Issue120 Thrive小组第2次作业 求拍！谢谢！～

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TOPIC: ISSUE120 - "So much is new and complex today that looking back for an understanding of the past provides little guidance for living in the present."
WORDS: 688          TIME: 00:60:00          DATE: 2008-2-29 17:25:40

What is the value of studying history? The speaker claims that it provides litter guidance for living in the present because history is rare relevant to our daily life at such a new and complex time. However, in my view, this statement towards history study is too narrow and bigoted.

To begin with, in such a new and complex society, history study provides us with inspirations to guide our daily life. For all we know, since history always records precious facts about great individuals how deal with their daily problems and further their abilities in their daily life, which we are likely to confront as well, it can assuredly make it. When we recall study, we are able to throw ourselves into the same situations of the time to verify our own abilities and to learn courage, diligence and ethics as a result. For example, by learning the lifetime of Edison, we gain determination and persistence from his attitudes towards failures. And from the speech of Martin Luther King, we appreciate the great value of idea towards an equal society which we are still trying to build and perfect. From this point of view, history provides us with significant guidance for living in the present by inspiring us with vivid examples in daily life which has precious significances all human being want to share and learn.  

Nevertheless, in some cases, study history can serve us as a broader role which may not be directly associated with our daily life. It brings the entire society, particularly its top leaders and elites, lessons and experiences which help us avoid duplicating some mistakes and thus improve the whole society. Take the World War II as an example. After World War I, these victorious countries imposed a severe and cruel Versailles Treaty on the Germany, which enrage Germany much, and hence aroused the World War II. Later on, by learning lessons from origin of the World War II and trying to avoid another tragic war, these allied countries did not repeat the mistake but help Germany realize democracy and economic prosperity after the World War II. And from then on, we are never involved to anther world war any more. Whenever we recall this period of history, we can easily find that even though it is not relevant to our daily life, but its study bring us even more better values, or else, we are still suffering from wars and conflicts or lost of lives, saying nothing of living better daily life. History, in this perspective, provides us with more importance for build the whole society.

Furthermore, history study also helps us cultivate our cultural and national identity which is still irrelevant to our daily life. Apparently, nowadays every country has its distinctive features what want their offspring to inherit and carry forward. And this is the reason why every country tries its best to involve history study in education system. By learning great achievements from our ancestors, we are proud of it as well as full of the courage constructing and prefect our nation, as patriotism always serves as a most important role for a country to become independent and powerful. Before the collapse of the last dynasty in China, people have no opportunity to receive education for studying history, and then are always at a state of numbness caring nothing about the nation's future whenever faced aggression from other countries. By contrary, under history study, nowadays most Chinese people always truly concerns political and economic policies in order to try their best to comprehend and cooperate with national development. From this point, history study still has no relevance to our new and complex society, but no one would deny the foremost function of helping us cultivate cultural and national identity by way of studying history.

In sum, studying history in such a new and complex society still has much more values far beyond the speaker's assertion. It does not only provide inspirations to individuals, but also to social elites to build better society. Besides, study of history also helps us cultivate our cultural and national identity.