GRE作文6分教学博客

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Issue 24 The best way to teach is to praise positive actions and ignore negative ones.  

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.


I think this statement is true for teaching children who are emotionally sensitive and can learn more from encouragement and positive reinforcement. For students in high schools and colleges, it is important for them to recognise their weaknesses manifested in their mistakes.  For employees in industries such as manufacturing, negative actions should be corrected immediately and punished to ensure the safety and quality.   

这篇没有写背景引入，直接提观点。这种写法适合只需要4-4.5分的同学，可以节省一些时间写后面的内容及修改。

For young children, offering positive feedback on desirable behaviors will lead to more of such behaviors.  On the other hand, since they are not emotionally mature enough to receive criticism or punishment, it is reasonable to ignore their negative behaviors.  For example, when a 3 year-old is learning to deal with the problem of bedwetting, parents should praise the child every time when s/he manages to stay dry the whole night.  Through such positive feedback, the child will gain more confidence over his/her ability on this issue over time and will eventually overcome the problem.  On the other hand, if the child occasionally wets the bed, it is not a good idea for parents to scold him/her for doing that as this may hurt the child and destroy his/her confidence and self-esteem.  

举了一个尿床的例子 前面的观点分两部分 后面的例子解释也是两部分 一一对应 一般不鼓励写太多例子 一个例子讲清楚就很好了

For older schoolchildren, while it is still important to praise good behaviors, handling negative actions more directly and firmly is also necessary.  For example, in a math classroom, children should be praised and perhaps rewarded when they performed arithmetic operations accurately.  Doing so, as in the case of the baby with bedwetting problem, will help them build confidence and develop interests in the subject.  On the other hand, when they make mistakes, the teacher will have to provide corrective feedback and work with the students to figure out the causes of the problems.  Only through such feedback and problem solving can the students learn more effectively.  

同样只有一个例子，但分正反两方面来写  


In the context of employee training, more attention should be focused on fixing the negative behaviors rather than positive ones in order to maximize the training efficiency.  As the employees are mature adults who receive compensation for their work, there is no need to praise them for following instructions correctly.  They will get awarded in the form of their salary and maybe bonus if they meet the expectations of the boss.  Prasing them for all the positive actions would be a waste of time and money.  On the other hand, it is essential for them to receive feedback and further training if they do not perform well enough in certain aspects of their jobs.  After all, helping them to learn how to do the job correctly and efficiently is the main purpose of their training.  

这里有一个干货就是以效率作为价值判断的标准。题目中提到best其实是需要判断何为好。teach的好与不好要考虑学生能否接受、信心会不会建立（尿床），能否有效的学习（算数）以及培训教学的效率（员工培训）。遇到涉及价值判断的题目，立论的基础是价值判断的依据和标准。

In conclusion, there is no such thing as a universally applicable “best way of teaching”.  Teachers and trainers have to decide when and how to provide feedback to students according to the ages of students and the learning contexts.  

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Issue 26

The luxuries and conveniences of contemporary life prevent people from developing into truly strong and independent individuals.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

The modern society has been blessed and cursed at the same time by a wide range of luxuries and conveniences made possible by advanced technologies.  Whether people can remain strong and independent, physically and spiritually, while enjoying the luxurious and convenient goods or services depends on the attitudes we hold towards them.  More specifically, it depends on whether we would allow the luxuries and conveniences to take over our lives.  I would like to illustrate my point with the example of automobiles.   

Automobiles can help us become strong and independent individuals as the technology significantly extend the physical space that we can reach in a small amount of time, thereby offering us a greater number of opportunities to explore the world and realize our potential.  Consider a single mother of three children living in a poor neighborhood in the inner city.  Without a car, she can barely find a job within walking distance.  In the neighborhood filled with muggers and meth labs, she could not even walk safely on the street, not to mention bring along her children.  But with a car, she can commute to a decent-paid job in a town 20 kilometers away and drop her children to a kindergarten along the way.  The car not only provides her convenience of travelling around. It also empowers her economically and socially.  

On the other hand, the widespread use of automobiles also has the potential to deprive the modern people of the opportunities of regular physical exercises and becoming physically strong and independent.  As more people enjoy the convenience of riding cars, we adopt a sedentary lifestyle for travelling and commuting, causing a lack of physical exercises.  Researches on people’s lifestyle have confirmed that the use of vehicles has significant impact on the amount of exercises, which in turn lead to medical problems such as obesity and high blood pressure.  More worrisome is the tendency that, once we get used to travelling by cars, we become so lazy that we drive to places within walking distance.  Such laziness, or the lack of willpower to exercise our physical bodies, is a major consequence of modern conveniences and automobiles are merely a tip of the iceberg.  

Finally, people from upper-middle classes often rely on luxuries to tell others they are rich, thereby confusing the extrinsic value of material goods from the intrinsic value of their own lives.  The entire market of luxurious vehicles, for example, is based on the premise that owning luxurious cars is a symbol of wealth and power.  By driving such cars, the car owners can easily tell the world that they can afford such luxuries and attract other people who are interested in such wealth and power to connect with them.  But as people devote themselves to their careers in order to earn luxurious cars or other expensive but not always necessary items, they may fail to pursue the things in life that really make them strong and independent such as good friends and quality family relationships.  Researches have found that a proper work-life balance is crucial for healthy family relationships, which in turn are vital for personal development of strength and independence at societal and spiritual levels.  

In conclusion, as my extended example of automobiles suggests, luxuries and conveniences can help us become economically strong and independent if we use them to gain more opportunities for empowerment.  On the other hand, they may prevent us from developing our physical strength and spiritual independence.  

