【甚解小组】【TASK 1】AW Intro 读后感 FROM 周九

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While the writer handles language and syntax well, several lapses in clarity keep this otherwise well-argued response out of the 6 category. The problems vary from the lack of a pronoun referent ("When a sickness progresses or becomes diagnosed, . . . he may be referred to a specialist") to an error in parallel structure ("how it begins, progresses and specified treatments"), to loose syntax and imprecise language ("Generalized teachers are required to begin molding students at a very early age so they can get ready for the future ahead of them in gaining more facts about the basic subjects.")

Essay Response – Score 4

Specialists are just what their name says: people who specialize in one part of a very general scheme of things. (这种定义。。。名词解释弄不清，可以做名词比较嘛。。。) A person can't know everything there is to know about everything. This is why specialists are helpful. You can take one general concept and divide it up three ways and have three fully developed different concepts instead of one general concept that no one really knows about. Isn't it better to really know something well, than to know everything half-way.

Take a special ed teacher compared to a general ed teacher. The general ed teacher knows how to deal with most students. She knows how to teach a subject to a student that is on a normal level. But what would happen to the child in the back of the room with dyslexia? She would be so lost in that general ed classroom that she would not only not learn, but be frustrated and quite possibly, have low self-esteem and hate school. If there is a special ed teacher there who specializes in children with learning disabilities, she can teach the general ed teacher how to cope with this student as well as modify the curriculum so that the student can learn along with the others. The special ed teacher can also take that child for a few hours each day and work with her on her reading difficulty one-on-one, which a general ed teacher never would have time to do. A general ed teacher can't know what a special ed teacher knows and a special ed teacher can't know what a general ed teacher knows.（这话说得。。。太别扭。。。） But the two of them working together and specializing in their own things can really get a lot more accomplished. The special ed teacher is also trained to work on the child's self-esteem, which has a big part in how successful this child will be. Every child in the United States of America has the right to an equal education. How can a child with a learning disability receive the same equal education as a general ed student if there was no specialist there to help both teacher and child?

Another thing to consider is how a committee is supposed to work together. Each person has a special task to accomplish and when these people all come together, with their tasks finished, every aspect of the community's work is completely covered. Nothing is left undone. In this case there are many different specialists to meet the general goal of the committee.

When you take into account that a specialist contributes only a small part of the generalist aspect, it seems ridiculous to say that specialists are overrated. The generalists looks to the specialists any time they need help or clarification on their broad aspect. Specialists and generalists are part of the same system, so if a specialist is overrated, then so is a generalist.

Reader Commentary for Essay Response – Score 4

This is an adequate analysis of the issue. After a somewhat confusing attempt to define "specialists" in the introductory paragraph, the writer presents a pertinent example (the special education teacher) to illustrate the importance of specialists. The example dominates the response and contributes positively to the overall score of 4.

开头确实读起来很混乱，但作者肯定自己写的时候深以为然，就想我写完之后，别人读起来一头雾水，我还觉得写得太有道理了。。。改~~~
这个特教的例子简直就这篇文章于水火呀~

The second example, how a committee works, is less persuasive. However, it does seem to help clarify the writer's definition of "general" as an umbrella term meaning the total collection of what specialists know about a topic

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Essay Response – Score 5

Specialists are not overrated today. More generalists may be needed, but not to overshadow the specialists.（直接说题目if then里，if的不对，但then还是可以成立的。）Generalists can provide a great deal of information on many topics of interest with a broad range of ideas. People who look at the overall view of things can help with some of the large problems our society faces today. But specialists are necessary to gain a better understanding of more in depth methods to solve problems or fixing things.

One good example of why specialists are not overrated is in the medical field.（限定讨论范围，medical area） Doctors are necessary for people to live healthy lives. When a person is sick, he may go to a general practitioner to find out the cause of his problems. Usually, this kind of "generalized" doctor can help most ailments with simple and effective treatments. Sometimes, though, a sickness may go beyond a family doctor's knowledge or the prescribed treatments don't work the way they should. When a sickness progresses or becomes diagnosed as a disease that requires more care than a family doctor can provide, he may be referred to a specialist. For instance, a person with constant breathing problems that require hospitalization may be suggested to visit an asthma specialist. Since a family doctor has a great deal of knowledge of medicine, he can decide when his methods are not effective and the patient needs to see someone who knows more about the specific problem; someone who knows how it begins, progresses, and specified treatments. This is an excellent example of how a generalied person may not be equipped enough to handle something as well as a specialized one can.

