issue136 [冲刺 小组] 第一次作业

aqquuUID: 2426159

题目：ISSUE136 - "The absence of choice is a circumstance that is very, very rare."
字数：695          用时：01:00:00          日期：2008-8-1 19:36:55
Our lives depend on our choices to a large extent. I strongly agree with the speaker that the absence of choice is a very rare circumstance. Although people often claim that they do not have another choice, this is often not the case. From my life experience. For the most part, one could choose what kind of life to live, even if sometime things just become very tough or we plunge into a plight. what so ever the situation is, we are free to choose, at least spiritually.
To illustrate this issue, we may as well consider a short story first. In a small village lives a group of people, who have been making a living by raising sheep from generation to generation. So when a child grow up the only business is to be a shepherd. Even if they make a large amount of money, they will just bought more sheep. IS it because they have no other choice rather than the traditional business? Absolutely not. they may as well send their children to school and then go to college. Then they may find a job in a big city. So the problem is that they have made the choice that they would not like to change, for better or worse.
In fact , this is more than just an ironic story; it is a common situation many of us face in our lives. Sometime, we were just reluctant to give up the lives that we are already  accustomed to or we feel comfortable with. As the famous American writer wrote in his best-sell book ' who moved my cheese' : we are afraid of changes.
If we look back our history, we would find that life to a large extent is based on our choices. Consider, for example, Helen Keller, American author and lecturer who have overcome considerable physical handicaps, served as an inspiration for millions of other affiliated people. When 19 months old ,she was stricken with an acute illness that left her deaf and blind. Instead of surrendering to life, she never stop struggling with the tough psychical inability of hearing and seeing. Or consider the greatest British physicist and chemist Faraday, who was the son of a black smith and received little formal education. however Faraday manage to read books on scientific subjects and experiment with electricity while apprenticed to a bookbinder. Later, he was employed by David as an assistant, which is a milestone in his life. From both of the examples, we could draw the conclusion that ,more often than not , a man can change his stars.
On a society level, the circumstances are much the same. Before Rosa Parks, many more people must have experience the racial discrimination in public areas. But they choose to tolerate it rather than fight for their proper civil right. And in order to fight for the equity between different races, millions of African American like Rosa Parks stand up to protest and demonstrate on the street. Finally ,with the lead of Martin Luther King they eventually win their right. If it was not for Rosa Parks' refuse of giving her seat to a white person, maybe  the African American people were stilled looked down upon by other member of the country.
Admittedly, there is something we were born with that we cannot change, such as one's race, gender and the color of his/her complexion. But we still have a choice of how to spend our lives. For example, we can strive to study hard and get into a key university and then get an ideal job in the place we like. besides we it is always up to ourselves to determine which person we would marry and spend the rest of our lives with. Even if we could not change our situation currently, we still have the choice to live optimistically or pessimistically.
in sum, although life may turn out not to what we want , we always has the choice to change our lives or not. Sometime people claim that they were stuck in a relationship or certain position and do not have a choice just because they would not like to face the new situation and risk their financial safety or things alike. Despite of all the unknown future, we are free to pursue the lives we want and our long-cherished dream.

[ 本帖最后由 aqquu 于 2008-8-2 14:56 编辑 ]

lishuang0313UID: 2216736

Our lives depend on our choices to a large extent. I strongly agree with the speaker that the absence of choice is a very rare circumstance. Although people often claim that they do not have another choice, this is often not the case from my life experiences. For the most parts, one could choose what kind of life to live, even if sometimes things just become very tough or we plunge into a plight. what so ever the situation is, we are free to choose, at least spiritually.
To illustrate this issue, we may as well consider a short story first. In a small village lives a group of people, who have been making a living by raising sheep from generation to generation. So when a child grow up the only business is to be a shepherd. Even if they make a large amount of money, they will just buy more sheeps. Is it because they have no other choice rather than the traditional business? Absolutely not. they may as well send their children to school and then study in a college. Then they may find a job in a big city. So the problem is that they have made the choice that they would not like to change, for better or worse.(例子挺好的）
In fact , this is more than just an ironic story; it is a common situation many of us face in our lives. Sometime, we were just reluctant to give up the lives that we are already  accustomed to or we feel comfortable with. As the famous American writer wrote in his best-sell book ' who moved my cheese' : we are afraid of changes.
If we look back our history, we would find that life to a large extent is based on our choices. Consider(不应该动词放句首considering that), (for example可以去掉), Helen Keller, American author and lecturer who have(has) overcome considerable physical handicaps, served as an inspiration for millions of other affiliated people. When 19 months old ,she was stricken with an acute illness that left her deaf and blind. Instead of surrendering to life, she never stop struggling with the tough psychical inability of hearing and seeing. Or consider(不应该这么用） the greatest British physicist and chemist Faraday, who was the son of a black smith and received little formal education. however Faraday manage to read books on scientific subjects and experiment with electricity while apprenticed to a bookbinder. Later, he was employed by David as an assistant, which is a milestone in his life. From both of the examples, we could draw the conclusion that ,more often than not , a man can change his stars.
On a society level, the circumstances are much the same. Before Rosa Parks, many more people must have experience the racial discrimination in public areas. But they choose to tolerate it rather than fight for their proper civil right. And in order to fight for the equity between different races, millions of African American like Rosa Parks stand up to protest and demonstrate on the street. Finally ,with the lead of Martin Luther King they eventually win their right. If it was not for Rosa Parks' refuse of giving her seat to a white person, maybe  the African American people were stilled looked down upon by other member of the country.
Admittedly, there is something we were born with that we cannot change, such as one's race, gender and the color of his/her complexion. But we still have a choice of how to spend our lives. For example, we can strive to study hard and get into a key university and then get(和前面的get重复了，可以用obtain) an ideal job in the place we like. besides (we去掉） it is always up to ourselves to determine which person we would marry and spend the rest of our lives with. Even if we could not change our situation currently, we still have the choice to live optimistically or pessimistically.
in sum, although life may turn out not to what we want , we always has the choice to change our lives or not. Sometime(应该是sometimes) people claim that they were stuck in a relationship or certain position and do(did) not have a choice just because they would not like to face the new situation and risk their financial safety or things alike. Despite of all the unknown future, we are free to pursue the lives we want and our long-cherished dream.
你的例子用的非常好，字数也很多，值得学习