谢振礼 托福范文: 幽默朋友
托福独立写作：二选一题型
TOEFL Independent Writing
Topic:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is better to make friends who are intelligent than with a good sense of humor.
Use reasons and specific examples or details to support your answer.
Essay:
Funny people are more intelligent than poker-faced people who apparently lack a sense of humor in life. It is assumed that not all intelligent individuals are humorous, but all humorous individuals have brilliant minds. When it comes to making friends, not only are funny persons smart, but also they are emotionally healthy to be around.
To begin with, it is better to make friends with funny people because a good sense of humor is a sure demonstration of intelligence, and something more. Researchers have discovered that funny people, particularly those who enjoy dark humor, have higher IQs than their less funny peers, and this may explain that there is a link between humor and intelligence. Therefore, in meeting people by chance and making friends by choice, the attraction tends to go to someone who has a sense of humor rather than someone who seems to be intelligent but is anything but funny. Strange but true, it is hard to make friends with people who may be very intelligent but who turn out to be absolutely humorless. It is true that humorless people, however intelligent they might be, have fewer friends and have less fun in socializing. It is also true that intelligence is important in a friend, and even more so when that intelligence can find expression in humor.
That being said, someone who has a sense of humor can be a nice friend to get around in a healthy mood. In all areas of life, looking for a reason to laugh is necessary in a troubled world. Hanging out with a funny friend is a positive way to get through the dull times, enjoy the good times, tolerate the unpleasant times, and overcome the unbearable times. That is as if to say, humor with intelligence, not intelligence alone, is the best medicine in life that is sick with stress and complexity. Although whether making friends with someone who is intelligent would make one become more intelligent is anybody’s guess, making friends with someone who has a sense of humor would certainly make life less scary. That is another compelling reason why it is better to make friends who are funny than who are simply smart.
In conclusion, while intelligence serves an important purpose in a friend, humor can offer even more by helping people to have lots of fun in life. Not all intelligent people have a sense of humor, but all humorous people are intelligent. After all, there is nothing healthy to see people who are straight-faced, be they smart or stupid.
Topic: 二选一
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
It is better
A--to make friends who are intelligent
B--than to make friends with a sense of humor.
Use reasons and specific examples to suggest your answer.
真题来自新托福，2015年中国考区。
以上范文：作者不完全同意说交朋友的两项选择中，聪明的特质比幽默感更好。读者有什么看法呢?其实只要说得清楚易懂，同意或不同意都是好答案。
千万不要说B重要，所以A不重要，因为你的立场如果是如此这般，那就很难自圆其说。选择朋友，作比较，你只能说虽然A重要，但是B更重要。当然你要解释来支持你答题的立场。
个人的看法，请读者参考。所有幽默感的人一定很聪明，可是不见得所有聪明的人都有幽默感。选择有幽默感的人做朋友，有胜于选择聪明的人做朋友，因为也有聪明的人缺乏幽默感。
Outline:
1.It is better to make friends with a sense of humor than those who are simply intelligent.
(A.Not only humorous friends are intelligent but B. it is also a healthy way to go around.)
2. A. Funny friends are better because they are also smart.
3. B. It is healthy way to make friends who are funny because humor is the best medicine.
4. Friends with a sense of humor offer more benefits than friends who are simply intelligent.
这一篇范文与下一篇范文不同，因为题目不同，答法也不同。二选一，必须讨论两项。三选一，最好选择一项，同时也顾及提到两外两项。
托福独立写作：三选一题型
TOEFL Independent Writing
Topic:
What do you want most in a friend—someone who is intelligent, or someone who has a sense of humor, or someone who is reliable? Which of these characteristics is most important to you?
Use reasons and specific examples to explain your choice.
Essay:
It is by chance we meet people and it is by choice we make friends with someone who is funny, or someone who is smart, or someone who is reliable. Of these characteristics, reliability is the best choice when choosing a person as a friend. While humor or intelligence may serve a purpose, only those who are reliable are offering more to help us tide over our difficulties in life.
For different reasons, we may want humor or intelligence in a friend, this being independent of the reliability factor. To begin with, having a friend with a sense of humor may be an advantage, and in all areas of life looking for a reason to laugh is necessary. Choosing a friend with whom we can have fun may help us to get through the dull times, enjoy the good times, tolerate the unpleasant times, and overcome the unbearable times. For example, laughing heartily with friends may turn out to be a good medicine in life that is sometimes sick with its stress and complexity. Then, as with regard to very high IQ in a friend, it is likely that we may benefit from getting automatically an intelligence boost. It is as if to say, the more intelligent our friends are, the more intelligent we may become, whether you believe it or not.
All that being explained, neither humor nor intelligence is as valuable as reliability in a friend because in this world trustful people are relatively rare and hard to find. Thus, we are sure that things are never quite as scary as long as we have got a reliable friend. When we are in trouble, a friend who is reliable walks in whereas others tend to walk out and talk about us behind our back. Typically, the shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends, therefore only in times of adversity can we realize who are our reliable friends and who are not. At this point, it is doubtful whether or not someone who has a sense of humor or someone who is intelligent might be a reliable friend. When it comes to making true friends and avoiding fake friends, we would like to believe that a doubtful person is worse than a certain enemy; and an unreliable person should be nobody’s friend.
In conclusion, a reliable friend is someone who will help us when in need, which is more than what we can say for someone who simply has a sense of humor or someone who is only intelligent. Ultimately, reliability is the most important characteristic to us when choosing a friend. To have reliable friends in life, chances are many but choices are few.
TOEFL Independent Writing
托福独立写作
Topic:
What do you want most in a friend—
A.Someone who is intelligent, or
B.Someone who has a sense of humor, or
C.Someone who is reliable?
Which of these characteristics is most important to you?
Use reasons and specific examples to explain your choice.
看题目是三选一，到底你认为哪一种特质是最够朋友。很聪明的朋友，有幽默感的朋友，很可靠的朋友?其实你选哪一种都不会错，不过最好还是选你比较有思路的一项，这样你才也比较有话说。作文时千万不要逼自己搞到没路走，没话说。
你一定要选其中一项来回答，那么要不要在文章里也提到另外两项呢?你认为呢?参考这一篇范文的思路逻辑，分四段来说。针对主题来说话则绝对不会跑题。主题是你答题的立场。作者的范文模版是千篇一律的二分法，中体分两方面来说。
第一段申论主题 话分两头
The most important characteristic in a friend is reliability rather than intelligence or a sense of humor.
第二段支持主题 先说一头
The importance of intelligence or a sense of humor in a friend.
第三段支持主题 再说一头
Reliability is the most important characteristic in a friend.
第四段重申主题 二合为一
The most important characteristic in a friend is reliability rather than intelligence or a sense of humor.
作者答题的立场是选很可靠的朋友，其重要性超过很聪明的朋友，也超过有幽默感的朋友。主题贯穿全文，前呼后应，自圆其说。
在开头第一段必须申论主题;你的立场在结论第四段又必须再说一次，也就是重申主题。
中体两段支持主题。
