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[习作点评] 【NINE小组】【作业集】---by 陈懂（持续更新） [复制链接]

winterfine
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电梯直达

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发表于 2011-9-7 07:37:11 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

第一次作业

26 The luxuries and conveniencesof contemporary life prevent people from developing into truly strong andindependent individuals

The statement, describing a negative linkage between contemporary life and individual's development, seems reasonable.Many people find it hard to help their reliance on the idle lifestyle when it comes to luxuries and conveniences.Although the side effects are real, and escaping the modern comfort is not an option, it is the imperfect reality that makes growing stronger possible.

The reasons leading to the anxiety described in the statement is obvious.
By applying and relying on the technology provided by the modern society, we simplify problems which used to afflict us badly with ease and no understanding of the consequences.Fast food, for instance, greatly shortens the preparation for meals but causes obesity; subways and cars save us from hours of journey between home and work, yet deprive our chances to exercise; and through TV channels, we acquire large quantity of information without discrimination.As a result, it is no wonder that we have so many couch potatoes, suffering from a corpulent body and a vacant mind, which is typical of the weak and dependent.Consequently, it is natural to jump to conclusion that convenience contributes to dependency and weakness.

While indulgence in an oversimplified life does weaken our body and mind, it is a pity to overlook the far-reaching benefits brought by the conveniences that has always been indispensible to the community’s advancement. Criticisms against our present ways of life are not unfounded, from which some conclude that it is better for us to go back to the old times than rotting in our wasteful 21st century. Many of them even practice their idea by living in the wood or some distant area leading a so-called natural life. Consider the time when we were still using sticks and stones to hunt for food.It is true that we were more likely to have a stronger physique then, but it is no way that someone living in caves fighting for his own surviving can introduce ideas with regard to subjects more sophisticated, say philosophy or education, to develop him to be stronger, both mentally and physically.Without the basic assurance of running the fundamental conveniently, further perfection in a broad sense regarding individuals is impossible.

In other senses, these further perfections are not only made possible by the fundamental convenience but also prompted by problems emerging from them. The author fails to see that while the current social elite firmly peruse lives with some luxuries, they haven't generally interpreted it into that luxurious lifestyles constitute the whole meaning of life. Instead, having recognized the possibility for further improvement, they devote themselves to the imperfections resulting from the advancement of society. Cars and trains, for example, are inevitably resulting in accidents, which are being taken care of by specialist specialized in traffic; we consume fast food owing to obesity, accordingly, nutritionists are playing their roles dealing with such situations.Problems worrying critics lead to processes during which we make ourselves better and realize our potential.

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winterfine
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沙发

发表于 2011-9-7 07:40:19 |只看该作者

第二次作业
85. Some people believe that in order to thrive, a society must put its own overall success before the well-being of its individual citizens. Others believe that the well-being of a society can only be measured by the general welfare of all its people.

The issue concerning the relationship between social prosperity and individual well-being is a controversial one. The former part of the statement is based on the assumption that there is an irreconcilable contradiction between them, which I find very absurd. On the other hand, the statistics regarding general welfare of its people should not be taken without caution and the role inequality plays is unjustly overlooked.

   Some people, contradicting the basic principles of the society, put the social interest and the individuals' in contradictory positions.  Why should not the benefit of the two be against each other? The purpose of the formation of a society may be one of the most powerful clues to understand the real situation. As many great thinkers including John Locke, a great philosopher in British history, have argued, single individuals join a society in exchange for protection of their own interests by transferring two of their major rights to it, the rights to establish laws and to implement them.  To put it another way, the society exists as a result of the commission from the citizens consisting it. In this sense, any activity, even in the name of social success, against the well-being of the individuals should be regarded as a betrayal of the society's original intention.

   While from a practical view a society may reach a high developing speed if the individuals’ well-being is put behind, a healthy interaction between them is the only way to ensure the development of both sides in the long run. The Noble Prize, for instance, is granted to scientists with remarkable discoveries, encouraging them and the scientists as a whole to realize their values by keeping up their good work. Accordingly, the societies obtain the reward for their insightful investment in the field of science by applying the results to industry, medicine and so on. In this case, the development of a society is based on the success of its citizens. The Former Soviet Union, on the other hand, once achieved to develop itself swiftly when the western world was still stuck in the economic depression, yet collapsed inevitably by ignoring people’s welfare.

