys and sorrows all together. That’s something old friends can do for you. A business man may have no trouble making friends on banquets, dining and wining. They all seem happy and content, just to spend the night talking about business deals and trade leads. After the business dinner, very few would give a call to anyone, especially if it is a private matter. That’s because people are quite aware of the fact that newly acquainted business partner cannot be trusted. They would feel more comfortable calling an old friend, who knows it all, and all the small talks could be spared. All of this couldn’t have been possible if one were lousy at maintaining long-lasting friendships. 

　　To sum up, keeping old friends close entails time and efforts, but it matters more because it pays off in ways new friends cannot possibly achieve. (Bao Lei)