【thatll】iBT备考日志

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60# asn_12
呵呵，没有了，感觉效率不是很高了

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【阅读----黄金23篇之第二篇】
Paragraph 10: The extreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land and the tremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficulty of reversing or even slowing the process. Once the soil has been removed by erosion, only the passage of centuries or millennia will enable new soil to form. In areas where considerable soil still remains, though, a rigorously enforced program of land protection and cover-crop planting may make it possible to reverse the present deterioration of the surface.
11. It can be inferred from the passage that the author most likely believes which of the following about the future of desertification?
○Governments will act quickly to control further desertification.
○The factors influencing desertification occur in cycles and will change in the future.
○Desertification will continue to increase.
○Desertification will soon occur in all areas of the world.

文章还是比较简单，这一题稍微有点疑问，为什么是第三个而不是第二个？

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【听写---SSS】
July 8, 2009
Are Parasites to Thank for Sex?
---------A study in the journal The American Naturalist implies that parasites helped drive the development of sex, because the shuffling of genes gives sex-produced progeny an advantage over asexual genetic clones.
[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]

Sex might seem like one of those little gifts from evolution. But it’s pretty inefficient from an evolutionary perspective. （这一句很好的表达了从什么角度来说这个东西的特点）It’d be much easier to reproduce if you could do away with finding the right member of the opposite sex to help you create the next generation. So why did evolution come up with sex?
Biologists have hypothesized that one driving force might have been parasites. Now scientists have had a chance to test that theory. Asexual reproduction leads to clones. Being genetically identical, clones are also weak in the same ways, and thus more likely to all succumb to a parasite. But sex keeps shuffling the genetic deck.
Well, there’s a snail common in New Zealand lakes that does both—some populations have sex and some reproduce asexually. So researchers spent 10 years monitoring the two populations, and the number of parasites living off both groups. As expected, cloned snails that were plentiful（这个词要学成为主动词汇） at the beginning of the study suffered big losses as they became infected with parasites. But the sexual snail populations remained stable, results published in the journal American Naturalist. So, next time you’re feeling sexy, thank a parasite.

词汇学习：
do away with:
1.  Make an end of, eliminate. For example, The town fathers have decided to do away with the old lighting system.
2.  Demolish, destroy, kill, as in The animal officer did away with the injured deer lying by the side of the road. In the 13th century both usages were simply put as do away, the with being added only in the late 1700s.
come up with:
Produce, supply; also, discover. For example, Henry always comes up with the wrong answer, or We're hoping they come up with a cure in time to help Aunt Alice. [First half of 1900s]
asexual:

• Having no evident sex or sex organs; sexless.
• Relating to, produced by, or involving reproduction that occurs without the union of male and female gametes, as in binary fission or budding.
• Lacking interest in or desire for sex.

succumb:To submit to an overpowering force or yield to an overwhelming desire; give up or give in.

说明：从今天起我转听delta，主攻delta，这个sss我会继续泛听，目前不再听写这个，但是我还是会发这个在这里，就当短文章来学习。

BALLON6UID: 2576833

adu的词表我忘记了刚找出来
你要不要的啊。。。

1点50分UID: 2474836

哥们 加油啊~~~

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65# 1点50分
谢谢鼓励，呵呵，恩，加油

zongwwwUID: 2330777

写的不错，平时也很努力的，肯定高分了

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【阅读+写作---The Economist Jul 9th 2009】
Extending lifespan Of mice and monkeys-----And men?

MOST people accept that death and taxes are inevitable. （这句话我们可以主动的学会，当我们在表达“大多数人认为死亡和税收是不可避免的事情”这样一个意思的时候，往往很俗套的回用hold the opinion， think等表达方式。这里一个accept that sth is inevitable，很传神，很地道。）But that doesn’t mean you should not try to postpone them. A good accountant can help with （这个help with的用法，其实这个help后面有省略sb，意即在某方面帮助某人）the latter, but the usual prescription for the former is a way of life that avoids excess.（这句话的表达也很好，对于延迟死亡的通常的药方就是过一种生活，这种生活就是懂得避免excess）

That advice might be even truer than many of its proponents realise（这一小分句也很好，“这个建议也许比他的提议者所意识到的还要正确”，even truer，很好）, for it has long been known that restricting the diets of several species of laboratory animal seems to slow down the process of ageing. This is a question not just of avoiding obesity, but of reducing an individual’s intake of calories to a point significantly below normal consumption—almost, but not quite, to the point of malnutrition. （这个句式用来解释“这里所涉及到的问题不仅仅是我们所熟知的，还有另外不为众人知的一面”这样一个意思。this is a question not just of sth, but of sth.这里作者是用来解释前面这个所提到的一个结论的原因的，就是说这个方法不仅是避免了肥胖，而且降低了个体能量的摄入。这里还有一个词组，就是reduce sth to a point significantly below normal consumption----almost, but not quite, to the point of sth.）At the same time, some drugs are also known to have anti-ageing properties—again, in “lower” animals. It is therefore good news for potential Methuselahs that both these approaches have now been brought closer, phylogenetically speaking, to humanity.

Caloric restriction, as the dietary method is properly known, （这里表达了一个概念，也就是通常说的什么概念这个意思，sth, as sth is properly known）was tested by Richard Weindruch and his team at the University of Wisconsin using rhesus monkeys— the workhorses (to mix literal and metaphorical livestock) of laboratory studies on non-human primates. Previously, the nearest species to a human for which caloric restriction had been proved to work was a mouse. （之前，这个要主动学会，previously）Dr Weindruch’s results are published in this week’s edition of Science.
Meanwhile that publication’s rival, Nature, has a report by David Harrison of the Jackson Laboratory in Maine and his colleagues on the life-prolonging effects of a drug called rapamycin. In this case the experiment was done on mice. But that is much closer to humans than the nematode worms and fruit flies which were the subjects of previous successful experiments on drug-induced life extension.
No pain, no gainOne reason why primates have not been the subject of anti-ageing studies until now is that they live so long anyway. Dr Weindruch’s paper is the result of 20 years of work. Over the course of that period he and his team have looked at 76 monkeys (30 males to start with and, since 1994, another 16 males and 30 females). Half these animals were kept as controls, with no changes in their diet, and the other half experimented upon.
Each animal in the experimental group was observed for up to six months to find out how much it ate when food was freely available. It then had the calorific value of this baseline diet cut, in three monthly tranches, until it had been reduced by a total of 30%.
The upshot is that, so far, 14 of the 38 control animals have died of age-related illnesses such as type II (late onset) diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Only five of the experimental animals so succumbed. A statistical analysis showed that, at any given time during the study, an animal in the control group was three times as likely to die from an age-related cause as one in the experimental group.（这种比较的表达我们一定要学会，那就是sth was three times as likely to die from as age-related cause as sth.  ）

Not all of the animals that died did so from age-related conditions. Some succumbed to injury, infection and even complications from anaesthesia. But when it came to these more random deaths, both groups suffered almost equally. （这个表达也很好，当考虑什么的时候，怎么样，when it comes to sth, ...）Seven went down in the control group, and nine in the experimental one. An apparent win, then, for caloric restriction—though it will not be possible to say for sure until all members of both groups have died and the extra years of life (if any) of the experimental subjects can be known precisely.