   This is nowhere more true than the assertion that the general welfare of its people is supposed to be regarded as one of the most persuasive factors estimating the well-being of the society. However, in attempt to assess the success of the society, general welfare of the individuals sometimes prove to be misleading, and problems caused by inequality may be concealed behind some average statistics. Recent studies pertaining to the well-developed countries reveal the fact that when looking into one country, the richer a social group is, the longer life expectancy and lower criminal rate becomes. The phenomena seem normal at the first glance since one can attribute their better living condition to their easier access to medical treatments, security service and the like. But when compared between those rich countries, life expectancy is unrelated to differences in average income, indicating that absolute average income level does not determine the living condition at all, but the relative differences within one society, the inequality, gives rise to problems afflicting the relative poor. In fact, the more unequal the country grows, the more critical the problems tend to be. Such conclusion may contribute to interesting results that between two well-developed countries, citizens provided worse welfare might actually be leading easier lives thanks to the better equality achieved in their country.

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板凳

发表于 2011-9-7 07:43:05 |只看该作者

本帖最后由 winterfine 于 2011-9-7 16:17 编辑

第三次作业
84. It is no longer possible for a society to regard any living man or woman as a hero.

The formation of a hero, whose deeds are often related to courage, romance and other characteristics the society encourage, involves romantic fancy and good-intentioned fabricating. Although I consider the statement, expressing the reluctance to acknowledge heroes in contemporary society unfounded, a certain type of hero deserves further evaluation.

It is generally accepted that the hero represents the prevailing spiritual and ethical pursuits in society; meanwhile the details of the heroic always remain suspicious. Galileo, for instance, is a scientist known for his legendary experiment conducted on the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Not only is the great event regarded a legend, but his bravery against the cruel authority for the purpose of revealing and defending the truth has also gained our approval. However, what cannot be neglected is that the authentic of the story has long been argued, and so far, sufficient evidence has been revealed indicating the incident is nothing but a fairy tale made up out of people's goodwill for perfection. Isn't a fascination of that kind more compelling than some dull deductions and equations?

While I find the goodwill both understandable and amusing, some people misinterpret it into an absurd claim that the perfection of the reality is an indispensible part of the existence of a hero. Based on this claim, they jump to the conclusion that in contemporary society, in which the media is so good at digging up the truth, the disguise of flaws eventually fails leading to the final failure of the heroic tales. It is true that the influence media exerting on the public is so great, that it is unlikely to conceal much information from it. However, the idea that the media scrutiny takes every chance to destroy the superstar with the scandals it finds is mistaken. The firefighters and police who participated in the rescue and evacuation during the 911 terrorists' attack are regarded heroes for their selfless and dauntless sacrifice. Moreover, these heroes are just common people with shortcomings like everybody, but I see no newspaper or TV program criticizing them for that. They have earned everyone’s respect without proving their flawlessness. The truth is that the imperfect living heroes and heroines are just around us with their greatness to be found.

On the other hand, in spite of the conclusion that it is very possible to regard living people in society as heroes, a certain way to produce them calls for our careful consideration. In China, what contradicts the miserable reality that many of the officials are corrupted to some extent is the authority's continuous dedication to set some of the upright officials the typical and show their deeds to the public. The purpose is simple, to alleviate the discontent of the society. The standards are ideal and demanding, for the heroic officials found are not only supposed to be uncorrupted, but to have made tremendous personal sacrifice for the public, from what I have learned, many of these selected ones even devoted their lives to their job. What is even more ridiculous are the campaigns ordered by the high-level official to study the stories of the dutiful, which apparently leads to no improvement. Let us put aside the credibility of such examples. Confronted the serious situation , the government is trying to rebuild its positive image by producing the exemplary officials, the local heroes, only to find such attempts result in the banal. As far as I am concerned, it is better for the government to take some real actions to deal with the problem rather than playing the tricks nobody buys anymore.