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在寄托上点评版友的GRE作文已经有一段日子，一直希望能够使反馈更加体系化。昨天开始的同主题写作对更加体系化的点评有了新的需求。看到不少同学都在积极的互评，这让我很开心。因此也希望能尽快总结出一套点评的体系，这样大家在互评时也可以参考。

我把昨天点评的7篇issue以及之前的几篇点评记录放在MaxQDA里对我自己做的点评进行了编码，尝试找到一些常见的问题和点评，然后再进行分类。初步结果显示，我的点评可以分为三大类：

1. 按照1+3模型对开头段、主旨句及主题句的点评。

1.1 背景铺垫太长或内容不合适：这个问题目前出现的频率并不高。但是由于背景句是给考官的第一印象，一定要写得比较靠谱。
1.2 主旨句与主题句未能互相呼应：这是1+3模型的核心所在，不仅主旨句要有层次，而且主旨句与主题句之间要能呼应。
1.3 主旨句偏题或不清晰：往往是由于误解题目或其他原因导致。这是很严重的问题。如果连主旨句都不知道在说啥或者不符合题目意思，这篇文章就废掉了。  
1.4 未能回应题目要求：最典型的就是题目要求address challenge；而有的题目要求讨论consequence或者address both side 都是需要严格遵循的。
1.5.主题句的内容不合适或不清晰：这里针对每个中间段的开头主题句，检查内容是否合适、清晰。有些同学写的主题句根本就没有立场没有point，这就很难往下看了。  

2. 中间段的展开

2.1 没有具体例子或者例子不适用：这是最常见的问题。举例支持中间段的观点是中间段展开的核心所在。如果全段只说理不举例子或者举的例子不合适，这段话就废掉了。
2.2 没有充分的展开讨论例子或解释例子如何支持观点：这也是常见问题。有些同学尝试举很多例子，一段写好几个point，但是却没有深入讨论，结果事倍功半。
2.3 句子之间不连贯：一般来说前一个句子的内容在后一个句子里会继续讲，这样两个句子才有理由放在一起。如果前一个句子和后一个句子讲的内容完全不相关，读者就会很困惑。通常句子连贯的根本原因还是作者在写之前没有想清楚这段该如何展开，硬着头皮写，写到后来没话说了，就开始憋，然后就呵呵呵呵了。
2.4 中间段的讨论没有回应原题的关键概念：这往往是偏题的征兆，一定要警惕。原issue里的关键词，到了中间段要么已经转化为更具体的概念，要么就得直接回应。

3. 其他直接的点评

3.1 提供新的论点或想法：有时候作者的论点不太合适或表达的不好，我会直接提出一些其他的论点或想法。或者建议作者去读我的范文。
3.2 提供新的例子：同上，作者的例子不合适时，提出其他的例子。
（以上这样做是有争议的，因为老师应该给学生独立思考的机会而不是代替学生思考或者将自己的想法强加给学生。因此希望大家考虑一下我这样做是否合适，以及尝试在我提出的想法或例子的基础上举一反三，最终学会独立思考。）
3.3 针对学生的练习记录，提出一些写作或学习上的策略建议：这些建议往往不是针对具体的文章的段落、句子，而是更一般性的建议。在这里也希望同学们能不断的总结自己的练习，思考需要在今后的练习中做哪些策略性的调整。这方面最好能由同学主动的思考、提出问题，我提供辅助。  

从明天开始我的issue内容点评就会按这个框架来进行，在实践中，还会不断反思和调整。欢迎大家多提宝贵意见。（2015年5月26日）

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argument 71 build new road or encourage ride sharing

71. The following is a letter to the editor of the Waymarsh Times.

"Traffic here in Waymarsh is becoming a problem. Although just three years ago a state traffic survey showed that the typical driving commuter took 20 minutes to get to work, the commute now takes closer to 40 minutes, according to the survey just completed. Members of the town council already have suggested more road building to address the problem, but as well as being expensive, the new construction will surely disrupt some of our residential neighborhoods. It would be better to follow the example of the nearby city of Garville. Last year Garville implemented a policy that rewards people who share rides to work, giving them coupons for free gas. Pollution levels in Garville have dropped since the policy was implemented, and people from Garville tell me that commuting times have fallen considerably. There is no reason why a policy like Garville's shouldn't work equally well in Waymarsh."

Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.


全文示范  

部分同学写这篇的时候问题较多。有同学希望我讲一下argument的中间段如何展开。我在这里试下分析这篇示范。  

According to the letter, Waymarsh should introduce a policy similar to that of Garville to encourage more drivers to share rides with others to solve a perceived traffic problem.  This policy will be better than the road building project proposed by the city council.  To evaluate this argument, we need more evidence about the surveys indicating the traffic problem, the policy implemented in Garville that is now proposed for Waymarsh, as well as its strengths and weaknesses relative to the road construction plan.  

首先主旨句用 we need more evidence about A, B as well as C的句型 分别呼应中间三段  


To begin with, we need to examine the surveys more critically to decide if there is indeed a traffic problem in Waymarsh. We need to know more about how participants were recruited in the two respective surveys to determine if the results are comparable.  Maybe one survey focused more on one group of people who go to work at 6 am and the other on those travelling at 8am.  Under such circumtances, the difference in commute time does not mean the traffic in Waymarsh had turned worse.  Also, it is important to look into how reliable the self-reported data about commute time was in both surveys.  Drivers do not necessarily recall how much time they spent commuting accurately and their estimation can deviate considerably from the reality. If the survey authors did not collect other data to verify the results, the conclusion based on the surveys would be questionable.  If Waymarsh traffic has no problem, there is no need to introduce the proposed policy.  

