1. To be an effective leader, a public official must maintain the highest ethical and moral standards.
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.
这道题可以考虑分不同情况来写，可将政府官员的行为分为履行职务时的行为和私生活。指出在履行职务时应该以最高伦理和道德标准要求自己，而在私生活方面则可以按照自己的生活方式来选择。有人可能认为官员私生活不检点会导致民众对他不信任，我认为民众根本不应该知道官员私生活的任何信息。
政府官员在履行职责时应该保持最高的伦理道德标准。
- 防止腐败与滥用权力
- 给下属做榜样、取得下属信任、团队效率
- 制订符合伦理道德的政策
政府官员的私生活可以有更多元化的道德标准
- 消防员在非执行任务时看到火警也不必去救
- 官员驾驶私家车超速应该和普通人受到同样的处罚
- 官员通过某些手段合理避税也不应受到谴责
有人认为私生活不检点会导致民众不信任官员
不信任会导致官员无法正常履行职务
但是官员的隐私应该受到保护
与公职无关的私生活信息不应该被媒体传播
如果民众不了解官员的私生活自然无从质疑
但前提是官员不会因为私生活的问题二影响公职
2. Leaders are created by the demands that are placed on them.
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.
Are leaders created by demands placed on them? In most institutional settings, leaders are not created by the demands because a person can become a leader before meeting any demands if s/he masters strong communication skills, holds suitable qualifications and has extensive experiences. Nevertheless, in certain exceptional circumstances, usually in emergencies, ordinary people may become leaders in response to the demands.
Without being tested by demands for leadership, people often assume leadership positions by demonstrating strong communication skills that are important for dealing with situations in which they have to lead others to solve problems. In the field of academic researches, for example, senior researchers have to communicate their research findings and the vision about how the discipline would advance clearly and persuasively to the fellow researchers in order to take up leadership positions such as editors of top journals and chairpersons of the academic societies. They also need to demonstrate their willingness to listen to other members of the research community and understand their ideas and concerns about the field. Such strong communication skills would enable them to become leaders in the field and help others to meet the challenges.
In addition to communication skills, leaders also have to receive relevant training to acquire the professional qualifications and expertise that are necessary for the leadership positions. Referring to the examples of leaders in academic research field again, it is clear that anyone interested in joining an editorial board of a top journal or becoming the chairperson of an academic association must, in addition to holding a PhD in relevant fields, have published influential papers in the field and accumulated extensive administrative experiences. Usually with such publication records and relevant experiences, the person will be able to get the jobs as the leaders. In other words, taking the leadership roles in an institution does not necessarily relate to the demands for leadership.
On the other hand, there are exceptional circumstances in which ordinary people may become leaders while trying to address the demands at the moment. On September 11, 2001, after three planes were hijacked and crashed to WTO twin towers and the Pentagon, the passengers of United Airline
Flight 93 revolted against the hijackers and successfully diverted the airplane from the route to Washington D.C. where the hijackers planned to crash the airplane to the White House. We do not have details about the passengers’ heroic acts but it is safe to believe that some courageous passengers and crew members had responded to the emergency demands for leadership after knowing the terrorist attacks that had happened earlier that day. These ordinary men and women became leaders of a historical anti-terrorist mission without any prior training and experiences. Their leadership was created by the demands placed on them and will be remembered in history.
In conclusion, in most institutional settings, leaders are not created by demands but selected based on the candidates’ communication skills, qualifications and experiences. Nevertheless, under exceptional circumstances, ordinary people may become leaders in response to the demands for leadership.
3. Scandals are useful because they focus our attention on problems in ways that no speaker or reformer ever could.
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.
With the development of modern mass media, scandals are almost ubiquitous. Hardly can a day go by without some news reporting scandals involving high-profiles politicians, athletes or movie stars. While it is true that scandals often attract public attention and may expose certain problems, I do not believe that they are useful in solving social problems as they often focus public attention on the wrong issues and can hardly maintain public attention for a sufficiently long time. After elaborating these two points, I will also address the argument that scandals can usefully create pressure for the government to introduce reforms.