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地板

发表于 2011-9-7 16:10:40 |只看该作者

本帖最后由 winterfine 于 2011-9-7 16:12 编辑

第四次作文
Educational institutions have a responsibility to dissuade students from pursuing fields of study in which they are unlikely to succeed.
It is the educational institutions' responsibility to persuade students to pursue fields of study in which they are likely to succeed. Lacking understanding of their true nature, the students could be unwise. By taking into account advices from professional institutions, they have a better chance realizing themselves. On the other hand, the colleges and universities answer for the allocation of social resources including their equipment, funds and teachers, thus, the requirements of the society is not to be neglected. Meanwhile, some opponents put forward their reasons I find unfounded.

Students do not always understand themselves clearly, which makes them in desperate need for professional advice. Although sometimes, such advices turn out to fail to satisfy the students' expectations of themselves, it is, in fact, the lack of understanding of their true interests that attribute to the inappropriate expectancy. Without such sincere suggestions from experienced teachers, those pursuing study in colleges could be blinded by short-sighted goals such as earning the biggest sum of money, which is common among Chinese students and has led to the popularity of choosing financial majors. However, according to recent psychological study, there is the tendency that one be true to his own nature, which could be paraphrased as self-actualization, the strong desire to become what he is innately capable of. Accordingly, the irrational trend to be engaged in finance, contradicting some students' real characteristic, will probably result in tragic lives. If students are provided some basic analysis regarding personalities and guidance from experienced educators in time, on the other hand, such tragedies will be avoided.

When it comes to the educational institutions, admittedly, they are supposed to take the responsibility to help students realize their dreams however unrealistic they appear. After all, many of the greatest people in history achieved their success by realizing the seemingly impossible deeds. The Wright brothers, for instance, developed our first airplane, which was thought to be an insane idea. In spite of this, we cannot ignore the fact that resources, such as the teachers, funds, and labs, are limited. On the other hand, the institutions, to some extent, can be regarded as the investment of the society, which is expecting high-quality human resource. As a result, it is the educators’ duty to make sure that these resources are distributed wisely, that is to say, admitting students only if they are likely to meet the social expectation by taking the courses. In another sense, it is unfair to allow someone in an area with no promising future to pursue the courses when the talented are denied.

Critics accuse it of having turned the role of colleges from facilitating development to preventing it. They claim that students lose their own developing opportunities resulting from persuasions representing the need of others. What a ridiculous accusation it is. While students with special talent are desired indeed, the persuasions should not be simply interpreted in restrictions. Everyone still has their access to all the subjects available in college if they meet the requirements, usually pertaining to grades. In addition, although it has been argued that generally accepted standards do not always apply to certain individuals well, considering the great care exercised when drafting such important criteria, these unacknowledged talents could only be the minority if they ever existed, and their loss would be negligible.

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5楼

发表于 2011-9-7 16:14:32 |只看该作者

第五次作业
Society should identify those children who have special talents and provide training for them at an early age to develop their talents.

The recommendation appears reasonable at first glance; it is natural to conclude that to effectively unlock people’s potential, special teaching method is required. Although identifying and developing the talents at an early age seems to meet the social need well in some circumstances, it ignores the individuals' desire. What is more, such attempt to regard a few of the children as talented can be dangerous for it contributes to social inequality.

Certain abilities result in success only when it is discovered promptly. The Chinese athletes, for instance, usually have started their training before the age of 10. Each year in china, thousands of children are sent to the sport schools, special educational institutions aiming at identifying and developing sports geniuses. After years of strict training and fierce competitions, the most competitive survive; then selecting among them, the national team admit only the strongest ones. The accomplishments of those elite athletes are impressive indeed, winning the most golden medals in the latest international games, satisfying the pride of the nation.

However, to meet the social demand or even arrogance, the talent's own will has been put behind. Besides their talent in sports, they could be someone with special instinct in music philosophy or mathematics. Instead of making a decision which calls for deep consideration when they grow old enough, their destinies are arranged in the name of national glory. Recent news that a former Olympic medalist makes a living by begging in subway stations serves as a good example; I can only imagine what kind of life he would choose if he had been aware of what it costs to be an athlete. Even if after all the misfortunes he is still more than willing to give up personal interest for national honor, his possibilities for a different life should not have been taken away in his youth. It is wrong to take advantage of a child when the meaning of such choice is still beyond his comprehension.

