GRE作文6分教学博客

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

60) Politicians should pursue common ground and reasonable consensus rather than elusive ideals.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

本文政治立场与寄托无关。

Any politicians who care about the interest of the people they serve should try to pursue the goals that are shared by the majority of the society rather than ideals that are hard to realize.  I will illustrate my position with the stories of three political figures: Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Barack Obama.  

Despite his considerable contribution to building a new China, Mao Zedong had caused a great deal of suffering to the Chinese people and led to many tragic events in modern Chinese history due to his unrealistic political ideals.  In late 1950s, he launched the so-called Great Leap Forward movement with the romantic thinking that China can surpass the economic powers such as the US and UK in a few years.  As a result of his grave mistakes, the Chinese economy suffered and millions of people died from starvation during the three-year famine from 1960 to 1962.  Also thanks to his poetic vision that young people in the city should be re-educated by the rural people, millions of teenagers who can barely take care of themselves were forced to separate from their parents and spend years in the countryside.  An entire generation of Chinese people lost their opportunities to receive formal education and the nation also suffered from a lack of human resources vital for its economy.  Mao made all these unforgivable mistakes because he did not consult his colleagues at all when making decisions.
   
Fortunately, Deng Xiaoping, the successor of Mao, was a more pragmatic leader.  With less power and charisma, Deng focused on building consensus and finding common ground within the Communist Party after he took the power.  The most important consensus at the time was that the country needed to recover from the mess created by Mao and focus on the economic development.  Through the introduction of open door policy and the privatization of the rural economy of China, Deng successfully rejuvenated the Chinese economy and lifted millions of Chinese people out of poverty.  By taking a more practical approach to politics and focusing on the common ground of the Chinese society, Deng gained more support and respect from both Chinese people and the international community.  

A more recent example to support my thesis is the incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama.  One of the key accomplishments of Obama administrations is the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.  Through Obamacare, millions of Americans, who are previously uninsured, are now covered by health insurance through the federal financial incentives provided by the legislation.  If we look more closely at the legislative history of Obamacare, we can see that during the process of pushing for Obamacare, President Obama was always seeking common ground in a Congress that was dominated by GOP politicians.  For example, in order to win support from the Senate controlled by the Republicans, Obamacare does not provide health insurance for abortions.  Ideally, of course, the rights to abortions should be recognized in Obamacare.  But to pass the law, compromise had to be made.  

As illustrated through the stories of three political figures, politicians should always pursue the goals that reflect the common ground and the consensus of the majority. Deng and Obama are exemplary figures of such pragmatic approaches.  The tragedies caused by Mao, on the other hand, underscore the danger and folly of pursuing elusive political ideals.  

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

61) People should undertake risky action only after they have carefully considered its consequences.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

the statement is true when the risk is well known and fairly easy to manage
the importance of safe sex  
unprotected sex may lead to pregnancy and STD
the risk can be greatly reduced by wearing condoms   
considering the consequences, people should take measures to manage the risk



the statement is also true when the risk can be assessed quantitatively
financial management and investment  
invest in a stock only after reviewing its financial statements and use sophisticated models to calculate the risk  




the statement may not be true under emergency situation when people take risky action out of instinct  
being in danger - risky action can help the human body to release endorphins and adrenaline that can help the person to perform physical acts that are not possible under normal circumstances  
as a result, the person may have a better chance to survive  

http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/15/Risk-taking-behaviors.html

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

66) People who are the most deeply committed to an idea or policy are also the most critical of it.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.


https://bbs.gter.net/thread-1786263-1-1.html

thesis: whether people are critical of the ideas or policy they hold depends on the nature and domains of the ideas and policy.  In the field of science and technology, scientists and engineers are often critical of the theories and designs they are committed to in order to make further progress.  In the field of religion, the belief in supernatural being is based on faith rather than reasoning; as a result, criticality is not part of the equation.  