Semi-starvation is not, however, a course of action most people would be willing to undertake in the hope that it might prolong their lives. （然而，这样子的一个方式对想要长寿的大多数人是不太愿意去做的。sth is not, however, a course of action most people would willing to undertake in the hope that...）But they might be willing to take a pill. Indeed, a company called Sirtris Pharmaceuticals is already running trials of drugs that affect proteins called sirtuins—a group of enzymes which experiments on invertebrates have shown to be involved in extending lifespan（已经被证明和什么有关，have shown to be involved in sth）.

Dr Harrison and his colleagues picked a different molecule that has been seen to work on invertebrates: rapamycin. This substance, isolated originally from a strain of bacterium found on Easter Island—or Rapa Nui as it is known to the locals—acts by suppressing a particular signalling mechanism inside cells, called the TOR pathway. The TOR pathway, in turn, promotes protein production and inhibits the active destruction of parts of cells that are no longer needed. Slowing down all this molecular turnover seems to slow ageing, at least in worms and flies. So Dr Harrison’s team decided to give it a go in mice. （这里的句子间的关系表达的很好，“反过来，这个东西促进了什么，这个效果似乎意味着什么，至少对什么是成立的。所以发生了什么。”还有give it a go in sb在某人身上发生。）
Easter eggsLaboratory mice, which have no predators other than the white-coated variety, live for a maximum of just over 1,000 days. The researchers started feeding them with rapamycin at the age of 600 days—about the same point in their lives as a 60-year-old human has reached. The results were impressive. Maximum female lifespan increased from 1,094 days to 1,245, though males did somewhat less well,（什么东西很好，尽管什么东西稍微差点，though sb did somewhat less well） going from 1,078 days to 1,179. Measured from the time the drugs were first administered in early old age, these figures translate into a 38% increase in life expectancy for females and 28% for males.
What is equally interesting is that both the TOR pathway and the one controlled by sirtuins are also affected by caloric restriction. It looks, in other words, as if the drug-based and diet-based approaches are acting in similar ways. That is not to recommend people（这不是在推荐人们干什么） take doses of rapamycin. Its main medical use is to suppress the immune system, so anyone consuming it casually would open himself to serious infection. But it does hold out the tantalising hope（这个用的很传神） that, at some point in the future, it might be possible to pop a pill and put an extra decade or two on your life.

hold out：
1.  Extend, stretch forth; also, present or offer something. For example, He held out his hand and she took it, or The new policy held out promise of major changes in the welfare program. These usages date from the first half of the 1500s and of the 1600s respectively.
2.  Last, continue to be in supply or service, as in The food is holding out nicely. [Late 1500s] Also see hold up, def. 4.
3.  Continue to resist, as in The garrison held out for another month. [Second half of 1700s]
4.  Withhold cooperation, agreement, or information, as in We've asked for a better deal, but they've been holding out for months. It is also put as hold out on, as in They were still holding out on some of the provisions, or He's not telling us what happened; he's holding out on us.
5.  hold out for. Insist on obtaining, as in The union is still holding out for a better contract. [c. 1900]

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67# zongwww

呵呵，多过来帮我出出主意，提提意见，呵呵，咱么一起加油哈

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【听力】
Poll: Science, Though Beneficial, Losing Importance
----------The American public likes science, but thinks that its achievements are less important than they were a decade ago. That's according to telephone surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The results are in, and, Americans pretty much like science. Eighty-four percent of those polled think that “science’s effect on society” is mostly positive. That’s the result of two phone surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, released on July 9th.

Seventy-three percent believe that federal funding of basic research pays off in the long run. But the public’s rating of the overall significance of science seems to have dropped in the last 10 years. In 1999, 47 percent of those polled said that scientific advances were among the most important U.S. achievements. Today, only 27 percent think so.

And Americans are aware of scientific info much more when it’s related to their daily lives and health. For example, 91 percent know that aspirin’s an over-the-counter drug sometimes used to prevent heart attacks; only 46 percent can tell you which are bigger, electrons or atoms.
这个可以作为作文中的论据，呵呵，科学中有一些东西已经过头了！

To gauge your general basic science knowledge, including on the atom/electron question, take the test at pewresearch.org/sciencequiz

be in:到达

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【口语】fe3o4_chen

迟到的口语经验
30 28 22 20
我是7月28号考的，本来打算重考的，可是1直报不上名，现在已经是强弩之末，而且已经在弄申请的事情，实在没心思再去考1次了。我主要总结1下我的考试经验吧。考试本来进行的还算顺利，转折点是口语第二题，问我成功的标准是不是只能用钱来衡量。（具体题目记不大清楚了）我1下子就呆了，实在想不出任何point来解这道题，大脑1片空白，整个45秒内说的单词数量绝对不超过10个。兵败如山倒，我只能怀着极度郁闷的心情去答后面的题。感觉上第4题答的还不错，第5、6题有些没听清楚，不过也7788说了1些。考作文的时候由于刚才的郁闷还没缓过来，十分随意的写了点，最后居然把综合作文的观点看反了！等听力听完开始写的时候才发现，但是已经想不起来正确的是什么了。当时真是想直接回家算了，不过还是耐着性子把2篇作文写道刚好达到规定的字数，然后直接确认，连检查都省了。回家以后赶紧汇钱准备报下1次，可是报到今天还没报上。

我相信如果我那第二题没有失误的话，应该会考的比现在更好1点。这个帖子主要是想总结1下我的口语准备，如果能对大家有帮助那就最好了。我的英语水平应该属于比较中等的，所以如果你是牛人，请按Alt+F4。

我不知道现在口语是不是还是iBT中最恐怖的部分，反正我当初准备的时候口语部分是最最难准备的，也是花时间最多的部分。但是渐渐的也总结出来1些规律。
先说几条总的原则。
1，iBT口语其实考察的是presentation，而不是正常的交谈。所以常常会看到1些口语“牛人”的抱怨，他们可以和老外谈笑风生，可是1考试就完蛋。其实就是无法在短时间内组织刚刚听到的信息并且用自己的语言表达出来。这种能力我也不知道怎么去锻炼，我自己是象征性的听了1些老T的BC两部分，听完1个小段就用自己的话复述1遍刚才听到的内容。

