【Big Fish】3月3日Issue130-By rachelwang712

rachelwang712UID: 2757860

3.03 Issue No.103

"The study of history has value only to the extent that it is relevant to our daily lives."
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提纲：
1美学价值，虽然与我们的生活没有关系，但是还是对我们有价值的。青铜器
2身份的认同，学习古文
3与我们的生活有关的确也是价值之一，比如以史为鉴，二战

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We are now in a world where all things are judged according to their usefulness to our daily lives. History is no exception. It seems to me, however, the study of history should never be valued merely by whether the result is relevant to our mundane living or not. As a matter of fact, greater significance lies in its aesthetics value and self-identity it offers us.

To begin with, the study of history bestows us a vivid picture of ancient times, the beauty of which is highly apprecitated. To put it in another way, historians by making discoveries on different period of human civilization, enable us to be caught by the overwhelming, breathtaking and tremendous glamor of our ancestors' achievements and inventions although most of these objects can no longer be used in nowadays. Museums worldwide witness throngs of visitors who are amazed at ancient exhibits such as bronze used in ancient China and silk woven in ancient Egypt. Even if these historic exhibits have no relation with our daily live, we can still gain pleasure by simply looking at them and studying them. Actually, this pleasure is believed to the motive for a lot of historians. Still for ordinary people, the study of history is worthwhile whether the objects of ancient times are relevant to what we do every day or not.

Furthermore, through the study of history, people of the same culture learn more about their own identity, thus old-time cultures being inherited. In China, each year people celebrate quite a few traditional festivals, namely Spring Festival, Mid-autumn Festival. Even a 3-year-old child can name it and explain in detail how these festivals come into existence and why they are celebrated in this way. Most Chinese learn this kind of knowledge in school from history textbooks. By studying it, Chinese people gain a deeper understanding of their ancestors and by following these aged practices in the traditional festivals, they develop a better picture of themselves. In fact, this is how identity grows. Each culture, if it is to live through time, has to be inherited generations after generations. In the process, fostering self-identity of people in the culture is the core step. And the study of history is most instrumental in completing the step.

Admittedly, if the study of history is in some relation with our daily lives, it can be higher in value. Yet, even it is the case, the impact of relation is probably implicit rather than explicit. For example, by studying Nazi's history, we get to know how discrimination grows and how prosecution carried out. As a consequence, it is easier for us to prevent such tragedy from happening again. But here history only plays a role as reminder, indirect in its effect. Also, the rule to judge studies by their usefulness can not be applied to all subjects especially in liberal arts where more outstanding value consists in its indirect influences on people.

In conclusion, studying history is rewarding. But it is not because the study is relevant to our daily lives but because it can provide us with pleasure, self-identity and lessons. To evaluate it merely by the extent of its relation with our lives is definitely not sensible, and may even result in negative impact on the development of the subject.

gaobaoayu123UID: 2740997

这篇习作我觉得挑不出来什么问题除了倒数第二个句子读着有点别扭
感觉你语言功底很强，用词也很好