ts1: scientists are often critical of their own theories and research ideas in order to continuously improve the ideas
- being critical means two things
1) remain open-minded to the possibility that they could be wrong in light of new empirical evidence;
support: researchers always describe how they conducted their studies in details so other researchers could replicate the studies (no specific example is needed here)

2) willing to accept new paradigms in methodology and theoretical framework to replace the existing ones
support: if the new approach can generate better results the researchers are willing to give up their own ones

ts 2: engineers are also critical of their designs of the manufacturing process or the prototype  
being critical means they continuously modify the design based on the data from the field
data from the manufacturing side  
- in order to minimize the cost (the ligntening charger of iPhone)
feedback from the end users
- in order to stay competitive (the resizing of iPhone screen)

ts 3: religious community relies on faith rather than rationality for spiritual well-being
- faith is the source of their spiritual strength and well-being
(prayer- if it is answered, be grateful; if it is not answered, God has better plan)  
- criticality is a sign of doubt and temptation

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

69) Some people believe it is often necessary, even desirable, for political leaders to withhold information from the public. Others believe that the public has a right to be fully informed.
Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should address both of the views presented.

https://bbs.gter.net/thread-1786263-1-1.html

The public should have the rights to be full informed because of the nature of the relationship between the public and the government in terms of taxation and representation.  As for the information that is sensitive for security reasons, it should be declassified within a limited period of time.  


The nature of taxation is the first reason why information about government policy making should be made public.  
- The political leaders are essentially the officials hired by the public with tax money; the contractual relationship means that the tax payers have the rights to monitor how the government officials do their jobs.
- the public also have the right to know how the government spends the tax money and whether the funded projects made a difference

the nature of representation is the second reason why information about legislative processes should be made public
- the power of the legislature comes from the voters
- they are supposed to represent the interests of their constituency
- their voting records should be publicly available so the voters can see if the public officials deliver their promises
- the public can then decide if they want to support the politicians again in the next election
- this is the mechanism to ensure that the legislators can be trustworthy  

certain information may be withheld temporarily for the sake of national security but eventually should be subject to the public scrutiny
- for security reasons certain information may be classified
- how the leaders negotiate a peace treaty with other states
- how the military actions were planned and executed
But such information should be released in 20 or 50 years so that the politicians may take into account the long-term reputation and legitimacy of their parties when making decisions   

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

73) Colleges and universities should require all faculty to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach.

Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position.

It seems to me that to require all faculty members in colleges and universities to take non-academic jobs off campus is a very bad policy for three reasons.  First, many faculty members may not find suitable jobs outside the universities. In addition, such policy may increase the attrition rates of faculty members in certain fields. Finally, the policy is not necessary for certain fields where close contact with the professional world is essential.   

To begin with, not all faculty members can easily find jobs in the professional world, especially when they are only available for a relatively short period of time.  Consider the professors in philosophy and literature for example.  While experts in these fields are important for teaching the relevant courses and conducting original research, their skills are not always immediately useful in corporate environment.  If faculty members could not find suitable jobs off campus, the policy would be very difficult to be effectively implemented.  

Another negative consequence of this policy is that certain departments such as computer science and electrical engineering may lose some talented professors.  Technology companies such as Google and Facebook are constantly hunting for employees with expertise in high-performance computing, data mining and machine learning.  Even without such policy, universities have to compete against such companies for talents in these fields.  The policy would provide professors in fields more opportunities to work in such companies without losing their academic jobs.  Once they find suitable jobs in these companies who usually offer much better compensation packages, it is likely that they might leave their university positions.  In other words, the policy may increase the attrition rate of faculty members in certain fields.  

Some people may argue that in certain fields such as law and medicine it is important for the academic researchers to stay in touch with the professional world. Working experience outside the universities would help them gain more insights into the fields and become better teachers and researchers.  In cases like these, the policy of requiring the faculty members to work outside universities would become unnecessary.  Professors interested in professional development will seek job opportunities without such requirements.  Those who do not may not perform as well as those who do as researchers and teachers.   

