Issue36 [戮力同心小组] 第十二次作业by宇之空

宇之空UID: 2341042

36"The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."


Can a person’s greatness be recognized only in retrospect, by those who live after him, as the speaker claims? In some fields, especially business, the incubation period for greatness varies from case to case. However, most brilliant minds exceeded their contemporaries’ understanding and tolerance. New and unfamiliar theories change people’s cognition of the world and undermine their sense of security. Most therefore react to fundamental challenges to their knowledge system by resistance or outrage, consciously or unconsciously, particularly the natural sciences, arts and philosophy.
When it comes to research in the natural sciences, greatness must be tested over time before it can be confirmed. It is reasonable that theories might withstand centuries of rigorous scientific scrutiny. Moreover, creative theories might suffer from public misunderstandings even suppressions from the authority contemporary. History of science development is replete with evidence to demonstrate this point. A notable case in point relates to Copernicus, for his heliocentric theory in the 16th century was a direct attack upon the accepted wisdom of the time, the geocentric view of the universe postulated by Aristotle and Ptolemy. Because the great discovery creative ideas of Copernicus’ Theory of Heliocentricism contradicted the traditional theological theory, his books are prohibited and looked upon as heterodoxy, as a result, few people contacts his new ideas about astronomy. By the same token, Galileo, who was influenced by Copernicus, also challenged the infallibility of the Roman Catholic Church by altering the accepted theory of the earth’s position in the universe, and was burned as a heretic. However, the importance of their scientific achievements has gradually been proved and has been widely accepted by those who live after them.
Nor can we deny the fact that greatness lies in its enduring influence to those of later generations when it comes to arts. Brilliant artists might be reduced to utter poverty and receive reputation only after their death. For instance, although Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) is a world-famous artist today, he did not get much recognition during his lifetime. He was only able to sell one painting while he wad alive, his works such as “Sunflowers” and “Starry Night” nevertheless become the highest bid at auctions nowadays. Another telling example involves Franz Schubert (1979-1828), an outstanding Austrian composer and “the most poetic musician who has ever lived”. He spent most of his life in dire poverty and for most of his career he relied on the support of friends and family. However, interest in Schubert’s works increased dramatically in the decades following his death and until then did people learn what a genius he was. In short, the significance of artists’ works cannot be judged by their contemporaries in most cases, only by people who follow them.
Similarly, when it comes to philosophy, truly profound thinkers are always out of step with their time and their society. Some of the greatest ideas may only receive the recognition they deserve after the death of the progenitors. Consider the rejection Socrates received from his society. Notwithstanding the fact that he is widely credited for laying the foundation for Western philosophy nowadays, he could not let any written works at his time under such conditions. That is why we can only learn about him through Plato’s dialogues. Correspondingly, Schopenhauer’s 19th century historical profile was frequently obscured by the shadow of Hegel and people during his time accused him of being negative because he didn’t believe in God and many other human superstitions. Yet since his death in 1860, Schopenhauer’s philosophy has had a special attraction for those who live after him. Schopenhauer once said: “The truth can wait, for it lives a long time.” This just illustrates the point that most brilliant minds exceeded their contemporaries.
To sum up, I agree that the greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries. Admittedly, in the realm of business, in some cases great achievement such as Bill Gates’ contribution is recognizable immediately—as it is happening. Additionally, if we can recognize the greatness of some individuals and offer help, they might contribute to our society more. Nevertheless, most great achievements cannot be confirmed as such without the benefit of historical perspective.


大致提纲：
个人的伟大在大多数情况下只能由后代人决定。
在自然科学领域是这样
在艺术领域是这样
在哲学领域是这样
虽然在商业领域中有些时候不是这样，但不能改变大多数伟大的成就需要历史的检验。


