2017年5月6日托福独立写作题目“Do you agree or disagree with the following statement. It is impossible to be completely honest with your friends all the time.”总是对你的朋友诚实是不可能的。
5月6日这场托福考试的独立写作题既普通又特别。普通之处在于它重复2011年12月17日的原题。特别之处在于它又是一道关于友谊的题目。
最近关于友谊的独立写作题出现得确实有些频繁，从4月1日的“朋友犯错是否该继续这段友谊”到和15日的“该交聪明的朋友还是幽默的朋友”，再到今天这场“能否对朋友一直诚实”，friend或者 friendship 真有点刷屏的嫌疑。
不过，ETS喜欢刷同类题，早在4月15日这场的解析中我就指出过，当时我的原话如下：
“并不是说翔哥预测能力有多强，而是官方出新题成本太大，再加上最近他们玩疯了各种ABCD卷，旧题出现的频率确实呈上涨趋势。此外，按以往规律来看，独立写作同类话题，有集中出没的现象。所以针对每场考题去练习同类旧题，在下一场碰到的机率还是不小的。”
另外还有个刷存在感的词是诚实 - honesty，这个词在今年场1月7日托福考试出现，当时问的是 Do you agree or disagree: If you are selecting a leader for a student organization, honesty is the most important to consider in deciding whom to vote for. 你同意不同意：投票选择学生组织的领导时，我们最需要去考虑的是诚实。
虽然考的话题不一样，但无疑都在问我们，诚实到底是不是最重要的。正所谓套路玩多了，甚至一点都没有，最终也必将是玩“套”自焚。但是也说，朋友之间虽说不会为了一己私利而编天大的谎言，但是可能为了对方着想，尤其是一些特殊情况，撒点善意的谎言在所难免。
鉴于大部分人会选择写同意此观点，我就任性一次，选择不同意。真正的朋友之间是可以没有任何套路的，不服来辩。
参考范文
Although a vast majority of people agree that how to choose right friends and build healthy relationships with them is especially important, they are split in their opinions over what is the most important consideration in a friendship. Among all the possible considerations, always telling the truth is taken into account by not a few people. Then, is it possible to be always completely honest with your friends? The answer is, as far as I am concerned, surely in the affirmative.
It is true that being completely honest might hurt our friend's feelings. Take a frequently-occurred situation as an example. Alvin's friend Kikyou, who buys a new outfit for a birthday party, asks him, "Does it look good on me?" Alvin, based on the fact, says, "No way! It makes you look ten pounds heavier." Upon hearing his answer, Kikyou may return him with a hostile glare. Indeed, these truthful words, to a large extent, are not pleasing to a friend's ears, though they might be said with the best intentions. Nevertheless, a true friend is willing to tell us the truth, no matter what. And if we get irritated or even indignant, we do not really respect him or her and treat him or her as a true friend. Moreover, a true friend, knowing we might not be so comfortable with negative comments, would certainly choose to answer in a gentle but not brutal way. Alvin would say he is partial to the one Kikyou wore yesterday to show his unfavorable view of that outfit.
Most importantly, friendships, especially long-term ones, are not built in one day. Regular flattery or flat-out lies may help us forge new friendships or even maintain those relationships for a period of time, yet only by being completely honest to those we feel and care will the friendship stand the test of time and stay stable for a sizable chunk of life, or even for our whole life. This is because complete honesty can build up mutual trust between friends. As long as trust keeps a constant presence, misunderstandings or obstacles to any friendship can be avoided and removed if occurring.
In conclusion, I disagree with the statement, and I highly recommend that everyone should have the courage to blurt out any truthful words. Just make sure to respond without jealousy or anger.