Another example of a specialist who is needed instead of a generalist involves teaching（先限定范围）. In grammar school, children learn all the basic principles of reading, writing, and arithematic. But as children get older and progress in school, they gain a better understanding of the language and mathematical processes. As the years in school increase, they need to learn more and more specifics and details about various subjects. They start out by learning basic math concepts such as addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication. A few years later, they are ready to begin algebraic concepts, geometry, and calculus. They are also ready to learn more advanced vocabulary, the principles of how all life is composed and how it functions. One teacher or professor can not provide as much in depth discussion on all of these topics as well as one who has learned the specifics and studied mainly to know everything that is currently known about one of these subjects. Generalized teachers are required to begin molding students at a very early age so they can get ready for the future ahead of them in gaining more facts about the basic subjects and finding out new facts on the old ones.

These are only two examples of why specialists are not highly overrated and more generalists are not necessary to the point of overshadowing them. Generalists are needed to give the public a broad understanding of some things. But, specialists are important to help maintain the status, health, and safety
of our society. Specialists are very necessary.

Reader Commentary for Essay Response – Score 5

This writer presents a well-developed analysis of the complexities of the issue by discussing the need for both the generalist and the specialist.

这篇文章的特点真的是太well-developed了

The argument is rooted in two extended examples, both well chosen. The first (paragraph 2) begins with a discussion of the necessity for medical generalists (the general practitioner) as well as specialists and moves into an example within the example (breathing problems and the need for an asthma specialist). This extension from the general to the specific characterizes the example in the next paragraph as well. There, the discussion centers on education from elementary to high school, from basic arithmetic to calculus.
The smooth development is aided by the use of appropriate transitions: "but," "usually," and "for instance," among others. The essay ends by revisiting the writer's thesis.

这篇文章的论证严谨，例子，语言都没有什么激动人心的地方，估计rater也不爱看，但这个论证的严谨让你很难挑错，谁让ets的标准时critically thinking and persuasive writing呢，不是说写一篇好看的文章，我觉得这篇文章可被严谨的地方要比6分那篇大，恩~

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that existed during their times, now, no one individual can possibly digest and assimilate all of the knowledge in any given area.

On the other hand, Over specialization means narrow focii in which people can lose the larger picture. No one can hope to understand the human body by only inspecting one's own toe-nails. What we learn from a narrow focus may be internally logically coherent but may be irrelevant or fallacious within the framework of a broader perspective. Further, if we inspect only our toe-nails, we may conclude that the whole body is hard and white. Useful conclusions and thus perhaps useful inventions must come by sharing among specialists. Simply throwing out various discovieries means we have a pile of useless discoveries, it is only when one can make with them a mosaic that we can see that they may form a picture.

Not only may over-specialization be dangerous in terms of the truth, purity and cohesion of knowledge, but it can also serve to drown moral or universall issues. Generalists and only generalists can see a broad enough picture to realize and introduce to the world the problems of the environment. With specialization, each person focusses on their research and their goals. Thus, industrialization, expansion, and new technologies are driven ahead. Meanwhile no individual can see the wholisitc view of our global existence in which true advancement may mean stifling individual specialists for the greater good of all.

Finally, over-specialization in a people's daily lives and jobs has meant personal and psychological compartmentalization. People are forced into pigeon holes early in life (at least by university) and must conciously attempt to consume external forms of stimuli and information in order not to be lost in their small and isolated universe. Not only does this make for narrowly focussed and generally pooprly-educated individuals, but it guarantees a sense of loss of community, often followed by a feeling of psychological displacement and personal dissatisfaction.

Without generalists, society becomes inward-looking and eventually inefficient. Without a society that recongnizes the impotance of braod-mindedness and fora for sharing generalities, individuals become isolated. Thus, while our form of society necessitates specialists, generalists are equally important. Specialists drive us forward in a series of thrusts while generalists make sure we are still on the jousting field and know what the stakes are.

Reader Commentary for Essay Response – Score 6

This is an outstanding analysis of the issue—insightful, well reasoned, and highly effective in its use of language. (我觉得最大的优势就是highly effective use of language, 非常好的reasoned到说不上。作者的语言很讨巧，但我已经进化成不喜欢花言巧语的成熟女性啦)The introductory paragraph announces the writer's position on the issue and provides the context within which the writer will develop that position: "In this era of rapid social and technological change leading to increasing life complexity and psychological displacement . . . ."（又想到，人家这个大长定语时为了限定society的范围，为了后面论证服务，非常扣题，那些提供这种模板的老师，我们后面有没有内容和它呼应，用上以后多诡异呀。。。）

The argument itself has two parts. The first part presents a compelling case for specialization, primarily in the field of medicine. The second part presents an equally compelling, well-organized case against overspecialization based on three main reasons:

• logical (narrowly trained specialists often fail to understand the whole)

• moral (usually generalists understand what is needed for "the greater good")

• personal (specializing/pigeonholing too early can be psychologically damaging)

