2012年8月19日托福独立写作真题附范文:汽车和飞机的影响力

Although the invention of the airplane did revolutionalize the world's long-distance travelling, what has really changed the way people live would be the car. In terms of the impact on society, the automobile would not be replaced by the airplane, as if the horse having been replaced by the automobile. To explain the importance of the motorized vehicles on ground transportation over that of the flying vehicles, one has only to decide which one would be more difficult to do without. The airplane became the symbol of the twentieth century as did the automobile in the nineteenth century. The flying vehicle is shrinking the planet to the point that a person can fly anywhere in the world in a matter of hours. Not only have modern jet planes made travel fast and safe, but they have provided many other services that could be of help to society. The benefits range from crop dusting to fighting forest fires to overnight delivery of packages and merchandise to chasing hurricanes. Also, the impact of the aviation technology has redefined the warfare, turning battle into a long-range affair fought at arm's length. In view of these advantages, it seems hard to do without the airplane. Nevertheless, it seems even harder to do without the automobile. To begin with, mathematics matters. The number of motorized vehicles far exceeds that of flying vehicles by hundreds of millions, which may serve to explain the over-riding effects of engine carts on wheel over the routine lives of the most people. Once the automobile became a practical and reliable source of transportation in the past century, it changed almost everything world-wide. The horse and cart began to disappear gradually while much of the country was paved over to make room for endless ribbons of asphalt. Among other things, the automobile has brought about obvious economic effects, making it possible to truck in goods that would otherwise be difficult to acquire. More than the airplane, the automobile gives people such a degree of mobility and personal freedom as never before seen. In comparing the influence of both types of transportation, the automobile appears to be more important than the airplane since it affects more people's lives more directly. Without the automobile, it is no doubt unpleasant to imagine using the horse and cart again, particularly during the summer heat with intolerable odor and manure. However, without the airplane, people could still dream to fly anytime.