13540 Friends
TOEFL Independent Writing Task
Essay Question: Similar Friends
Example Answer by Jeenn Lee Hsieh
谢振礼 ielts360toefl@hotmail.com
TOEFL Writing Topic:
Some people choose friends who are different from themselves. Others choose friends who are similar to themselves. Compare the advantages of having friends who are different from you with the advantages of having friends who are similar to you. Which kind of friend do you prefer for yourself? Why?
Use specific reasons and examples or details to support your answer.
Sample Essay (Jeenn Lee Hsieh):
"Show me what company you keep, and I can show you who you are". The English cliche means that friends who are of a kind usually flock together like birds of the same feather. Although there is nothing strange or wrong for people of different inclinations to be friends, most people tend to choose friends who are similar to themselves, for somewhat interesting reasons.
Curiously enough, friends who are similar to themselves know about themselves and are fond of each other. They know themselves probably more by their defects than by their merits. On the contrary, if one is looking for a friend who is different from oneself and who is also without faults, chances are few and far in between. This strange phenomenon is what happens when it comes to making friends in general. It is so hard to explain that possibly the only logic is a matter of genetic tendency more than anything else. That is to say, the choice of a friend defies counting merits and what counts appears to be in one's character generated by inclination.
No less interesting is the fact that friends of different kinds separate more easily. It may be because between friends who are different to themselves, the easiest thing to find is fault. Such is very unlike those friends who share similarities and are naturally inclined to become fast friends despite obvious defects. In all likelihood, friends who are similar to themselves are more likely to promote the good and happiness among themselves. Even if friends who are different to themselves can communicate as well, actually they may not be talking the same language, so to speak. It is because the language of friendship is not words but meanings, and there is always a danger of being not able to get across to each other, thus causing undesirable misunderstanding.
On balance, there seems to be more advantages to having friends who are of a kind than to having friends who are not. Just as birds know their kind, so do people. A Chinese cliche, too, has this to say: "When the character of a person is not clear to you, look at his or her friends". (Essay created by Jeenn Lee Hsieh 谢振礼 ielts360toefl@hotmail.com 在线批改)