这样写是不是有一点一边倒呢？？希望指教:)

liyi2321UID: 2252012

Can a person’s greatness be recognized only in retrospect, by those who live after him, as the speaker claims? In some fields, especially business, the incubation period for greatness varies from case to case. However, most brilliant minds exceeded their contemporaries’ understanding and tolerance. New and unfamiliar theories change people’s cognition of the world and undermine their sense of security. Most therefore react to fundamental challenges to their knowledge system by resistance or outrage, consciously or unconsciously, particularly the natural sciences, arts and philosophy.
核心观点：后代人决定了一个人的伟大。
When it comes to research in the natural sciences, greatness must be tested over time before it can be confirmed. It is reasonable that theories might withstand centuries of rigorous scientific scrutiny. Moreover, creative theories might suffer from public misunderstandings even suppressions from the authority contemporary. History of science development is replete with evidence to demonstrate this point. A notable case in point relates to Copernicus, for his heliocentric theory in the 16th century was a direct attack upon the accepted wisdom of the time, the geocentric view of the universe postulated by Aristotle and Ptolemy. Because the great discovery creative ideas of Copernicus’ Theory of Heliocentricism contradicted the traditional theological theory, his books are prohibited and looked upon as heterodoxy, as a result, few people contacts his new ideas about astronomy. By the same token, Galileo, who was influenced by Copernicus, also challenged the infallibility of the Roman Catholic Church by altering the accepted theory of the earth’s position in the universe, and was burned as a heretic. However, the importance of their scientific achievements has gradually been proved and has been widely accepted by those who live after them.
分论点：科学领域的伟大是需要时间考验的。论证和论据都还可以。推荐你再找找别的例子，这两个例子都比较危险。
Nor can we deny the fact that greatness lies in its enduring influence to those of later generations when it comes to arts. Brilliant artists might be reduced to utter poverty and receive reputation only after their death. For instance, although Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) is a world-famous artist today, he did not get much recognition during his lifetime. He was only able to sell one painting while he wad alive, his works such as “Sunflowers” and “Starry Night” nevertheless become the highest bid at auctions nowadays. Another telling example involves Franz Schubert (1979-1828), an outstanding Austrian composer and “the most poetic musician who has ever lived”. He spent most of his life in dire poverty and for most of his career he relied on the support of friends and family. However, interest in Schubert’s works increased dramatically in the decades following his death and until then did people learn what a genius he was. In short, the significance of artists’ works cannot be judged by their contemporaries in most cases, only by people who follow them.
分论点：艺术领域一个人的伟大也要后代来决定。两个例子都不错，尤其后面那个，很新（至少我没听说过）。不过感觉说理有点少。可以改进。
Similarly, when it comes to philosophy, truly profound thinkers are always out of step with their time and their society. Some of the greatest ideas may only receive the recognition they deserve after the death of the progenitors. Consider the rejection Socrates received from his society. Notwithstanding the fact that he is widely credited for laying the foundation for Western philosophy nowadays, he could not let any written works at his time under such conditions. That is why we can only learn about him through Plato’s dialogues. Correspondingly, Schopenhauer’s 19th century historical profile was frequently obscured by the shadow of Hegel and people during his time accused him of being negative because he didn’t believe in God and many other human superstitions. Yet since his death in 1860, Schopenhauer’s philosophy has had a special attraction for those who live after him. Schopenhauer once said: “The truth can wait, for it lives a long time.” This just illustrates the point that most brilliant minds exceeded their contemporaries.
分论点：哲学领域一个人的伟大也是后人决定的。
To sum up, I agree that the greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries. Admittedly, in the realm of business, in some cases great achievement such as Bill Gates’ contribution is recognizable immediately—as it is happening. Additionally, if we can recognize the greatness of some individuals and offer help, they might contribute to our society more. Nevertheless, most great achievements cannot be confirmed as such without the benefit of historical perspective.

你问这样的一边倒的写法可以么，其实是涉及了一个逻辑问题：绝对化思路，我们不禁要问：难道同时代人就不能决定一个人的伟大了么？你第一段有个句子也承认了要具体情况具体分析，我标出来了，其实例子很多，艺术领域很多人比如莫扎特，科学领域很多人比如诺贝尔奖的那些得主，政治领域比如林肯，华盛顿。例子也是很多的。所以我觉得你这样写可能在逻辑上确实有些偏颇了。不像是GRE作文而像是TOEFL作文。所以，我的建议是，ISSUE是具体问题具体分析的正反论证，文章有正就有反，而你的观点可以是有倾向的。

[ 本帖最后由 liyi2321 于 2007-8-14 23:10 编辑 ]