2018年9月15日/16日托?？荚噷懽黝A測來啦，托福備考生快來圍觀!

　Agree or disagree: people nowadays spend much time than they should using text messages and new technologies such as social media to communicate with each other.

　　With the development of modern technology, various ways of communication are available today, such as text messages, cell phone calls, and online chatting, among others. It seems that people do not have to communicate with each other face to face anymore. However, some people argue that people nowadays spend much time than they should using new technologies in daily communication. I totally agree with this viewpoint for the following reasons.

　　People today are extremely dependent on new technologies in daily communication even if using those technologies is less effective compared with talking in person. For example, in workplace, team members need to schedule meetings to discuss about the projects that they are working on. In the past, workers needed to get together, distributing handouts and working on the projects face to face. Today, they tend to have a video or teleconference so that team members do not have to meet in person. In fact, it usually takes time to set up the video or telephones; as a result, the meeting might not start on time as it is scheduled. Moreover, during video or teleconferences, the Internet connection or telephone signal is sometimes unstable, which might interrupts the conference from time to time. Still, in order not to get up early or to rush from home to the company, many workers prefer to have video or teleconference instead of attend a face-to-face meeting in the conference room.

　　Apart from workers, students are addicted to social media in communications as well. Nowadays, students could chat with each other on Facebook or Twitter, and they become reluctant to go out and play with their friends compared with students in the past. Many parents are worried about this situation because staying in front of computers or sticking to smart phones is harmful to their children’s physical health. For example, staying in front of computer for a long time could lead to a sedentary lifestyle, which probably will cause obesity or other diseases. Regardless of their parents’ concerns, students, however, still use smart phones or online chatting to kill time. According to a recent online survey in my hometown, almost 70% students prefer to use social media to communicate with friends instead of meeting in person because they could use stickers online and share video clips with each other. It seems that face-to-face communications among students is less popular now than in the past.

　　In a word, people today tend to rely on technologies such as social media to communicate with each other rather than meeting in person.

　　It is necessary for high school students to do household work after school because this can give them a sense of responsibility.

　　In my home country, high school students are under great pressure competing with their peers in the college entrance exam. Many parents usually do not require their children who are high school students to do housework so that their children will not feel too stressful. However, in my opinion, doing household work could benefit high school students in different ways. In particular, it could help students develop a sense of responsibility.

　　To begin with, doing household work, students could learn how difficult it is for parents to keep everything in order at home. Nowadays, many high school students are spoiled by their parents because parents tend to force their children to focus on academic study. It seems that doing household work will distract their children from study. As a result, those students have no idea about how difficult it is to keep a house clean and tidy. If they could have the opportunity to do household works by themselves, they could learn that it takes time and efforts to cook, to wash clothes, and to mop the floor. Once they understand the difficulties of doing housework, they would become more willing to share some housework with their parents, and therefore develop a sense of responsibility in the family.

　　Moreover, doing housework could benefit high school students in other ways. For example, students could escape for a while from a sedentary lifestyle. Usually, high school students have limited chances to participate in social and sports activities because they have to finish lots of writing assignments every day, sitting in front of the computer or the desk. This will definitely lead to a sedentary lifestyle, which is harmful to students’ physical health. Gradually, students might suffer from muscle pain or obese because of the lack of doing exercises. In the end, students will become less efficient in learning when their physical health is threatened by diseases. Doing household works, students need to walk around in the house and sweat a little bit. In this sense, students could take a break from academic study, and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.

　　Based on the above discussion, there is no doubt that doing housework could help high school students develop a sense of responsibility towards their families. Moreover, students could relax for a while and avoid a sedentary lifestyle that leads to obese and muscle pain.