In conclusion, the policy may not be feasible for faculty members in certain fields who could not find suitable jobs outside universities.  It may also increase the attrition rate of certain departments such as computer science for which there is intense competition for talents.  As for those fields where professional working experience is highly valued, the policy is also unnecessary.  

  

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

77) The most effective way to understand contemporary culture is to analyze the trends of its youth.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

Thesis: I strongly agree that analyzing the trends of the youth is the most effective way to understand the contemporary society for two reasons.  First, the behaviours of the youth often reflect the values of not just themselves but that of their parents and teachers.  Second, it is fairly straight-forward to analyze their behaviors through data from the social media and the credit card transaction.  

ts1: The trends of the youth can reflect the values and attitudes of the young people as well as their parents, the two groups of people that form the dominant forces shaping the contemporary culture.  
One way to understand the contemporary culture is to look at what the young people buy for clothes, books and entertainment.  (follow the money)  
it will also somehow reflect the parents’ attitudes as they utlimately foot the bills  
another approach is to consider what they have to say about what they bought when interacting with others (the talk about the products makes the stories that can reflect the culture)

ts2: the consumption trend could be studied by analyzing the credit card transaction records of the parents and the young people
- big data is now available electronically and shared among the financial insitutitions and the corporations
- maybe studied through data mining


ts3: the talk about the consumption could be studied through analyzing the social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
- natural language processing
- hashtag
- image recognition  

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

81) All parents should be required to volunteer time to their children's schools.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

95) All parents should be required to volunteer time to their children's schools.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

相对冷门 其实好写  

TS: I strongly agree that all parents should spend some time volunteering for their children’s schools because doing so may help the parents to participate in the school affairs and better understand their children’s academic and personal development.  While parents may not have time to come to the schools in person, they might volunteer their time through online teleworking.  


ts1 : the first benefit of this policy is that parents may become more actively involved in the school affairs
- volunteering in PTA enables parents to participate in the decision-making of the schools (with the support of the parents, the decisions can be executed more effectively)
- vounteering in extracurriculuar activities may provide students with extra learning opportunities (some parents may have special talents or hobbies)
- volunteering in career counselling and mentoring (better network; insights from the industry)

ts2: the second benefit of this policy is that parents can better understand the development of their own children
- know more about the school affairs and how they may affect the learning and development of the children
- provide support for the children according to the school policies
- get more information about children while interacting with the teachers

ts3: some parents may not have time to come to the schools as volunteers
- they can always volunteer their time through online collaboration with teachers and other parents
- Facebook groups and Google docs can be used
- help review the proposals and contribute ideas online  
- participate in the discussion through video conference or make decisions by email

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

124) All college and university students would benefit from spending at least one semester studying in a foreign country.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

82) Colleges and universities should require their students to spend at least one semester studying in a foreign country.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.



I agree that this recommendation would be beneficial for students specialising in certain disciplines such as foreign languages, international trade and comparative politics.  Yet, students in other fields such as national language and literature, history and archeology would find the requirement unnecessary.  Moreover, students with limited financial resources or abilities to adapt to the new environment may not benefit from the recommendation.  


I agree that this recommendation would be beneficial for students specialising in certain disciplines such as foreign languages, international trade and comparative politics.
句子的功能：针对题目的建议提出立场，指出这个建议对某个群体的学生是有益的。
同意转换：this recommendation would be beneficial for 如果改成benefit怎么写 如果改成students做主语又怎么写
语法结构：
students specialising动名词后置对前面的名词进行限定
disciplines作为一个概括性的名词后面跟such as及并列结构引出具体的例子

注意下面的两个句子也是表面立场，但是针对不同的学生群体，这个建议就可能不好
Yet, students in other fields such as national language and literature, history and archeology would find the requirement unnecessary. Moreover, students with limited financial resources or abilities to adapt to the new environment may not benefit from the recommendation.
这个句子里是如何表达不好的？这里为了避免词汇重复用了什么词？还可能用什么词？

