【天下无G askme习作】第13次作业

askmeUID: 2264776

TOPIC: ISSUE36 - "The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."
WORDS: 717          TIME: 0:45:00          DATE: 2007-2-18

Ever since humans came into being, a large number of great persons have played important roles in history. It, hence, often causes debates and most of them are over the issue: whether or not greatness of individuals can be decided by their contemporaries. In my opinion, while there are many great persons were not accepted by their contemporaries in the past, nowadays, more and more greatness of individuals can be decided by their contemporaries, especially with the help of information and telecommunication technologies.

Admittedly, many great persons’ contemporaries overshadow their greatness, including talent and ideas. It is acknowledged that great persons, canny and excellent, have more or less outstanding ideas that are difficult for their contemporaries to understand. It is this difference that buries many great persons' talent and ideas. Thus, history is laden of artists, unaccepted in their lifetime but famous when they were dead. For supporting examples, one need look no further than Van Gogh, whose still life paintings recently broke all records in selling 50 million dollars; however, when alive, Van Gogh sold only one of his paintings. Owing to Van Gogh's non-mainstream and outlandish style of paintings, most of his contemporaries consider his paintings strange and worthless. As a result, all his life, Van Gogh lived a miserable life until his hunger to death. Nowadays, most people regard Van Gogh as one of the famous artists and his poor life as a tragedy caused by his contemporaries' ignorance. Similarly, though much pragmatic than artists, many politicians faced the same problem as Van Gogh. This statement brings immediately to minds Qin Shihuang, the first emperor in China. In the past, he was considered as a despot because he coerced thousands of people to build the Great Wall, most of them were overwrought and thus dead. Nonetheless, later, his subsequent emperors found the military value of the Great Wall. Were it not for the Great Wall, China will be vulnerable and the whole history might be changed far from what it looks like today. In short, although great persons discussed above are in different fields, they suffered from the same experience of being misunderstood by their contemporaries.

However, in the contrast to these great but misrable persons, in the modern era, more and more great persons are accepted and appreciated by their contemporaries. Generally speaking, because democratic values are widely transmitted all over the world, people become more and more adoptive and tolerant to other different ideas and behaviors. Thus, nowadays, people would like to discover advantage rather than disadvantage of a person. In business, if someone is excellent, although having some abnormal behaviors and experiences, he or she is still considered as an outstanding businessman. A case in point is that although Bill Gates dropped out from Harvard, which turned over many people's principles, his excellent performance in starting the engine of Microsoft won him honor and prize all over the world. It is the effect and achievements that people nowadays take as standards to measure somebody. Thus, Bill Gates can be widely accepted despite his dropping out. In short, change in people's values and principles makes great persons easier to accept nowadays.

Finally, telecommunication technologies, such as internet and televisions, give a hand to deciding individuals’ greatness. In the past, many great persons were misunderstood for the reason that they did not have adequate means to express his opinion. On the contrary, nowadays, people are able to speak to anybody in any place with the help of internet and thus make others understand and discover their greatness. For instance, a Chinese singer called Xue Cun, famous for his first flash song, won his honor in China through the internet. Recording his songs, he transmitted them through the internet, so people discover his talents-- good voice and humor lyrics. Were it not for the internet, how could thousands of people hear his beautiful songs? In consequence, Xue Cun might be more miserable than Van Gogh. All in all, thanks to telecommunication technologies, it is easier for people to find out the greatness of others.

To sum up, difficulty in communication and lacking democratic values impede people to find out great persons, but nowadays, to discover greatness of individuals is more accessible than ever before. I trust my intuition that with the development, it will be easier and easier.  


TOPIC: ARGUMENT2 - The following appeared in a letter sent by a committee of homeowners from the Deerhaven Acres to all homeowners in Deerhaven Acres.

"Seven years ago, homeowners in nearby Brookville community adopted a set of restrictions on how the community's yards should be landscaped and what colors the exteriors of homes should be painted. Since then, average property values have tripled in Brookville. In order to raise property values in Deerhaven Acres, we should adopt our own set of restrictions on landscaping and housepainting."
WORDS: 584          TIME: 0:30:00          DATE: 2007-2-18

Giving some facts and analysis, the argument that DeerHaven Acres should adopt their set of restrictions on landscaping and housepainting seems logical. However, a careful examination of this argument would reveal how groundless the conclusion is.

First of all, the argument depends on the assumption that people in Brookville fulfill their restrictions. However, this is not the case, nor does the arguer provide any evidence to substantiate this crucial assumption. Perhaps, although committee in Brookvill asked homeowners to adopt these restrictions, the homeowners considered these restrictions worthless and troublesome and thus consigned them to oblivion. If so, then the rise of property values in Brookville has nothing to do with these restrictions. As a result, the arguer's suggestion is premature at best.

