雅思2016年下半年的的考试中, 一个关于传统传承的问题打破了今年考试命题的中规中矩的规律. 尽管文化传承一直是雅思大作文考试的话题之一, 但是纵观历年考试真题，不难发现其出现的频率寥寥无几。下面一起看看这道考试题吧!
考题如下：
Many countries are trying to improve the standard of living of their people through economic development. However, some people think that many customs and the traditional ways of behaviors are no longer relevant to the modern life and no worth keeping. To what extent do you agree or disagree? 20160910
尽管本题的题干部分内容比较清晰，但是还是有很多考生在最开始审题阶段出现了一些关键词的遗漏。其实本题中的一个词many是起到一个较为关键的作用的。因为，如果想否定本题干的话，那么对应many的无非就是a few或者all。换句话说，如果笔者观点是完全不同意题干，那么笔者要证明的是只有一些或少许的传统要被摒弃，或者是所有的传统都需要被传承或被摒弃。很明显，这个逻辑是极其不好论证的。所以，在考场当中考生完全没有必要给自己肆意增加考试难度，老老实实地同意题干即可。
参考文章如下：
In this present-day society, it seems that contradictions always exist between cultural and traditional inheritance and social advancement. Some people, accordingly, suggest that some customs and conventional behavioral norms should not emerge into people’s modern life. Personally, I am completely on the side of what they argue.
首段的写法讨论很深，通过背景描述引出题干的转写。随后清晰地表达了笔者的观点。这个开头段清晰明了，结构严谨。
Some ancient moral standards and traditions have formed due to the limited social resources that they could share. An instance in point is that a couple of hundred years ago, three or even four generations of Chinese in a huge family lived under one roof. Consequently, conflicts happened all the time because of generation gaps. The reason why people chose to live together as a large family was because older generations in the ancient society had not ability to make a decent living so that they needed support from their offspring. Definitely, in modern society with a sound welfare system, people are able to live in a small family unit with much more exhilaration.
主段一，在首句表达了笔者的论点一，既是这段的中心句。随后，笔者采用了例证的方式来拓展这个论点。因为文化和传统类的话题论证往往较为抽象，容易使笔者在逻辑表达的时候陷入困境。因此，本文重点使用例证的方式。通过具体的例子来论证提出的论点，这样清晰明了，逻辑容易被读者接受。
Worse, some other customs and traditions came into being because of people’s wrong cognition to the world they were living in. Those traditions might include discriminations to some certain groups of people. In agricultural societies, females were not as productive as males, which led to the fact that men did have upper social status and women were not allowed to do many things that they were supposed to have rights to choose. Undoubtedly, in contemporary societies women have equal rights as men, and thus they can be treated fairly everywhere such as in education and employment.
主段二，整体结构和主段一相似。也是通过例证的方式来展开论点。由关乎男女不平等的习俗和传统来论证一些传统的形成源自人们对世界认知的错误，甚至这些传统和习俗饱含了对特定人群的其实。仔细思量，这类习俗可不占少数。
To sum up, some traditions and cultures, if not most, are obviously incorrect, and with no doubt we must abandon them. On the other hand, there are also some others that we should pay every effort to pass down generation to generation, which can positively represent our time-honored culture and fine traditions of nations.
结尾段，首先再次重申了笔者的观点，并且还表明了笔者对于一些积极的传统和习俗的肯定。本段的第二句实则就是对应题干中的many，强调其并非是all习俗和行为规范都需要被摒弃。
传统和文化的传承类的题目一直比较困扰考生，最主要的是论点难想。并且，即使找到论点也往往由于论点较为抽象不易论证而影响了考生的最后得分。如下几个相关题目，考生们可以练习分析一下：
Some people think governments should spend money on measures to save languages with few speakers from dying out completely. Others think this is a waste of financial resources. Discuss both and give your own opinion. 20110315
We have a mixture of people from different culture and ethnic groups in a country. Why? Is this a positive or negative development? 20121013
The restoration of old buildings in major cities in the world costs numerous governments’ expenditures. This money should be used in new housing and road development. To what extent do you agree or disagree? 20130727
Traditional food is being replaced by international fast food. This has negative effects on family and society. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