练习
129) College students should base their choice of a field of study on the availability of jobs in that field.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

尝试用上面的句型写出这道题的第一段
基本思路为
对于家境富裕的学生，这个建议没有好处，他们可以根据自己的兴趣来选专业
对于特别有才华的学生，这个建议也不好，因为他们应该根据自己的才华来选专业，将来总会有工作
对于经济压力较大的学生，这个建议很合适，因为对他们来说找到工作最重要




There is no doubt that students studying certain subjects will benefit tremendously from the overseas experiences. One obvious example is students majoring in a foreign language. To further improve their proficiency in that language, there is no better way than spending a semester in that country and using the language with native speakers.  They can also get more exposure to the local culture which is essential for mastering the language.  In addition, the study-abroad program may also provide students the opportunities to access top faculty members and state-of-the-art research facilities in certain fields that are not available in their own universities.  Students majoring in computer science may benefit if they could study in some American universities which feature top experts and host internationally-renowned laboratories in the field.  

On the other hand, for students majoring in other subjects such as national history, literature and archeology, the requirement would add little extra value to their college education. For one thing, students in these fields can find the best professors in their home countries and studying in a foreign university would unlikely provide them the opportunities to learn from top experts in the fields.  In addition, their home universities or other universities in their home countries would provide the library materials and archives they need to conduct their researches.  Again there is no need to study abroad.  Finally, they can collect more useful original data by doing field work domestically rather than going abroad.  


It is also important to take into account students’ financial situation and abilities to adapt to new environment before adopting the proposed policy.  


上面这篇没写完
今天重新写了一篇完整的范文  

There are two reasons why I believe that the requirement of studying abroad for one semester is important for the development of students. First, it is particularly helpful for students to sharpen their foreign language skills that can benefit their future careers.  In addition, the experiences of studying in a foreign country can help the students better understand their own country and culture through intercultural communication.  As for the concern about the cost of studying abroad, exchange programs and scholarships should be offered to make the opportunities of studying abroad more affordable.  

To begin with, students should be required to study abroad so that they can improve their proficiency levels of a foreign language.  This policy is particularly important for university students from non-English speaking countries. With English becoming the dominant lingua franca for academic and business communication, students who use English as a foreign language can benefit tremendously from spending some time in an English-speaking country.  Not only can they get more chance to use the language on a daily basis and practice the language skills with native speakers.  They will also become much more confident users of the language after studying abroad.  With English skills becoming increasingly important for one’s future career, this requirement can help the students become more marketable and employable.  

The second reason why I believe this requirement is helpful is that students can also better understand one’s own culture after spending some time in a foreign country.  This may seem a bit counter-intuitive at the first glimpse.  But the truth is students studying abroad will often have more opportunities to introduce their home cultures to local students with limited knowledge about their countries but strong interest to learn more.  They also need to answer questions about their home cultures raised by foreign friends who do not take things for granted.  By serving as a cultural ambassador of one’s home country, one can deepen one’s own understanding of the home culture.  The new perspective that is very valuable may not be possible if students stay in their home countries for college studies.

People may be concerned with the cost of studying abroad and argue that this requirement may impose extra financial burden on students and their families.  Here are two ways this concern can be addressed.  First, the study-abroad program usually takes the form of exchange program through which the local university exchange students with a partner university abroad.  Under such arrangement, students only need to pay tuition at the local universities and their tuition fees in the foreign university will be paid by the foreign exchange students paying their local tuition.  Therefore the tuition will not be more expensive.  Meanwhile, scholarship and financial aid should be provided to cover the transportation and living expenses for studying abroad.  Through the financial support of the government and/or the universities, students with limited financial resources can also have the opportunities to study abroad.  

In conclusion, the policy of requiring students to study abroad can provide valuable opportunities to practice their foreign language skills and reflect on their own cultures from new perspectives.  Meanwhile, exchange programs and financial aid programs should be introduced to help students with financial difficulties.