主题句这里提出关注的重点在于究竟交通有没有问题

We need to know more about how participants were recruited in the two respective surveys to determine if the results are comparable. 这句话是回应题目的要求 需要什么证据 其实就是需要什么信息
Maybe one survey focused more on one group of people who go to work at 6 am and the other on those travelling at 8am.  接下来提出某种可能性  
Under such circumtances, the difference in commute time does not mean the traffic in Waymarsh had turned worse.  然后指出这种情况下 会发生什么 往往是和原题相反或矛盾的情况  
Also, it is important to look into how reliable the self-reported data about commute time was in both surveys. 再回应题目 另一种需要的信息  
Drivers do not necessarily recall how much time they spent commuting accurately and their estimation can deviate considerably from the reality. 再提出其他可能性  
If the survey authors did not collect other data to verify the results, the conclusion based on the surveys would be questionable.  指出这种可能性下 结论不成立 If Waymarsh traffic has no problem, there is no need to introduce the proposed policy.  最后呼应主题句，指出这个点和原文论证某个基础的关系

由此可见本段基本上就是

1 提出需要的证据
2 提出其他可能性
3 指出这种可能性成立对原论证的影响

这样一个三步循环

我想我大部分的argument都是依照这个套路的  具体还要再找些文章来验证一下  


In addition, we need to collect more information about how the policy has changed the traffic in Garville and how a similar policy will affect people’s behaviors in Waymarsh.  The fact that pollution levels dropped does not necessarily imply that the policy had reduced the traffic and the amount of exhaust in Garville.  Maybe when the policy was introduced more draconian measures were also taken to reduce pollution caused by factories in Garville.  Also, it was not clear that the commuting time have decreased for most of Garville drivers and passengers based on the anecdotal evidence that the author of the letter collected through casual conversation with some people in Garville.  More systematic data collection is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy in Garville.  Meanwhile, we do not know how attractive the coupons would seem to the Waymarsh drivers.  Maybe the income level is much higher among Waymarsh residents that the small amount of saving from the coupons would not create enough incentives for them to give up their privacy and share rides with strangers.  Likewise, maybe Waymarsh drivers and passengers are more concerned with safety and reluctant to share rides despite the financial rewards.  Unless we know more about Waymarsh drivers and commuters’ attitudes towards the policy, we cannot be sure whether the policy will work in Waymarsh.  

In addition, we need to collect more information about how the policy has changed the traffic in Garville and how a similar policy will affect people’s behaviors in Waymarsh.  这句还是回应题目要求指出需要哪方面的证据或信息  
注意主旨句中说的是 the policy implemented in Garville that is now proposed for Waymarsh  
这里就更细致的展开  但是还是围绕policy来说的  


The fact that pollution levels dropped does not necessarily imply that the policy had reduced the traffic and the amount of exhaust in Garville. 这句话有同学觉得读起来有些复杂 主要是主语和宾语都是从句 然后imply这个词可能不太熟悉  
但这个 The fact that ... does not necessarily imply that ... 的句型还是挺有用的   
这里是质疑原题对某个事实潜在的诠释

Maybe when the policy was introduced more draconian measures were also taken to reduce pollution caused by factories in Garville.  
这句提出其他可能性  

Also, it was not clear that the commuting time have decreased for most of Garville drivers and passengers based on the anecdotal evidence that the author of the letter collected through casual conversation with some people in Garville.  
这里质疑原题中的证据的可靠性

More systematic data collection is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy in Garville.
提出需要更多的数据

Meanwhile, we do not know how attractive the coupons would seem to the Waymarsh drivers.  
提出另一个问题  开始回应主题句中how a similar policy will affect people’s behaviors in Waymarsh.

Maybe the income level is much higher among Waymarsh residents that the small amount of saving from the coupons would not create enough incentives for them to give up their privacy and share rides with strangers.  
提出其他可能性  

Likewise, maybe Waymarsh drivers and passengers are more concerned with safety and reluctant to share rides despite the financial rewards.  
再提出其他可能性
Unless we know more about Waymarsh drivers and commuters’ attitudes towards the policy, we cannot be sure whether the policy will work in Waymarsh.  
总结第二点  

Finally, we need to compare the cost and benefits of the ride sharing policy with the proposed road construction project.  It is true that some neighborhood will have to live with noise and disruption for a few months when the road is built.  But this disruption can be measured quantitatively by offering the affected residents some monetary compensation.  On the other hand, the gas coupons will also cost money, not to mention the extra police forces that might be necessary to ensure the safety of people who share rides with strangers. Ultimately, we need to calculate the total costs of both proposals and compared them with the benefits of each in terms of time that can be saved for commuting. Unless we have more quantitative data about the cost and benefit of both solutions, it is difficult for us to decide which one is more desirable.

Finally, we need to compare the cost and benefits of the ride sharing policy with the proposed road construction project.  
这里已经看不到 we need more information about的句型 但是提出要比较其实也需要收集数据或证据  

It is true that some neighborhood will have to live with noise and disruption for a few months when the road is built.
先对原题的事实作出回应和让步
But this disruption can be measured quantitatively by offering the affected residents some monetary compensation.  
这里是经济学的思考方式 所有的东西都换算成货币  
这个写法可能稍微有点难 不过argument有不少内容和经济学还是有关系的

On the other hand, the gas coupons will also cost money, not to mention the extra police forces that might be necessary to ensure the safety of people who share rides with strangers.
指出另一个方案的成本 除了明显的成本 还有隐形成本 呼应前面提到的安全问题  

Ultimately, we need to calculate the total costs of both proposals and compared them with the benefits of each in terms of time that can be saved for commuting.  
基于前面对两种方案成本的分析 提出需要计算总的成本进行比较


Unless we have more quantitative data about the cost and benefit of both solutions, it is difficult for us to decide which one is more desirable.
最后总结 提出需要定量数据
（其实这也是文科越来越不值钱的原因 大数据时代 磨嘴皮已经没什么意思 建模 写代码才是王道）
我的提纲里提到50年 但实际示范中并没有写这个点  具体怎么写大家自己决定

In conclusion, while the proposed policy seems useful, we need to collect more information to address the issues discussed above to evaluate the soundness of the argument.

tesolchinaUID：2191404

tesolchina 发表于 2015-4-9 22:50
7) Some people believe that government funding of the arts is necessary to ensure that the arts can  ...

小绿版主选了issue 7作为下周一的练习 于是我连夜写了一篇示范

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一般一般 发表于 2015-5-26 18:11
最近一直在看老师的博客。深感中国有这么好的老师真是太难得了！
不过，寄托的作文帖子很散很乱，老师的 ...

谢谢
估计2017年可以面世

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

Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position.

The cost of higher education has increased significantly all over the world as people become increasingly aware of the importance of university training for the personal and career development of young people. As a result, students from lower socioeconomic classes may not be able to attend universities, which raises the question of equality and justice. Some people argue that in order to ensure equal access to higher education, the government should provide free tuition to students who are offered a place to study in a university but could not afford the tuition and living expenses. In this essay, I would discuss the consequences of implementing this policy of free higher education for the university, the students and the society in general and argue that the policy is not desirable due to the negative consequences.

