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庄子TOEFL阅读理解写作第三课
作者：zhuangxie
部分范文由于是在限定时间内写作，没有润色修改。
1. Learning about the past has no value for those
of us living in the present. Do you agree or disagree?
Use specific reasons and examples to support your
answer.
Students often say
to me: “I don’t know any history; I think it would
be a good thing to learn some.” What they seem to
mean is that they have never had a course in history,
or have never read any history books. But they are
greatly mistaken if they think they don’t know any
history. Every man, woman, and child knows some
history. Enough at least to stumble stumble along
in the world, because without knowledge about the
past none could even survive one hour in the world.
Suppose, for example,
that you had awakened this morning totally unable
to remember anything- all your other faculties working
properly, but memory entirely gone. You would be
in a bad way indeed! You wouldn’t know who you were,
or where; what you had done yesterday, or what you
intended or other people expected you to do today.
What could you do in this case? Wander about helplessly,
seeing and hearing things, talking them in as altogether
new, not at all knowing what they might mean in
relation either to the past or the future. You would
have to discover your little world all over again,
much as you discovered it in childhood; you would
have to re-orient yourself and get a new running
start. In short you would be a lost soul because
you had ceased to have any knowledge of history,
the history of your personal doings and associations
in the past.
For history is no more
than things said and done in the past. It is as
simple as that; and we might as well omit the word
“past,” since everything said and done is already
in the past as soon as it is said or done. We have
to remember many things said and done in order to
live our lives intelligently; and so far as we remember
things said and done we have a knowledge of history,
for that is what historical knowledge is – memory
of things said and done. Thus everyone had some
knowledge of history, and it is quite essential
that everyone should have, since it is only by remembering
something of the past that we can anticipate the
future. Now if memory of some things said and done
is necessary, it seems that memory of more things
out to be better. The more we remember of things
said and done, the better we can manage our affairs
today, and the more intelligently we can prepare
for what is coning to us tomorrow and next year
and all our lives. (425)
要求同学讨论反面的观点：
If we suddenly awakened and had no memory at all
I believe that many problems could be solved in
social relations.
We would not have knowledge of some of the evil
or great things one minority had done, and so we
would not look at any one group above or below the
others.
We wouldn’t have knowledge of the feuds and wars
that may have existed and possibly still exist between
nations and minorities.
Present and past discriminations and prejudice would
be forgotten.
中间主体段落论证注意：
l What is your main point?
l What supporting materials can you find?
l Are the supporting points facts or opinions?
l Are the supporting points relevant to the main
point?
l Do all the supporting points really work for the
thesis- not against it?
l Are you deliberately ignoring an opposing point?
2. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Only people who earn a lot of money are successful.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your
answer.
学生讨论：
l Einstein
l Freud
l Mozart
l Bill gates
The rhetoric that only
those who have earned lots of money are successful
is not only unreasonable, unconvincing, and misleading,
but also absurd, ridiculous because this interpretation
of success has obviously neglected a galaxy of celebrated
sociologists and scientists, who may have had never
earned enough ( a colossal sum of ) money for living
a comfortable and convenient life yet they are regarded
to be great successful people.
Those who advocate
this argument frequently claim that money is a yardstick
to measure how much one has contributed to the society.
However, they virtually based their argument on
an ungrounded assumption that what one is rewarded
is equivalent to what this person has devoted. Admittedly
in certain social system this may be true. But too
obviously and unfortunately, this fair system is
only an ideal preached by some politicians. If we
take money as the only calibration to determine
whether one is successful, we would have to assume
that money is the only form that the rewarded may
take for one’s contribution to the earth and well
being of human society. This is, however, ungrounded
again as the history has demonstrated. The fact
is that society award one member in diverse forms
other than money.
Even in the business
world, it is too presumptuous to declare that only
when people earn lot of money can he or she be regarded
as successful. Suppose one business leader who has
accumulated lots of money through corruption and
or bribing, shall we believe that the person is
successful? Again, even if he or she has never illegally
behaved in business operation and management, but
in case that the business had done something immoral
to promote products and services, or simply, the
business has significantly polluted environment,
is the business leader successful? No!
3. Some people believe
that the Earth is being harmed (damaged) by human
activity. Others feel that human activity makes
the Earth a better place to live. What is your opinion?
Use specific reasons and examples to support your
answer.
Is the Earth, a fragile
planet as it is, being adversely influenced by human
activities? This is one of the most critical yet
contentious sociological and ecological issues.
In many ways our social statistics exaggerate the
degree of hardship and hazardousness. The fact is
that human activity makes the planet an ideal paradise
of Eden.