To begin with, the attention from the public after a scandal does not necessarily focus on the right issue. Take the Clinton scandal and impeachment for example. With the release of Starr report, the Clinton scandal has attracted the national and even international media attention. But the majority of American people seem to find it more interesting to talk about whether or not President Clinton had sex with Monica Lewinsky. They would even get into the debate over whether oral sex would count as sex. But the real issue that should capture public attention is whether or not the President had lied and still deserved the trust of American people. With the media always interested in reporting sensational news, the Clinton scandal failed to focus public attention on the right issue and therefore was not very useful for the development of American politics.
In addition, when a scandal is involved in powerful corporation, a professional public relations team will very quickly take actions to address the crisis and divert the public attention from the right issues. The oil giant BP, for example, was responsible for the oil rig explosion in 2013 and subsequent oil spill in the gulf of Mexico. During the scandal of this ecological disaster, BP hired a sophisticated PR team to launch a massive campaign to paint themselves as victims of tort law suits and shift media attention from the aftermath of the oil spill. The large corporations like BP has the large amount of financial resources at their disposal to manipulate the media and the public opinions when necessary. As the public is often forgetful while overwhelmed by the news and scandals, it is fairly easy for them to get away from such scandals. In other words, one cannot really rely on scandals to solve problems involving big corporations.
Some people may argue that scandals are still useful in creating pressure to push the government to reform. For example, after the scandal of Sun Zhigang, a Chinese university graduate who was tortured and killed in Guangzhou Center for the Homeless, Chinese government has abolished the institution of arresting the homeless in the large cities. While this case leads to some desirable outcome, it is doubtful that we should count on scandals like this to reform a nation’s legal and social infrastructure. To fix the numerous problems in a modern society, the best solution is to educate the people about their rights so people can speak up against injustice when their rights are violated. We cannot just overlook the injustice in our daily life and wait for scandals to fix the problems in our society.
In conclusion, while I acknowledge that certain scandals may eventually lead to some progress in our society, most scandals are not very useful in reforming the society as the public often focus their attention on the wrong issues and the powerful corporations can easily divert public attention through their public relations campaigns. To achieve real progress in social development, we need better education to increase people’s awareness of their rights and their sense of justice.
4. 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？ 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.
5. The primary goal of technological advancement should be to increase people's efficiency so that they have more leisure time.
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.
In today’s world, the economic development has been constantly driven by the advances of new technologies and the ways we live our lives are regularly transformed by new shifts in technological paradigms. It is important for us to reflect on the goal of technological development and its consequences. I agree that the primary goal of technological advancement should be to increase people’s efficiency in a variety of activities. But whether or not people will have and enjoy more leisure time depends on the roles different people play in the society and the goals they have in their life.
When developing technologies used by students and researchers in higher education, the goal should be to help them work on their academic studies and research projects more efficiently. One of the major challenges of students and scholars is to keep pace with the increasing amount of scholarships that are now available in digital forms. Search engines such as Google Scholar and Citation management softwares such as Zotero have enabled the students and researchers to access and manage a large number of research articles efficiently. Yet, with the blessings of such advanced technologies, students and scholars will not enjoy more leisure time. With the increasing competition among students and scholars worldwide for places of further education and research funding, expectations are high for better academic performance and research output. Therefore, it is likely that students and researchers have to work long hours to meet such expectations.
Likewise, the primary concern of advancing technologies for white-collar workers and business managers should also be efficiency, especially when it comets to team work. For example, through teleconferencing enabled by the Internet, people can now work from home by staying in touch with colleagues through microphone and camera, thereby saving the commuting time and increasing the overall work efficiency. This is, in fact, the primary goal of developing new telecommunication technologies. But this new development, instead of offering more time for people to enjoy their leisure activities, threatens to take away the time they should spend with their families. After all, the boundary between workplace and home has been blurred, with the demand of more work eating away our family time.