To begin with, if the government would foot the bills for all admitted students with limited financial means, the university may have the incentive to admit more students to get more resources from the government and the quality of university education will surely deteriorate. It is reasonable to assume that a university, just like other profit-making corporations, is interested in recruiting as many students as possible to maximize its revenue through charging tuition fees. Of course, the university can only admit certain number of students and the tuition fee is the price of the university education that helps maintain the market equilibrium between the number of students interested in studying in the university and the number of places available. If the government decides to pay the tuition fees for the poor students, more students will be able to study in the university, which would have to accommodate more students. With the limited resources available in the university, e.g. study space and faculty members, the quality of university education will be compromised and both the university and its students will suffer in the long term.

Now let’s imagine what would happen to the students if the proposed policy were implemented. An immediate effect would be that more students would be interested in benefiting from the “free lunch” even if they may be able to afford the tuition fees with the support from their families or working on part-time jobs. Students may be tempted to provide misleading or fraudulent information about their financial situation in order to get free university education. In addition, under the current policies, students with limited financial means can usually afford university education through government loans. If the government provides free college education to the students, they may lose the momentum to work hard during their studies as they do not have to worry about paying back their student loan after graduation.

To assess the proposed policy, we also need to consider its effects on the overall government budget. Since the taxpayers’ money is limited, if the government has to pay for university education for the poor students, less financial resources will be available for other members of the society who may deserve more attention or care from the government. Careful researches have to be done to compare the potential returns and social benefits of different programs in areas like health care, nursing homes and training for the unemployed to decide the priority of government funding. Since students can usually finance their university education through government loans, the free university education program is unlikely to be an urgent one.

In conclusion, I believe that the government should not pay tuition fees for students who cannot afford university education after considering the consequences of the proposal for the university, the students and the society in general. We should let the students decide whether they want to pursue their further education through student loan so that the university would not admit excessive number of students. Meanwhile, scarce government resources should be invested in areas that can produce more returns and social benefits.

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21) Laws should be flexible enough to take account of various circumstances, times, and places.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.



Constitutional law does not need to be very flexible to take account of different kinds of factors because the constitution will vest ultimate authority in one central administration and legislature, and judiciary.宪法为其他普通法律提供法律原则和权威性，因此最抽象，起到法律纲领的作用。由于宪法需要有极高的权威性，不宜根据现实变化时常调整时常调整，因此宪法具有抽象性，不用考虑各种情况的具体细节。举例：美国宪法。



State law, which is the law of each separate U.S. state, should be flexible to take account of characteristics in different places.州法律是各个州独立制定的法律，可以考虑到当地的具体文化、历史、信仰等情况，在不违背宪法的情况下制定，因此需要考虑当地的具体情况。举例：美国部分州同性恋合法化（个人感觉这个例子不太恰当，，，请问有因为某州独特的历史文化或者地理背景导致的独特法律么？）

其实很多针对某个问题推出的法案都是考虑了具体场景的
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal ... or_Higher_Education
这个可以参考一下




Case law should be flexible enough to take account of various circumstances, times, and places.不同判例可以考虑具体情况，较为灵活，能够随时适应新的状况。

判例法的概念需要解释一下 不是判例法应该灵活 而是判例本身成为法律 就决定了其灵活性 或者说判例法制度的目的就是为了法律更灵活


实际写的时候发现宪法这个大坑还是不要跳了

21) Laws should be flexible enough to take account of various circumstances, times, and places.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.  

Before discussing whether laws should be flexible or not, it is important to clarify what the term “laws” means.  Different people may interpret the term differently.  As far as I am concerned, laws may refer to the statutes enacted by legislatures at different levels, the rulings of the courts that also become part of the law in common law jurisdictions as well as the law enforcement activities of the governments.  While the laws enacted through legislation should not be too flexible, the judges and the law enforcement agents should interpret and enforce the laws taking into account different circumstances, times and places.   

There are two reasons why laws enacted by legislatures should not be flexible.  To begin with, the time and efforts of the Congressmen at federal and state levels are limited.  They can only hold meetings for a certain amount of time each year and there are many items in their legislative agendas.  In addition, they often represent different interest groups and it takes them a long time to reach any consensus on any issues.  If they have to take into account specific circumstances or times or places when debating a statute, they will never be able to finish their jobs on time.  The second reason has to do with the function of laws as the general guide for human behaviors.  Laws have to be understood by the general public if they are to be used to regulate people’s behaviors.  Given the limited cognitive abilities of the public, the laws have to be clear and concise.  If the laws change according to different situations, the public would find it difficult to use the laws to make decisions about their behaviors.  

On the other hand, the case laws created by the judges should take into account the details of the cases.  Consider the famous case of Riggs v. Palmer during which a grandson murdered his rich grandfather, but according to the law and the will of his grandfather, was entitled to inherit a large sum of money.  Despite the law and the will, the judge invalidated Palmer’s claim to his grandfather’s estate because, in the case, the defendant should not benefit from his murderous act.  While there was no statutory law authorizing the court to punish the defendant further by depriving his rights to the estate, the specific circumstance of the case warrants such a decision.  

Finally, the enforcement of laws, which is also an important aspect of laws, should be flexible as the law enforcement agents should always take into account the specific circumstances, times and places.  Consider the laws about speeding. Usually when a driver exceeds the speed limit, by the traffic laws, s/he will receive punishment in the form of a speeding ticket.  But one can and should get away from this law if it is under emergency situation.  Maybe the driver was sending a pregnant woman to a hospital for delivering a baby.  In cases like this, with a letter from the hospital, the driver should get his/her speeding tickets cancelled.  As illustrated in this example, the enforcement of law should be flexible by considering the specific situations that may warrant a different treatment.  

