问答题Practice 2  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  Being truly human as a member of a society means seeing injustice and working to fix it. The human mind is endowed with not only the ability to pe

题目
问答题
Practice 2  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  Being truly human as a member of a society means seeing injustice and working to fix it. The human mind is endowed with not only the ability to perceive the world and act instinctively, but to visualize a better future and endeavor to realize it.  Assignment: What is one great injustice in the world, and how should it be addresed? Write an essay in which you answer this question and explain the reasons for your choice. You may draw inspiration and support from literature, the arts, history, politics, science and technology, current events, or your experience or observation.

相似考题
参考答案和解析
正确答案: 【参考范文】
One great in justice that has not been adequately addressed is the perception that depression is a sign of weakness. The human mind is a complex puzzle. Psychological theories, diagnoses and treatment are constantly changing and may never be fully understood. Unfortunately, people tend to dismiss theories that don’t provide simple answers.
At best, psychologists can create a rough map of tendencies and patterns, connecting them as often as possible to findings in neurology and thus lending them a sense of scientific validity, . Diagnosing a complex disease like depression involves examining a wide constellation of symptoms over a long period of time. This doesn’t satisfy skeptics. Someone with the flu will show clear symptoms like fever, nausea, and congestion. A depressed person will have less measurable symptoms like lethargy, emotional polarity or apathy. Skeptics tend to view these as simply a lack of will. They do not understand that depression is an illness just like influenza or cancer. Someone with a tumor can’t just think happy thoughts and pretend it is not there. The same can be said about clinical depression.
People suffering from depression are unfairly stigmatized. They resist seeking help and so lead lives filled with unnecessary pain. Those lucky enough to find help are often ashamed to tell their peers. Friends often misconstrue symptoms of depression as personal slights. . Why didn’t she call me? Why is he not fun anymore? Bonds are thus broken due to miscommunication.
Depression alters one’s life at least as dramatically as more “accepted” illnesses do. People suffering from depression need others to understand the limitations deprssion imposes. They need to be allowed to heal. Advances in anti-depresents and mood stabilizers can help ease these adjustments, but social pressure makes it nearly impossible for the victims of depression to live in a suitable environment.
Emotional disorders are a remarkably sad facet of life. To lose control over one’s emotions is to lose track of hope. A world that denies one’s suffering makes this situation even worse. The key to resolving this problem is education. People of all ages need to understand how prevalent depression is and that it is not a cause for embarrassment. Hopefully, we will one day live in a world where emotional disorders will be treated with the same tolerance and compassion as “traditional” illnesses.
解析: 暂无解析
更多“问答题Practice 2  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  Being truly human as a member of a society means seeing injustice and working to fix it. The human mind is endowed with not only the ability to pe”相关问题
  • 第1题:

    Nature had endowed the rest human race ______ a sixth sense and left

    me out.

    A: with

    B: to

    C: for

    D: away


    参考答案:A

  • 第2题:

    Passage Four
    Thediscovery of a dwarfed(矮个子)"humanbeing"who lived in Flores,Indonesia,up to 18,000 years ago is changingthe way we think about the human family.This"Flores Human"was threefoot tall and her brain was smaller than that of the average chimp(黑猩猩),yet she and her relatives apparently lived fully human lives.They seem to have made tools,worked together to find food and cook it,andperhaps even burried their dead with ceremony.
    It was a major surprise to find tools associated with the newhuman family member.The tools are like those formerly seen only with Europeanfossils(化石)from our own species;Homo sapiens(智人);and the oldest of them were made 9,400 years ago.Homo sapiens isthought to have arrived in the island about 4,000 years ago,much too late tobe responsible for the tools.If this tiny human made the tools,then theinside structure(结构)of its brain must have been morelike our own than a chimp′s,despite being just a third the size of ours.
    This"new human"was suspected to be a dwarfed branch ofHomo erectus(直立人,).When creatures are separated in regionswith rare resources but few enemies,being big is a disadvantage,and evolutiontends to shrink them,a process known as island dwarfing.Could naturalselection make a human smaller while keeping--even improving--mental ability?Quite possibly,believes Christopher Wills of the University of California.
    Has the"Flores Human"even shown the ability oflanguage?"I find it difficult to imagine that people could make tools,use fire,and kill large animals without fairly advanced communication,"Wills says.Did"Flores Human"possess the basic components of humanculture--such as the burying of the dead with ceremony?Emiliano Bruner of theItalian Institute points out that Indonesia′s hot,wet environment is bad forfossilization.It is reasonable to assume,he says,that the 18,000-year-oldbones of the most complete Flores woman were well-preserved because she wasburied with special care.