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

85) Some people believe that in order to thrive, a society must put its own overall success before the well-being of its individual citizens. Others believe that the well-being of a society can only be measured by the general welfare of all its people.
Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with your own position and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should address both of the views presented.


将overall success定义为economic development，论述overall和individual两者之间的关系。1，总结出overall success 跟general welfare是统一的，跟specific group of citizens是不统一的，某些政策的提出与一部分人的利益相搏，但通过整体计算，general welfare可以保证；2，举例三峡工程Three Gorges Project使得大批库区居民家园被毁坏，牺牲了一部分的利益，但换来了经济利益和长远的整体的成果；3，举例计划生育政策one-child policy限制了人生育的权利，但政策的目的是为了保证国家经济的阶段性发展。（类似的例子还有international trade/free trade与trade protection之间的矛盾；数码化、机器人使一部分人失业但很大程度上提高了整个社会的运作效率）

TS1: I believe that a society should focus on its overall success which is often measured in long term rather than the well-being of the individual citizens which is often short-term in nature.  I would illustrate my position with examples about family planning, transportation infrastructure and sustainable development.  

ts1 : the one child policy in China hurt certain families such as those who lost their only children and those who are forced to abort their babies but may be justified considering the long-term development of the national economy
- the suffering of the parents who lost their only children
- the suffering of the women who are forced to abort their babies
- the importance of one child policy for population control and the improvement of population quality

ts2 :  the development of  transportation infrastructure in cities often means the worsening of the traffic jam and the inflation in the short term but upgrading of the economy that is beneficial for the long term  
- the building the subway usually means less road available for the traffic for a few years
- the large construction projects may also lead to labor shortage and inflation
- but the transportation infrastructure upgrades could lead to long-term economic growth as the cities can increase its overall productivity and attract more investment

ts3:  The idea of sustainable development further illustrates why society should focus on its long-term overall success.
- the idea of sustainable development: the development of the current generations should not compromise the opportunities of development of future generations
- environmental protection
- the replacement of fossil fuel with renewable energy sources
- to practice such principles may lead to the decline of certain industries and unemployment for many
- but it is essential for the overall success in the long term

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

87) Claim: Any piece of information referred to as a fact should be mistrusted, since it may well be proven false in the future.
Reason: Much of the information that people assume is factual actually turns out to be inaccurate.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.

Any piece of information referred to as a fact should be trust in engineering fields and science fields, but not in social science fields.
In engineering fields, information should be trusted as long as it can be applied into practice.工程领域以后推翻或者证伪不会影响现在的应用价值。举例：爱迪生发明电灯使用了钨丝，即使后来人们发现了更好的灯丝材料，钨丝电灯在那个年代任然适用。
In science fields, information now should also be trusted because it can be used to explain many phenomena. 举例：相对论与牛顿万有引力定律。
In social science, however, any piece of information referred to as a fact should be mistrusted and more proof is needed because the information may be biased.搜集数据者先入为主，使得观察结果带有偏误；根据Hawthorne effects，观察者知道自己在被观察时表现会受到影响。举例：社会学中的社会调研。

TS: We should not mistrust facts that have been proved logically especially those in mathematics.  For facts presented in science, while it is true that they may be proven false later, they can still be trusted in the domain where they are used to solve problems. Nevertheless, facts in politics should be treated with a grain of salt as the information is always colored by the bias of the observers.   


ts 1: Facts that have been proved logically should not be mistrusted.
example: the fact that there are infinite prime number
it can be easily proved by contradiction. Given a finite set of prime number, one can always get another prime number by adding one to the product of all the set of prime numbers.  
Facts like this should not be mistrusted because it has been proved rigorously in math.  And it is guarenteed to be timeless truth.  


