Topic8、Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television has destroyed communication among friends and family. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
【托福考试参考范文之一】
When asked about what has been brought by television , different people have different answers. There is some people who don't like TV saying that television has destroyed communications among friends and family. however other people take a negative attitude on this issue. In my opinion, I disagree with the above statement . The reasons are given below.
Television is only one instrument for people to relax. There is many ways of amusement for people to select after the working time nowadays. You can select to meet your friends, to accompany your parents or to take part in some sports activities. Watching TV at home is simply one way to live. It is too narrowly to regard TV as one main reason to damage relationship among friends and family just because some people has spent a lot of time on it .
Another reason that I disagree with the above statement is that TV can provide some additional topics for communication among friends and family. Talking about the news, the soap drama or soccer game watching on the TV last night is also good communication ways to increase your affections with your friends and your family. Also sometimes, skipping one TV program could probably make you lose voices among your friends.
Last but not least, watching TV is one good medicine to cure the loneliness when your friends and parents can not accompany with you. I would not forget the warm which was brought by TV when along outside the hometown.
I can't deny that some people has ignored friends and family when they are addicted into watching TV. However, everything has it's two sides. All the factors mentioned above determined me to draw the conclusion that it is not reasonable to say television has destroyed communications among friends and family.
【托福考试参考范文之二】
Some people believe that television has destroyed communication among friends and family. I think this is an exaggeration. In my opinion, whether or not television hurts communication depends on what type of program is being viewed. More importantly, it depends on the type of viewer.
There are empty programs and educational programs. Empty programs do not challenge people. They have just enough storyline to keep them from switching channels. There are also passive and active viewers. A passive viewer will just watch television without thinking about what he or she is seeing. The combination of an empty program and a passive viewer makes communication unlikely. Passive viewers just continue to watch, actually enjoying the fact that they don't have to think. They won't break away to talk about programming with friends and family. Even with better programming, passive viewers still won't think or communicate much. They'll probably even prefer the empty programs because the better programming is too much work.
On the other hand, active viewers watching educational programming always want to share what they see with friends and family. "Educational" doesn't necessarily mean documentaries on PBS. They could be dramas with realistic relationships or action shows with clever plotlines. When active viewers watch programs, they have ideas and talk about them with others. Good programming inspires them to change their thinking and their lives. Unlike passive viewers, they don't want to watch more and more without thinking.