Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? In modern society, the ability to speak well is more important than the ability to write well.
Currently, people are having a heated debate about which is more important, the ability to speak well or the ability to write well? In my opinion, the importance of both abilities depends on the situation people are in, or what vocation they take.
Consider teachers. as the major job of a teacher is to impart knowledge to the students, they must acquire the ability to get themselves across. So they have a prior preference to the ability of speaking well. Recall my favorite teacher Miss Shi, she is a serious and rigid women who taught me the most boring course, physics. But she has an incomparable ability to interpret clearly and logically that makes her one of the most popular teacher ever in my school. Her extraordinary ability to speak well really eases our pains during the arduous process of learning the Relative Theories of Einstein.
Consider lawyers. That’s another profession that has a high demand for excellent ability of speaking well. In fact, lawyers are making a living by their eloquence. They are made to defend their clients on the court, and the final decisions of the judges are heavily affected by their performances. If a lawyer can always win a debate and succeed in persuading the judge and jury to accept his client, he would earn a reputation, bringing him more business and tremendous wealth and fame. The key factor of all his dreams is to obtain the ability to speak well.
But under other circumstances, the ability to write well is more emphasized. Take novelist as an example, the public would have a high expectation on his works other than anything else. That is to say, the only thing concerned is his ability to write well. In fact, many eminent novelists are introverted and with few words. Only in the state of inner peace are they able to sample life more thoroughly. so it is the depth of reflection and the degree of expression that are vital to their success, which have a close relationship with the ability to write well but nothing to do with the ability to speak well.
In sum, we can draw a safe conclusion from the discussion above, that the ability to write well and the ability to speak well play a different role under different circumstances. Generally speaking, when it come to interacting and communicating with others, the ability to speak is more important, otherwise the ability to write is more important.
TOEFL listening discussions: Which best describes the student’s current activity?