ts 2: Facts found in science may be proved wrong later but the facts should be trusted so long as they are still useful in certain domain.
- Newtonian physics are later proved wrong by Einstein’s theory of relativity
- the Newton’s law, for example, may not apply when an object travels at a speed near the speed of light
- but facts in Newtonian physics are still useful in many fields such as civil engineering and mechanical engineering
- we still rely on such facts to drive the automobiles, fly the airplanes and send the sattelites to the space

ts 3: Information presented as facts in politics should be mistrusted for two reasons.
- it is not possible to see the whole picture and the information is always collected based on the interest of the observers
example: US criticizes China’s human right records  and China also criticizes US’s human rights records  
- US focuses on the human rights violation in China such as censorship and arresting dissidents but ignores the facts that national security is the prerequisite of protecting human rights
- China focuses on the overuse of police force and gun violence but overlook the fact that such problems are complex and deeply rooted in US history
- facts are presented with political motivation should  always be mistrusted as they may be challenged later with more information or hindsight

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

Claim: Many problems of modern society cannot be solved by laws and the legal system. Reason: Laws cannot change what is in people's hearts or minds.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.

在考场上我的基本思路是这样的

基本观点：完全不同意claim 同意reason  

第二段 从个人层面讨论法律可以通过提供incentive和disincentive来调整人的行为 举例包括冲红灯 酒驾  指出即使法律无法改变人的想法 只要能改变人的行为就能解决很多问题

第三段 从企业的层面讨论 法律可以通过提供incentive和disincentive改变企业经理人的行为 举例是逃税问题 通过罚款来减少逃税 即使经理不愿意交税 也得交

第四段 从政府的角度讨论 法律赋予政府权力 调配资源解决各种社会问题 举例是小布什的No Child Left Behind Act 其实对于那个Act我只知道这个名字 具体是什么完全不记得了  不过这些法案都离不开拨款 所以就说这个Act给联邦政府资金去帮助那些穷人读的学校  

以上三段都在最后部分提到reason 指出虽然法律无法改变思想 但可以改变行为 从而解决问题

写到这里本来可以结束的 但还有10分钟时间为了保险起见 加了第五段

第五段 既然法律这么牛 为什么还有这么多问题没有解决呢 问题不在于法律不能改变人的思想 而在于我们未能充分发挥法律的潜能 unleash the potential of the legal system  

第六段 结束 同意reason 但不同意 claim 强调一下法律制度还有潜力可挖  

以下这篇是我之前的练习。



According to the prompt, laws and the legal system cannot solve many social problems in today’s world because it is impossible for the system to change how people feel or think.  While we need to acknowledge the usefulness and importance of the legal system in solving a great many problems for individual members of the society on a daily basis, it is true that the current legal system is less effective when it comes to solving social problems at large scale.  Nevertheless, as I will illustrate with my examples, the inefficency of laws mainly results from the complexity of the social problems rather than the reason stated in the prompt.

To begin with, it is important for us to recognize the essential roles played by laws in our daily life as we rely on the laws to solve many problems confronting the individual citizens. Take the simple example of traffic laws. The only reason why we can safely cross the streets is that the drivers of all vehicles usually obey the traffic laws, i.e. (e.g.) stop when the light is red or at a stop sign.  The traffic laws also make sure that drivers who are engaged in dangerous behaviors, e.g. drink and drive or hit the red light, will be punished.  The prospect of getting published serves as an effective deterrent for the drivers (usage about deterrent) to follow the laws most of the time. As a result, we enjoy a safe environment as pedestrians and passengers most of the time.

  On the other hand, we have to admit that laws are far from effective in addressing a number of widespread social problems in out (our) world today.  One of the most poignant examples is the seemingly widening income gap and the resulting poverty many people have to suffer.  The government has introduced different legislative measures to address the problems of poverty and income gap such as the compulsory education for children and the progressive income tax system.  Through compulsory education, it is hoped that children from the lower socioeconomic classes can also benefit from education and move upward in the social ladder with more employable skills.  Likewise, the tax money from the middle and upper class is used to provide basic services and welfare for the poor.

