北美考试院 托福写作组 肖曼

考古类是综合写作常考话题，虽然频率不及生态类，但是给很多学生都带来了一定难度。其难度存在主要在于：一，词汇，会涉及到一些考古类相关的词汇，需要专门记忆；二，时态，篇章中因为涉及到对过去的描述，以及现在的发现和推测等等，通常都会出现时态的变化，常见时态有一般现在时，一般过去时，现在完成时和过去完成时，学生在写作时除了需要注意内容的准确性以外，还需要花心思判断时态。建议学生们多多研读相关话题的文本，判断其中不同时态的用法，再模仿写作。

TPO中考古类的综合写作不多，比较经典的有：TPO16（英国的考古业）；TPO25 （一些vessels的可能用途）；TPO33（Carved stones 的用法）。同学们可以参照进行练习。

题目解析：

这是一道比较简单，也比较常规的题目，最早出现于2012年12月17日，之后在2013年，2014年都有出现过。不过，对有些同学而言，虽然题目很好理解，但是因为与生活关联较为紧密而容易将之视作理所当然，不好想到区分度大的观点。我们可以分析一下年轻人可能会在什么方面依赖父母来比较现在的年轻人和过去的年轻人的不同，比如，年轻人会在知识经验，经济，以及思想上依赖父母，据此得出三个观点，写一边倒。也可以只写两个，加上让步段，处理成2+1式结构。另外，题目设计今昔对比，一定要当段比较。

范文采用的是一边倒的结构。

请参考如下范文：

Nowadays, more and more parents attach great importance to not only their children’s academic performance, but also the cultivation of various abilities or skills. Among all of the important skills, independent ability have gained increasingly great attention since it is common to see that young people with such ability can better survive the competition and achieve great success in the future. In the wake of such attention, some people claim that young people today are less dependent on their parents than those in the past. From my perspective, I totally agree with the idea.

First, young people today can get better access to information and knowledge that they do not need to rely too much on their parents. With the prevalence of electronic products and mass media, many people find it quite easy to get help. When then encounter some difficulties or trouble and have no idea what to do, they can just search the internet for solution. Even if there is no relevant information, they can post their questions on social networking sites and then wait for others to provide them with suggestions. Consequently, they can solve problems more independently without bothering their parents. However, in the past, getting support from people other than their parents was quite difficult. They would have no choice but to turn to their parents who might be the most knowledgeable and experienced available to them.

Second, nowadays, it is easier for young people to be financially independent that they can enjoy more latitude instead relying on their parents. With the development of education and increase of citizens’ living standard, most young people can receive excellent education from an early age, which their counterparts decades ago could not imagine. Being well-educated, young people are very likely to land a well-paid job, which enables them to have stable income to support their life and do whatever they want to do. In contrast, education and job opportunities were not so accessible in the past.  It was much more difficult for young people to establish their own career before they worked for several years and accumulated sufficient experience. Suffering from a lack of money, they very often needed to ask for their parents for help.

Third, young people today are encouraged to be more independent, which might not be regarded as a good virtue in the past. People with independent thinking and assertive mind are generally more appreciated and enjoy more advantage in competition, so young people are given more freedom to make their own decisions to cultivate their independence deliberately. For example, they can decide which school to enroll in, what work they’d like to do in the future, or even whether they should further study or establish a business after graduation. Being accustomed to make their own decisions without consulting their parents, young people can definitely be more independent, which is totally contrary to young people in the past who were required to be obedient. They were taught to follow their parents instructions or rules, and those who wanted to have their own voice were often regarded rebellious and were criticized, leading to their mentally reliance on parents.

In conclusion, it is true that young people today rely on their parents much less than in the past for they are more financially, intellectually and mentally independent.