托福口语实例参考（四）

　　My favorite gift is a music box. It has a great amount of sentimental value. It was given to me as a gift for my first dance recital with my ballet class. I was only seven years old and my family planned a dinner celebration. At the table, my father presented me with a little jewelry box. When I opened it, music played and a small plastic pink ballerina burned in a mirror.My family knew how much I loved ballet and understood my dream of becoming a ballet dancer. I didn’t become a ballet dancer, but I still use my favorite gift because it reminds me of my parent’s thoughtfulness.

　　Motto

　　The motto: honesty is the best policy

　　The reasons you chose the motto:

　　- personal philosophy

　　- easier to live with

　　- overall moral good

　　My motto is “honesty is the best policy” because life is easier when we tell the truth. I have felt this way ever since I read the story of Pinocchio, the little marionette whose wooden nose grew whenever he told a lie. It just seems better to deal with the truth. As a result, there are no surprises or stories that don’t match up. It also helps people treat themselves with more self-respect and in turn, others will treat them in a more dignified manner. Lying to others is lying to oneself. If everyone were honest, we would all fell better in our personal lives and in dealing at work.

　　Criticism

　　The criticism: how I looked

　　The reasons you chose this:

　　- lazy, careless in my attitude

　　- attracting undesirable people

　　- but appearance did not mean everything

　　When I was in school, I was criticized because of how I looked. I had long hair of many colors – often a mix of black,blond and blue. My clothes were big and baggy; nobody saw my shoes because my pants were so long and dragged on the ground. I felt comfortable in this way. It was a way of expressing my feelings about the world around me. However, my family didn’t agree with this. They said it made me look lazy and careless in my attitude. People thought I didn’t care about my parents either. They were worried about me and about my appearance attracting undesirable people. I know they were just trying to show their love to me. I was the top student in my class, so to me, looks and appearance didn’t mean everything.

　　Embarrassing Moment

　　The moment: sending an email by mistake

　　The reasons you chose this moment

　　- careless moment

　　- revealed personal information

　　- lost people’s trust

　　My most embarrassing moment came when I recently sent an email careless to the wrong person. A friend revealed personal information to me in an email and asked for my advice. At first, I concentrated on answering him, but then the phone rang and I mistakenly sent it off on another friend in my address book. I sent off a friend’s confession about how he had cheated on his girlfriend, not once, but twice in the same day. The friend who received it happed to be a good friend of the guy’s girlfriend. In this one embarrassing moment I careless revealed private details and might have lost the trust of both friends. I also revealed my stupidity and lack of care – personally very embarrassing.

　　Game

　　The game: skipping

　　The reasons you chose the game:

　　- nostalgia

　　- group singing

　　- regular recess activity

　　In the schoolyard I liked skipping as a child because everyone could be included in the same game at the same time. The older girls at school taught us all the songs. Every time we had recess we would all run out to the yard and take turns turning the rope and all the other girls would sing and jump in and out together. We were together singing songs and exercising; it was a lot of fun. As we grew up and got to be the older girls, we would teach the songs we learned. Skipping was a schoolyard activity that we could all enjoy together and pass on to younger students.

　　Color

　　The reasons you chose the color:pink

　　- happy color

　　- looks good on me

　　- goes with all my outfits

　　In my closet I have clothes of many colors but my favorite color is pink. Pink strikes me as such a happy color. For this reason I feel that I always look good and I feel good when I wear pink. When it is rainy in the winter, I like to wear my pink silk and wool sweater. It makes me feel so warm inside. Pink appears in separate pieces of clothing as well as in some of my accessories such as scarves, hairpins and belts. Gradually I have added pieces to my collection of clothes but they all go together with each other and with the color pink. My wardrobe is coordinated around a color that both flatters me and makes me feel good.

　　Ingredient

　　The ingredient: ground meat

　　The reasons you chose the ingredient

　　- cheap and easy to buy

　　- suit a lot of recipes

　　- stores well

　　The most useful ingredient in my fridge for cooking at home is ground meat because it is inexpensive and suitable for many recipes. It used to be called hamburger meat and was usually beef. Now, it is sold all over as ground turkey, veal, chicken or pork as well as beef. I use it to make my favorite, meatball. Sometimes I use ground meat to make a meat sauce for pasta and then there are meals when I stir fry it into vegetables and put it all on a bed of rice. I even use it in soups. It can be fried, grilled and baked in hundreds of different recipes. Meatloaf is just one of the dishes I can prepare ahead of time with ground meat to have ready for company or when I am busy. Ground meat is the most useful ingredient because it doesn’t cost a lot and cook easily for freshly made meals or to store in freezer for later use.

　　Hobby

　　The hobby: model airplane building

　　The reasons you chose the hobby:

　　- like to work alone and figure out the parts

　　- learn about engineering

　　- touch adventure and history

　　I like building model airplanes as my hobby because it gives me a change of pace from my busy schedule. I have been building model airplanes since I was 10, when my father gave me one as my birthday present. It takes time and concentration to match and glue the small parts and although some people don’t have the patience to do this, I find it very relaxing. Each model teaches me about design and engineering. Sometimes I go to a club where there are others who share my interests. This hobby lets me touch a bit of history and I can imagine the adventure of the original flyers.

　　Car or Vacation

　　Choice A: vacation

　　- in need of a break

　　- a treat

　　- experience of a lifetime

　　Choice B: car

　　- saves time

　　- convenient

　　- long lasting

　　Topic sentence

　　- My choice of prize would be the car over the vacation because it is more practical.

　　Supporting sentences

　　- A car would make my life easier.

　　- A car could help manage the most difficult task.

　　- Having a car would also make a different in our choice of leisure activities.

　　Closing statement (optional)

　　- A car would be the smartest choice because it is so useful and it would last much longer than a holiday.

　　My choice of prize would be the car over the vacation because it is more practical. Although I’m in need of a break now the car’s benefits far outweigh those of the holiday. A car would make my life easier immediately. It would lessen the stress of arriving at appointments on time and I could run errands with less trouble. Moreover, I could manage the single most difficult task of the week with greater efficiency and less strain grocery shopping. Normally, shopping and transporting the family’s weekly grocery needs a great deal of organization. It often means taking a taxi. Having a car would mean more choice in the locations and times we shop. It would also make a difference in our choice of leisure activities. We could drive to far away parks and spend less time to get to movies, school events or family visit. A car would be the smartest choice because it is so useful and it would last much longer that a holiday.

　　Cash or gift

　　Choice A: cash

　　- always useful

　　- easy to give

　　- no risk (size, color, taste)

　　Choice B: gift

　　- surprise

　　- personal

　　- memorable

　　Topic sentence:

　　- Normally I enjoy receiving a gift, but as a student I much prefer getting cash.

　　Supporting sentence:

　　- Cash is the most useful present my parents can give me.

　　- My parents don’t have to spend time shopping or wrapping the gift.

　　- There is no risk of the gift being the wrong size or color.

　　Closing statement (optional)

　　- I prefer receiving a cash gift that can be sued to make a memorable purchase at just the right time with far

　　fewer risks.Normally I enjoy receiving a gift, but as a student I much prefer getting cash. It is true that opening a gift and being surprised is really fun. However, cash is now the most useful present my parent can give me. It saves them time as well.They don’t have to spend time shopping or wrapping the gift. There are no trips to the post office and nothing gets damaged during shipping. Furthermore, there is no risk of the gift being the wrong size or color. Most of all, I appreciate that my parents trust me to spend the money wisely on my own taste on things I feel I need. In the end, I prefer receiving a cash gift that can be sued to make a memorable purchase at just the right time with far fewer risks.