In conclusion, I would argue that whether laws should be flexible depends on which aspects of the laws we are talking about.  For the statutes enacted through legislation, flexibility is not usually affordable given the limited amount of time and effort available for the legislatures.  But the interpretation and enforcement of laws should be flexible as the judges and the law enforcement agents should make decisions on a case-by-case basis.  

tesolchinaUID：2191404

Society should make efforts to save endangered species only if the potential extinction of those species is the result of human activities.

Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position.

Since the industrialisation of human society, a great number of animal and plant species have been threatened by the human activities such as logging, construction of dams and manufacturing.  Some efforts have been made to preserve the endangered species around the world but given the limited resources some argue that we should focus on those species that may become extinct as a result of human activities and let it go for species that will not survive due to the changes of natural environment.  In my opinion, this proposed criterion cannot be practically used to decide on what species we should focus our preservation efforts.  Therefore, we should use advanced genetic technology to build a gene bank for all endangered species and devote more resources to saving those species that carry practical or scientific value.  

It is difficult to apply the proposed criterion for selectively saving endangered species in practice.  If this criterion were adopted as part of the policy, the government agencies and the scientists would have a hard time to decide whether or not the potential extinction of certain species is due to human activities or not.  As we all know, the excessive generation of greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide has led to global climate changes which has impact the livelihood of all living organisms on earth.  So broadly speaking extinction of any species is in one way or another related to human activities.  It may take a whole team of biologist, anthropologists, mathematicians, geologists to work out the extent to which the potential extinction of a given species results from human activities.  It would be more reasonable to use the resources directly to save the endangered species instead of engaging in some complex factor analyses.  

Moreover, another reason against the proposed policy is that new technologies have made it possible for scientists to build a gene bank to preserve all the endangered species in a rather inexpensive way.  Specifically, efforts have been made to collect the genes of the endangered species and store the genes in freezing conditions.  For endangered plant species, the seeds of the species can be dried and freezed at a temperature typical of winter and may be thawed and regrown when necessary.  For animal species, the preservation efforts involve storing sperms and eggs in zoological freezers.  With the further development of genetic technologies, it is anticipated that the costs of building gene banks will decline over time.  Therefore, there is no need to select some endangered species for preservation and give up others.  

Finally, the proposed policy fails to take into account the potential value of the different species for humanity.  Some species have great potential to produce substance with important pharmaceutical value and should be preserved with great efforts.  Other species may lead to further insights about the biology of certain plant or animal groups and help us solve important problems in biology and other scientific fields.  Such species should also be saved.  The species with great value may not meet with the criterion set out in the proposed policy and implementing the policy may lead to the extinction of the valuable species.  

In conclusion, it is unfortunate that human society has flourished in the expense of the livelihood of many other animal and plant species.  Since the impact of human activities on the environment is profound and global, it is not feasible to distinguish species near extinction due to human activities from those near natural extinction.  We may build a large and inclusive gene bank to preserve all endangered species.  Meanwhile, efforts should be focused on those species with greater practical or scientific value rather than those species whose extinction were caused by human activities.  

tesolchinaUID：2191404

这道题太高频了

32) College students should base their choice of a field of study on the availability of jobs in that field.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

In this statement, two assumptions are made implicitly: first, the availability of jobs in any field can be reliably predicted at any point in time; second, students have to major in a specific field to get a job in that field.  I disagree with this statement because these two assumptions do not hold.  Some people may argue that following the advice in the statement can increase the chance of students getting decent jobs.  I will address this argument after discussing the two assumptions.  

The first assumption being made is that one can reliably predict the availablity of jobs in a given field.  This assumption is simply wrong because the world economy is changing in an unprecedented way and the demand for talents and skills are also different from time to time.  For example, when I was in college back in late 1990s, computer science was a field with promises of many job offers to the graduates.  Yet, by the time I graduated at the turn of the century, the burst of dot-com bubbles dramatically cut the number of computer science jobs available in the market.  Nowadays, with the advent of the Internet and the e-commerce, the demand for computer science majors has rebounded.  As my personal experiences clearly illustrates, one cannot predict the future demand for any specific types of expertise.  Therefore, choosing one’s major based on such prediction may not lead to the desired outcome.  

The second assumption is that in order to get a job in a field X, one has to concentrate his/her studies on a major Y.  The assumption is also inconsistent with the reality of the job market.  In fact, many employers do not care about what majors the job candidates study so long as they are reasonably intelligent and hard-working.  The big-four auditing firms, for example, actively recruit non-accounting majors from top universities around the world every year with the belief that their in-house training system can effectively help the fresh graduates pick up the technical knowledge while they work.  Likewise, leading investment banks do not expect their job candidates to have a degree in finance so long as they have a strong background in quantitative reasoning.  

Some people may insist that by choosing a field of study based on the job prospect can increase the chance of the students finding good jobs.  It seems that, other things being equal, students holding a degree in a relevant major should be favored by the prospective employers.  One important issue being overlooked here is that students may not be interested in the major relevant to any given profession.  As we all know, students are less likely to perform well in their studies without genuine interest in the subject matters.  If they cannot get a decent GPA out of the chosen field, their chance of getting good jobs will be reduced.  On the other hand, if they choose a major based on their interest, they will more likely to perform better academically and get better jobs after graduation.  

In conclusion, I do not believe that students should choose their majors based on the availability of jobs fours years later because it is difficult to predict the job market and many jobs do not require background in specific fields.  Instead of choosing a major based on the unpredictable job market, one should focus on his/her interest and study a major that can lead to academic success.  

20/32/98/129/136

tesolchinaUID：2191404

issue 34 49/76/79/146
先占楼

34) In any situation, progress requires discussion among people who have contrasting points of view.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

这道题可以按照不同的领域来讨论

在外交领域，这种来自不同角度和观点的讨论是必不可少，只有通过不同国家代表不同利益的讨论，才有可能使多国之间的关系得到和平发展
可以以中、日、美、越在南海的冲突为例，大国的视角、小国的视角、美国对中国威胁的担忧，中国对资源的需求等等。

在科学研究领域，尤其是社会科学领域，定性研究和定量研究的学者需要取长补短

在政策制定的过程中，民主党和共和党需要在国会里就不同的问题展开讨论。 民主党通常从平民利益出发，共和党更代表商家和中产阶级，需要通过妥协来找到最合适的政策。

49) Claim: We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from those whose views contradict our own.
Reason: Disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.


