issue221［文以载道之决战二月］小组第四周作业 by cipherhuang

cipherhuangUID: 2552227

提纲
1 不同时代人的行为方式,思维模式,价值观不同
2 人的本性不变
3 历史的最大作用不在于鉴别以上两点,在于提供参照

TOPIC: ISSUE221 - "The chief benefit of the study of history is to break down the illusion that people in one period of time are significantly different from people who lived at any other time in history."
WORDS: 627          TIME: 02:05:38          DATE: 2008-12-8 14:39:06

Modern people tend to believe that they are very different from their predecessors, for their perception of the dramatic change in how they act. A serious study of history, however, will reveal that we have a lot in common with people of any other time in terms of human nature. But this does not mean that the most significant merit of history is to identify such similarities, it abides elsewhere.

No doubt this is an era when a lot of people no longer hold the same faith as their predecessors who often tend to adore supernatural powers, no matter it's Jesus or Buddha. Radical revolution in science and technology has profoundly transforms our world, which has now entered an age of information. Of what is accessible to a modern man is messages from mobile phone, shows from television, and emails from the Internet, all facilitate the communication of idea, and accelerate the dramatic change of our cultural environment which in turn shapes the behavior, ways of thinking, and value system of each individual. The prevalent acclaim of freedom in our society, for instance, has results in a more open attitude towards sex, and now we don't regard it as a taboo for women to dress miniskirts as our predecessors did. All these shows how different we are from people lived years ago.

On the other hand, it's imprudent to draw the conclusion that we share nothing in common with our progenitors considering we are still human beings. After all, although we may say that we are more civilized, our nature as a man remains somewhat unchanged. If we open a history book, seriously study how primitive people hunt animals, fight enemies, and subjected our deepest need and desire that drive us running exhaustively for a job interview, holding a position we have no interest in to objective analysis, it becomes clear that we and our distant ancestors both demonstrate a strong need to survive. At bottom we hold nothing that is fundamentally different from our most distant ancestors.

While I strongly admit the role history play in digging out our innermost nature as human, I think the most beneficial function of history is not this, instead, is its role as a reference to our society. I would favor that comparison which considers history as a four-dimension mirror, which records everything our predecessors have gone through in their perpetual struggle with the nature, or any other man, and vividly plays them before us. A wise society would seriously examine itself in front of this mirror, and by studying lessons from the past, it understands which arduous path to avoid; when there are hard decisions to make, it turns to this mirror for reference; by analyzing similar situations, it gain a foresight of the future. The introduction of sustainable development to developing countries is a good example. Developed countries used to take a path which consumes prodigious amount of resources, leads to severe environmental problems in order to accelerate its accumulation of social wealth. Seeing the great cost of such pattern of development, many developing countries are now attempting to adopt different measures to guarantee a healthier process as well as the goods of our offspring. A representative example of these countries is Singapore. This shows the power of history in portraying a possible picture of future, power we can not utilize until we frequently refer to history.

In the final analysis, I find it justifiable to hold the opinion that we are, in large part, the same as even our most distant ancestors, though we have changed much in terms of our ways of acting, pattern of thinking, and system of valuing. However, history serves no where near best in identifying differences or similarities between people living in various periods, but in providing us a reference, which can help to
forseen the uncertain future.



因为想限时,写的有点赶,思维有点乱,大家尽管批评~

[ 本帖最后由 cipherhuang 于 2008-12-9 11:20 编辑 ]