Furthermore, even if homeowners in Brookville fulfill their restrictions, the mere fact that adopting restrictions occurs before the rise of property values in Brookville does not necessarily establish a positive and causal relationship between restrictions and the rise of property values. However, the arguer fails to consider other factors, such as time. It is highly possible that there are lots of changes happening in 7 years. For example, more immigrants came into Brookville and demanded more houses, which boosted the property values by the means of interplay of demand and supply. What's more, the arguer fails to inform whether or not the value of things besides houses also rise. If this district suffered from inflation, which devalues money and increases the value of all things, including houses, food, cars and so on. In short, any of these scenarios, if true, would serve to undermine the conclusion.

Next, even granted these restrictions are indeed effective, the arguer fails to consider the dissimilarities between Brookville and Deerhaven Acres, although there are points of comparison. Thus, the conclusion depends on the assumption that B is analogous to D in all aspects, is so weak. Such alternatives might include the fact that Brookville is a famous place of interest. As we know, tourists care for both the natural landscape and the local beautiful buildings. Thereupon, painting with the same color will perhaps beautify the appearance of buildings, which attracts more tourists and therefore causes rise in property values. However, the location of Deerhaven Acres is near an industrial district, which cares about not the appearance of building but the content in them. If so, adopting restriction is helpless for Deerhaven Acres. In all, relying such a simple mimicry, the conclusion is unconvincing.

Finally, it is assumed without justification that aside from adopting restrictions, no means other are available. However, this is not necessarily the case. It is highly possible that other means might better contribute to property values. For example, advertisement often plays an important role in facilitating sales and attracting potential buyers. If the committee of D launches a campaign of advertisement, it would be more effective. What's more, if the expense of painting all buildings is larger than the rise in property values, it is unwise to adopt such restrictions. Unless the rise is attractive enough, the committee might leave all building unchanged as well. In a word, without weighing revenue against expense, the arguer cannot confidently draw any firm conclusions.

To sum up, the conclusion lacks credibility because the evidence cited here lends no strong support to what the arguer maintains. To strengthen this argument, the arguer should provide more evidence regard the effect of restrictions in Brookville. To better evaluate this argument, we need more information about difference between Brookville and Deerhaven Acres.

bingbingxieminUID: 2283852

TOPIC: ISSUE36 - "The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."
WORDS: 717          TIME: 0:45:00          DATE: 2007-2-18
Ever since humans came into being, a large number of great persons have played important roles in history. It, hence, often causes debates and most of them are over the issue: whether or not greatness of individuals can be decided by their contemporaries. In my opinion, while there are many great persons were not accepted by their contemporaries in the past, nowadays, more and more greatness of individuals can be decided by their contemporaries, especially with the help of information and telecommunication technologies.
Admittedly, many great persons’ contemporaries overshadow their greatness, including talent and ideas. 【我的感觉是，这句话像是没有说完一样，overshadow了然后怎么了？最好说清楚，不然显得表述不太清楚】It is acknowledged that great persons, canny and excellent, have more or less outstanding ideas that are difficult for their contemporaries to understand. It is this difference【？这个词好像不能表达你的意思，一头雾水。。。】 that buries many great persons' talent and ideas. Thus, history is laden of artists, unaccepted in their lifetime but famous when they were dead. For supporting examples, one need look no further than Van Gogh, whose still life paintings recently broke all records in selling 50 million dollars; however, when alive, Van Gogh sold only one of his paintings. Owing to Van Gogh's non-mainstream and outlandish style of paintings, most of his contemporaries consider his paintings strange and worthless. As a result, all his life, Van Gogh lived a miserable life until his hunger to death. Nowadays, most people regard Van Gogh as one of the famous artists and his poor life as a tragedy caused by his contemporaries' ignorance. 【罗嗦了，或者我觉得你这个例子的所有内容要是能够精简成一两句长句子内容不用少效果会比这样好些～】Similarly, though much pragmatic than artists, many politicians faced the same problem as Van Gogh. This statement brings immediately to minds Qin Shihuang, the first emperor in China. In the past, he was considered as a despot because he coerced thousands of people to build the Great Wall, most of them were overwrought and thus dead. Nonetheless, later, his subsequent emperors found the military value of the Great Wall. Were it not for the Great Wall, China will be vulnerable and the whole history might be changed far from what it looks like today. In short, although great persons discussed above are in different fields, they suffered from the same experience of being misunderstood by their contemporaries.
However, in the contrast to these great but miserable persons, in the modern era, more and more great persons are accepted and appreciated by their contemporaries. Generally speaking, because democratic values are widely transmitted all over the world, people become more and more adoptive and tolerant to other different ideas and behaviors. Thus, nowadays, people would like to discover advantage rather than disadvantage of a person. In business, if someone is excellent, although having some abnormal behaviors and experiences, he or she is still considered as an outstanding businessman. A case in point is that although Bill Gates dropped out from Harvard, which turned over many people's principles, his excellent performance in starting the engine of Microsoft won him honor and prize all over the world. It is the effect and achievements that people nowadays take as standards to measure somebody. Thus, Bill Gates can be widely accepted despite his dropping out. In short, change in people's values and principles makes great persons easier to accept nowadays.【觉得这段就不错～】
Finally, telecommunication technologies, such as internet and televisions, give a hand to deciding individuals’ greatness. In the past, many great persons were misunderstood for the reason that they did not have adequate means to express his【注意和前面的they统一一下吧～】 opinion. On the contrary, nowadays, people are able to speak to anybody in any place with the help of internet and thus make others understand and discover their greatness. For instance, a Chinese singer called Xue Cun, famous for his first flash song, won his honor in China through the internet. Recording his songs, he transmitted them through the internet, so people discover his talents-- good voice and humor lyrics. Were it not for the internet, how could thousands of people hear his beautiful songs? In consequence, Xue Cun might be more miserable than Van Gogh【该用虚拟语气吧！】. All in all, thanks to telecommunication technologies, it is easier for people to find out the greatness of others.
To sum up, difficulty in communication and lacking democratic values impede people to find out great persons, but nowadays, to discover greatness of individuals is more accessible than ever before. I trust my intuition that with the development, it will be easier and easier.  【最后这句感觉不好，要么和前面那句连成一个句子要么就再说明一下，要不觉得不清不楚的话没有说完的感觉】