2，所有的练习必须录音，然后回放着听，会听出很多你自己都没察觉的问题，然后在继续练习的时候不断的完善它。发音不是最重要的，但是必须做到1点，就是你的发音不能如此的不准确以至于影响对方明白你的意思。我感觉只要上过正规的大学，发音基本不会有太大的问题，因此练习的时候还是把主要精力放在如何把自己的意思表达清楚上面。

3，1定要严格卡时间，每道题目以考试规定的时间为准，时间1到立马停止。如果你觉得没说完，从头计算时间再说1遍，1直说到满意为止。

4，考试之前所有的jj必须过3遍以上。这个版里就有jj下载，搜索1下就可以了。第1遍先什么都不管，劈头盖脸的按照题目的顺序来1遍。理想的情况是1遍下来差不多知道自己对哪些题目比较苦手，哪些学术内容不太熟悉，哪种结构的内容不容易表达等等。如果什么都没感觉也无所谓，开始第2遍。第2遍就是分类准备了，比如1个上午就狂说第3题，或者1个晚上狂说第1题。然后有针对性地总结1些例子、句型、词汇等等。第3遍就是按照考试的顺序和时间间隔准备，相当于模考了。如果发现和第1遍相比没什么明显的进步，重复第2遍。

5，不要老是问评分的标准是什么，要不要总结阅读部分的内容之类的问题。所有的问题都在og里。好好听官方给出的解答，重点听那6个高分的录音，听别人是怎么得高分的。1旦觉得哪里不确定，就把那个拿出来听。我在准备的过程当中最起码听了20多遍。

下面是一些题目的准备，大家参考着看吧，如果有错误的话就忽略掉算了。
前2题：我就不多讲了，你看我自己考试的时候什么德行就知道了。我的战术是不要疯狂的准备素材，而是尽量准备1些容易说的，并且比较泛用的例子。但是不管怎么说这个跟平时的积累还是有1定的关系的，网上相关的准备方法也不少了，我就不多废话了。

第3题：
这题是先让你读1段东西，1般是学校的政策什么的，然后听1段录音，里面肯定是1男1女，然后1个人会反对阅读里的政策并且给出2条理由。（也有可能是支持，但是极少见；理由也有可能是2个以上，但是也极少见。）这题其实并不难，只要听力基本过关，1般拿个平均的分数没什么问题。我的模版：
According to the conversation, the man/woman apparently opposes(supports) the idea in the reading passage. He/she gave 2 reasons for that. The first one is that XXX. The other one is that XXX.
注意，我个人觉得，老美在平分的时候是默认你在不用模版的状态下考试的，因此，如果把上面的框架定好，我相信老美肯定觉得你对这道题目已经有了1个总体的认识，因此不会给出太低的分数。当然你不能2个理由1个都没听清楚，那样的话准备什么都是白费力气。
还有，很可能有些同学像我1样，he/she 不分，经常说错，我忘了在哪里看到过的，说是如果出现这种错误，老美可能会觉得你连最基本的东西都有问题，因此会对你的映像大打折扣，所以这里要注意1下。其实解决的办法也很简单，事先把表示男人女人的所有的单词（he she his her him …）分两行写在纸上，听的时候如果是要说男人的观点，就把女人那1行全部划掉，说的时候就照着纸上的说。如果这样还能说错，建议测1下智商。

第4题：
这题比较麻烦，因为涉及到了学术方面的东西，万1听到的是自己不熟悉的话题，心里难免会有点紧张。这个要事先做好心理准备。
这题会先给你读1段文章，是1个术语或者现象。然后给出1个解释。我总结了1下jj，大概分为以下几种情况。每种情况我都准备了1个模版。（具体的例子我暂时先不写了吧，隔了那么久，我也懒得再去翻jj了）
总模版：In the lecture, the professor is explaining the concept in the reading passage (which is called xxx. It means that xxx).
注意，括号里的东西可加可不加，根据当时情况而定，如果你觉得阅读部分比较容易总结，那就多说1句；如果阅读部分比较冗长，信息比较分散，那就不用总结了。关键是不要花太多时间去总结阅读里的东西，这样既没什么实际作用，又浪费了宝贵的时间。
情况1：先介绍1种现象/理论/事物，然后讲它的好处。
He/she gave 1/2 example(s) to illustrate its benefit. In the first example, xxx. In the second example xxx. The result is that xxx.;
或 He/she gave 1/2 example(s) to illustrate how to take advantage of xxx. In the first…….
或 xxx has its benefits in two ways. On the one hand, xxx. On the other hand xxx.
t& v
情况2：先介绍1种现象/理论/事物，然后举1个例子来说明。
这种情况我个人觉得比较难，因为只有1个例子，说得往往是1个过程，比较难以抓住重要的points。比如我考试的时候就是只有1个例子，好像讲的是survey的结果和实际情况有点不符，然后公司根据survey制订的策略，结果当然是失败。这种情况理解起来1点都不难，难的是如何在短时间内迅速总结出重要的points，然后用自己的话说出来。主要还是平时多练吧，我想强调的1点是这种题目1定要说出结果，就是The results is xxx. 这样可以体现出你解这道题目的完整性，开头总结——举例分析——最后结果。
比如051119的第四题就是这种情况。
情况3：先介绍1种现象/理论/事物，然后举两个例子说明。
这个不太难，因为比较好总结，1般是举1个例子的两个方面，或者是两个对应或者相关的例子。
你可以说 He gave 2 examples to illustrate that. In the first example xxx. In the second example xxx. 或者 He gave an example to illustrate that. In the example, xxx. On the one hand xxx. On the other hand xxx.
情况4：先介绍1种现象/理论/事物下面的2种情况，然后分别举两个例子说明。
这个我觉得是最简单的，就说 He gave 2 examples to illustrate them respectively. xxxx
情况5：对照实验。
这种情况不多，但是我觉得非常难。Og里有1道题就是这个，好像是有人看着你做事情就会容易出错什么的。这种类型的难点是很难用自己的话总结出来，因为重复的东西太多，对照实验么，两个group相差的东西也不会太多，因此总结的时候很容易重复1样的词，搞得自己很脱力，越说越没信心。Og里给了1个所谓的高分解答，里面那个人说到后来因为重复太多，自己也笑出来了。所以这种类型最好平时多练1练，准备1些对策。我自己想了几个。比如你可以说，the 2 groups are assigned/told to do xxx. The only difference is xxx. 或者，the subjects in the first group are told to do xxx. But the second group are not told so.
V+ \
基本上我能总结的就这么多了，毕竟时间隔得有点久了，有什么我没总结的大家也别骂我了。
]

