Part I Writing (30 minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay based on the picture below. You should start your essay with a brief description of the picture and then comment on this kind of modern life. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
参考答案：
As is graphically depicted in the cartoon, modern life has been dominated by computers. No matter the young man is in the office, at home, and in his spare time, the only friend he has is a computer. Even when he sleeps, what is in his dream is still the computer. Apparently, the cartoon aims to reveal the fact that the computer has begun to play a negative role in the modern life.
The reasons why modern people are tied up with computers are as follows. To begin with, they have become increasingly busier in making money; therefore, they need a quick way to outlet their pressure and exhaustion and computer is their ideal companion. Moreover, computers can assist people to deal with complicated working stuff, make friends, and entertain themselves because they have become growingly powerful and everything else is linked with them. For instance, two decades ago, computers were far from popular and people used them to to practice typing letters and do basic works. However, with the Internet becoming pervasive, computers have integrated music, films, shopping, and everything we like into their worlds. Now,when we power on the all-mighty computers, what we want is out there for us.
To sum up, this lifestyle is absolutely imperfect. In order to lead a healthy life, we are supposed to do more exercises and expose ourselves to the tangible world. Meanwhile, it is about time that we powered the computer off and talked with our friends and familily face-to-face. Only in these ways will modern life become more beautiful for you and me.