Admittedly, during
the course of human development, many of the more
important air pollutants that exert adverse impacts
on the Earth, such as sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide,
and nitrogen oxides can be attributed to human activities.
However, on a global basis, natural’s output of
these compounds dwarfs what is resulted from human
activities. Human production, although seemingly
preponderant, usually occurs in a localized area,
such as a city. This area concentration tends to
belie us, making it difficult for the general public
to distinguish the fiction from fact. We are, unfortunately,
besieged daily by staggering claims for “saving
the Earth”, “saving the ocean”, and “saving our
global”. There are also numerous unsubstantiated
reports that we are put the Earth to a dangerous
edge. We have acid rain, greenhouse, El Nino, and
a variety of ecological issues threatening us.
Confronting with such
an overwhelming plight, as we are, we should bear
in mind that human activity, or rather, the course
of civilization including urbanization and industrialization,
has virtually made the Earth a paradise to live
in. The fact is that it has been the God or Nature
(as Emerson called) rather than the descendants
of Adam who damages the Earth. Ironically, even
the Genesis admits that God has flooded the Earth.
We human beings even from the very beginning have
put our utmost endeavors to improve our living conditions
on the surface of the Earth. Our achievements are
apparent. We now have cities with comfortable and
convenient facilities. We have air-conditioned dwelling
environment. We have safe and fast commute vehicles
with which we can travel in the air, in the sea,
and on the land. Just two hundred years ago, the
North American was a barren continent. Today, however,
the once sterile area is a prosperous civilized
human living paradise with the most advanced democracy
and highly developed education system and where
everyone is created equal with certain unalienable
rights that among them are life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. Can we say that we are damaging
the Earth? No! Definitely not!
Albeit it is an undeniable fact that automobiles
have to some extent polluted the air and contaminated
the water and soil, the planet is changing into
a more and more amiable place to survive and thrive.
Industrialization also has side effects. But every
coin has two sides: pros and cons. Comparing and
contrasting, we san safely conclude that human beings’
contributions to the Earth have far eclipsed the
adverse effects that resulted from our civilizing
process. Thus I find it true that human activities
are making the Planet a better place to live in.
4. Do you agree or
disagree with the following statement? Teachers
should be paid according to how much their students
learn. Give specific reasons and examples to support
your opinion.
(484 words)
The argument advocated recently that teachers should
be paid in accordance with how much their students
learn suffers from at least three logical fallacies.
First of all the author
of this argument has falsely assumed that “how much
their students learn” bears thorough relationship
with the teachers’ teaching activity. This argument
has, apparently, oversimplified the complex causal-effect
relationship between the two events. The fact is
that, albeit teachers’ instruction and other activities
may to a great (colossal) degree exert impact on
the achievement of students learning and academic
performance, there are many other factors such as
students’ learning methods and endeavors contributing
to students’ academic performance. It is quite possible
that a teacher uses the same method and instructs
the knowledge to different groups of students with
remarkably (strikingly) different students’ achievements.
That is “how much the students learn” in two groups
is considerably distinguished. In this case, how
much should the teacher be paid?
Secondly, the argument
has to establish the assumption that “how much students
learn” can as much be measured as the distance can
be measured with meter and gravity with Newton.
Unfortunately, this assumption can never be substantiated.
Currently accepted criterion is students’ grades
in schools. But grades in examinations depend largely
on the level of tests. If we judge a teacher’s performance
according to, thoroughly, students’ grades, then
teachers may put their energy on teaching students
the tricks of taking examinations rather than help
student learn how to learn. Traditional Chinese
education is an notorious example in case. In ancient
China, students’ marks in examinations played such
an important role in deciding students career and
cash income that many of them knew nothing but how
to sit tests.
Last but not least,
even if “how much the students learn” can be measured
scientifically; the recommendation of this argument
commits the fallacy of self-contradiction. Given
that a group of students is learning from the same
teacher, naturally, some students will learn much
while others feel that the teacher may offense their
taste and thus learn less. Then on the one hand
the teacher should be paid highly and at the same
time he or she should not be paid at all. My own
experience in a high school as English language
teacher two years ago is a point in case. I had
twenty students in a class, at the final term test
ten of my students received A while the rest did
not take the test at all. Thus it is hard to back
up the argument the author advanced.
In conclusion, teachers
should not be paid according to how much students
learn. Theoretically, it may be sound and or plausible
in certain cases as it is preached, but the fact
is that the suggestion can never be a practical
one. Therefore, I strongly oppose the argument that
teachers should be paid according to how much students
learn. As to against what standard a teach shall
be paid, we need further information and a thorough
analysis.