第5题：
这题我觉得是最简单的，层次非常分明。先是1个SB有麻烦了，然后给出2个解决办法，然后你自己选1个，再解释1下为什么。这题我觉得关键是要把problem说清楚，og里的那个人最后连解释都没来得及，照样得了高分，说明就算这题答的不完整问题也不大。（当然你要保证前面部分的质量）
我的模版
According to the conversation, the man is having a problem. He is doing/planning to do/has done XXX. However xxx. (注意这里1个转折1定要体现出来，表示对考官说：“老子听出problem了”)  There are 2 solutions for that. (避免使用人称代词以免说错) The first one is that xxx. The second is that xxx. I think he should xxx. Because xxx.
基本上练得多了以后能总结出1些比较范用的理由来。比如如果选A的话时间会来不及阿，学习任务会太重阿之类的。总之这题不难。
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第6题：
就是第4题的翻版。唯1的区别是把阅读部分放到了听力里面，要求稍微高了点。做为整个口语里最难的1题，我的策略是必须听出professor在说什么概念，接下来基本就是第4题那几种情况。这题尽量吧，实在有困难也别担心，把握住前面5题是关键。

thatllUID: 2538832

hellomandy7

口语28+写作30：喜出望外之后的经验总结：

听力

听力的难度是和OG差不多，记笔记的时间也很充裕。听完之后能够对内容有框价的理解。但是不得不说有些题目的答案设置有迷惑性，让人难以抉择，尤其是语气和问话的目的。我碰到了听力加试（ID卡和神经冲动的传递和浪漫主义发展）考完后觉得听力应该是最好的但是却恰恰相反。看来听懂了也不一定会全对。关于听力有几个网站我认为很有用，一个就是scientific american ( http;//www.sciam.com/podcast)除了坛子里大家都在听的60 seconds science,还有science talk很有听力价值，ST每个episode

有30分钟，有2-3个对话组成，每个对话10-20分钟不等。对话的内容是主要科学研究方面的进展，与toefl的学术演讲接近。ST在时间的长度和越快于toefl的语速很利于提高学术演讲的适应和理解。当时我一般听2个ST，也就是将近1小时，然后休息一下再听一个ST。与之类似的听力还有science magzine的science podcast,( http://www.sciencemag.org/multimedia/podcast)也是一个episode 30分钟。坚持每天连听1-2小时同时作笔记能根本听高听lecture的能力。那时就会觉得toefl学术部分不难了。还有普特英语听力网站也有很多材料可以做为听腻了学术听力的调剂

口语

口语分我绝对没想过能拿28分。回想起来觉得可能我的高分与以下几点有关。

口语基础：语音语调是英语的外表，人靠衣装，口语靠语音装。清晰而舒服的发音能给考官留下很好的第一印象。这一点不是一朝一夕所能成而是靠日基月累。我的语音基础算是不错，大学校英语演讲比赛拿过一等奖。在准备toefl的时间内我几乎每天在学校英语角拿着mp3在跟读，模仿语音，每天大概一小时，每段模仿跟读至能听上句说下去为止。当然，这并不是说语音的重要性是压倒性的或者一定要多么地道优美，但发音清晰是值得我们去努力追求的。这里推荐大家充分利用每次的toefl听力中的校园对话部分，因为速度适宜又生活化，很适合跟读来提高发音和语调。还有就是reader's digest 网站的podcast（http://www.rd.com/rd-out-loud）,也是题材喜闻乐见，速度适宜，用词用句也很生活化。

备考准备：

Part1的准备题料的转化在很多帖子里已经详尽地讨论过了，在此我也不多说了。这里只介绍一个准备段子的小tip.很多人或许对段子的准备很苦恼，觉得自己写得不好而且要花很多时间写。我当时就是本着懒人的心理用乾坤大挪移法准备的。http://www.discoverhongkong.com这个网站是我几乎全部的地点题，文化活动题的来源。这个介绍香港的网站上有很多短小但撰写优美的介绍性文章，包括风土人情，传统节日与文化，观光景点，饮食等等，均可以稍加修改就用来应付口语第一题了。

Part2

这一部分的准备很无心插柳，但颇有成果。当时有一个要考雅思的学姐找我来练口语，于是我们每天见面一个多小时进行口语对话。后来我把OG的作文题库的题目带来用于口语的讨论，这样就很模拟了part2的考察方式。通过20多天的连续训练，明显能感觉到对part2的回答思路的提高。更重要的是培养并维持了语感。因此我建议大家有条件的找口语搭档就用作文题库进行训练，而不是泛泛得谈天气爱好什么的，那样一点针对性也没有无法对症下药。没办法找到的就用新浪UC的口语聊天室来找一个排挡。

Part3-6

提高复述能力毫无疑问有助于这部分的高分。当时我是尽可能地练完听力就地取材就对听力材料进行附属。Scientific american 60 seconds science个人认为用于训练复述的价值是大于听力的。其次就是上面提到的rd read out-loud podcast.再有每次做综合写作的听力也可以用来复述。一物多用嘛

thatllUID: 2538832

【第一篇作文练习】
1， Toptic: Do you agree or disagree? Playing computer games is wasting time; children should not be allowed to play them.

Computer games are growing more and more prevalent and the related industry correspondingly becomes bigger. Playing computer games is usually a normal activity and also helpful to develop one’s reflection ability and practical capacity. But everything has a coin of two sides. If you become addicted to playing computer games, then the problems such as wasting time and doing harm to the health of children will come up. Hence, from my point of view, the trouble stated above cannot be blamed on computer games themselves; on the contrary, we should introspect ourselves from the self-control ability to the education. So it is natural to render my opinion of the issue that playing computer games cannot be depicted as wasting time and children may be allowed to play them as long as we can achieve self-control.

Computer games are designed for people to have pastime and obtain enjoyment. Therefore, playing computer games should be help people better sparetime life. For example, we students are the most customers of the computer game industry and we find many computer games are very interesting and also can enhance various abilities such as imagination and organization. During the spare time, we will use such games for killing time and we will also communicate with roommates about the plots of the games or the designs of the games. Such activities can not only help us increase the affection of dormitory but also provoke the interest of studying the program of the computer games. Although we can provide many examples of students becoming languid and dropped behind in the learning of the major, it is unfair to totally ascribe such home things to computer games. That whether wasting time or not depends on the individual who plays computer games suggests it’s not the attribute of computer games while we should be aware that the bane may be rooted in ourselves. So, if we want to solve the problem currently existing, we should elevate ourselves from various aspects.

As to the issue of children’s allowance to play computer games, my answer is the same as the one before. I absolutely agree with that children should be allowed to play computer games because many computer games designed for the children mean to help develop the diverse ability of the children. Computer games for children are always scientifically conceived and if parents can effectively control the time of playing the consequence of children’s playing computer games will be positive and make all satisfied, including the children, parents and the whole human beings. So we hope our parents can accompany the children to play some computer games especial for children properly and help them healthfully grow up.

In conclusion, playing computer games itself cannot be up there on the harm scale. As long as we can properly manage ourselves, such games will serve us helpfully.

