谢振礼写托福作文【4】the qualities of a good neighbor

TOEFL Sample Essay
by Mr. Jeenn Lee Hsieh
for www.360abc.com

Test of Written English

Writing Topic:

Neighbors are people who live near us. In your opinion, what are the qualities of a good neighbor?

Sample Essay:

The qualities of a good neighbor happen to be ordinary things. It seens to me that people living near us today are not what they used to be The old qualities are being replaced by non-interferrace or even indifference to such an extent that small things like mutual-help and mutual-understanding have disappeared within shouting distance. The feeling of strangeness prevails in the neighborhood. This is particularly true of new urban communities composed of members moving in from elsewhere. This being the case, small details as known to our grandfathers in the countryside had better be introduced to the new neighborhood. Small things make a difference.

That kind of ''we-feeling'' can be cultivated by firstly greeting to each other with smiling eyes everyday at first sight. Then, talk. If for lack of a talking topic at the beginning, today's weather is as good a subject as a forecast for tomorrow's climate. Indeed, do anything but silence. Make it a rule to make friends with people nextdoors. Offer help like baby-sitting or feeding neighbors' pet dogs. Do a little harmless gossiping about notorious celebrities may win trust in most cases. Tell them, without shame, that you believe in destiny. The fact that we have become neighbors is no coincidence, and that we are actually in the same boat. Neighbors like us are ''all for one and one for all.'' In short, our fate is written in the need for mutual-help for all seasons.

Mutual-understanding may be the next step closely behind. Get ready to share pains as well as joys with neighbors as friends. Listen to their problems and ours be listened to. Avoid conflicts typical of neighbors that may be substituted by tolerance. Reveal admiration but hide envy. Show qualities of love of a certain kind to their naughty offsprings and dirty dogs and cats. Pretend increasing interests in pictures that have been seen more than a dozen times. Try to laugh heartily at old jokes which are anything but funny. Give the sensation of closeness, as if having known each other for many years, especially to new neighbors.

Both mutual-help and mutual-understanding require willingness to accept conformity as reality. We cannot escape from facing people living near us, despite the fact that most neighbors may turn out to be boring sometimes. Be friendly to all and stragers to none in the community. The simple qualities of being ordinary may come to the neighborhood by just believing that, in time of need, people nearby are more useful than relatives far away.

本教程由来自台湾大学和智利大学的谢振礼老师为世博英语网站独家撰写，旨在提高大家托福雅思写作的实战水平。未经谢振礼老师和世博英语授权，其他媒体和个人不得转载！