为大家带来2012年3月17日的托福写作真题：News media are important in modern society.Why are they so important? Are their influences generally positive or negative??该大作文为媒体类话题，请看范文详情：
托福写作大作文题目讲解
【关键词分析】
media
media来源于拉丁语，是medium的复数形式。因此这个词在英语中大多是用作复数形式，是各种媒体的总称。具体包括：print media(平面媒体)，如newspaper, magazine;broadcast media(电波媒体)，如radio, television, 以及new media(新媒体)，主要指the Internet. 以上这些媒体又可以称之为mass media(大众媒体)。
news media
本文应当围绕新闻媒体来展开，不要提到媒体的娱乐功能。
【话题分类与题型】
本题是老题新出，与2005年6月25日、2009年3月5日、2009年8月22日的话题基本一致。属于“媒体与广告”类话题的“新闻与媒体”分支。媒体类话题在2011年共出现6次，这次是2012年首次出现，上一次出现是在2011年11月17日。
该题属于混搭类题型(原因+利弊分析)，兼备说明文和议论文的写法(与09年3月5日的题型一致)。混搭题型是近期说明文考察的重点，2011年共出现7次，而标准的说明文(问题+原因+影响+解决方法)仅出现4次，因此在写作的时候应当特别留意混搭题型。
【话题评价】
媒体与广告类话题共有“新闻与媒体”、“媒体审查制度”以及“广告”三大主题。本题在“十大话题万能分类题库”中属于母题，因此只要做好充足的复习准备，难度不大。
【类似话题】
1. Some people think that the news media nowadays have influenced people’s lives in negative ways. To what extent do you agree or disagree? (050625)
2. Newspapers have an enormous influence on people's ideas and opinions. Why is this the case? Do you think it is positive or negative? (090305)
3. News media is more influential nowadays. Some people think it is a negative development. To what extent do you agree or disagree? (090822)
【题型解析】
混搭题型主要有常见的几种出题方式：原因+利弊分析、原因+同意与否(针对题目中所给出的解决方法)、同意与否+解决方法。回答时一定要紧扣问题。
此题属于“原因+利弊分析”题型，也是混搭类出现最多的类型。这种题目在解答时要注意，第二问建议大家写成双边支持，即好处和坏处都有，这样一来观点容易构思，字数容易达到，二来考官觉得考生思维比较全面。
大家可以思考一下下面这道相同题型的题目：
Some employers think that formal academic qualifications are more important than life experiences and personal qualities when they look for an employee. Why is it the case? Is it a positive or negative development? (071013)
【解题思路】
本文建议采用五段式。正文分三段，分别交代原因、好处、坏处。
原因：信息化时代information era的到来和全球一体化globalisation的发展使得现代人越来越依赖于媒体传递的信息。
好处：新闻给人们提供了大量的信息。关于国家的政治动向、政策变化的报道可以指导个人和公司的发展计划、投资理财;天气预报、路况信息等为个人的出行提供了指导;一些针对社会弱势群体的社会新闻也唤起公众的同情心，使有困难的人得到社会的帮助。
坏处：有些新闻来源不靠谱，特别是网络媒体。由于人人都可以通过twitter之类的社交网站social networking site来传播信息，因此给谣言rumour的传播提供了可能。有些媒体受政党控制，因此传递的是一些带偏见biased的消息，公众无法客观地从媒体中 获取真相。甚至有些无良记者unscrupulous journalists为了引起轰动sensation，通过捏造一些假新闻chequebook journalism来吸引读者眼球。
结论：国家可以出台相关的法律法规related laws and regulations should be constituted，媒体应该进行自我审查impose auto-censorship，来规范媒体和记者的行为。而公众应当有独立思考能力和批判性思维能力independent thinking and critical thinking ability，来辨别新闻的真假。
托福写作范文
I think the news media mainly plays two important roles in modern society – providing information and influencing public opinion – and I think its influence is generally positive.
Obviously, the news media provides people with vast amounts of information in various forms. We can access it by listening to the radio, reading newspapers and magazines, watching television and by surfing the Internet. The ability to access news media is important for individuals and organizations because we make many decisions based on the news provided to us. Some of these decisions are mundane. We check the weather forecast to see whether we should take an umbrella to work. Other news, such as that about the business world, could influence whether we invest our savings in certain companies listed on the stock exchange.
The news is often presented to us in certain ways, using specific words to try to control our feelings and thoughts. This can be the main negative influence of the news media. Very often, the news media portrays people in simplistic ways, giving us some facts, but not the whole story. In the USA, some news media tends to support the Republicans whilst others tend towards the Democrats and the portrayal of individuals can reflect this. This is somewhat inevitable, because the editors, journalists and owners of the news media have opinions and biases. So, I think that it would be better if people checked news stories from different sources instead of only using one source.
Despite the fact that the news media can report events incorrectly or with bias, I think that the general influence on society is good. More factual information gives us the chance to make better decisions, both in our personal lives and in our working lives.