提纲：不同意。
1，玩游戏是killing time而不是wasting time，还有很多好处。
2，对于孩子是否可以玩游戏，一样是可以，并且儿童游戏有益于各方面能力的开发。

Toptic: Do you agree or disagree? Playing computer games is wasting time; children should not be allowed to play them.; V# Z  B8 |) G; l( H% I- ^
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Computer games are growing more and more prevalent and the related industry correspondingly becomes bigger. Playing computer games is usually a normal activity and also helpful to develop one’s reflection ability and practical capacity. But everything has a coin of two sides. If you become addicted to playing computer games, then the problems such as wasting time and doing harm to-->impairing/undermining the health of children will come up--> appear. Hence, from my point of view, the trouble stated above cannot be blamed on computer games themselves; on the contrary, we should introspect ourselves from the self-control ability to the education--> our self-control ability and educational problems. So（正式文本，so 不能打头） it is natural to render my opinion of the issue--> I believe that playing computer games cannot be depicted as wasting time and children may be allowed to play them as long as we can achieve self-control（children可以想玩多久玩多久，只要我们能自控？）--> computer games when them have rest.6 V, C" n* |0 K

Computer games are designed for people to have pastime and obtain enjoyment. Therefore, playing computer games should be help people better(韦伯里better没有动词意，牛津中动词意为surpass) sparetime life--> have some elated sparetime. For example, we students are the most customers of the computer game industry and we find many computer games are very interesting and also can enhance various abilities such as imagination and organization. During the sparetime, we will use such games for killing time(kill time和waste time不够成绝对的对立关系,试想你在玩游戏的时候被老板或者父母发现了，你说你在kill time，他们什么感觉？如果你说你只是在休息一下呢？） and we will also communicate-->share the experience with roommates  about the plots of the games or the designs of the games. Such activities can not only help us increase the affection of dormitory but also provoke the interest of studying the program of the computer games. Although we can provide many examples of students becoming languid and dropped behind in the learning of the major, it is unfair to totally ascribe such home things to computer games. That whether wasting time or not depends on the individual who plays computer games suggests it’s not the attribute of computer games while we should be aware that the bane may be rooted in ourselves. So, if we want to solve the problem currently existing, we should elevate ourselves from various aspects.（可以提出具体解决方法，比如限制游戏时间，加强室外活动，效果比抽象论述好）

As to the issue of children’s allowance to play computer games, my answer is the same as the one before. I absolutely agree with that children should be allowed to play computer games because many computer games designed for the children mean to help develop the diverse ability of the children. Computer games for children are always scientifically conceived and if parents can effectively control the time of playing the consequence of children’s playing computer games will be positive and make all satisfied, including the children, parents and the whole human beings. So we hope our parents can accompany the children to play some computer games especial for children properly and help them healthfully grow up.（可以虚构一个调查或研究作为例子）: i2 c9 `% W& H% o: i7 y( d, f4 B4 ]
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In conclusion, playing computer games itself cannot be up there on the harm scale. As long as we can properly manage ourselves, such games will serve us helpfully.) I8 e6 o1 s6 J0 |
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最后一段太短了，至少在改写下论点才好吧。考官的阅读习惯也是和正常人一样，第一段和最后段主要看，中间段只看论点和证据。

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语法没有什么问题，这是基础好的表现。适当考虑正确的用词，积累一些习惯，比如想法（抽象）和玩具（具体，比如PSP，呵呵）是share的，communicate 虽然也有share意（更偏向exchange)，但是不强。! n% b% D( E0 L' q( M! ?0 X& I

然后就是，既然托福作文是洋八股，就要适当考虑各段文字的比例要协调，要不然最后一段草草结尾，考官应该不会有好印象。; k/ U9 v$ u0 x0 M! e

多提了些意见，因为就我的水平也检查不出来太多语言问题了。呵呵
文赋 发表于 2009-7-11 10:48

1， Do you agree or disagree? Playing computer games is wasting time; children should not be allowed to play them." B5 S& Y" I, v, D 2 V0 l# Y! Y* U3 B- Z8 c $ T' |1 l1 F/ m6 H7 ~# d, c+ z Computer games are growing more and more prevalent and the related industry correspondingly becomes bigger（搭配不当，more prosperous）. Playing computer games is usually a normal activity (为啥要说是正常的活动。。？) and also helpful to develop one’s reflection ability and practical capacity （？）. But everything has a coin of two sides.（But every coin has two sides.） If you become addicted to playing computer games, then the problems such as wasting time and doing harm to the health of children will come up (注意人称的平衡，句首用you，后面用children，不妥). Hence, from my point of view, the trouble stated above cannot be blamed on computer games themselves; on the contrary, we should introspect ourselves from the self-control ability to the education （？）. So it is natural to render my opinion of the issue that playing computer games cannot be depicted as wasting time and children may be allowed to play them as long as we can achieve self-control.7 o' m5 E5 ]' \9 D1 k) F) ]7 M8 L0 H Computer games are designed for people to have pastime and obtain enjoyment. Therefore, playing computer games can help people better sparetime life（spare这里指节省时间？还是空余的时间？life前面是不是缺了什么东西？）. For example, we students are the most customers （most用法有误，most regular）of the computer game industry and we find many computer games are very interesting and also can enhance various abilities such as imagination and organization. During the spare time, we will use such games for killing time （use这样用很中式，建议：we kill our spare time by playing games, as well as communicating XXXXX） and we will also communicate with roommates about the plots of the games or the designs of the games. Such activities can not only help us increase the affection of dormitory (不是对寝室的爱- -，是兄弟之情 friendship, brotherhood都可以) but also provoke the interest of studying （to study）the program of the computer games. Although we can provide many examples of students becoming languid and dropped behind in the learning of the major, it is unfair to totally ascribe such home（？） things to computer games. That whether wasting time or not depends on the individual who plays computer games suggests it’s not the attribute of computer games； instead we should be aware that the bane may be rooted in ourselves. So, if we want to solve the problem currently existing, we should elevate ourselves from various aspects. As to the issue of children’s allowance to play computer games, my answer is the same as the one before. I absolutely agree with （缺the idea）that children should be allowed to play computer games because many computer games designed for the children mean (and meant) to help develop the diverse ability of the children. Computer games for children are always scientifically conceived (?) and if parents can effectively control the time of playing (缺逗号) the consequence of children’s playing computer games will be positive and make all satisfied, including the children, parents and the whole human beings（小孩怎么就扯到全人类了呢。。）. So we hope our parents can accompany the children to play some computer games especial for children properly and help them healthfully grow up （grow up healthily）.这段反复说了好多次游戏对小孩有益，那么具体有什么好处呢？比如说拼写单词的游戏，或者增强合作精神/game spirit，练习反应速度等等 In conclusion, playing computer games itself cannot be up there on the harm scale. As long as we can properly manage ourselves, such games will serve us helpfully.;3 |1 e- c$ q9 x6 [2 {