Unfortunately, however, the laws that intend to solve one social problem may lead to another social problem, which may further complicate the original one. For example, the law of compulsory education has kept many adolescents in schools who have neither interests nor talents to pursue their academic studies. By the time they leave the schools, they do not have the skills that the schools should help them develop and become unemployed right away.  Meanwhile, the progressive income tax system may discourage the middle and upper class from working hard or make more purchases, thereby harming the overall economic development.

Based on my analysis of the laws that may help us as individuals but may not solve social problems, it is clear that laws may create incentives or disincentives to change people’s behaviors and solve problems at individual level. Nevertheless, for more complicated social problems such as poverty, laws may be less useful because there are too many factors involved in the problems and the laws intended to solve one problem may lead to another even more severe one. The effectiveness of laws depends on the extent to which they can change people’s behaviors as well as the complexity of the social problem.  It has nothing to do with people’s thoughts or feelings.

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

93) Unfortunately, in contemporary society, creating an appealing image has become more important than the reality or truth behind that image.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

按image和reality是否可以区分开来分别论述。1，image和reality可区分时，如除去花哨，只留核心内容的no frills生活方式；2，image和reality为统一整体，不可区分时，举例conspicuous consumption，如买luxury goods就是给别人看的；3，image和reality为统一整体，不可区分时，再举例在interpersonal relation中，人的外表和内在不能区分开，如很多时候可以判断肥胖的人obesity是因为生活方式有问题，化妆的人make up在意别人对自己的评价；smiling代表态度亲切等。

TS: This statement does not hold true when image is part of the reality or image can accurately reflect the reality.  it may be true when image masks the reality or the truth.  

ts1: it is impossible to compare the importance of image and the reality when the image is an integral part of the reality.  
Example: luxury cars  
The external appearance of luxury cars is one of the main reasons why the buyers want the car
they do not buy the cars to drive around
they buy the cars to tell people they can afford the beautiful cars
to get the attention and to pass the message that they are rich
image is the part of the reality

ts2: efforts made to create an image is also legitimate when the image can be used to tell the reality or the truth accurately
example: job interview
a confident and energetic image may convince the interviewer that the candidate is comeptent and enthusiastic about the job
it is often the case, competent candidates are more likely to look confident
enthusiastic candidates usually appear more energetic
candidates who wear make-up, dress nicely usually take the job opportunity more seriously

ts3: Government officials may do certain things to impress the public and divert public attention to the larger issues
- Obama’s attendance and speech at Clementa Pinckney funeral
- POTUS delievered a passionate eulogy
- reinforces his image as the first AA president who cares about the AA community
- but the reality is that racial inequality is deeply rooted in institutional practices such as racial profiling and affirmative actions
- Obama administration have failed when it comes to race relation (Michael Brown case- the tip of iceberg)   

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

94 The effectiveness of a country's leaders is best measured by examining the well-being of that country's citizens.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.


147) The effectiveness of a country's leaders is best measured by examining the well-being of that country's citizens.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

TS: The effectiveness of the national leaders should be best measured by examining how successful the nations achieved their most important goals.  During the second world war, the leaders’ effectivness was ultimately judged by the outcomes of the war.  During the cold war, the leaders’ effectiveness could be measured by progress of the space programs.  While it is true that leaders are responsible for improving the citizens’ welfare, sometimes they need to work on projects or tasks that may have long-term rather than short-term positive impact on citizens’ well-being.


ts1: in wartime, leaders are considered effective if they could lead the nations to win the war despite the great casualty and loss
- Churchill was effective in resisting the threat of Nazi Germany
- Roosevelt was effective in ending the war in Pacific with atomic bombs
- British and American citizens suffered during the war
- but they were effective leaders nevertheless

ts 2: when nations are competing in certain areas, the effectiveness of leaders could be measured by examining the national achievement in those areas
- after the successful launch of Sputnik by USSR, the US was threatened in the area of space exploration  
- the US decided to send men to the moon
- the lunar landing is a great achievement indicating the effectiveness of the US leaders
- although there is no direct positive effects to the citizens’ well-being

ts3: some people may argue that the statement holds true because the leaders are responsible for maintaining the well-being of the citizens  
- sometimes the well-being of the citizens are not the top priority
- during the wartime, to end the war is the main goal which is also important for the long-term prosperity of the nation
- during the cold war, to outperform the Soviet in the space is important  