    According to the passage,it isbelieved that"Flores Human"__

    A.was dwarfed by its enemies
    B.could use language
    C.left a lot of fossils in the hot andwet environment
    D.reached Flores 40,000 years ago

    答案:B
    解析:
    根据最后一段可知选B项。A、C、D三项的内容均与文章不符。

  • 第3题:

    Passage Four
    Thediscovery of a dwarfed(矮个子)"humanbeing"who lived in Flores,Indonesia,up to 18,000 years ago is changingthe way we think about the human family.This"Flores Human"was threefoot tall and her brain was smaller than that of the average chimp(黑猩猩),yet she and her relatives apparently lived fully human lives.They seem to have made tools,worked together to find food and cook it,andperhaps even burried their dead with ceremony.
    It was a major surprise to find tools associated with the newhuman family member.The tools are like those formerly seen only with Europeanfossils(化石)from our own species;Homo sapiens(智人);and the oldest of them were made 9,400 years ago.Homo sapiens isthought to have arrived in the island about 4,000 years ago,much too late tobe responsible for the tools.If this tiny human made the tools,then theinside structure(结构)of its brain must have been morelike our own than a chimp′s,despite being just a third the size of ours.
    This"new human"was suspected to be a dwarfed branch ofHomo erectus(直立人,).When creatures are separated in regionswith rare resources but few enemies,being big is a disadvantage,and evolutiontends to shrink them,a process known as island dwarfing.Could naturalselection make a human smaller while keeping--even improving--mental ability?Quite possibly,believes Christopher Wills of the University of California.
    Has the"Flores Human"even shown the ability oflanguage?"I find it difficult to imagine that people could make tools,use fire,and kill large animals without fairly advanced communication,"Wills says.Did"Flores Human"possess the basic components of humanculture--such as the burying of the dead with ceremony?Emiliano Bruner of theItalian Institute points out that Indonesia′s hot,wet environment is bad forfossilization.It is reasonable to assume,he says,that the 18,000-year-oldbones of the most complete Flores woman were well-preserved because she wasburied with special care.

    This passage mainly talks about__

    A.the tools made by"FloresHuman"
    B.the language used by"FloresHuman"
    C.the evolution of"FloresHuman"
    D.the major surprising findings about"Flores Human"

    答案:D
    解析:
    D项把A、B、C三项都概括了。A、B、C三项都是片面的,故最佳答案为D项。

  • 第4题:

    Most of us entirely value human life,____________ some people think of animals as being equally important.

    A.and

    B.or

    C.but

    D.unless

    答案:C
    解析:
    选项A意为“并且”;选项B意为“或者”;选项C意为“但是”;选项D意为“除非”。根据题干,空格处需要体现转折的连词,题目意为“我们大多数人完全重视人的生命,但是有些人认为动物同样重要。”故选项C符合题意。
      

  • 第5题:

    单选题
    As they use energy only for motion, a snake can live longer without food than a human being。
    A

    they use

    B

    for

    C

    without food

    D

    than


    正确答案: C
    解析:

  • 第6题:

    问答题
    Practice 7  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  Prudence shall be our guiding principle. When faced with a conflict, or a divergent path in the course of life, we shall always make caution our ally. Recklessness and rash action lead not to fruitfulness, but only to regret at the haste of our decisions. Often times, people ask me how I have been so successful in business. “Everything you touch turns to gold,” they say. “What’s your secret?” they wonder. When I reflect on my decisions, I realize that the key to my success is nothing more than simple opportunism. When I saw an opening, I jumped at it. While everyone else was standing still, agonizing over the correct course of action, I went in feet first, with no hesitation. That is the key to my Success.  Assignment: Consider the two contrasting statements above. Which best reflects your view on life? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

    正确答案: 【参考范文】
    I have always believed that when opportunity knocks, one should answer the door. There are two main reasons behind this way of thinking: the first, opportunities could pass us by and never occur again; and the second, no matter how hard working one is, a lucky break may lead to the success one has been dreaming of. This is not the same as recklessly jumping into any plan of action that presents itself. Rather, by weighing possible outcomes, positive prospects should be easily detected.
    My older sister, Elise, attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC a few years ago. Though she liked the campus, her classes, fellow students, and even the city, Elise rarely ever left the neighborhood of Georgetown to explore DC. Over the semesters and summer holidays, my sister never applied for a single internship with the various powerful institutions and companies in DC, including the congressional offices. Upon graduation, Elise found herself with a small copy editing job at a start-up newspaper in Portland, Oregon. She realized a few months before graduating that her interests were in public service, but possessed absolutely no experience in the field. Elise realized that she had lived in the political and public sector apex in the nation for four years, and never taken advantage of personal contacts in DC or Georgetown to build future connections and job prospects. My sister’s story has been a warning to me, not only to make use of every opportunity I know of, but also to seek out ones that are not obvious.
    Another family member’s experience also taught me the importance of chance prospects play in success. My father had tried for years to be hired as a teacher at a local private school. Though he applied multiple times over a decade, hoping to earn the coveted and well-paid position of head of biology, the school always informed him that there were no vacancies. He had all but given up on teaching and decided to pursue a research position when, out of the blue, my dad decided to attend a job fair in a nearby town, and ran into the principal of the private school, who informed him of an opening. Despite the possibility of attaining a biochemistry research position, my father attended two interviews with the school, and after one week, my father was finally hired. His experience reminds me of the importance of persistence, but equally as necessary, the significance of knowing when to rely on lucky opportunities for success.
    Ambitious people require more than perseverance, talent, and knowledge to achieve their goals. Opportunity is an underrated, not often talked about factor in success, but almost every successful person will admit that luck has played a positive role at some point in his life.
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第7题:

    问答题
    Practice 9  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  How valuable is history for our generation? On the surface this question is not as easy as it once might have been, for there is a widespread belief that history may no longer be relevant to modem life. We live, after all, in an age that appears very different from the world that came before us.  Adapted from Stephen Vaughn, History: Is It Relevant?  Assignment: Is knowledge of the past no longer useful for us today? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

    正确答案: 【参考范文】
    According to the famous aphorism, those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, and this is often cited in discussions about the usefulness of history. The utility of history is commonly seen as its predictive value: knowledge of the past and how particular events unfolded is useful because it enables us to predict the outcome of similar events in the present and avoid making the same mistakes as others. This might be true when the circumstances are broadly similar, but nowadays technology is advancing so rapidly that it is constantly creating totally new circumstances.
    In the last 10 years, developments in technology have fundamentally changed the way we live and interact with others, and theorists have highlighted the lack of integration between the past and the present. Lyotard and others have claimed that modernity, which began with the Industrial Revolution, ended in the 1980s and we are experiencing a postmodern condition in which modern concepts like truth and progress have become obsolete. Some other scholars, like Aug,, claim that we are experiencing hypermodernity, a condition characterized by a deepening faith in the power of science and technology.
    Whether we choose to describe the current condition as modern, postmodern, or hypermodern, it is undeniable that the present circumstances generate a context that is fundamentally different to anything before. However, this does not mean that knowledge of the past has become useless. History has never been a particularly reliable guide to the future because circumstances are always unique. The real value of knowledge of the past lies not in predicting the future but in understanding the present. The past causes the present, and so it causes the future, and in order to understand why anything has happened we have to look for factors that took shape earlier.
    All the problems in the modern world, like the India-Pakistan conflict or the relationship between the Islamic world and the West, have complex historical origins. We cannot understand the context if we do not know the history, and if we do not understand the context then we cannot resolve them. Constant change is the defining feature of the contemporary world, which means it is more important than ever to understand change. Only through studying history can we grasp how things change and only through history can we begin to comprehend the factors that cause change. In these circumstances, knowledge of the past is more important than ever.
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第8题:

    问答题
    Practice 10  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  We don’t really learn anything properly until there is a problem, until we make a mistake, until something fails to go as we had hoped. When everything is working well, with no problems or failures, what incentive do we have to try something new? We are only motivated to learn when we experience difficulties.  Adapted from Alain de Botton, How Proust Can Change Your Life: Not a Novel  Assignment: Does true learning only occur when we experience difficulties? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.

    正确答案: 【参考范文】
    On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley (“Sully”) Sullenberger was piloting a US Airways jet from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina. A few moments after takeoff, the jet ran into a flock of birds, which knocked out power to both engines. Sully knew he could not make it back to the airport, so he decided to land the plane in the Hudson River. Miraculously, the plane landed intact and stayed afloat long enough to get every single passenger and crew member off safely. Sully is now an internationally known speaker on the subject of airline safety, using the lessons he learned from this most difficult situation to prevent future disasters. As Friedrich Nietzsche so aptly put it, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
    Indeed, the lessons learned from overcoming difficulties can last a lifetime. In 1886, Helen Keller, who had become deaf and blind after a childhood illness, learned how to communicate with others through the use of sign language (painstakingly learned from her “Teacher, ” Annie Sullivan). This accomplishment affected the rest of Helen’s life: She became the first deaf and blind person to earn a bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe College and went on to become a world-famous speaker and author. Her triumph over her disabilities taught her that any person can change the world, if they truly believe in themselves.
    In 1962, the South African apartheid activist, Nelson Mandela, was sentenced to life in prison for his political activities. Did he spend his days bemoaning his fate or complaining how unfair life was? No—he used his time in prison to earn a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of London. Twenty-seven years later, he was released from prison and vowed to use everything he had learned while incarcerated to fight apartheid peacefully and politically. In 1993, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
    There is no doubt that physical pain is an excellent teacher. A child who puts his hand on a hot stove burner will not do so again willingly. (Even the family pet will learn from a similar experience.) But the pain the body feels because of a fall, or a cut, or some kind of illness will eventually wear off. The pain and suffering felt in the mind, however, will last for years, informing all our future actions and teaching us the truly indelible lessons of life.
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第9题:

    单选题
    Which of the following is true of the heating system of the Johnstown campus?
    A

    The heat is supplied by human bodies only.