我在想，作者是如何想到从logical, moral, personal来论述这个问题的呢，因为从作者的语言感觉他并不是有logical强调的人。我如何也能站在如此高度来审视问题呢？后来看issue题目的时候，我有了个“瞎想”，作者从前面的rapid social and technological change的，increasing life complexity and psychological displacement 的western society 限定范围，是为了后面说明现今western society面临的几个很受关注的问题，换成汉语的话，你我也都熟，行业分工过细（narrowly trained specialists），可持续发展（作者真是很有文采和机智，神马例子都能为其所用。。。连这种问题都能和generalists and specialists 靠上, ‘the greater good’），科技带来的人与人之间的疏离（issue 题目呀），作者文笔确实好哇。。。

The argument's careful line of reasoning is further strengthened by the skillful use of expert testimony (quotation from a prominent medical researcher) and vivid metaphor (to inspect only one's toenails is to ignore the whole body).

It is not only the reasoning that distinguishes this response. The language is precise and often figurative ("bogged down in a Sargasso sea of information overload," "a pile of useless discoveries," and "specialists drive us forward in a series of thrusts, while generalists make sure we are still on the jousting field"). The reader is constantly guided through the argument by transitional phrases and ideas that help organize the ideas and move the argument forward. This is an exceptionally fine response to the topic.

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particular society or country, from one or more areas of society, or from various situations. It might focus on the role of generalists and specialists in relation to communications, transportation, politics, information, or technology. Any of these approaches is valid, so long as you use relevant reasons and examples to support your position.

可以narrow down ‘society’, 我不会想到narrow down society，之后从很大的概念上讲generalist 和 specialist对整个社会的作用，但现在，如果确定到中国电力领域的情况，整个论证过程就可以更cogent，不会被rater认为有中途偷换概念之嫌，而且很可能，我为了论证方便，频繁更换society的范围。
the role of the generalists and specialists这个到容易想到，但应该也不会细化到communications, transportation, politics, information or technology.
越读intro，越让我觉得issue和argument的真滴是assess the ability of critical thinking and persuasive writing skills. 不是看你有没有真知灼见，而是看你会不会logically的阐述证明自己的观点。这也就让我想到一个问题，论证一个命题，让它在某些条件下成立，远远要比一个命题，在任何情况下都成立，要容易得多。再有，issue task里面的topic，是不存在公理的，所以也就不可能在很笼统的情况下证明哪儿哪儿都对。Thus，把每个topic都仔细限定下范围，会不会让我滴issue更sound呢？

Before you stake out a position, take a few moments to reread the claim. To analyze it, consider questions such as these:

• What are the main differences between specialists and generalists? What are the strong points of each?


比较两个东西，它们的区别是什么？主要区别呢？

• Do these differences always hold in various professions or situations? Could there be some specialists, for example, who also need to have very broad knowledge and general abilities to perform their work well?

这些区别在某些情况下，有交集么？

• How do generalists and specialists function in your field?

联系实际

• What value do you think society places on specialists and generalists? Are specialists overvalued in some situations, and not in others?

讨论另一个关键词，value~

• Does society really need more generalists than it has? If so, what needs would they serve?

if,then中的then能成立木？如果成立，在什么情况下成立

Now you can organize your thoughts into two groups:

• Reasons and examples to support the claim
• Reasons and examples to support an opposing point of view

If you find one view clearly more persuasive than the other, consider developing an argument from that perspective. As you build your argument, keep in mind the other points, which you could argue against. If both groups have compelling points, consider developing a position supporting, not the stated claim, but a more limited or more complex claim. Then you can use reasons and examples from both sides to justify your position.

以上所有，感觉ets都在建议，要选一个对自己有利的角度去判断，但很多人都有选择impossible task的情节，越是不好做，越要试试，这个需要注意哇。

此外，还有一项，就是众多人推荐的两边平衡写法，但看完ets的说明，我觉得平衡写法更难，因为需要一个比现有stated claim更详细，复杂的claim。但我觉得很多文章，并没有在论述一个more limited or more complex claim，依然还是对原有claim进行评说。ets当然知道这个claim可以两边说了，不用我们再废话了。。。


Essay Responses and Reader Commentary

Essay Response * – Score 6

In this era of rapid social and technological change leading to increasing life complexity and psychological displacement, both positive and negative effects among persons in Western society call for a balance in which there are both specialists and generalists.