The only group of people that actually can enjoy more leisure time as a result of technological innovation is the retired elderly people. The technological solutions designed for them should have efficiency as the top priority so that more time can be saved for leisure. By shopping online via stores such as Amazon.com and eBay, the elderly can stay at home and get everything they need by delivery. Smart refrigerators can help them keep track of the grocery items they need automatically and facilitate the ordering in a much more efficient way. In addition, latest mobile technologies also make it possible for them to do certain body checkup via smart wristwatches, making it unnecessary to even visit the doctor under certain circumstances. The time they saved will go to their favorite leisure activities as they have retired and do not have any commitment to jobs.
In conclusion, it is reasonable to argue that the main goal of technological development is to increase people’s efficiency in doing different things and save our precious time. But for most people who have to work and make a living, they would not be able to enjoy more leisure time but often find themselves working long hours to keep up with the pace of modern life. Yet, for the retired elderly, to live in today’s world full of technological innovation is a true blessing as they can enjoy a great amount of leisure time.
6. Critical judgment of work in any given field has little value unless it comes from someone who is an expert in that field.
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.
这道题没有对领域进行限定，认为只有专家对作品的批判性判断才有价值。显然我们需要考虑分不同的领域来讨论。而在考虑选择不同领域的时候，我们还要搞清楚一个问题，即专家和非专家的区别在哪里。另外还可以考虑的一点是，在某个领域的专家和这个领域以外的专家的区别。题目认为只有前者的评判有价值，而我们似乎可以指出后者的评价也很有价值。
开头段
在提出观点之前，最好简单介绍背景。这里的背景可以指出在各个领域我们都需要评价作品的价值从而认可那些优秀的作品和创作者。于是有人提出这个题目中的观点。而我认为在某些领域如纯粹数学，作品的价值只能由领域内专家评价；而有些领域例如经济学、工程学，除了领域内专家评价外，还需要领域外专家的评价；而在一些应用领域如广告设计、电视剧本编写，作为非专家的观众的评价显然是十分重要的。
第二段 纯粹数学的论文、成果只能由领域内专家评判
涉及的理论概念只有领域内专家能够理解
对于这个工作对本领域的贡献也只有本领域专家对领域的发展比较熟悉
领域内专家可以提出批判意见指出下一步的改进方向
学科本身并无应用、相对其他领域比较超前，因此领域外的专家无法给出意见
第三段 经济学、工程学等领域的研究需要领域外的专家评判
经济学理论已经被应用到法学、政治学、人类学等多领域
经济学家在这些领域所做的工作需要得到来自这些领域专家的评判 他们具有相关的知识背景
相关领域的专家可以提出他们的角度和数据来验证相关工作
工程学的研究成果往往涉及多学科 如计算机工程涉及复杂的数学模型 因此数学家的评价也很有价值
第四段 广告设计、电视剧本等作品需要非专家的观众点评
广告设计需要广告受众来批评以修改那些观众不喜欢的元素
麦当劳需要聘请市场调查公司了解家长和孩子对儿童乐园餐广告的看法
电视剧本作家会根据观众对人物的喜好决定下一步人物的命运
这些作品的最终价值取决于观众的喜恶
TS: In some fields such as pure mathematics, only experts in the field could offer valuable critical comments on the works; in other fields such as cosmology, experts from other fields, for example, mathematics and computer scientists may also offer some interesting insights; in more practical fields such as industrial design and movie production, the general public as end users may also contribute to the judgement.
ts1: in certain fields where outsiders can hardly understand the materials, this statement probably holds true. - example: pure mathematics (Green-Tao theorem) - difficult for outsiders without proper training to understand
- outsiders not able to make judgement
ts2: in some fields experts from related fields may judge the works with regard to the methodology.
- example: cosmology (involves mathematical modeling and high-performance computing for analyzing big data)
- mathematicians may judge the validity of the math model - computer scientists may judge the efficiency of the algorithms for dealing with the data
ts 3: the general public without any specialized training may also judge work in certain fields such as industrial design and movie
- Apple ran numerous focus group discussion to collect comments from layperson end users on their design - one of the key principle of user interface design is user-friendliness (users should find it easy to use) - Hollywood movie studios also run workshops for layperson to read stories before the screenplays are finalized