    B

    The heat is supplied by both human bodies and other heat-emitting objects.

    C

    The heat is supplied by both human bodies and conventional fuel.

    D

    The heat is supplied by human bodies, other heat-emitting objects, and conventional fuel.


    正确答案: A
    解析:

  • 第10题:

    问答题
    Practice 6  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  Akira Kurosawa’s film masterpiece Rashomon portrays several people who have witnessed a death. As each observer recounts the event as he or she witnessed it, we come to realize that each person’s story varies greatly from every other account. Watching the movie, we reflect the truth of an experience—and perhaps all truth—is different for each person.  Assignment: What is your opinion of the claim that truth is not objective, but rather is determined by each individual? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

    正确答案: 【参考范文】
    The difference between perspective and truth is that perspective originates from an individual. Each person possesses a unique outlook on life, but truth, by definition, must be the same for every individual. The law of gravity cannot be challenged, nor are there any exceptions to it because it applies to everything on Earth. Similarly, our actions cannot, and do not, affect the truth because it exists outside the realm of our control.
    Platonic idealism holds that ideals exist outside the realm of the physical. That is the idea of what an object is (its definition) cannot be found in the human word. For example, if we look at the definition of a ball, it may say that a ball is a spherical object of fully rounded shape, with no angles, that contains radii of entirely equal lengths spanning out from a central point. Yet there are many different types of balls, including basketballs, baseballs, cricket balls, and so on. So even though many objects fit this definition of a ball, the “ideal,” or the truth of what a ball is, only exists in words, not in reality. Hence, we must conclude that an objective understanding of “ball” exists, as every person understands it.
    Events may be objectively understood as well. Though every person may see differently from his own eyes, due to differences in backgrounds and desires, impartial facts are immutable. For example, the Agatha Christie novel, Murder on the Orient Express, is a classic whodunit mystery that requires one detective to sort through twelve suspects in a murder case to find the true killer of a Mr. Ratchett. Detective Poirot is given the task of catching the true killer by sorting through various, sometimes conflicting, alibis and motives. Though he is given twelve different narratives from his suspects, Poirot eventually brilliantly pieces together the objective events to find the truth on who kills Mr. Ratchett. Therefore, regardless of what subjective stories may exist in the world, an objective truth always exists.
    There is a famous saying that says one cannot judge another person until one has walked a mile in that person’s shoes. Human perceptions vary tremendously from person to person, but in order to separate the objective from the subjective, we must step outside the world of opinion, and review facts. What is true cannot be debated; it can only be described by words.
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第11题:

    填空题
    Mentalism holds that a human being possesses a mind which has consciousness, ideas, etc., and the mind can influence the()of the body.

    正确答案: behavior
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第12题:

    问答题
    Practice 3Directions:A. Study the following graphs carefully and write an essay in 150 words.B. Your essay must be written neatly on ANSWER SHEET.C. Your essay should cover these three points: 1. Effect of the country’s growing human population on its wildlife. 2. Possible reasons for the effect. 3. Your suggestions for wildlife protection.

    正确答案:
    【参考范文】
    The Problem of the Wildlife Protection in the U.S. The above graphs show that the population of the U.S. increased rapidly during nearly 200 years thanks to the progress in technology and economy. However, the development is achieved at the cost of some wildlife.
    There are various reasons for this situation. But the most prominent one is human being’s weak awareness of wildlife protection, which leads to the decrease and extinction of wildlife as a result of illegal hunting and killing for profits. It is becoming even more difficult for wildlife to survive, with the gradual decrease of forest and pasture coverage area and the increase of pollution and soil erosion due to the explosion of population.
    To solve this problem, the U.S. government needs to enhance people’s awareness of wildlife protection and even to formulate some relevant laws and regulations. What’s more, more investment should be added to the wildlife protection to create a better environment for the existing wildlife.
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第13题:

    Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

    A) Human behavior.

    B) Creatures of Society.

    C) The Science of Custom.

    D) The Functions of Cultures.


    正确答案:C
    答案:C
    [试题分析] 文章主旨题。
    [详细解答] 提问的更是全文的主旨,因为一篇文章的题目应该概括全文的主旨,否则就不是一个好题目,答案应该是C。

  • 第14题:

    Passage Four
    Thediscovery of a dwarfed(矮个子)"humanbeing"who lived in Flores,Indonesia,up to 18,000 years ago is changingthe way we think about the human family.This"Flores Human"was threefoot tall and her brain was smaller than that of the average chimp(黑猩猩),yet she and her relatives apparently lived fully human lives.They seem to have made tools,worked together to find food and cook it,andperhaps even burried their dead with ceremony.
    It was a major surprise to find tools associated with the newhuman family member.The tools are like those formerly seen only with Europeanfossils(化石)from our own species;Homo sapiens(智人);and the oldest of them were made 9,400 years ago.Homo sapiens isthought to have arrived in the island about 4,000 years ago,much too late tobe responsible for the tools.If this tiny human made the tools,then theinside structure(结构)of its brain must have been morelike our own than a chimp′s,despite being just a third the size of ours.
    This"new human"was suspected to be a dwarfed branch ofHomo erectus(直立人,).When creatures are separated in regionswith rare resources but few enemies,being big is a disadvantage,and evolutiontends to shrink them,a process known as island dwarfing.Could naturalselection make a human smaller while keeping--even improving--mental ability?Quite possibly,believes Christopher Wills of the University of California.
    Has the"Flores Human"even shown the ability oflanguage?"I find it difficult to imagine that people could make tools,use fire,and kill large animals without fairly advanced communication,"Wills says.Did"Flores Human"possess the basic components of humanculture--such as the burying of the dead with ceremony?Emiliano Bruner of theItalian Institute points out that Indonesia′s hot,wet environment is bad forfossilization.It is reasonable to assume,he says,that the 18,000-year-oldbones of the most complete Flores woman were well-preserved because she wasburied with special care.

    According to the passage,"Flores Human"__

    A.lived a partly human life
    B.was a branch of Homo sapiens
    C.used tools before Homo sapiens arrived
    D.had a brain as large as a commonchimp's

    答案:C
    解析:
    依据在第二段中,比较隐蔽,根据“Homo sapiens is thought tohave arrived in the island about 4,000 years ago,much too late to be responsible for the tools.”可知答案为C项。也可以用排除法,A、B、D三项与文章内容矛盾。

  • 第15题:

    Passage Four
    Thediscovery of a dwarfed(矮个子)"humanbeing"who lived in Flores,Indonesia,up to 18,000 years ago is changingthe way we think about the human family.This"Flores Human"was threefoot tall and her brain was smaller than that of the average chimp(黑猩猩),yet she and her relatives apparently lived fully human lives.They seem to have made tools,worked together to find food and cook it,andperhaps even burried their dead with ceremony.
    It was a major surprise to find tools associated with the newhuman family member.The tools are like those formerly seen only with Europeanfossils(化石)from our own species;Homo sapiens(智人);and the oldest of them were made 9,400 years ago.Homo sapiens isthought to have arrived in the island about 4,000 years ago,much too late tobe responsible for the tools.If this tiny human made the tools,then theinside structure(结构)of its brain must have been morelike our own than a chimp′s,despite being just a third the size of ours.
    This"new human"was suspected to be a dwarfed branch ofHomo erectus(直立人,).When creatures are separated in regionswith rare resources but few enemies,being big is a disadvantage,and evolutiontends to shrink them,a process known as island dwarfing.Could naturalselection make a human smaller while keeping--even improving--mental ability?Quite possibly,believes Christopher Wills of the University of California.
    Has the"Flores Human"even shown the ability oflanguage?"I find it difficult to imagine that people could make tools,use fire,and kill large animals without fairly advanced communication,"Wills says.Did"Flores Human"possess the basic components of humanculture--such as the burying of the dead with ceremony?Emiliano Bruner of theItalian Institute points out that Indonesia′s hot,wet environment is bad forfossilization.It is reasonable to assume,he says,that the 18,000-year-oldbones of the most complete Flores woman were well-preserved because she wasburied with special care.

    The underlined part"this tinyhuman"in Paragraph 2 refers to__

    A.a chimp
    B.Flores Human
    C.Homo sapiens
    D.Homo erectus

    答案:B
    解析:
    本文是围绕Flores Human展开的,A、C、D三项都只是说明其中的一部分情况。根据上下文可知B项正确。

  • 第16题:

    Mentalism holds that a human being possesses a mind which has consciousness, ideas, etc., and the mind can influence the()of the body.
    behavior

  • 第17题:

    问答题
    Practice 13  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  —In any contest between power and patience, bet on patience.  —W.B, Prescott  Assignment: Which is a more powerful force of social change: power or patience? Write an essay in which you answer this question and support your position logically with examples from literature, the arts, history, politics, science and technology, current events, or your experience or observation.

