2016年3月13日托福写作真题及解析（新东方）

　　综合写作

　　话题：讨论曾经很繁荣的Akkad Kingdom覆灭原因。

　　阅读：给出帝国覆灭的三个原因。

　　阅读分论点1-征服地区人民频繁反抗、起义，伤了帝国根基。

　　阅读分论点2-降水少导致农耕受影响，没有充足食物供给(enough food supply)。

　　阅读分论点3-帝国很霸道，总是企图控制贸易(听力中称为unfair trade)，并且把自己的条件强加给其他国家，引起周边国家不满甚至导致了几十个外国国王对其宣战。举例海战。

　　听力：阅读三个原因都没有说服力。

　　听力分论点1-征服地区的城墙被征服拆了，起义军没有城墙保护很容易会被政府军镇压。

　　听力分论点2-粮食并不短缺，农耕技术很先进，甚至掌握灌溉技术(irregation)，北方缺水能从别的地区引水。并且知道存储粮食(store grain)

　　听力分论点3-海战是真实的，虽然和一些国家会有摩擦，但战后新的机会和资源都会变多，弥补(make up)损失。

　　独立写作

　　题目：Do you agree or disagree with the following statement:

　　Students should take at least a year to work or travel before beginning college.

　　同意与否：在上大学之前学生至少应该花一年时间去工作或旅行。

　　解题思路：

　　本题目为利弊类题型。立意及构思分论点时，重点落在讨论题目中做法的好处与坏处。在文章结构上，可采取“一边倒”或“让步式”写法。即给出三个正方理由或给出两个正方理由及一个正方缺点(或反方优点)。

　　范文总观点为同意。采取“让步式”写法，两个主体段分别阐述题目优点，另外一个让步段阐述其缺点。tips：写让步段时，一定要保持思路清晰，掌握好结构，不要忽略让步段必要的转折环节。

　　范文

　　分论点1: 花一年时间去工作或旅行能够帮助学生确定今后的学习方法及人生目标。

　　分论点2: 疲惫的学生能够通过至少一年时间去充电、放松。

　　分论点3: 诚然，这种做法可能会让学生丧失一定学习能力。

　　Gap year, a break between high school and college, has become a trend among many American and European students theses years. As the popularity of gap year has grown, so to has its appeal. Generally, it can be constructed (working in a company, taking time off to improve coding skills, learning a language, working on personal projects) or unconstructed (travelling, figuring out what to do as it comes). The idea of gap year has been strongly questioned by some nervous parents, however, some supporters contend that it will be a lifelong treasure which enables one to have the full command of his life. From my perspective, taking a year to work or travel before college brings about more advantages than shortcomings.

　　To begin with, a gap year helps guide students’ future education and life goals. Most of young students do not know exactly what they wanted to do once they left high school or even half way through college. Working or travelling a year will give them some “real world experience” as well as insight into their interests and strengths which will help them shape a path to a successful career. Once students learn a whole lot about themselves, they are likely to take full advantage of college. Take an Australian boy for an example. Enjoying his gap year in Nepal, he helps the locals in Pokhara to build their organic farms. He is so passionate about what he is doing now and he decided to pursue environmental science after he comes back to university. The internships and professional experience gained over the gap year will have much more influence on the development of one’s future than college.

　　In addition, taking a year off can refresh the tired-out high school graduates. In general, it will take at least ten years before jumping into the long and challenging years of university. There is no doubt that studious students will spare no effort to improve their academic performance with the expectation that they will receive offers from their dream schools. Under the competitive pressure of high school, they will not only prepare for exams such as SAT or ACT but also seek for voluntary opportunities to enrich their Curriculum Vitae. My younger sister used to travel to Cuba to volunteer with brown bears for three months. After that she went to Europe driving her Vespa across more than 20 cities. She said it was so different from school. She won’t have to attend a test at then end of the trimester, which means that there is no peer pressure or any pressure from outside. At the same time she can reorganize her mind which was full of chemical equations, historical events as well as verses from poems.

　　It is true that students who choose to drop a year are more likely to lose their study skills. During the gap year, there will be less chances for them to participate in actual classes in college. Without attending lectures given by famous professor and communicating face-to-face with classmates, the whole learning process will be incomplete. Many of study skills could not be developed and trained, which leads directly to the deprivation of both academic ability and motivation. However, it won’t be a potential problem nowadays because most of top universities offer MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses). Students can study random topics through free online classes. Although they don’t have any college credit, they learned a lot, met wonderful people, and keep their brains in shape for college.

　　Ultimately, the benefits of gap year far outweigh the only drawback because it can help exhausted students relax both mentally and physically and provide them with the opportunities to take a step back to focus on their goals, leading to a stronger sense of direction once they’re back in the classroom.