本题重复2018年12月1日综合写作真题，考察话题难度一般，属于在托福综合写作考试中考察频度中等的考古类话题，容易涉及不同领域，如建筑，化石研究和珍贵考古资料破坏等。在TPO中涉及到相关考古类话题有TPO5，TPO16，TPO26，TPO33等。希望从这些综合材料能给考生关于这类话题提供可借鉴的解题思路。
Keywords: canal, territory, landscape, wetland, immigrant等。
可以类比一下综合写作。
TPO33
阅读部分：
总观点：关于carved stone balls的目的和含义有几种假设。
• 它们是捕猎或打斗时的武器；
• 它们属于原始称重或测量的系统；
• 有社交用途而不是实用型的。
听力反驳：
总论点：三个理由都错误
• 这些球的表面保存良好无磨损，而新时期时代的武器普遍有磨损痕迹；
• 这些球可能大小一致，但重量差异大，所以不可能用于称重。
• 很多雕刻过于简单不像是阶级象征。而且，没有哪个球是在很高社会地位的人的墓中作为个人物品发现的。
题目解析：
4月24日的独立写作重复了2016年4月9日考题。虽然作为“同意与否”题型考察，但题目中涉及到两个选项：寻求建议时，年长朋友是否比同龄朋友更靠谱。因此仍然要留意进行对比。
很容易想到长者经验丰富，所以选择“年长朋友建议宝贵”可能是更顺利的切入点。接下来可以将其当作“现象证明题”进行核心观点的拆分，论证长者作为“过来人”在生活经验，学习经验，或工作经验等方面更有发言权，为年轻人指点迷津。当然，这并不是说“年轻朋友的建议胜过年长朋友”便无从下手。本文选择这一更少提及的角度，论证年轻朋友建议更宝贵。
Despite people’s aversion to difficulties, challenges and confusions are inevitable in life. At this point, friends can be a reserve of assistance. When it comes to seeking advice from friends, I don’t go along with the idea that friends who are older provide more worthwhile suggestions than younger ones.
First and foremost, benefits of older friends’ suggestions can fade with time. We’ve all heard the piece of folk wisdom that as people grow older, they get set in their ways. Indeed, for many people, with more secrets in life unlocked and frontiers in science pushed back, novelty recedes and habits start to prevail. Just look at how some parents warn their children against technological gadgets for fear of over-indulgence when quite a few of the latter, in the new digital era, find themselves struggling with adapting to the technology facilitated teaching to catch a glimpse of the reluctance about change among the ageing. The same story can be told of interaction between two friends with age difference. In a possible scenario, people who are a few steps ahead of others in life may be asked about how to land a job, and what their younger friends receive is likely the worn-out suggestion like sending resumes to the desirable companies — which probably ends up with few replies. In stark contrast, friends who are around the same age recommend turning to online recruitment platforms for the enlarged information pool and reasonable classification, with which the chance of employment multiplies. Thus, advice from older friends, while sincere, can be outshone by that of their younger counterparts due to their hesitation in embracing the new.
Besides, older friends’ advice may lack the human touch, making itself less acceptable. True, veterans are better than recruits. Despite the saying, when it comes to the trust in advice from older friends over friends close in age, optimism needs to be taken in small doses. It is generally accepted that suggestions work best when the two parties are in a positive mood and in a pleasant state of mind. That is, when communication is kept on an equal footing, distance between people starts melting away, which draws one close to the other and nudges one towards his idea as well. However, some people who are getting on in years, priding on their richer experience and greater sophistication, tend to lecture their younger friends on what to do in a condescending way. This certainly causes offence and rejection. Conversely, friends in the same age group, without any desire to put on airs, make their suggestions more approachable, sharing their thoughts and experience while leaving space for discussion and questioning. Therefore, advice from a friend about the same age is more likely to be favored and put into use, thus outcompeting that from older friends.
Judging from what has been discussed above, the conclusion is safely drawn that seeking advice from older friends does not necessarily enjoy superiority over the alternative.