5. It has recently been announced that a new restaurant
may be built in your neighborhood. Do you support
or oppose this plan? Why? Use specific reasons and
examples to support your answer.
(387 words)
Shall a new restaurant be built in our neighborhood?
The idea that a new one shall be set up in this
community has tout de suit become a hot debate.
Advocates claim that a new restaurant will significantly
benefit the residence, whereas those who oppose
this suggestion, on the contrary, believe that a
new restaurant is absolutely unnecessary. In this
essay, I would support the former for the following
reasons.
On the one hand, we
may ask what kind of benefits the local people can
obtain from the new restaurant. Obviously, the advantages
are at least threefold. It saves people time from
preparing their food. For example, usually, the
average family in this neighborhood spends three
or five hours per day in supermarkets in selecting
their raw materials and preparing food. If a new
restaurant is built, at least some people who like
to eat at the restaurant and who can afford it will
surely take advantage of the restaurant. In addition,
it solves the problem that some young adults know
nothing about how to cook. Every meal, husbands
are criticized by their lovely wives for their unpalatable
dishes and gradually the intimate matrimony relationship
is subtly endangered. Furthermore, the new restaurant
can help people communicate more frequent than they
do now. Since each person tends to spend more time
in watching television and playing games on computers.
This makes communication and sociality less and
less frequent. However, with the establishment of
the restaurant, people can eat together, play together,
and entertain together promoting their friendship
and harmonize the neighborhood. Therefor the restaurant
shall be built in our neighborhood.
On the other hand,
it is an undeniable fact that restaurant will certainly
bring about some problems to the neighbor. The environment
may be polluted without strict management policies.
The leftover in the restaurant also needs to be
considered. Besides, with many more people sponsor
the restaurant, the sanitation is an issue to be
addressed. But every con has two sides: pros and
cons. Would we therefore delay the establishment
of the restaurant? No! We believe that each problem
can and will be dealt well with satisfaction.
To sum up, although
there are some disadvantages, the advantages of
the recommendation of building a new restaurant
in our neighborhood eclipse them. Therefore, from
my point of view, the restaurant should be built
in the community.
I Have a Dream
我有一个梦
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose
symbolic shadow we stand, sighed the Emancipation
Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great
beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves
who had been seared in the flames of the withering
injustice. It came as joyous daybreak to end the
long night of captivity.
But one hundred years
later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro
is still not free. One hundred years later, the
life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the
manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.
One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely
island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of
material prosperity. One hundred years later, the
Negro is still languishing in the corners of American
society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling
condition.
In a sense we have
come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When
the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent
words of the Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence, they were signing a promissory note
to which every American was to fall heir. This note
was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the
unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness.
It is obvious today
that America has defaulted on this promissory not
insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.
Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America
has given the Negro people a bad check; a check
which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice
is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are
insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity
of this nation. So we have come to cash this check-
a check that will give us upon demand the riches
of freedom and the security of justice. We have
also come to this hallowed spot to remind America
of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to
engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the
tranquilizing drugs of graduation. Now is the time
to make real the promise of Democracy. Now is the
time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of
segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.
Now is the time tothe doors of opportunity
to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift
our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice
to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for
the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment
and to underestimate the determination of the Negro.
This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate
discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating
autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end,
but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed
to blow off steam and will now be content will have
a rude awakening if the nation returns to business
as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility
in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship
rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to
shake the foundations of our nation until the bright
day of justice emerges.
But there is something
that I must say to my people who stand on the warm
threshold which leads into the palace justice. In
the process of gaining our rightful place we must
not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek
to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from
the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever
conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity
and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest
to degenerate into physical violence. Again and
again we must rise to the majestic height of meeting
physical force with soul force. The marvelous new
militancy which has engulfed the Negro community
must not lead us to a distrust of all white people,
for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by
their presence here today, have come to realized
that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and
their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we
must make the pledge that we shall march ahead.
We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking
the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be
satisfied?” we can never be satisfied as long as
the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors
of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as
long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel,
cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways
and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied
as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a
smaller ghetto to a large one. We can never be satisfied
as long as
A Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in
New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.
No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be
satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and
righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful
that some of you have come here out of great trials
and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from
narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas
where your quest for freedom left you battered by
the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds
of police brutality. You have been the veterans
of creative suffering. Continue to work with the
faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi,
go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go
back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to
the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing
that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today,
my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and
frustrations of the moment I still have a dream.