    正确答案: 【参考范文】
    Although the first two centuries of the American experiment have been characterized by the systematic disenfrachisement of African Americans, women, the destitute, and those from the wrong political party, democracy has slowly and patiently evolved and strengthened, not through military victories, but by patient commitment to an idea. Indeed, democracy is the antithesis of concentrated power. Yet, tragically, recent American leaders act as if it can be forced upon a people, in ignorance of the true history of their own democracy, and of the nature of democracy itself. They have come to believe that America, by dint of its relative success with democracy at home, has earned the right to exert its unbridled will throughout the world. They will fail because they do not understand the value of patience over power, of ideas over arms, of compassion over strategy. The patient commitment to true democracy will, in the long run, be more powerful than the strongest army on earth.
    The current war in Iraq was first proclaimed as a preemptive strike against terrorists in order to protect our homeland. When it was revealed beyond doubt that Iraq in fact posed no threat to us, our leaders re-cast the war as one to free Iraq and bring democracy to an oppressed people. But this could not possibly be so. Such proclamations express only the wishes of politicians, not human reality. Democracy is the patient triumph of ideas over might. It is a waging of words rather than a waging of war; it is a faith in humanity to choose what is right and good, not to force-feed a single-minded view down the throats of the masses.
    But, the neoconservatives say, our own freedom, our own democracy, was earned only through wars like the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and the World Wars. We must exert our power and perhaps spill the blood of our brave soldiers so that freedom will reign! But this is true only for one’s own freedom, not the freedom of others. Each people must earn its own freedom. No country on this earth will ever accept that it has been given democracy by an invading force. It’s story must belong to its people, just as the story of our freedom is our own.
    We have a long way to go before we understand democracy well enough to preach it to others, let alone force it down their throats. True leaders lead by example, not by force. When our leaders learn the true meaning of democracy well enough to live it, then they will have earned the right to speak it, and the world will follow their example. To reach that point, we need patient faith in an idea, not the powers of arms.
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第18题:

    问答题
    Practice 12  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  I have learned that success is to be measured not so,: much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed.  —Booker T. Washington  Assignment: Is the struggle endured to achieve success more important than the accomplishment itself? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

    正确答案: 【参考范文】
    While overcoming obstacles can build character, I do not believe that such struggles are more important than the accomplishment itself. Struggles can help us learn and discover simpler paths toward success, but struggle is defined more by the pain it causes than by the lessons it teaches. We can see this in examining historic wars and modern heroes.
    Many films and novels praise the nobility of battle and the lessons learned in war. But the price paid by soldiers and innocent people significantly outweighs these lessons. In international disputes, success with- out conflict is far better than the triumph of war. By avoiding war, nations avoid the tragedy of lost lives as well as the economic hardships involved in rebuilding infrastructure and paying off debt.
    Many suggest that heroes like Lance Armstrong demonstrate the value of overcoming adversity. In the past seven years, Armstrong has overcome a battle with cancer to win an unprecedented seven straight championships at the Tour de France. His story has provided cancer patients with one of their most inspiring narratives. But as wonderful as those effects have been, Armstrong’s story would have been better if he had not been forced to overcome cancer. Armstrong is an exceptional athlete, and accomplished an astonishing feat that his illness should not eclipse. In fact, he was stricken by a very treatable form of cancer. Are we truly helping cancer patients by making them believe that all cancer treatment can be easily scheduled between training runs? No. His story may help aspiring cyclists far more than it helps patients facing months of painful chemotherapy.
    Another interesting example is Alice Sebold, a writer who has overcome a traumatic rape she suffered in college. It’s difficult to overstate the magnitude of her struggles in overcoming this violation to write two beautifully crafted works, The Lovely Bones and Lucky. Although her battles undeniably helped to craft her work, her status as a writer is unrelated to her status as a victim. Without such pain in her life, I believe that she would have created different, but equally powerful stories. Artists suffer enough by being able to see so deeply into the human condition; literature is not served any better when its greatest writers are subjected to torture. Stories of success despite adversity are well rep- resented in books, films, and even daily newscasts. They inspire us by showing triumphs of the human spirit. The danger here, however, is in using these struggles as a crutch, depersonalizing adversity in an effort to feel less afraid of our own difficulties. There is nothing wrong with feeling inspired by a story of overcome obstacles and suggesting that struggle builds character. But it is the accomplishments themselves that represent success, not the struggle. Success without wounds leaves room for greater happiness, fewer losses, and better health.
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第19题:

    问答题
    Practice 8  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  We must seriously question the idea of majority rule. The majority grinned and jeered when Columbus said the world was round. The majority threw him into a dungeon for his discoveries. Where is the logic in the notion that the opinion held by a majority of people should have the power to influence our decisions?  Adapted from James A. Reed, Majority Rule  Assignment: Is the opinion of the majority—in government or in any other circumstances—a poor guide? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.

    正确答案: 【参考范文】
    “There is safety in numbers.” This old saying illustrates how comforting it can be to know that the majority is on your side and that you are not alone in your endeavor. When you are attempting to climb a mountain, or explore a hidden cave, or maneuver a football down field for a score, you certainly want a majority of your comrades to be there with you, urging you on and assisting in your quest. But when it comes to making important decisions, whether in your private or public life, a simple majority vote will not always be your best guide; indeed, in many cases, the majority may very well be wrong.
    Take the case of an intelligent high school student who wants to be popular with her classmates. She could decide to be true to herself and join the other equally intelligent students who comprise the “nerd” minority at her school. But most likely she will be more attracted to the styles and behaviors of the majority—those students who think studying is for geeks, who are more concerned about the latest fashions than the latest ideas, and who may very well encourage her to experiment with drinking and drugs. The pressure of the peer majority is often irresistible.
    Consider also the reaction of the majority of people to unfamiliar or suspicious behavior. A majority of people living in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 decided that 19 men and women were practicing witchcraft (based on the testimony of a few mean-spirited and histrionic girls) and carried them off to the gallows to be hanged. When Galileo dared to suggest (based on his factual observations) that the earth was NOT the center of the universe, a majority of Catholic Church fathers accused him of heresy.
    Lastly, when it comes to the concept of “majority rule” in governmental institutions, how often have the results been skewed by the majority’s inability to think rationally and act reasonably? Average Germans in the 1930s gave their support to a new leader who they thought would lead them out of the economic bankruptcy caused by World War I. A majority voted for Adolf Hitler. Tyrants do not always take control of their countries by themselves; often they are elected by the very people they will later persecute. Yes, there may be “safety” in numbers, but there is no guarantee they will be fight.
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第20题:

    问答题
    题目要求:  The essay gives you an opportunity to show how effectively you can develop and express ideas. You should, therefore, take care to develop your point of view, present your ideas logically and clearly, and use language precisely.  Your essay must be written on the lines provided on your answer sheet—you will receive no other paper on which to write. You will have enough space if you write on every line, avoid wide margins, and keep your handwriting to a reasonable size. Remember that people who are not familiar with your handwriting will read what you write. Try to write or print so that what you are writing is legible to those readers.  Important Reminders:  ·A pencil is required for the essay. An essay written in ink will receive a score of zero.  ·Do not write your essay in your test book. You will receive credit only for what you write on your answer sheet.  ·An off-topic essay will receive a score of zero.  ·If your essay does not reflect your original and individual work, your test scores maybe canceled.  You have twenty-five minutes to write an essay on the topic assigned below.Practice 1  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  The liberally educated person is one who is able to resist the easy and preferred answers, not because he is obstinate but because he knows others worthy of Consideration.  —Allan Bloom  Assignment: What is one important easy and preferred answer that we should resist? That is, what dangerous misconception do people commonly hold? Write an essay in which you answer this question and support your position logically with examples from literature, the arts, history, politics, science and technology, current events, or your experience or observation.

    正确答案: 【参考范文】
    One of the most dangerous misconceptions that people hold today is the idea that our enemies are fundamentally different from us. It is easy, to a certain extent, to understand how such a belief comes about. Most human societies must kill in order to survive, but must at the same time prohibit particular kinds of killing. Throughout our history, humans have been meat-eaters, and so must kill and eat animals in order to thrive (the minority of vegetarians notwithstanding). Also, societies must often defend themselves against violent enemies, necessitating the occasional use of deadly force. On the other hand, civilized societies must prohibit most killing within their own ranks, so that their populations do not die out or suffer needlessly.
    So how do humans deal with this dichotomy: the need to kill, at least occasionally, to survive, and the need to prohibit killing within its ranks? Simply, humans have developed the concepts of us and them. It is okay to kill and eat animals because they do not have the value of humans. Perhaps, too, a society may justify the killing of animals by adopting a belief system that says that animals are gifts to humans from a divine being or beings.
    In much the same way, humans are inclined to put their enemies in the category of other, that is, less than human, or to believe that a divine being has given them permission to kill those enemies. Paradoxically, those religious systems are also very likely to have severe restrictions against killing other human beings. In practice, most cultures regard these as restrictions merely against killing their own kind. However, this type of thinking is counterproductive to the goal of building more just and functional societies. If one society can easily categorize another as an enemy and thereby reduce its foes to the status of animal, then the concept of universal human rights is abolished.
    We see the dangers inherent in denying the humanity of our enemies in the United States today. Although the American Constitution champions the concept of inalienable rights that are due to all human beings, the United States Senate is actively engaged in undermining those rights. The right of habeas corpus, that is, the right of a person in custody to seek a hearing to determine whether or not he or she is being held justly, is a cornerstone of the United States Constitution. It is regarded as a fundamental element of a just society. Yet the Senate is seeking to eliminate that right for foreign detainees captured in the war on terror. In other words, the mere suspicion of terrorism—not proof, but suspicion—is evidently reason enough to reduce a human being to the status of an animal. This heinous distinction of us versus them will surely have dire consequences for the United States, who will rightfully be seen as being grossly hypocritical on the matter of human rights.
    Even beyond the trampling of human rights, the us versus them distinction is not even as useful in wartime as it may seem at first glance, because to defeat our enemy, we must understand our enemy. If we begin with the assumption that your enemy lacks human intelligence, desires and motivations, then we risk severely underestimating his ability. Therefore, if the United States continues down this dangerous path, it runs the risk of losing not only the moral war but the actual war.
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第21题:

    单选题
    In what way is being arrogant different from being interested?
    A

    Being arrogant means you refuse to change your mind.

    B

    Being arrogant means you only care about your own affairs.

    C

    Being arrogant means you believe nothing is worth your attention.

    D

    Being arrogant means you think your way is superior to that of others.