In another sense, by identifying and allocating resources to the talented, the society divides children into two major groups, the gifted and the useless. In this way, the society successfully exposes the children to one of the cruelest aspects of the society, discrimination. While it is very possible to make the presumed superiority and excellence of the gifted into reality by arranging special training for them, it is not the whole case. If one child is regarded as the useless, on the other hand, we can expect him to receive less attention from his teachers and parents since more has been given to his opposite, the child will definitely behave differently, negatively in most cases according to recent research, enhancing our prejudice against him. As a result of such unhealthy interaction, the performance is badly influenced and even the child himself comes to the conclusion that he is inferior to others. Simply put, in the social pursuits to facilitate the development of some so-called the talented, the society unfairly sacrifices the others.

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6楼

发表于 2011-9-7 16:16:15 |只看该作者

本帖最后由 winterfine 于 2011-9-7 16:17 编辑

第六次作业
54. In order to become well-rounded individuals, all college students should be required to take courses in which they read poetry, novels, mythology, and other types of imaginative literature.

We are advised to participate in all kinds of activities since our childhood, for purpose of becoming a well-grounded individual. However, whether college students should devote attention to that many courses, including imaginative literature deserves further evaluation. What is more, some protagonists of the statement argue that well-rounded individual is very likely to be inspired by his knowledge in different areas, which I find dubious in certain conditions.

There are many reasons to be a well-rounded person, and the first is that our dreams changes constantly. It is often heard from 4-year-old children that he wants to become a scientist or soldier when he is grown up, but few of them keep their original dream when he really becomes an adult. Many realize that their talent and interest lies elsewhere as they grow up and because of that, it is wise to keep one's option open. Moreover, acquiring the basic living skills is crucial for one's survival. According to recent news, a Chinese Olympic golden medalist makes a living by begging in the subway stations. Since he has devoted all his past life to gymnastics training and no time to any other abilities needed to survive the contemporary society, there is no choice for him other than going begging

These reasons may be good enough to persuade students in primary or junior schools to take part in music, community service and other extra-curricular activities, but becomes pointless when it comes to college students. After 12 years of learning, they are supposed to have obtained most of the basic surviving abilities, and know themselves clear enough to pick one specific course as their major. After all, differences are rarely made by those who possess skills in a wide variety of disciplines. Instead, our society often remembers individuals who have one strong obsessive focus, focus strong enough to change the world. Although Einstein's talent in music, demonstrating his versatility, is known to a lot of people, we may never hear of this genius if it were not the relative theory, which he devoted most of his energy to and caused a stir in our world. In this sense, it is absurd to require the students to take courses in imaginative literature, if poetry, novels and mythology are irrelevant to their major, what the students are going to be remembered for.

Some people, however, claims that learning experiences in all areas are indispensible for one's success, since knowledge from different areas interact with each other and thus inspires new ideas. Imaginative literature, they argue, is more likely to bring new thoughts to students. Consequently, regardless of some students' dislike in poetries, compelling the learning is beneficial for them in the long run. Cogent as it seems, it ignores the fact that only between strengths of an individual does an inspiring interaction emerges, as for the weaknesses, it is just a waste of time. It is true that some Einstein’s achievement in physics might be attributed to his love in music and violin, but it cannot be denied that music and physics are both his strengths, not what makes him sick. On the other hand, countless people, including myself, hate literature and novels, and as a result, never bother borrowing any ideas from such fields. Recognized as the weaknesses, imaginative literature gives no inspiration to us, and studying it is nothing but pain.

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7楼

发表于 2011-9-7 16:18:49 |只看该作者

第九次作业
80. Nations should suspend government funding for the arts when significant numbers of their citizens are hungry or unemployed.

Reallocating the resources to the major crisis facing the society is reasonable for most governments. To them, it is a choice between the arts and the survival. However, in certain countries, where the arts industry is significantly supporting its economic, cutting arts fund would be unwise.

