2018年1月6日（下午場） 托福寫作考題回憶

綜合

閱讀： 考古學家對于埃及大金字塔內部shaft的用途提出了三種理論。

1、ventilation theory:第一種理論認為shafts用于通風。建造金字塔的工人點火照明時會產生煙霧，因此shafts是用來幫助通風。

2、star alignment theory:第二種理論認為shafts是對應星星的位置而被建造的。科學家發現shafts的位置和某些星星的位置對應。在古埃及，人們認為特定的星星代表特定的神靈。

3、Religion theory: 第三種理論認為shafts是為了幫助國王的靈魂抵達后世。因為古埃及人相信死去國王的靈魂會離開身體進入后世，所以shafts可能是靈魂前往后世的通道。

聽力： 閱讀中的三個理由都是不對的，沒有人知道shafts被建造的真正目的。

1、通風理由是不成立的，因為只有上層的兩個shafts才能通到外墻，而底下的兩個是通不到外墻的，所以它們無法注入新鮮空氣。而4個shafts的結構相似，作用應該是一樣的，如果只有2個可以通風的話，那么通風理論是不成立的。

2、星星理論也是不成立的，因為古埃及人崇尚特定星星對應特定的神，這是在埃及王朝后期才出現的，而金字塔建造的時間很早，那個時候還沒這種說法，所以不成立。

3、幫助國王靈魂通往后世也不成立，因為在別的金字塔里也發現了類似的symbolic passageway,但是是一堵actual wall,這說明古埃及人相信國王的靈魂能穿越墻面，所以不需要這樣的shafts來幫助靈魂前往來世，所以不成立。

獨立

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.