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

Although innovations such as video, computers, and the Internet seem to offer schools improved methods for instructing students, these technologies all too often distract from real learning.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

  

Technological innovations have inevitably changed the ways students learn in schools and teachers present their materials.  Whether or not such innovations may distract students from real learning depends on the specific technology and how they are used for learning.  I’ll first illustrate how video and computers can be very useful for students to learn certain subjects with some specific examples.  Afterwards, I’ll discuss the problem of online distraction given the ubiquity of the Internet.  

Materials in video form can serve as useful supplement to the written texts for courses in history and literature.  In a history course on World War II, for example, students can have better understanding of the issues after watching a documentary film on the topic. Different from the textual account of the historical events, the films treat the topic with multimedia materials, some of which may come from primary sources.  The video can offer a fresh perspective on the subject matters and stimulate the students to ask more questions.  Since the teachers usually operate the equipment (e.g. DVD players) and have control over what to present, students will not be distracted by materials irrelevant to the topics.  Therefore, the use of video should not cause any problems of distraction.  

As the use of computers has revolutionized many scientific disciplines, the computing tools have become essential components in learning such disciplines.  The study of Calculus nowadays, for example, often involves programming in Matlab, a powerful software and programming language for sophisticated calculation.  When using computers to learn programming in Matlab, the students will focus on how to implement the math models by writing codes and learn to debug the codes when errors occur.  It is very unlikely that they would be distracted by other activities as Matlab will keep them busy and concentrated.  As this example clearly illustrates, digital distraction is not an issue when the students are fully engaged in learning how to use an advanced computer software to solve problems.  

The use of certain Internet technologies, however, could lead to the concerns of digital distraction.  In many courses, students are often asked to conduct research online and collect materials that can be incorporated in their reports on certain topics. As a result, students often have full access to the Internet with their own computers during the course.  As teachers can only supervise one or two students at a time, there is no way to ensure that students are working on their research projects while online.  They might find themselves checking their friends’s facebook updates or browsing the web mindlessly.  After all, doing so requires less effort than doing researches.  Digital distraction can be a serious problem in cases like these when teachers do not have full control over how the students use the technology and the students may lack the self-discipline to do what they are supposed to do online.  

In conclusion, whether we should be concerned with digital distraction depends on the specific technological innovations used in the teaching and learning processes.  When teachers have control over how the tools are used or students are fully engaged with the technology, there is no need to worry about this issue.  Nevertheless, more attention has to be paid to digital distraction when students are left on their own on the Internet.  

tesolchinaUID: 2191404

103) The best ideas arise from a passionate interest in commonplace things.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

TS: Best ideas in math and technology are usually unrelated to commonplace things as the ideas often involve theoretical concepts that are not accessible to people without specialized training. The statement may be valid for certain social sciences such as economics.

ts1: in math, good ideas often arise from collaboration among well-trained mathematicians
- Consider Green-Tao theorem
- as a result of the colaboration of Ben Green and Terrance Tao
- it has nothing to do with commonplace things
- its development involves sophisticated concepts and theories in number theory and other branches of pure math

ts 2: in technology, good ideas often come from hybridization of different existing technologies that are not necessarily commonplace
- consider the design of iPhone
- the idea of smartphone has been around (not very common at the time)
- touchscreen technology also not popular at the time
- the hybrid of smartphone and touchscreen leads to iPhone

ts 3: in social science, strong interest in how commonplace things affect human behaviors may lead to insightful ideas
- consider the study of how seatbelt laws affect drivers’ behaviors
- economists with passionate interests in seatbelt (a commonplace thing) dedicate a great amount of efforts to research
- found the unintended consequence of seatbelt laws (reduction of risk leads to more reckless driving and more pedestrians injuries)