It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that
one day this nation will rise up and live out of
the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths
to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that
one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of
former slaves and the sons of former slave owners
will be able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood.
I have a dream that
one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert
state sweltering with the heat of injustice and
oppression, will be transformed into oasis of freedom
and justice.
I have a dream that
my four little children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the color of their
skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama.
Whose governor’s lips are presently dripping with
the words of interposition and nullification, will
be transformed into a situation where little black
boys and black girls will be able to join hands
with little white boys and white girls and walk
together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that
one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill
and mountain shall be made low, the rough places
will be made plain, and the crooked places will
be made straight, and the glory of the lord shall
be revealed, and the flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This
is the faith with which I return to the South. With
this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain
of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will
be able to work transform the jangling discords
of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith we will be able to work together,
to pray together. To struggle together, to go to
jail together, to stand up for freedom together,
knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day
when all of God’s children will be able to sing
with new meaning.
My country, ’tis thee
Sweet land of liberty of thee I sing
Land where my fathers died
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountain-side
Let freedom ring
And if America is to
be a nation this must become true. So let freedom
ring form the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring form the mighty mountains of New
York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies
of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring form
the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from
the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that;
let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from
Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from
every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every
mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom
ring, when we let it ring from every village and
every hamlet, from every state and every city, we
will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s
children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles,
Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join
hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,
“Free at last! Free at last! thank God almighty,
we are free at last.!”
The Declaration of Independence
独立宣言
When in the course
of human events, it becomes necessary for one people
to dissolve the political bands which have connected
them with another, and to assume among the Powers
of the Earth, the separate and equal station to
which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind
requires that they should declare the causes which
impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty,
and the pursuit of Happiness…
6. 英语句子的书写
Subjects and predicate: clause
Simple sentence: one clause sentence
Verb phrase: auxiliary
Compound phrase: and
谓语错误：FAULTY PREDICATION
1. the reason for…is because… the reason for …is
that…
2. a picnic is when you ear outdoors a picnic is
an outdoor meal
时态和语态
修饰错位MISPLACED MOSDIFIERS
by mistake the mailman delivered a letter addressed
to the house next door to us.
By mistake the mailman delivered to us a letter
addressed to the house next door.
A born crapshooter,
he almost won five hundred dollars that night.
A born crapshooter, he won almost five hundred dollars
that night.
垂悬修饰：DANGLING MODIFIERS
speaking before a crowd of people for the first
time, my knees shook.
I was speaking before a crowd of people for the
first time. My knees shook.
When I was speaking before a crowd of people for
the first time, my knees shook.
Based on the gradual
school education decline in College Board scores
over the past twenty years, American high school
education is less effective than it used to be.
American high school education is less effective
than it used to be. This conclusion is based on
the gradual school education decline in College
Board scores over the past twenty years,
By being dominated,
men have made women dependent.
Men have dominated women.
复合句：COMPOUND SNETENCES
S1 + 连词 + S2
l and, but, nor do, yet, for, so, or,
l 连接副词 CONJUNCTIVE ADVEBS
1. furthermore, moreover, in addition,
2. likewise, similarly, in the same way
3. nevertheless, still, nonetheless, conversely,
otherwise, instead, in contrast, on the other hand
4. accordingly, consequently, hence, as a result,
therefore, for this reason, for one thing,
5. thus, thereby, by this means, in this manner
6. in fact, in particular, indeed.
7. meanwhile, then, subsequently, afterward, earlier,
later
S1 ；S2
逗号错用：COMMA SPLICES
S1，S2
合句FUSED SENTENCES
S1 S2
并列结构PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION （PARALLELISM）
I came; I saw; I conquered. ----------Julius Caesar
To be or not to be: that is the question.---Shakespeare
Each must live within the isolation of his own senses,
dreams, and memories; each must die his own death.
l LIST:
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears,
and sweat.- -------Winston Churchill
l SERIES:
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well
or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden,
meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any
foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
-----John. F. Kennedy
l CONTRAST
On all these shores there are echoes of past and
future: of the flow of time, obliterating yet containing
all that has gone before.
l SERIES AND CONTRUST
Rather than love, than money, than fame, five me
the truth.
l CHOICE
We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly,
we shall all hang separately.
----Benjamin Franklin
l STATEMENT OF EQUIVALENCE
An empty house is a lonely place. A man without
knowledge is a helpless soul. But a man without
money is still a man.
l COMPARISON
A living dog is better than a dead lion.
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