2017年托福独立写作模拟试题（1）

　　Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? If we can't say anything nice about someone, then we should not say anything about this person.

　　Sample:

　　Some people believe that rather than saying something their friends or co-workers don’t want to hear, they choose to just stay silent. However, in my opinion, telling the truth is the only thing I will do to the people that I care about, no matter whether they are pleased or not. There are two major reasons I would like to present to support my opinion.

　　First of all, if you only say nice things about other people, people will not treat you as a real friend. Because being friends is all about helping and supporting each other, since you only say nice things to your friends and meanwhile refuse to give them your advice when they made mistakes, they cannot feel your support. In long term, they won’t think you as a friend, at least not a close friend, anymore. It is not only applause they need when they did a good job, but also help and suggestions while they are in trouble.

　　Additionally, as you never tell the truth or give guidance to your friends when they are not on the right track, in all probability they will not do the same thing to you, either. Therefore, only saying the nice things may also has negative influence on your own career. As we all know that team spirit and teamwork is imperative to a successful business. Imagine this, while you and your co-worker spend more than eight hours together every day in the work place, but two of you only speak highly of each other and never help each other to find out and rectify other’s mistakes. Is this what we call team spirit or teamwork? I don’t believe so. This kind of working relations will damage the whole company and stop the company business from progress. Obviously, it will also be harmful to your own career.

　　To summarize, instead of just saying nice things about people, I think it is more advisable to tell the truth and express what you think. Help your friends or co-workers discover their mistakes and give them your advice. It is not only other people, but also yourself that you are helping in a long term.