Arts funds are often considered ideal sources for some governments to withdraw money from to deal with hunger and unemployment. Endangering the survival of its citizens, these two problems should be regarded as the most urgent ones to be handled. Meanwhile, art, viewed as a luxury in such countries, only appear in citizen’s lives after survival is guaranteed. In this sense, considering that public finance is limited and insufficient, reevaluation of the current allocation is advised. Indeed, when someone loses his job, worrying where the next meal is coming from, he is unlikely to be the one concerning puzzling sculptures and abstract paintings. Instead, his priority is to find a decent job and to satisfy the hunger in his stomach. Similarly, if the number of the unemployed and the hungry in a society becomes significant, arts will no longer be the concern of the majority. Given that money is limited, funds devoted to arts will be advised to be reallocated to more urgent uses, just like what the statement is advising.

While arts are considered less urgent when dealing with more serious social problems, in certain countries, investment in art still prove wise. On the one hand, as studies worldwide repeatedly show, arts itself is a lucrative industry in countries with strong artistic tradition. In such nations, when art organizations are provided sufficient funds, they are able to conduct many arts shows and concerts, attracting much audience and producing enormous profits, from which government generate more revenues than devoted. In addition, sometimes the art industry, including the developing and maintaining museums and palaces, is closely related to tourism. In this case, art does not take food from the mouth of the hungry, rather, it is the other way around by providing many job opportunities to people. If the art funding is suspended, a lot of people making a living in this area will lose their jobs and the unemployment will be worsened. Consequently, decisions regarding cuts in arts funding should be made with caution.

To sum up, to decide whether the art funding should be suspended, the relationship between art and its economic as we as the job opportunities must be taken into account.

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8楼

发表于 2011-9-7 16:20:34 |只看该作者

本帖最后由 winterfine 于 2011-9-7 16:22 编辑

第十次作业
12. Governments should offer a free university education to any student who has been admitted to a university but who cannot afford the tuition.

These days, it is emphasized that the responsibility to realize educational equality lies on the shoulder of the government. Some people, including the author, argue that the tuition of the poor should be paid by the government. Their definition of equality is dubious at best. After all, we live in a world in which nothing is free.

Education should not be free, even for the poor. While the intention of the supporters is good, to enable the access to university education to all, their method contradicts one piece of our common sense about equality, everything needs to be paid for. Higher education is regarded as an investment. The outcome of such investment is tempting indeed, including access to equipments, professors, better career opportunities and higher salary as well. However, in exchange for all these, student’s families not only devote large sums of money, but also take the risk that the investment will probably turn out to be a failure if their children perform disappointingly. In this sense, by offering the poor students intuition, which comes from every taxpayer in society, we are asking those who can afford the fee to pay for those who cannot to some extent. Then, another sort of inequality will be the result, poor families enjoying every privilege mentioned above without risking a penny when others face challenges and sacrifices. Everyone needs to pay for what he gets, the poor is not exception to this.

That is not to say that it is not the government's duty to help achieve educational equality. The focus should be finding ways to aid the poor fairly. To begin with, low-interest loans would be a good option to bring the poor students to universities and make sure that the beneficiaries will return the favor at the same time. Moreover there is a practical method called joint training that may prove inspiring. Each year, excellent students are selected from Chinese universities and recommended to foreign colleges. The government supports those students financially so that they can afford courses in the foreign school whose fee used to be too high for most Chinese families. In return, students must promise to come back to China after the education and serve the country at the appointed positions in the following 10 years. Through these examples, we see that equality is achieved in a more comprehensive sense, that both students and the government is rewarded with what they pay for.

We may conclude that although the government undoubtedly is obliged to fulfill its duty regarding equalize education, we should be careful not to cause new inequality, and find method to help them fairly.

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9楼

发表于 2011-9-7 22:40:31 |只看该作者

8# winterfine
把之前的习作一稿\同学批改稿\修改稿都传上来. 这样的【习作集】会很赞.

主帖若改为"【NINE小组】【作业集】---by 陈懂（第xx次习作已更新）" 会更好.
也方便批改的同学前后参考, 自己也能上下浏览发现重复犯的错误 -- 然后通过"重点打击" 重点练习加以改进.