IthakaUID: 2511650

Modern people tend to believe that they are very different from their predecessors, for their(who?) perception of the dramatic change in how theywho?指代不明确 act是否合适？. A serious study of history, however, will reveal that we have a lot in common with people of any other time in terms of human nature. But this does not mean that the most significant merit of history is to identify such similarities, it abides elsewhere.<br />人们相信自己与先人不同，但严肃的历史研究告诉我们人性是相同的。但认识相似点不是历史的主要益处。
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No doubt this is an era when a lot of people no longer hold the same faith as their predecessors who often tend to adore supernatural powers, no matter it's Jesus or Buddha. Radical revolution in science and technology has profoundly transforms our world, which has now entered an age of information. Of？ what is accessible to a modern man is messages from mobile phone, shows from television, and emails from the Internet, all facilitate the communication of idea, and accelerate the dramatic changes of our cultural environment which in turn shapes the behavior, ways of thinking, and value system of each individual.句子太长，建议拆分 The prevalent acclaim of freedom in our society, for instance, has results in a more open attitude towards sex, and now we don't regard it as a taboo for women to dress miniskirts as our predecessors did. 信息世界和性禁忌有关系吗？建议梳理一下句子之间的逻辑关系。All these shows how different we are from people lived years ago.这个不同是什么层面上的，可以说得更清楚
On the other hand, it's imprudent to draw the conclusion好句子 that we share nothing in common with our progenitors considering we are still human beings. After all, although we may say that we are more civilized, our nature as a man表达不确our human nature remains somewhat unchanged. If we open a history book, seriously study seriously study不合适，可以改成 to seehow primitive people hunt animals, fight enemies, and subjected? our deepest need and desiresurvive是基本需求，不是深层需求 that drive us running exhaustively for a job interview, holding a position we have no interest in这个例子要举得更细，在什么情况下这是为survive的努力。因为你换个工作也能活 to objective analysis, it becomes clear that we and our distant ancestors both demonstrate a strong need to survive. At bottom we hold nothing that is fundamentally different from our most distant ancestors.<br />生存需求这里，应该想办法找一些更明确的例子，比如囚犯对生的渴望。找工作可能是为了维持某一水平的生活。
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While I strongly admit the role history play in digging out our innermost nature as human, I think the most beneficial function of history is not this, instead, is its role as a reference to our society. I would favor that comparison which considers history as a four-dimension mirror, which records everything history恰恰不能record everything，因为它recorded and selected by historians our predecessors have gone through in their perpetual struggle with the nature, or any other man建议换成 their enemies either from nature or same species, and vividly plays them presents them vivid before us. A wise society would seriously examine itself in front of this mirror, and by studying lessons from the past, it understands which arduous path to avoid; when there are hard decisions to make, it turns to this mirror for reference; by analyzing similar situations, it gain a foresight of the future. The introduction of sustainable development to developing countries is a good example. Developed countries used to take a path which consumes prodigious amount of resources, leads to severe environmental problems in order to accelerate its accumulation of social wealth. Seeing the great cost of such pattern of development, many developing countries are now attempting to adopt different measures to guarantee a healthier process as well as the goods of our offspring. A representative example of these countries is Singapore. 这个例子虽然讲了历史的用处，但远离了题眼：people.主体变成了经济或者国家这些抽象物。This shows the power of history in portraying a possible picture of future, power we can not utilize until we frequently refer to history.
这一段的论点，我认为没有深刻把握题目的意思。之所以能以史为鉴，正因为“不同时代的人们没有本质的不同“。所以这一段应该是赞同而不是反对题目的论点。
In the final analysis, I find it justifiable to hold the opinion that we are, in large part第二段论述的是at bottom，这个过渡到large part还缺少论证, the same as even our most distant ancestors, though we have changed much in terms of our ways of acting, pattern of thinking, and system of valuing. However, history serves no where near best in identifying differences or similarities between people living in various periods, but in providing us a reference, which can help to forseen the uncertain future.
结尾总结论点，没有新的信息。如果能升华，或者将论点推进一步更好。


作者文字功底不错，词汇也很多样。注意不要写太长的句子，更容易出现问题。
我的修改主要针对逻辑上的梳理和例子的组织。抛砖引玉，欢迎讨论。

cipherhuangUID: 2552227

写的时候为了赶时间，所以有什么想法就用从句插入语往上加，所以我自己看起来也觉得很长～
例子是硬伤，第二段那个我也觉得有点牵强。无奈大多知道的都是中国特色的例子，转成英语老外估计也不明白，苦恼中。。。
开头和结尾写出来我自己也感觉很糟～
不过这两句话我想可以讨论一下－－
"这个例子虽然讲了历史的用处，但远离了题眼：people.主体变成了经济或者国家这些抽象物。"
不知道Ithaka 是否赞同，第四段讨论的是历史最大的益处。我觉得虽然题目说历史最大的益处在于纠正人们的误区，但并不代表一定要在对人民的利益方面讨论历史的最大作用吧～

"之所以能以史为鉴，正因为“不同时代的人们没有本质的不同“。所以这一段应该是赞同而不是反对题目的论点。"
而且我认为“不同时代的人们没有本质的不同“虽然是“能以史为鉴”的前提，但在赞同历史最大益处是让我们“能以史为鉴”的同时不可能赞同题目的观点:历史的最大益处是证明“不同时代的人们没有本质的不同“, 这本身是矛盾的.
（好像有点绕口，哈哈^_^）

[ 本帖最后由 cipherhuang 于 2008-12-9 20:07 编辑 ]

IthakaUID: 2511650

:)
我的意思是说，这个题目可能重点在“不同时代的人本质相同“，而不是历史的功用。我觉得这里提到benefit主要是为了夸张，不是核心要反对的。。。个人观点了。

cipherhuangUID: 2552227

这样子啊，看来我的理解有所偏差～