2020年9-12月雅思口语part2&3答案：和老朋友接触的经历

　　2020年9-12月雅思口语part2&3答案：和老朋友接触的经历

　　Describe a time you got into contact with an old friend.

　　You should say:

　　Who he or she is

　　When and where you met

　　What you talked about

　　And explain how you felt about this experience

　　This is a really good question for me, because I’ve a number of stories about this topic! I’ll tell you why: I’m a really social person, and I also went to school, primary and secondary school, before the age of WeChat and social media, so I actually remember the days when you basically had to visit your friends, or phone their parents to ask them if they were coming out to play… Anyway, so as the years went by we lost touch with a lot of friends, and only really got back in touch with them because of the introduction of social media in mainstream society. The one I was especially pleased about getting back in contact with was a girl called Xiao Shuang, she was a petite, pretty, quiet, but super-intelligent girl who was most certainly my best friend for many years in school. She had an amazing sense of humour too, and I’ll never forget her jokes and pranks in class. Anyway, we got in touch, exchanged contact details, and met in person in Beijing. It was great to see how much she had grown up and changed, although she maintained the same sense of humour and attitude to life as before. We met around the Lama temple area of Beijing, and we went to drink a coffee in one of cute coffee shops in a street called Wu Dao Ying. The café we chose to meet in was dedicated to cats! Yes, there are lots of cats in this café – real cats as well as pictures and ornaments of cats. We talked about our studies, life now, life then, how things have changed, and our aspirations for the future. I found it particularly interesting to discuss with her how she had changed, how her interests in life had developed and the challenges she had faced over the years when we had been out of touch with each other. It made me realise that I should make more effort to get in touch with more old friends from the past – and that it’s definitely worth it. We learn a lot from sharing experiences with other people and keeping in touch with people we knew in childhood. So, all in all meeting Xiao Shuang after all these years was a brilliant experience and I would strongly recommend that anyone make every effort to get back in touch with old school friends.

　　Part 3

　　1. Why do people lose contact with their friends after graduation?

　　People lose contact with some friends for a variety of reasons. One reason is that their paths in life diverge and their lives go in different directions. They lose common interests and goals, and life moves on, their ambitions change and their priorities differ. This is not always the case, but sometimes is what happens, often gradually over time. It’s a common reason anyway. Another reason might be that you end up losing your friends’ contact details, though today this is less common because people are often connected quite extensively with many friends and friends of friends via various online social media accounts.

　　2. How does modern technology influence friendship?

　　Modern technology influences friendships by enabling people to keep in touch all the time with friends and families, enabling people to see each other’s daily updates on things like WeChat Moments and other social utilities and platforms, and also enabling people to make new friends through online friends and dating sites. Also, there are a lot of online forums where people can post comments, opinions, ideas and share their experiences around specific or general topics and themes – often those that get along or share similar views on these forums, can make friends with each other and then develop those friendships. So, modern technology, mostly internet-based technology and software, has a huge impact on friendships and relationships. From enabling people to nurture existing friendships, to helping people make new friends.

　　3. Do you think people’s relationship with friends will change when they get older?

　　I think that friendships do evolve and change over time, and as we get older we have slightly different relationships with our friends, yes. It really depends. One example might be that as people get older maybe they have less time to spend with friends, and more responsibilities, so they might stay in touch with less friends, or be more selective about the friends they do spend time with. Children tend to play with a wider variety of friends, also because they are less discerning and have less prejudices. As we get older we take stronger likes and dislikes to people and also have less time for people who we might not immediately get along with or share common ground with. Evolving friendships are different too – adults who really want to maintain friendships will make efforts to develop them and be emotionally supportive of friends, and as the years go by, that can make friendships stronger, and last into old age. These are arguably the most valuable friendships.

　　4. Some people believe that friendship is more important to young people compared with old people. What do you think of it?

　　Yes, I think this is the case. Young people are very keen to play and go out with friends, and are more energetic and active. As I mentioned earlier, they are also perhaps less discerning about who they choose as friends and maybe have a wider variety of friends with varied interests. I think older people have less energy for going out socializing or meeting new people, and they are more comfortable with family, or hanging around with the few friends that they have had for many years. Obviously, it also depends on the personality of the individual – some people, regardless of age, are simply more social and extrovert than others, and more keen to keep friendships going and make new friends, whilst others prefer a calmer, more introvert lifestyle at home, with family, or spending a lot of time alone and without the responsibility of dealing with multiple friendships and the demands they can bring with them.