2017年托福考试写作范文素材：个人关系

　　写作话题

　　Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Two people can become good friends even if one of them has more money than the other.

　　参考范文

　　At present, a popular Chinese entertainment plot is that a poor boy and a rich girl who, after a long time of suffering, eventually become friends. Could this type of fairy-tale story happen in reality? Personally, I do not think it very likely. In other words, I believe that people who possess huge sums of money and people living in poverty find it very hard to be friends, for they have different goals and lifestyles.

　　Firstly, a different goal in life between the rich and the poor make it nearly impossible for them to be friends. For the poor, the only living goal may be to make a decent life; for the rich, they may be more concerned with how to continue a business or increase profits. Someone from a poor family will often have the same dream as his father: to be able to buy a spacious apartment and a nice car and have a happy family. Those from rich families have interests beyond these basic needs: meeting celebrities or other networking opportunities, increasing social status, or worry about investments and government relationships. Thus the whole focus of life may be completely different.

　　Secondly, even something as simple as entertainment can be completely different between the wealthy and the poor, affecting their attitude toward life. They take part in different leisure activities when they get free time. After finishing his ordinary working-class job, Tom generally goes back home and stays with his wife and kids. For his family, the happiest thing is to sit together and watch soap operas in front of TV. John, a wealthy man, entertains himself quiet differently after work. Almost every weekend, John goes to the golf course to enjoy the fresh air and indulge himself. Since the ways that they spend their spare time are so different, it means that they have a great distinction of their attitudes toward life. With such a distinction, it seems very ridiculous to expect that people like Tom and John could be friends.

　　Admittedly, the rich and the poor can meet in some other contexts. For instance, they might attend some of the same colleges and take the same courses, which means they can talk to each other in some occasions. However, such communication alone does not result in a reliable friendship. As we all know, to form a reliable friendship, people have to experience many challenges together. Having different goals and lifestyles makes it difficult to experience the same things.

　　In conclusion, as the differences in goals and lifestyles are so huge, I believe it is normally impossible for the rich and the poor to become good friends.

　　参考译文

　　目 前，中国娱乐节目中有一个流行的情节，就是一个穷小子和一个富家女在经历过长时间的磨难后，最终成了朋友。这种童话般的故事真的会在现实生活中发生吗?就 个人而言，我觉得这不太可能。换句话说，我认为拥有巨额财产的人和生活贫困的人很难成为朋友，因为他们的目标和生活方式都不相同。

　　首先，穷人和富人在生活目标上的差异使得他们几乎不能成为朋友。对于穷人来 说，他们唯一的生活目标也许就是过上像样的生活;而对于富人而言，他们可能更关心如何延续一份事业或提高收益。出身贫穷家庭的人，其理想往往与他们的父辈 相同：买一套宽敞的公寓、开一辆好车、有一个幸福的家庭。而那些生长于富裕家庭的人，他们的兴趣点则要高于这些基本需求：会见知名人士、获取社交机会、提 高自己的社会地位，或为商业投资以及政府关系所担忧。因此，穷人和富人的整个生活重心可能是完全不同的。

　　其 次，即使像娱乐这样简单的事，在穷人和富人之间也可能是完全不同的。这也影响着他们的生活态度。穷人和富人空闲时通常会参加不同的休闲活动。在完成日常工 作后，汤姆通常都会直接回家，与他的妻子和孩子待在一起。对于他的家庭来说，最开心的事情就是一家人坐在电视机前看肥皂剧。而富有的约翰在工作之余则会采 用完全不同的娱乐方式。几乎每个周末，约翰都会去高尔夫球场享受清新的空气，使自己放松愉悦。他们休闲的方式如此不同，也意味着他们对待生活的态度有很大 的差异。面对他们之间如此巨大的差异，期望汤姆和约翰能够成为朋友是非常荒谬的。

　　诚 然，富人和穷人会在其他一些环境中接触。例如，他们可能会进入相同的院校，学习同样的课程，这意味着他们可以在某些场合聊天。然而，仅仅这样的交流并不能 带来可靠的友谊。众所周知，为建立可靠的友谊，人们必须共同经历许多挑战。目标不同、生活方式不同，使得 ( 有贫富差异的 ) 人们很难一起经历相同的事情。

　　总之，鉴于在目标和生活方式上的差异如此巨大，我认为富人与穷人通常不可能成为好朋友。

　　范文点拨

　　文 章开头段依然是四要素，但在论述过程中，笔者采用的方式比较独特，借用中国娱乐节目中的常见桥段来交代话题背景。对于给定命题，笔者的观点是否定的，并在 主体段中运用经典结构，对生活目标和娱乐方式这两大差异进行了论证。在让步段，文章首先承认穷人与富人也有沟通的可能性，之后再举出一个有效的论据进行反 驳，即友谊需要双方有共同的经历。在末段，笔者用一句话进行简洁的收尾。全文逻辑简明、例证翔实、语言难度适中， 推荐考生细致模仿、研读。

　　加分单词和词组

　　spacious [ˈspeɪʃəs] adj. 广阔的;宽敞的

　　indulge [ɪnˈdʌldʒ] v. 放纵;使快乐; 使享受

　　context [ˈkɒntekst] n. ( 想法、事件等的 ) 背景;环境;语境

　　fairy-tale： 童话故事

　　soap opera： 肥皂剧

　　经典句型

　　as the differences in A and B are so huge, I believe ...： 鉴于 A 和 B 的差异如此巨大，我认为……