76) We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose views contradict our own.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.


118) We can learn much more from people whose views we share than from people whose views contradict our own.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

reason和claim是否成立取决于双方能否在科学、理性的框架下讨论。

在科学研究领域，和不同观点的同行讨论可以更好的检验自己的理论以及从对方那里学习新的研究视角。具体例子可以是定性研究和定量研究学者的交流。

在商业投资领域，听一下不看好某个项目的人的意见能帮助我们更全面的考虑这个项目的优缺点，避免不理性的投资。  

但是，对于迷信伪科学的人，就没什么好说的。比如相信星座的人总可以从星座描述中找到符合事实的地方，但是其实这是一个模凌两可的封闭系统。比如那些相信圣经的每句话都是真理的狭隘的基督徒，见到他们最好呵呵一下算了，跟他们讲进化论、讲宇宙学就是浪费时间。   

貌似这道题难倒不少同学，于是写了这篇范文，供大家参考。

49) Claim: We can usually learn much more from people whose views we share than from those whose views contradict our own.
Reason: Disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.


Whether the claim and the reason hold true or not depends on the specidic contexts of the discussion.  When it comes to issues in science and research, talking with people from different POVs can promote learning as we can more critically examine our methods and data with their input. It is also important to discuss political issues with people holding contrasting opinions as we may learn how other stakeholders think about the problems.  Nevertheless, discussing religious matters with people from different backgrounds often leads to more disagreement, confrontation and embarrassment as people seldom change their religious beliefs that are at the core of their identities.   

In the context of science and research, we can learn more from people holding different views as discussing with them forces us to examine more critically our own methods and data.  Consider a researcher in applied linguistics who concludes that learning vocabulary by memorizing word lists is an effective method based on a single case study of a Chinese student preparing for GRE tests.  He may benefit from presenting his study in a conference and   answering questions from his colleagues who may challenge the validity of the single case study approach.  By exploring the advantages and disadvantages of the method, the researcher can learn a great deal from his colleagues about different methods that can be used to study this issue.  He can also learn from people who may question the reliability of the data he collected and improve his future studies regarding data collection.  Such learning opportunities are not possible if the researcher only presents his/her study to people who agree with him/her.  

When it comes to political debate, holding a conversation with people from different backgrounds may also help us to learn how other stakeholders view the issues and reach consensus as a society.  An advocate for gay and lesbian marriage, for example, can be enlightened through a dialogue with more conservative people who believe that rights to marriage should be reserved for heterosexual couples.  The advocate will learn that people who oppose gay and lesbian marriage may have been motivated by some beliefs that are deeply rooted in their lack of interaction with people with different sexual orientations.  Through such communication, people from both sides will realize that disagreement can be better understood and handled by promoting mutual respect.  Again, people from both sides would miss valuable learning opportunities if they only discuss such matters with friends sharing their views.  


As the above two examples clearly illustrate, the claim and the reason do not hold true so long as people can have a rational and peaceful discussion despite their different points of view.  Nevertheless, such discussion should be avoided on more sensitive topics where people may become more emotionally charged.  Consider a conversation between an atheist and a devout christian.  The christian may maintain that the Bible is the main source of truth and wisdom as it was written with inspiration from God. On the other hand, the atheist may ask for concrete evidence about certain claims made in the Bible about Jesus.  Such conversation may easily turn into an emotional and irrational conflict as both sides could not hold a rational and peaceful discussion on such a sensitive topic. In cases like this, little can be learned through such discussion as disagreement will likely to cause stress and rule out any possibility of learning.  

In conclusion, I believe that people can learn more from communicating with people holding different viewpoints in various contexts so long as they can remain calm and reasonable throughout the conversations.  Nevertheless, for certain sensitive topics, it is better to avoid such discussion which can often lead to stress and inhibit learning.

79) Claim: The best test of an argument is its ability to convince someone with an opposing viewpoint.
Reason: Only by being forced to defend an idea against the doubts and contrasting views of others does one really discover the value of that idea.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.


146) The best test of an argument is the argument's ability to convince someone with an opposing viewpoint.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

这里的reason未必是对的，可以分两种情况来讨论

在投资领域，不断的回应质疑和挑战，可以更多的发现这个想法的价值。比如，开发微信的团队需要说服高层这个产品比QQ好。

在科研领域，有时候不是想法的价值需要强化，关键是论证中的证据是否充分，而通过和不同意见的人讨论，可以不断检查论据是否充分。可以讲一下论文peer review的过程。

但是上述讨论的前提是持不同意见的人具有理性思考和讨论的能力，如果遇到伪科学或宗教狂热分子就呵呵了  

换了一个思路来写这道题 通过argument的结构来构建文章的框架 可能模仿有难度  

146) The best test of an argument is the argument's ability to convince someone with an opposing viewpoint.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

Whether or not the proposed test of an argument is the most useful depends on which aspects of the argument that the opponents challenge.  As we know, an opponent may challenge the premise, the evidence and the reasoning process of an argument.  I think an argument can be best tested through convincing the opponents who cast doubts on the evidence and the reasoning process.  Nevertheless, if the opponents do not agree with the basic premise of an argument, it would be fruitless to try to convince them.  I’ll explain my position with more concrete examples as follows.  

Let’s first consider the argument that gays and lesbians should have the right to get married.  The argument may consist of the following premise, evidence and reasoning process.  It may be first assumed that people with different sexual orientations should enjoy equal rights including rights of marriage so long as giving them such rights would not harm other people. Next, evidence about gay and lesbian couples getting married does not hurt anyone but may bring benefits to the society can then be presented. Finally, the conclusion that gay and lesbians couples should be allowed to marry can be reached by considering the evidence and the premise.  

