2017年托福独立写作模拟试题（5）

　　Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Most of the environmental issues are too complicated today. Individuals cannot do anything about them.

　　Sample:

　　Our current environmental problems grow ever more serious. Sometimes they seem so serious and confusing that it seems an individual could never do anything to help fix the problems. Personally speaking, I believe that individuals can make a difference. There are at least two areas where the efforts of ordinary individuals can be meaningful in solving environmental issues.

　　Firstly, individuals can protect environment by changing their ways of waste disposal. If every person would classify his or her garbage before throwing it away, much of it could be recycled and pollution could be reduced. Just take beverage cans as one example. Recent surveys suggest that over 7,000 tons of waste beverage cans go un-recycled each year in America alone. The cost of finding these cans after they have been thrown away, reclassifying them as recyclable and then sending them to be recycled is far higher than simply making new ones. However, if individuals would sort their cans and then discard them into the proper containers, the expense of recycling would decline greatly and there would be reduction in absolute pollution caused by the beverage cans. This is one area where an individual can make a difference.

　　Secondly, environmental problems will be somewhat improved once individuals in society consume less energy. It is because the requirement of natural resources used to produce energy will reduce and as a result, the environmental damage human inflicts will also decline. As an academic survey indicates, if every family in America could reduce their electricity use by 5% a year, 1.65 billion units would be saved. It means that the generator motived by coals in the whole country can take a break for more than a month. In fact, not only can it make human’s requirement of natural resources less, but also it can alleviate the air pollution caused by burning coals. Consequently, for winning the battle of protecting environment, individuals’ endeavor, undoubtedly, is a great strength that should not be ignored.

　　Admittedly, most people do not have the specialized knowledge and skills to tackle many issues related to the environment. Besides, they do not have the influence to change entire systems. Nevertheless, the claim that individuals can do nothing to solve these issues is an obvious overstatement. In fact, the power that individual can exert is much more than we can expect.

　　In conclusion, I disagree with the idea that individuals can do nothing in solving environmental problems since the issues are too complicated.