原来这句的模板就打这儿来的。。。我都见过好多这么写的了，从雅思托福到gre。。。poor rater。。。这篇文章就是两面说的文章，特意注意了下，它真的limited claim啦， 是一个科技飞速发展的现代西方社会，en~我相信，要是个非洲土著部落，情况肯定大大的不同，所以分类分的还是很有效的

（Reason）Specialists are necessary in order to allow society as a whole to properly and usefully assimilate the masses of new information and knowledge that have come out of research and have been widely disseminated through mass global media. (Example) As the head of Pharmacology at my university once said (and I paraphrase):"I can only research what I do because there are so many who have come before me to whom I can turn for basic knowledge. It is only because of each of the narrowly focussed individuals at each step that a full and true understanding of the complexities of life can be had. Each person can only hold enough knowledge to add one small rung to the ladder, but together we can climb to the moon." (Reason)This illustrates the point that our societies level of knowledge and technology is at a stage in which there simply must be specialists in order for our society to take advantage of the information available to us.
Simply put, without specialists, our society would find itself bogged down in the Sargasso sea of information overload. While it was fine for early physicists to learn and understand the few laws and ideas

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each score point in the guide. Comparing your own response to the scoring guide will help you see how and where you might need to improve.

Deciding Which Issue Topic to Choose

Remember that the General Test will contain two Issue topics from the published pool; you must choose one of these two. Because the 45-minute timing begins when you first see the two topics, you should not spend too much time making a decision. Instead, try to choose fairly quickly the issue that you feel better prepared to discuss.

看了ets预设你已经prepared过了，让我彻底断了裸考的念想。。。

Before making a choice, read each topic carefully. Then decide on which topic you could develop a more effective and well-reasoned argument. In making this decision, you might ask yourself:

• Which topic do I find more interesting or engaging?

• Which topic more closely relates to my own academic studies or other experiences?

• On which topic can I more clearly explain and defend my perspective?

• On which topic can I more readily think of strong reasons and examples to support my position?

Your answers to these questions should help you make your choice.

The Form of Your Response

You are free to organize and develop your response in any way that you think will effectively communicate your ideas about the issue. Your response may, but need not, incorporate particular writing strategies learned in English composition or writing-intensive college courses. GRE readers will not be looking for a particular developmental strategy or mode of writing; in fact, when GRE readers are trained, they review hundreds of Issue responses that, although highly diverse in content and form, display similar levels of critical thinking and persuasive writing. Readers will see, for example, some Issue responses at the 6 score level that begin by briefly summarizing the writer's position on the issue and then explicitly announcing the main points to be argued. They will see others that lead into the writer's position by making a prediction, asking a series of questions, describing a scenario, or defining critical terms in the quotation. The readers know that a writer can earn a high score by giving multiple examples or by presenting a single, extended example. Look at the sample Issue responses, particularly at the 5 and 6 score levels, to see how other writers have successfully developed and organized their arguments.

You should use as many or as few paragraphs as you consider appropriate for your argument—for example, you will probably need to create a new paragraph whenever your discussion shifts to a new cluster of ideas.

What matters is not the number of examples, the number of paragraphs, or the form your argument takes but, rather, the cogency of your ideas about the issue and the clarity and skill with which you communicate those ideas to academic readers.

Sample Issue Topic
“In our time, specialists of all kinds are highly overrated. We need more generalists—people who can provide broad perspectives."

Strategies for this Topic

This claim raises several related questions: What does it mean to be a generalist or a specialist, and what value do they have for society?（上文说的define a term） Does society actually need more generalists, and are specialists, in fact, “highly overrated?”(if之后then成功了木？)

There are several basic positions you could take on this issue: Yes, society needs more generalists and places too high a value on specialists. No, the opposite is true. Or, it depends on various factors. Or, both groups are important in today’s culture; neither is overvalued. Your analysis might draw examples from a

周九UID：2769406

19# lasselore
rp收到，谢谢啦

周九UID：2769406

19# lasselore
是哒。。。我就是甚解小组的组长。。。。⊙﹏⊙b汗

紫陌纤尘o0UID：2745492

偶也是偶也是~~~
咖啡盐 发表于 2011-1-23 02:28

那你好好研究噢，那天小乔还提到你了…看来你人脉很好嘛～

咖啡盐UID：2973669

16# 咖啡盐  
哦？我只记得有其他人用多啦美作头像，哪天摸去看看
周九 发表于 2011-1-23 02:30

我也重视intro的...不是头像

周九UID：2769406

16# 咖啡盐
哦？我只记得有其他人用多啦美作头像，哪天摸去看看

周九UID：2769406

12# 紫陌纤尘o0
我昨天还又看了遍紫陌MM的逻辑系列贴呢，再次拜读，依然有收获~~赞！！！！

咖啡盐UID：2973669

终于出现个觉悟的，加油啊！
PS.我记得你之前在酒香组的，解散了？
紫陌纤尘o0 发表于 2011-1-23 02:25

偶也是偶也是~~~

周九UID：2769406

12# 紫陌纤尘o0
估计是其他只多啦美，我以前没有加过小组，如今竟然自己还建了个组，弄得我坐立不安的，天天劝组员再多加个其他组。。。。