LZ 写这个作文思路和我一般见过的不太一样，是把题目2个问句拆开来分别回答的，未尝不可行。但是因为比较特别，最好在第一段写上一句I'll tackle these two issues as follows之类的，不然看到第三段之前会让人误解你没有考虑children的情况。
jiang08 发表于 2009-7-11 04:34

还要感谢葡萄的修改，由于他用word修改，所以没法贴出来，下面我将我自己综合大家意见修改后的文章贴在下面：
Computer games are growing increasingly prevalent and the related industry correspondingly becomes more prosperous. Playing computer games is usually a normal activity that should not be accused of spoiling children, and also helpful to develop one’s various abilities. But every coin has two sides. If one becomes addicted to playing computer games, then the problems such as wasting time and impairing the health will naturally come up. Hence, from my point of view, the trouble stated above cannot be blamed on computer games themselves; on the contrary, we should introspect ourselves. So it is natural to render my opinion of the issue that playing computer games cannot be depicted as wasting time and children may be allowed to play them as long as we can achieve self-control.

Computer game is designed for people as a pastime and therefore can elevate the quality of people’s sparetime life. For example, we students are the most regular customers of the computer game industry and we find many computer games are very interesting and also can enhance various abilities such as imagination and organization. We kill our spare time by playing computer games, as well as sharing with roommates about the plots or the designs of the games. Such activities can not only help us increase the brotherhood but also provoke the interest to study the related knowledge. Although we can provide many examples of students becoming languid and dropped behind in the learning of the major, it is unfair to totally ascribe such negative outcomes to computer games. That whether wasting time or not depends on the individual who plays computer games suggests it’s not the attribute of computer games while we should be aware that the bane may be rooted in ourselves. So, if we want to solve the problem currently existing, we should elevate ourselves from various aspects, such as self-control ability.

As to the issue of children’s allowance to play computer games, my answer is the same as the one above. I absolutely agree with the idea that children should be allowed to play computer games because many computer games designed for the children mean to help develop the diverse abilities of the children. Computer games for children are always scientifically devised and if parents can effectively control the time of playing, the consequence of children’s playing computer games will be positive and make all satisfied, including the children, parents and the manufacturers of the computer games. As we all know, many online computer games can help children to cultivate the spirit of teamwork. There are also plenty of games that can stimulate the children to learn words. More universal, playing computer games can practice children’s reaction capacity. So we hope our parents can accompany the children to play some computer games especial for children properly and help them grow up healthily.


In conclusion, playing computer games itself cannot be up there on the harm scale. As long as we can properly manage ourselves, such games will serve us helpfully.

thatllUID: 2538832

【阅读+写作 The Economist Jul 9th 2009】
Encouraging competitiveness
Psyched out
--------The fewer the competitors, the harder they try


WHAT relationship there is between the number of participants in a competition and the motivation of the competitors has long eluded researchers. （这一句话表达了“在两者之间到底存在什么样的关系这个问题已经困扰人们很长时间了”，这样子的句式我想应该会常用到。elude这个词很好。what relationship there is between sth and sth has long eluded sb.）Does the presence of a lot of rivals stimulate action（激起战斗力） or lead someone to give up hope（导致放弃希望）? It is more than an academic question. Or, rather, it is a very academic question indeed, for it may affect the way that examinations are conducted if they are to be a fair test for all.（这不仅是一个学术问题，或者，更准确的说这是一个很学术的问题，因为这会影响考试的方式，如果他想成为对所有人都公平的一个测试的话。）
To investigate the matter two behavioural researchers, Stephen Garcia at the University of Michigan and Avishalom Tor at the University of Haifa in Israel, looked at the results of the SAT university entrance examination in America in 2005. This test generates a score supposedly based on the test-taker’s verbal and analytical prowess. （这个测试是假设根据测试者的语文和分析能力生成一个分数，注意prowess：Superior skill or ability.）
The two researchers used data on the number of test-takers in each state of the union and the number of test-taking venues in that state to calculate the average number of test-takers per venue in the state in question. They found that test scores fell as the number of people in the examination hall increased.（全文所要阐述的一个观点） And they discovered that this pattern was also true for the Cognitive Reflection Test, another analytical exam.

These results are intriguing（intrigue：To arouse the interest or curiosity of: Hibernation has long intrigued biologists.）, but lend themselves to more than one explanation. （这些结果很让人好奇，但是他们有很多种不同的解释）To find out whether they were caused by a psychological effect related to the number of perceived competitors, or were merely a consequence of the greater distraction produced by crowding more people together, Dr Garcia and Dr Tor conducted an experiment. They asked 74 university students to take a timed, easy general-knowledge quiz which they were asked to finish as quickly as possible without compromising accuracy. Each student completed the test alone, but half were told they were competing against ten other people and the other half that they were competing against 100. All were informed that those whose completion times were in the top 20% would receive $5.
The results backed up the psychological hypothesis（全文给出的一个解释）. Students who believed they were competing against only ten people finished in an average of 28.95 seconds. Those who believed they were competing against 100 averaged 33.15 seconds.
Curious as to why mere belief that he was facing more competitors would alter an individual’s performance, the two researchers ran a second experiment. （这里curious as to why这个我们要学过来用，“对什么很好奇，所以采取了什么行动”。）They asked students to imagine they were running a five-kilometre race against 50 people and then against 500 (or, in half of the cases, the other way round). In both notional races the top 10% of competitors would get a $1,000 prize. The researchers told the students to rate, on a seven-point scale, how much faster than normal they would run in each notional race, with a one being slightly faster than normal and a seven being the fastest of their lives. The average value in the competition against 50 others was 5.43; in the competition against 500 it was 4.89—a result consistent with the other two parts of the study.（我们要解释某一个结果是什么样的结果是，可以一个破折号，然后a result 加要表达的观点，可以是定语从句，也可以是后置定语）
When that bit of the test was over, Dr Garcia and Dr Tor then asked the participants a series of questions commonly used by psychologists to evaluate an individual’s tendency to compare himself with others in a social environment. They found that those with the highest tendency to make such comparisons had the lowest scores in the notional race against 500 others. These socially aware individuals are, as it were, looking around, assessing the situation and thinking that it is not worth trying too hard.
In their report on the matter in Psychological Science, Dr Garcia and Dr Tor dub（To give a name to facetiously or playfully） their discovery the “n-effect” since “n” represents any numerical value in mathematics. If confirmed, it may mean not only that examination halls should be kept small— or, at least, the same size for all participants so that the playing field is level—but also that other competitive activities should be scaled down for best results.（如果确证的话，这不止意味着，而且意味着）

thatllUID: 2538832

【阅读+写作 The Economist Jul 9th 2009】
China's future
Enter the dragon
---The West hopes that wealth, globalisation and political integration will turn China into a gentle giant. A new book argues that this is a delusion


When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World. By Martin Jacques. Allen Lane; 592 pages; £25. To be published in America by Penguin Press in November.

