TOEFL作文范例

Traveling is more important than reading books in order to understand the people and the world.Do you agree or disagree with this statement?Use specific reasons to support your answer. 　　Something we all have to do as we get older is to accept the opinions of others. On the question whether it is better to travel or to read,I have for a long time admitted that travelers have a strong arument. Privately, however, I cherish my hours of reading as something sared. Deep down I disagree with the above statement and support the superiority of books. 　　Although some writers have themselves been hardened travelers-Herman Melville is a pre-eminent example-many great minds never bothered to travel. There is no evidence to suggest that Shakespeare ever left England. What is more, Napoleon claimed that he knew no more about warfare on the eve of Waterloo than he did on the eve of his first battle. He believed that his military genuis derived from reading three or four essential books during his childhood. Similarly, it has been said that Mao?Great strength was that he was a poet who understood the narrative of history. To be sure, Shakespeare, Napoleon and Mao understood people. 　　Good books allow the reader to harvest the experience of others. Travels are interesting to read; and no doubt he led an extraordinary life. But the reader has the benefit that he can read up on the lives of many famous travelers; whereas the traveler journeys through only his own life. Providing that the bookworm is selective and thorough in his reading, he can enjoy the wisdom of centuries. 　　Another reason why I secretly dispute the above statement is that I believe that the answers to life begin at home. Self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom. Once a man has discovered himself through reading, he is ready to understand foreign people. A man who is genuinely knowledgeable about his own country will also be more interesting to foreigners. 　　To take the above point to an extreme, sometimes a certain type of person travels in order to run away from himself or herself and his or her problems. If a person can not learn love, friendship and respect in a community of , shall we say, five hundred villagers, that person will not find friendship in a country of five hundred million. 　　Whenever I have traveled, I have felt enriched by the experience. But I do not feel that, for me, traveling could ever equal the miracle of my first book, and of awakening to the possibility that the universe is a narrative.