    正确答案: C
    解析:
    第二段最后一句说“感兴趣”和“傲慢自大”的区别就在于后者认为自己的方式比别人的好。

  • 第22题:

    问答题
    Practice 11  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  It is easy to make judgments about people and their actions when we do not know anything about their circumstances or what motivated them to take those actions. But we should look beyond a person’s actions. When people do things that we consider outrageous, inconsiderate, or harmful, we should try to understand why they acted as they did.  Assignment: Is it important to try to understand people’s motivations before judging their actions? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.

    正确答案: 【参考范文】
    Why do people do the things they do? Sometimes it’s not that difficult to understand a person’s motivation; A father may choose to work a second job, which may take him away from his family for long periods of time. He doesn’t want to be an absent father, but he believes that his actions will eventually benefit his family. He is motivated by his love for his wife and children. A mother may choose to forego buying herself new clothes or jewelry so that she can be sure her children have enough to eat, nice clothes, and toys. Her motivation is also her love of her family. But when it comes to people whose motivations are a mystery to us, it is always important to try and decipher their feelings so as to help them (or keep them from hurting anyone else).
    What motivates certain people to kill? If we can answer that question, we may be able to identify such inclinations in others and so prevent them from acting out their anger. For surely it is anger that frequently leads to violence. A political assassin, for example, is typically infuriated by the way his country is being run by the current leaders. If there had been some way to know how outraged Lee Harvey Oswald was, or SirhanSirhan, or James Earl Ray, there might have been some way to prevent the deaths of John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. If only someone had been able to gain some insight into the workings of Timothy McVeigh’s maddened mind, the tragedy of Oklahoma City in 1995 might have been averted.
    In other cases, it is not anger, necessarily, but more likely despair that motivates people to commit desperate acts. In 1995, Susan Smith was convicted of the unspeakable act of drowning her two young sons by rolling her car into a lake with them strapped inside. Later, authorities found out that she herself had had a terrible childhood (she was regularly molested by her stepfather) and twice had tried to commit suicide. If anyone could have understood this tormented woman’s mentality, those two little boys might have been saved.
    It is easy to condemn a person for committing a despicable act. It is much harder to discover what their motivation was for acting in such a tragic way, but it is worth the effort.
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第23题:

    问答题
    Practice 3  Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.  Many among us like to blame violence and immorality in the media for a decline immortals in society: Yet these people seem to have lost touch with logic. Any objective examination shows that our society is far less violent or exploitative than virtually any society in the past. Early humans murdered and enslaved each other with astonishing regularity, without the help of gangster rap or Jerry Bruckheimer films.  Assignment: Do violence and immorality in the media make our society more dangerous and immoral? Write an essay in which you answer this question and discuss your point of view on this issue. Support your position logically with examples from literature, the arts, history, politics, science and technology, current events, or your experience or observation.

    正确答案: 【参考范文】
    One of the most misguided notions of conventional wisdom is that depicting violence in the media makes our society more violent. A close examination shows that this claim is baseless. Societies with severe restrictions on violence in the media tend to be more, not less, violent than those with no such restrictions. Indeed, despite the popular myth of a more peaceful past, societies were far more violent before the advent of movies, television, and video games. Societies that restrict access to immoral western movies are the same ones that call their citizens to violent and irrational holy war. As Michael Moore pointed out poignantly in the movie Bowling for Columbine, Americans kill each other with firearms at a far greater rate than al- most any other first-world nation. But he is quick to point out that our media is not more violent than those in Japan or Germany or even Canada, which have rates of violence that are a full order of magnitude lower than ours. Indeed, the killers among us are not likely to spend a lot of time listening to Marilyn Manson or playing Mortal Kombat on their Play- stations, despite what our more nearsighted and sanctimonious politicians and preachers would like us to believe. Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, lived in a one-room shack without electricity or running water, let alone cable. But even if murderers like Kaczynski were video game addicts, attributing their motives to media violence would be missing the point entirely. People who are habitually violent have adopted a war mentality. They tend to see the world in black- and-white, us-against-them terms. Tragically, our leaders tend to have this very same mentality, but they couch it in patriotism. Lobbing cruise missiles and landing marines in another country is not considered a horrible last resort, but a patriotic duty. If we wish to understand why Americans are more violent than the Japanese, violence in the media will hold no answers; Japanese kids watch just as much violence. Foreign policy is far more telling: which country has leaders who engage in violence against other countries at every opportunity, and constantly try to convince us that it’s right? If our pundits and politicians were truly concerned about making a safer world—and there are many reasons to believe they are not, since they profit the most from a fearful citizenry—they would begin by acknowledging that violence is almost a desperate grab for control from a person or people who believe they are being repressed. If we want a more peaceful and noble society, then we will stop coercing other countries with violence and economic oppression. As Franklin Roosevelt said, We have nothing to fear but fear itself. We are the most fearful nation on the planet, and we are paying for it.
    解析: 暂无解析