TOPIC: ARGUMENT2 - The following appeared in a letter sent by a committee of homeowners from the Deerhaven Acres to all homeowners in Deerhaven Acres.
"Seven years ago, homeowners in nearby Brookville community adopted a set of restrictions on how the community's yards should be landscaped and what colors the exteriors of homes should be painted. Since then, average property values have tripled in Brookville. In order to raise property values in Deerhaven Acres, we should adopt our own set of restrictions on landscaping and housepainting."
WORDS: 584          TIME: 0:30:00          DATE: 2007-2-18
Giving some facts and analysis, the argument that DeerHaven Acres should adopt their set of restrictions on landscaping and housepainting seems logical. However, a careful examination of this argument would reveal how groundless the conclusion is.
First of all, the argument depends on the assumption that people in Brookville fulfill their restrictions. However, this is not the case, nor does the arguer provide any evidence to substantiate this crucial assumption. Perhaps, although committee in Brookvill asked homeowners to adopt these restrictions, the homeowners considered these restrictions worthless and troublesome and thus consigned them to oblivion. If so, then the rise of property values in Brookville has nothing to do with these restrictions. As a result, the arguer's suggestion is premature at best.
Furthermore, even if homeowners in Brookville fulfill their restrictions, the mere fact that adopting restrictions occurs before the rise of property values in Brookville does not necessarily establish a positive and causal relationship between restrictions and the rise of property values. However, the arguer fails to consider other factors, such as time. It is highly possible that there are lots of changes happening in 7 years. For example, more immigrants came into Brookville and demanded more houses, which boosted the property values by the means of interplay of demand and supply. What's more, the arguer fails to inform whether or not the value of things besides houses also rise. If this district suffered from inflation, which devalues money and increases the value of all things, including houses, food, cars and so on. In short, any of these scenarios, if true, would serve to undermine the conclusion.
Next, even granted these restrictions are indeed effective, the arguer fails to consider the dissimilarities between Brookville and Deerhaven Acres, although there are points of comparison. Thus, the conclusion depends on the assumption that B【我记得好像要用缩写要在之前交代一下】 is analogous to D in all aspects, is so weak. Such alternatives might include the fact that Brookville is a famous place of interest. As we know, tourists care for both the natural landscape and the local beautiful buildings. Thereupon, painting with the same color will perhaps beautify the appearance of buildings, which attracts more tourists and therefore causes rise in property values. However, the location of Deerhaven Acres is near an industrial district, which cares about not the appearance of building but the content in them. If so, adopting restriction is helpless for Deerhaven Acres. In all, relying onsuch a simple mimicry, the conclusion is unconvincing.
Finally, it is assumed without justification that aside from adopting restrictions, no means other are available. However, this is not necessarily the case. It is highly possible that other means might better contribute to property values. For example, advertisement often plays an important role in facilitating sales and attracting potential buyers. If the committee of D launches a campaign of advertisement, it would be more effective. What's more, if the expense of painting all buildings is larger than the rise in property values, it is unwise to adopt such restrictions. Unless the rise is attractive enough, the committee might leave all building unchanged as well. In a word, without weighing revenue against expense, the arguer cannot confidently draw any firm conclusions.
To sum up, the conclusion lacks credibility because the evidence cited here lends no strong support to what the arguer maintains. To strengthen this argument, the arguer should provide more evidence regard the effect of restrictions in Brookville. To better evaluate this argument, we need more information about difference between Brookville and Deerhaven Acres.
【arg我就相当不在行了，我觉得你写得很好～～～比我有条理很多啊。。。】

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