Suppose someone challenges the evidence that homosexual marriage do not harm the society.  To try to convince such opponents, one has to provide all the evidence suggesting that few people suffer from the marriages of homosexual couples.  One can even provide evidence to suggest that homosexual weddings will boost the economy by stimulating consumption.  Such evidence will be scrutinized critically in the process of trying to persuade the opponents.  Weaker evidence will be identified and replaced by stronger evidence, thereby strengthening the argument.  In other words, the statement holds true for opponents who question the evidence of an argument.  

What if the opponents question the reasoning process of an argument?  The process of walking through the reasoning of an argument with the opponents may also help both the proponents and opponents of an argument to better understand how the evidence can be used to support the conclusion.  The opponents of homosexual marriages may, for example, ask why the couples should be allowed to marry as long as doing so does not hurt others.  The advocate may respond by pointing out that the basic assumption has been made that anyone should have the right to do anything if such behavior does not bring any harm to other members of the society.  The strength of such a test can be seen from the fact that convincing the opponents often forces the proponents to make certain implicitly made assumptions explicit.  

Nevertheless, the proposed test of arguments would be useless if the opponents question the basic assumptions made in the arguments.  Suppose the opponents of homesexual marriages do not agree that people with different sexual orientations should enjoy the same legal rights.  Or they find the idea of homosexual marriages intrinsically wrong regardless of whether the marriages may bring damage to the society.  In cases like these, it would be pointless to try to convince them about the argument as they do not even accept the premise of the argument.  

In conclusion, through examining some hypothetical scenarios about the argument for homosexual marriages, it is demonstrated that the proposed test for arguments can be very helpful when the opponents challenge the evidence and the reasoning process of the arguments but may be of limited value when the opponents simply reject the basic premises of the arguments.

tesolchinaUID：2191404

36) Governments should not fund any scientific research whose consequences are unclear.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

Government funding is a major source of financial support that scientific researchers around the world rely on for doing their research projects.  For projects that do not have clearly anticipated consequences, whether the governments should provide the funding depends on the specific nature of the research.  For those projects that may lead to commercial applications or ethical crisis, the government should not spend taxpayers’ money on them.  But for those theoretical research projects with no clear practical value, government support is essential.  

The government should refrain from supporting the projects that may lead to commercially valuable technologies or findings.  Such projects should be funded by the corporations which have better knowledge about the potential markets of the research results and can do better jobs to manage the risk.  For example, the research projects on driverless vehicles have great potential to revolutionize the automobile industry.  But the consequences of such projects in terms of financial success are far from clear.  The government should stay away from such projects because private corporations such as Google have more experiences and resources to manage such projects.  And it is not fair for the taxpayers to bear the potential loss of the projects which can be very costly.  Projects like this should be left to the private sector to invest in while guided by the invisible hand of the market.  

On the other hand, taxpayers’ money should not be spent on the research projects that may lead to ethically controversial results. Take the human cloning project for example.  With the successful cloning of sheep, the technology for cloning human beings is on the horizon.  While such technology may have huge potential for applications in different contexts such as biology and health care, the government should not support the research projecst involving cloning human beings because of the ethical controversies related to such research.  In a short essay like this, there is no space for me to discuss the ethical issues in great details.  But it is clear that the government should not provide financial support for such projects before the ethical issues are resolved.  

Nevertheless, for theoretically oriented research project whose consequences are difficult to predict, the government should provided financial support to ensure efforts and money are devoted to such projects.  Take the research projects on pure mathematics for example.  For more than a century, a great many mathematicians have been working on Riemann hypothesis regarding the patterns of prime numbers.  Until the recent development of online e-commerce and the growing demand for online security, however, the importance of such research was not fully understood.  Without the full appreciation of the consequences of the research on Riemann hypothesis in terms of practical applications, the private sector may have little incentive to support the researchers in this area.  In research areas like this, government support is essential.  

In conclusion, given the scarcity of government funding, the research projects that can attract support from the private sector or those that may be ethically problematic should not receive support from the government.  Nevertheless, the government should be generous in supporting the theoretically important research projects whose consequences cannot be predicted.  

tesolchinaUID：2191404

37) Society should identify those children who have special talents and provide training for them at an early age to develop their talents.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

已经有思路


Society should identify those children who have special talents and provide training for them at an early age to develop their talents in mathematics and science as well as artistic, but not in linguistics.
In mathematics and science, society can identify those children who have special talents by competitions and should provide them with special training because the children may contribute to the fields greatly.数学和科学能够通过竞赛的方式选拔出有天分的孩子，专门培养以及训练有助于他们在自己的领域出成果，带来社会价值。举例：数学领域的Terrance Tao,科学领域的Eva Vertes和 Jessica Su
In artistic, society can also identify the gifted children by artistic competitions or programs, and should provide them with special training because the child stars have social value.艺术领域有天分的孩子可以通过比赛或者节目选出，以让童星在艺术圈发展的方式对其进行特殊培养，可以创造出更多的艺术作品，即社会价值。举例：Shirley Temple, Natalie Portman.
In linguistics, however, there is no need to train the gifted children because languages are used to communicate with others so that the gifted children can learn the languages in their daily life.语言属于社会层面，作用在于与他人交流，专门对儿童的语言进行培养难以创造社会价值。

From time to time, exceptional children with special gifts were born and the society have to think about what to do with these children who have the potential to become very useful members of the society.  I believe that resources should be devoted to identifying talented children in math and science and provide tailor-made training for them to fully realize their potential. Despite the popularity of such practices, however, identifying and training children with athletic talents for competition are ethically problematic.  

For children with special talents in mathematics, it is often quite easy to identify and special training should be provided.  Take Terrence Tao, a Fields Medal winning mathematician, for example.  Tao was recognised as a genius when he taught his 5-year-old buddies to spell and add numbers as a 2-year-old.  Given his talents in math, the regular school curriculum could not meet his educational needs.  His parents made the special arrangements for him to skip grades and started taking college-level math courses as a 11-year-old.   For gifted children like Terry, although very rare, it is important for the society to recognise them and train them in the ways they need to fully develop their talents.

