Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The advice you take from the friends who are older than you is more valuable than that taken from the friends at your age. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
你是否同意以下观点?你从年长朋友那里得来的建议总是比同龄朋友的建议有价值得多。请用具体的理由和事例来说明。
When I was a young child, I broke my arm when my friend dared me to jump off the roof of the house while wearing my Superman cape. Left to my own devices, I might not have attempted such a foolhardy stunt in the first place, but my friend seemed to think that I might, indeed, be able to fly, and I so wanted my friend to like me that I would have done any crazy thing he suggested. The morale of this story is clear: Never take advice from someone your own age; find someone who is older and wiser.
The problem is that our peers almost always have the same point of view as we do; they don't necessarily see ahead into the future, but (like us) are focused on the here and now. For example, a friend your own age may advise you to enlist in the army rather than go to college. Perhaps this friend is himself planning to enlist, and so is looking for someone else to validate his own decision. An older friend, one who has perhaps been in the army or graduated from college, is in a much better position to give you advice that will be most useful to your particular situation.
“Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.” This quote from U.S. Senator Bob Packwood highlights the reason why advice from older friends is so valuable. Those older than us have already made the mistakes that they are trying to help us avoid. Perhaps it was a love affair that soured-our older friend can tell us what went wrong and what signs to look for in our own interpersonal relationships. Maybe it was a risky venture that led to bankruptcy-our older friend can save us not only time but also money, by encouraging us to look carefully before we leap into what might turn out to be a Ponzi scheme.
In sports, as in life in general, we need to turn to our coaches, not our fellow athletes, for advice. What Olympic gymnast, for example, would ask another gymnast for advice on how to best perform on the balance beam? Her coach is the one who can best guide her, with a wealth of experience and a broad perspective. When it comes to asking for help, it is always better to listen to a more mature point of view.