THERE have been many rivals for America’s crown as the world’s greatest power. In the 1950s the Soviet Union threatened its military hegemony; in the 1980s Japan challenged its economic might. These days the pretender（One who sets forth a claim, especially a claimant to a throne.） is China. 【这一小节说和美国争当the world's greatest power的一直存在，threaten its military hegemony; challenge its economic might这两个同义替换我们要学】The evidence of America’s decline seems obvious. The limits of its military power were exposed after the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the flaws of its capitalist system were revealed by the global financial crisis that started on Wall Street. 【这一小节说了美国在军事和经济这两方面出现的问题，一个exposed, 一个reveal同义替换】The West now looks to China to prop up（prop: sustain, strengthen —often used with up<a government propped up by the military>） its financial system, and to the Chinese consumer to stimulate the global economy. 【这一小节这西方国家将指望着中国去拯救他们，look to, prop up】

Is the long era of Western dominance, first by European powers and then by America, finally coming to an end? For Martin Jacques, a British commentator and recently a visiting professor at universities in China, Japan and Singapore, the answer is clear. The title of his book says it all: “When China Rules the World”. 【这一段从上面的描述中引出了一个问题，那就是这个最初由欧洲后来由美国主宰的西方列强的长期时代是否来到了末期，然后引出了本文所要介绍的一本书，就是《当中国同志世界的时候》】

He begins by citing the latest study by Goldman Sachs, which projects（To calculate, estimate, or predict (something in the future), based on present data or trends: projecting next year's expenses.） that China’s economy will be bigger than America’s by 2027, and nearly twice as large by 2050 (though individual Chinese will still be poorer than Americans). Economic power being the foundation of the political, military and cultural kind, Mr Jacques describes a world under a Pax Sinica. （前面半句独立主格结构economic power being...，是作为右面主句的一个解释，或者说是附加说明）The renminbi will displace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency; Shanghai will overshadow New York and London as the centre of finance; European countries will become quaint relics of a glorious past, rather like Athens and Rome today; global citizens will use Mandarin as much as, if not more than, English; the thoughts of Confucius will become as familiar as those of Plato; and so on.（这一整节的描述是在憧憬中国的美好未来，人名币取代美元成为世界reserve currency：Currency kept in reserve by a government for the paying of international debts. 上海盖过纽约和伦敦成为金融中心，overshadow这个词很好To make insignificant by comparison，欧洲国家将成为辉煌过去的遗迹，就如今天的希腊和罗马，全球的民众将使用汉语至少和英语一样多，儒家思想将变得和柏拉图一样盛行。）
注：
Pax Sinica (Latin for "Chinese Peace") is the time of peace in East Asia, maintained byChinese hegemony, usually the period of rule by the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, early Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. These periods were characterised by the dominance of the Chinese civilization in East Asia due to its political, economic, military and ]cultural power.
quaint：
1， a: marked by skillful design <quaint with many a device in India ink — Herman Melville> b: marked by beauty or elegance
2， a: unusual or different in character or appearance : odd <figures of fun, quaint people — Herman Wouk> b: pleasingly or strikingly old-fashioned or unfamiliar
Mandarin The official national standard spoken language of China, which is based on the principal dialect spoken in and around Beijing. Also called Guoyu, Putonghua.

All this makes for an interesting parlour game（: a game suitable for playing indoors）. Yet there is something too deterministic （deterministism:The philosophical doctrine that every state of affairs, including every human event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedent states of affairs.）about Mr Jacques’s economic and political extrapolations. The author does not allow for uncertainty, chaos and error. He predicts that history is about to restore China to its ancient position of global power. But might it not equally push China back into self-destructive upheavals such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution? After all, the same Communist Party remains in power and, as Mr Jacques puts it, the Chinese state has never shared authority with anyone. He accords little importance to the thousands of protests in China, most of them against corruption and the loss of land. In his dense recitation of data, there is hardly a mention of the demographic crisis facing China, which means that the country could well become old before it becomes rich. He sees little risk of instability from ethnic unrest in Tibet or Xinjiang.

For Mr Jacques (the last editor of a defunct British magazine called Marxism Today), the Communist Party is a benign force, guiding the country through its spectacular boom while avoiding the collapse that afflicted the Soviet Union. He has little truck with（truck: close association or connection <will have no truck with crooks>） the notion that free markets can only work, in the long term, in free societies; that liberty of thought leads more easily to innovation; that democratic states correct their mistakes more easily than authoritarian ones.（这一个排比句式很气势的表达了作者对于此书作者观点的对抗：have little truck with the notion that...这是一个表示对什么基本没概念的很好的表达方式。）
All this is a Western conceit, says Mr Jacques. Democracy and rule of law were not a precondition for the West’s economic power, but a coincidence. This argument is the most interesting (and contentious) part of Mr Jacques’s book, rather than his workaday account of Chinese history or the overlong prose about China being a “civilisation state” rather than a “nation state”.
注：afflict和inflict的区别：
afflict: to distress so severely as to cause persistent suffering or anguish <afflicted with arthritis>
也就是说afflict sb with sth
inflict：To deal or mete out (something punishing or burdensome); impose: inflicted heavy losses on the enemy; a storm that inflicted widespread damage.
也就是inflict sth on sb

The parting of ways between Europe and China came, in his view, not with the Renaissance or the Enlightenment but with the industrial revolution. （这句话表达的真的很地道，一个时刻的到来并不是和什么一起来的而是和什么一起来的，呵呵，也就是这个时刻和什么无关和什么有关）Even so, the West’s success was not preordained. Until 1800, Mr Jacques argues, the most advanced parts of China and Europe had reached comparable levels of development. Indeed, China had built a form of steam engine before James Watt. So why did the industrial revolution begin in Britain and not along the Yangzi river? In large part, it was an accident of history.
注：parting of the ways ：A point of divergence, especially one of great moment. Britain, like China then, suffered from a shortage of land. But Britain had coal, which replaced firewood as a fuel, and colonies with slaves providing plenty of farmland and cheap labour. The habit of war “helped to hone the European nation states into veritable fighting machines” and the incorporation of merchant classes into the elites encouraged European rulers to promote capitalism. By contrast, claims Mr Jacques, imperial China’s attachment to Confucian values of harmony meant its main concern was to keep order and social equality within its domains. So it was not the West’s superior values that allowed it to rule the world, but rather its flaws.（这句话道出了本文作者的理由，中国对儒家以和为贵的思想的attachment意味着他主要关心的是如何保持有序和社会平等，所以西方统治世界靠的是他的flaw而不是他的superior values）

If colonisation assisted Western hegemony, the end of the colonial era after the second world war set the stage for the rise of China. Its economic development from 1978 has been “the most extraordinary in human history”, more rapid than that of Europe or America, faster even than that of Japan, South Korea and the other Asian miracles. Conflict of the sort that accompanied the rise of Germany and Japan cannot be ruled out, says Mr Jacques, but there is a good chance that it can be avoided. “China does not aspire to run the world because it believes itself to be the centre of the world,” he writes. Perhaps so. For now China is developing in collaboration with the West. It relies on Western investment and markets, and seeks stability abroad.