Likewise, for children with talents in science, special training and opportunities for doing research are essential for their growth.  Consider the story of Eva Vertes, who became interested in research on cancer as a 10-year-old when reading a book on the topic.  As a high school student, she wrote to a professor in a local university and had the opportunities to do some researches on cancer in his lab.  The kinds of training provided in the form of working with more senior researchers in a lab turned out to be critical for the development of Vertes as a biomedical scientist.  The example clearly illustrates the importance of identification and training for children and teenagers talented in sciences.  

Nevertheless, for children talented in sports, it is ethically problematic to identify and train them at an early age.  Nowadays, in certain fields such as gymnastic and diving, children as young as 3 years olds in China were sent to training schools to practice basic skills and techniques with the hope that they may win a gold medal in Olympics Games ten years later.  Such systematic training of a large number of children for the competitive sports raises some serious ethical issues.  For one thing, the children may be forced to receive rigorous training against their wills.  In addition, among the many children receiving the training, only very few eventually won medals in national and international sports events.  For many, despite their talents and hard work, the benefits from the training are not obvious.  

In conclusion, I believe that this statement holds true for children with talents in math and science. As for children gifted in sports, identifying and training them at early stages are not always ethically acceptable or beneficial for their long-term development.

I was reading a book "Gifted Lives" talking about the experiences of gifted people.  One point the author made is that gifted children are often good at many different things.  One example was Jeremy who had to decide whether to pursue a career in music or in medicine.  I think this insight is relevant to this issue here.  We may argue that it is a bad idea to provide early training because it narrows down the children's future careers too early.  One could have become a very successful scientist if he were not trained to become a pianist, for example.  Of course, one can also argue that such specialised training can help solve the problem of too many choices that gifted children often have to face.  

The larger point I want to make is that to tackle issues in GRE writing, it is often helpful, if not necessary, to do a bit research on a given topic.  After all, the test is about how well educated one is at college level.  Presumably the more widely read you are, the more educated you look like.  

tesolchinaUID：2191404

40) Claim: When planning courses, educators should take into account the interests and suggestions of their students.
Reason: Students are more motivated to learn when they are interested in what they are studying.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.


47) Educators should find out what students want included in the curriculum and then offer it to them.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.


https://bbs.gter.net/thread-1790275-1-1.html

90) Educators should take students' interests into account when planning the content of the courses they teach.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

required courses
why not
- certain materials are important
- certain materials may become more interesting after some exposure to it  
elective courses  
attract more students to different field  



Students’ interests in different topics and contents are an important issue that course planners need to consider.  Whether this factor should be taken into account to determine the content of the courses depends on whether the course is a requirement for students pursuing their majors or an elective course designed to broaden students’ horizon.  I will first explain two reasons why required courses should be designed without regard to students’ interests.  Afterwards, I would discuss why the statement holds true for elective courses.  

The first reason why required courses often include materials students are not interested in is that such materials are essential for students’ current and future academic studies.  Take the introductory Calculus course I took as a freshman for example.  In the course, the professor introduced Matlab as a programming tool for performing advanced math calculations.  Without prior background in programming, most students found the materials boring and difficult.  Following the logic of the statement, the professor should not have included Matlab programming in the course because students would not be interested in the topic.  Nevertheless, learning how to use Matlab as a tool to solve advanced math problems is an essential technique not just for this course on Calculus but for many other courses in science and engineering that students need to take in the near future.  Therefore, the topic has to be treated at a considerable length despite the lack of interests of the students.  

In addition, the interests of students on a certain topic may change dramatically after some exposure to it.  This is the second reason why course planners should not exclude certain topics simply because students are not interested at the beginning.  In the Calculus course I took, after spending some time learning how to program in Matlab, my classmates and I had gradually realized the power of Matlab in solving math problems numerically.  We were particularly impressed with the visialization of an abstract math problem made possible by some programs written in Matlab.  Towards the end of course, most of us became increasingly interested in Matlab as a useful tool for solving math and engineering problems.  As this example clearly illustrates, it often takes some time for students to develop their interests on certain topics that seemed to be boring at the beginning.  Therefore, course planners should not give up such topics too early.  

On the other hand, when designing elective courses, students’ interests should be a decisive factor.  As we know, unlike required courses for students’ major field of study, elective courses are offered with the belief that students should take different courses outside their major fields to receive a more well-rounded education. Such courses are often standalone without close links to more advanced courses on the same topics.  Therefore, the course planners can be more flexible in choosing what topics to cover in such introductory courses.  For example, in the course “Physics and Society”, an elective course I took in my sophomore year, the professor covered a wide range of topics from global warming to nuclear energy that most students fould appealing and relevant.  Due to its interesting topics, this course had become one of the most popular courses among non-physics majors when I was in college.  Indeed, this is another reason why elective courses have to present materials that are interesting— they have to attract students who have many options when choosing elective courses.  

In conclusion, student’s interests should be taken into account when determining the content of elective courses that are offerred to broaden students’ horizons.  But for required courses that prepare students for more advanced training in a given field, the course contents should be designed based on students’ needs rather than interests.  Nevertheless, students may develop their interests on certain topics after some exposure to the topics despite their initial lack of interests.  

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42) Students should always question what they are taught instead of accepting it passively.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

TS: Whether the statement holds true depends on the nature of what is being taught.  When students are taught the facts and methods that have been generally accepted, they should not question them until they master the knowledge.  They should, however, challenge the legitimacy of the values taught in schools in order to avoid being brainwashed.   

ts1: facts presented in the classrooms should be accepted passively in order to study efficiently
- facts are usually verified by researchers scientifically
- for example- the fact that the numbers that are divisible by 3 always have the sum of their digits divisible by 3
- this fact can be proved mathematically
- the fact should be memorised and used in doing math (questioning it is pointless)

ts2: methods taught to solve problems should not be questioned either
- for example, Riemann hypothesis has not been proved
- but the hypothesis has been used to solve many problems before
- efforts should be made to understand the methods and practice using them
- no need to question them as students
- may question it later as researchers

ts3: values and ideologies taught in schools should be questioned to avoid being brainwashed  
- some US schools taught abstinence as the best method to prevent pregnancy
- such biased messages should be questioned  
- http://thinkprogress.org/health/ ... ancy-sex-education/