今天的作业

gromwell66666UID: 2707998

TOPIC: ISSUE208 - "The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much about a society's ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people."
WORDS: 302
TIME: 0:50:00
DATE: 2009-11-29


From the statement, the speaker claims that the way people look, dress and act reveals their external expression which has to do with their attitudes and interests, yet, the conclusion which illustrates people can judge a society's ideas and values by observing the cover is limited.

It is an undeniable fact that most of us are easily influenced by our first observation. Consider, for example, if some people wear headphone to listen music when they are walking, running and eating, we may presume that those people are music lovers; meanwhile, when anyone always wear same cloth, people may guess that person does not have a tidy habit or that person probably does not like to pay attention to the fashion show. People are able to perceive others' attitudes and interests through their behaviors and expressions, also, the external characteristics of someone will definitely impress others.

Nevertheless, even though people are able to observe other's attitudes and interests from the look, dress and other factors, but that cannot make the conclusion that people can tell much about a society's ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people.

On the one hand, the speaker’s conclusion could be misleading at first. In fact, the appearance and behavior do not necessarily represent the latent social values. China has been imitating the legal system of other nations and the government continuously claims rule of law is significant. Moreover, more and more people go to court to solve disputes. From speaker's observation, s/he may judge that Chinese people have preference to use legal system, just like the trend which happened in America before. Ironically, the speaker disregards the Chinese tradition has been in existence for more than five thousand years. The tradition which is deep rooted in people’s hearts dose not really encourage individual to pursue the legal method, and it has been considered as a shame. Even though the number of cases in the court is increasing, the social values will not ever be changed.

Furthermore, people’s behavior and appearance, at times, are the camouflage of the negative sides of a society which cannot be witnessed in short time. My American experience is an excellent example. Before that experience, I had no idea about racial discrimination, since I have always been living in China. Yet, when I arrived at America, I found people who are around me are so compassionate and friendly. They asked me how I am doing, said good greeting words to me and so forth. I was impressed by those people’s fascinating and warm behaviors. However, as time went by, I realized the reality gradually, which told me that I was an alien, a foreigner and a different person. I slightly sensed the feeling of being discriminated, either in the dining hall or in the classroom. At last, my confusion was solved by my American roommate. He said you cannot see the racial discrimination here, because it’s invisible. Therefore, I hold the view that we cannot judge the social values by people’s behaviors, but if we had enough time and conscious mind, we would tell much about a society’s values.
All in all, judging one book by its cover is not a wise plan, the essence of an object, a person and a society is deeply buried at somewhere people need to continuously exhume rather than being cheated either by the fabulous or repulsive appearance.