The West hopes that wealth, globalisation and political integration will turn China into a gentle giant, a panda rather than a dragon. George Bush senior declared in 1999: “Trade freely with China and time is on our side.” But Mr Jacques says this is a delusion. Time will not make China more Western; it will make the West, and the world, more Chinese.

未来的中国：龙行天下

西方期望财富、全球化和政治一体化等因数可以将中国转变成一个温柔的巨物。新出版的一本书则认为这只是西方的一种妄想。

《When China Rules
the
World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World》（注：书名，参见亚马逊：http://www.amazon.co.uk/When-China-Rules-World-Kingdom/dp/0713992549）作者Martin Jacques。Allen Lane出版社（注：企鹅出版集团（Penguin Books）是一个在1935年于英国创立的出版社，创始人是艾伦·莱恩（Allen Lane），主要出版纸版书籍，是英国、纽西兰、澳大利亚和印度的主流出版商。其ISBN注册号为0-14。）；592页；定价&pound;25。将在11月由美国企鹅出版社出版发行。

在美国成为世界超级大国的过程中，有过许多的竞争对手。在20世纪50年代，苏联曾经威胁过其军事霸权地位；在20世纪80年代，日本挑战过其经济地位；而现在，中国则是一个觊觎者。美国衰退的迹象是很明显的。入侵和占领伊拉克后，暴露了其军事力量的弱点，同时从华尔街开始蔓延的全球金融危机，也揭露了其资本主义制度的缺点。现在西方期待中国来支撑其金融体系，也寄希望于中国的消费者来拉动全球的经济增长。

首先由欧洲诸强继而由美国为首，长期以来西方主导整个世界的时代要走向终结了吗？这对Martin Jacques来说，答案是很明显的。他是一位英国的评论员，最近也在中国、日本、新加坡等国大学任客座教授。他这本书的标题就说明了一切：“当中国主宰世界的时候”。




他开篇引用高盛的研究报告，这份报告指出：中国的经济规模将在2027年超过美国，并在2050年达到美国的2倍左右（尽管人均还是比美国低）。经济实力是政治、军事、文化的基础。Jacques先生描述了一个中国主导的世界秩序形态：人民币将取代美元成为世界贮备货币；上海将取代纽约和伦敦成为世界的金融中心；欧洲诸国将会像雅典和罗马那样，成为辉煌过去的历史遗留；普通话将会和英语一样广泛地使用，或许比英语更流行；孔子的儒家学说将会像帕拉图的学说一样盛行等等。




所有的这一切造成了一个有趣的室内游戏。但是，Jacques先生关于经济和政治的推断未免太过绝对。作者没有考虑局势不稳定、混乱甚至错误等因素。他预言历史将恢复中国昔日世界强国的地位。但是，难道历史就不能同样地将中国推向另一边，比如说像“大跃进”、“文革”那样自毁性的大动荡吗？毕竟，正如Jacques先生所说的那样，共产党仍然掌握着权力，而且中国政府从来也不会与他人分享权力。他认为中国数以千计的反腐败和反对剥夺土地的抗议并不那么重要。在他列举的大量数据中，几乎没有提到中国正面临的人口危机，这意味着中国将未富先老。他也没有意识到西藏或新疆的民族骚乱带来的不稳定局势的危险性。



在Jacques先生（他曾经是已停刊的英国《今日马克思主义》的最后一名编辑）看来，共产党是一个很好的统治力量，它引导整个国家惊人的繁荣发展的同时避免了重蹈苏联的覆辙。自由市场只能在自由社会长久的运行；思想的自由使创新更加地容易；民主国家会比独裁国家更容易改正他们的错误，他并不认同这些观点。




Jacques先生认为这一切都是西方的自负。民主和法制并不是西方世界经济实力的先决条件，仅仅是一种巧合。相比于关于中国历史流水账似的讲述及冗长单调地论述中国会成为一个“文明国家”而非“民族国家”，（译者注：引用自tzigane的眉批：“原文的“civilisation state”，应是指建基於共同文明凝聚力的国家，而“nation state”就是指由单一民族组成的国家。这里的译法意思大致和原文相同，但我看到的时候不禁想到官样文章中的文明社会、国家民族之类的东东，所以还是建议解释清楚一点，免致中文读者误会”。）
这一部分的讨论将是这本书最精彩的部分（存在争议）。




他认为中国和欧洲的分道口不是文艺复兴或启蒙运动，而是工业革命。即使是这样，西方的成功也不是历史注定的。Jacques先生认为，直到1800年，中国和欧洲比较发达的地方都是在类似的同一水平上的，实际上，中国创造了一种类似蒸汽机的东西的时间比瓦特还要早。那么，为什么工业革命发生在英国而不是在中国的长江流域呢？历史的意外是部分原因。




当时的英国和中国一样土地短缺。但是英国有煤，可以取代木材作为燃料。同时有着大量奴隶的殖民地也为英国提供了大量的农场和廉价的劳力。好战的习性“有助于将欧洲国家打造成真正的战争机器”，而且，商人阶层的某些组织逐渐融入社会精英阶层促使欧洲统治阶级推行资本主义。相反地，Jacques先生说，处在帝国时期的中国更倾向于推崇儒家学说的和谐价值观，这意味着它主要关心的是维持其疆域内的秩序稳定和社会平等。这样看来，使其得以统治世界并不是由于西方价值体系中的精华部分的作用，而恰恰是其中的糟粕部分。




如果说殖民化有助于西方霸权的形成，那么二战后殖民时代的终结则为中国的崛起提供了舞台。中国从1978年来的经济发展是“人类历史上最惊人的”，比欧洲和美国快，甚至比日本、韩国、新加坡等“亚洲奇迹”还要快。Jacques先生认为，类似德国和日本崛起时所伴随产生的那种冲突是没法排除的，但是有很好的机会可以避免。他在书里写到：“中国并不渴望统治世界，因为她认为她就是世界的中心。”或许如此吧。现在中国正在与西方在合作中发展，他依赖西方的资本和市场，并寻求外部环境的稳定。





西方期望财富、全球化和政治一体化等因数可以将中国转变成一个温柔的巨物，是一只熊猫而非一条龙。老布什曾在1999年声称：“与中国自由贸易吧，时间会站在我们这一边。”但Jacques先生则认为这只是一种妄想罢了。时间不会使中国更西化，相反它会使西方或整个世界更中国化。