2016年12月3日托福机经之托福独立写作作文真题

 　　Young people today are more likely to help others than the young were in the past.

　　题目大意：与过去相比，现在的年轻人更有可能去帮助别人。此题属于典型的古今对比，常见的思考方向有：科技水平、物质水平、受教育水平、人们的意识和观念、社会的趋势和政策。波波建议选择不同意，因为生活节奏加快 和竞争愈加激烈。
　　Social relationship is a perpetual topic in our times. One indisputable fact is that people are less and less concerned about others' business. When it comes to the issue whether it becomes less likely for youngsters today to help others than their counterparts in the past, people varying in personalities 1 and ages view the same issue from different angles. As far as I am concerned, young people today are less likely to help others than the young were in the past, due to the limited spare time they possessed 2 and the fierce competition they are involved in.
　　To begin with, there is no denying that the less free time owned by the young people will reduce the likelihood that they help others, which particularly applies to the students in school. As we know, the increasingly heavy study burden has dramatically decreased the leisure time of students. According to a survey conducted by Education Ministry 3 of China, the time students spent on learning in 2014 was more than 8 hours per day, while this figure in 1994 was only 6 hours every day. The great difference in the two figures clearly demonstrate that student's study time has increased a lot, which in turn decreased their free time. And less free time means that students have less chances to provide help to others. However, in the past, students could make good use of their spare time to do some voluntary work such as participating in community activities. Therefore, the decrease in the free time of young people today has made it less possible to help others.
　　Furthermore, the more fierce competition nowadays is another factor which makes young people less likely to help others. One defining character of people is the degree to which they tend to care more about their own interests in a competition. Job hunting is a good case in point. Just imagine that there are 10 candidates competing for one position, which means that the winner has to outcompete the others. Obviously, each candidate would regard others as his enemies instead of friends, thus providing no help for the other one. However, in the past, the competition was not so fierce as it is today, so that the youngsters treated others more friendly in old days. Hence, the possibility that young people provide others with assistance is smaller, due to the more competitive environment.
　　Judging from what has been discussed above, we can draw the conclusion that young people today are less likely to assist others than they were in the past, on account of the limited leisure time they owned and the fierce competition they are involved.