GRE作文范文 Issue-11

"With the growth of global networks in such areas as economics and communication, there is no doubt that every aspect of society - including education, politics, the arts and the sciences - will benefit greatly from international influences."

嘉文博译Sample Essay

The increasing globalization of telecommunications and the rising interdependency of the economies of the various countries of the world cannot be denied. News and other information can be transmitted around the world in a matter of seconds. Banks in hundreds of different countries can almost instantaneously transfer money to almost any other bank in the world. As these global networks become even further developed, the world will become even "smaller" than it is today. While there is no doubt that most aspects of society can and probably will benefit from these interconnections, there is doubt as to whether all aspects of society will benefit greatly from international influences.

Education probably has the greatest opportunity to benefit from these global networks. Students' access to the Internet and the World Wide Web brings an endless supply of information from all over the world. In-depth research on any subject can be done now while simply sitting at a computer rather than by tedious searches through stacks of books or rolls of microfilm in a library. Real-time international exchanges of ideas and information can and do occur by linking schools across the globe through teleconferencing via live video satellite transmissions. It is possible that a student in the United States can "sit in" on a class at a university in China. The possible benefits for education are endless and constantly expanding as global communications continue to improve and become less expensive.

The sciences also stand to gain tremendous benefits from global networks. Research and development departments of a company in one country can instantaneously transmit information to all other R&D departments in the company worldwide. Medical research and information can be shared worldwide, reducing the amount of time it takes to make rapid advances in medicine as efforts no longer have to be duplicated by each individual researcher. All kinds of scientific knowledge and information can be quickly shared, tested and refined through joint efforts by scientists linked by global networks. Again, as with education, the potential benefits of a global scientific network are constantly growing and unlimited in scale.

With the field of politics, it becomes a little less certain on the subject of potential benefits. On the one hand, the people of most countries now have direct access to the people of other countries via email, instant messenger services and chatrooms and thus can find out about the political environments and conditions of almost every other country in the world. This could potentially lead to great advances in democracy as more people demand to have a voice in their governmental representation. On the other hand, governments may see this as a threat to their power and strive to eliminate access to these types of communications, which would clearly not be a benefit to the population as a whole.

As for the arts and culture in general, global networks may actually be more of a threat than a benefit. Although fans of the arts now have greater access to the arts and cultures of other countries than ever before, this could lead to a type of "globalization" or homogenization of the arts by creating an international standard that could potentially eliminate cultural artistic differences in the future. As one example, the French government mandated that only a limited amount of information could be broadcast in English in an effort to preserve French culture and language. It would seem to be a natural progression for the arts and culture to actually lose national identity as global networks become more widespread.

Almost all aspects of society probably stand to benefit from the rapid growth of global networks. In general, the more that people are connected to each other, the greater the chances are that they will learn to understand each other. But in the rush to understand and communicate with each other, it is important that individuals do not lose those unique cultural characteristics that make them different than everyone else.

参考译文

随着经济和通讯这些领域中全球网络的发展，毫无疑问社会的每个方面，包括教育、政治、艺术及科学，将从国际影响中获益匪浅

　　电信的日趋全球化以及世界各国经济日趋相互依存，这一点不容置疑。新闻和其它信息可以在几秒钟之内传遍全球。上百个不同国家内的银行几乎可在瞬间内将钱款转入世界上几乎任何另一所银行。随着这些全球性网络获得越来越进一步的发展，世界将日甚一日地变得更"小"。虽然毫无疑问社会的诸多方面可以并且可能从这些互联中获益，但社会的每个方面是否都能从国际影响中获益匪浅，这令人怀疑。

　　教育可能拥有最大的机会获益于这些全球性网络。学生登录互联网或万维网，信息便从世界各地源源不断地涌来。现在，只要坐在电脑旁，而无需去图书馆枯燥地查阅一堆堆书籍或一卷卷缩微胶卷。思想和信息的实时国际交流能够得以实现，且确实已被实现，只要通过实况录像卫星转播这一形式的电信会议而将学校在全球范围内连结起来。美国的学生可以"坐"在中国某一大学的课堂内。随着全球通信日趋完善且更为廉价，教育所能从中获得的益处可谓无究无尽，且有持续扩展之势。

　　科学也拥有广阔的前景从全球网络中获益匪浅。某个国家内的某个公司的研发部门可在瞬间将信息传递到该公司在全球的所有其他研发部门。医学研究和信息可在全球范围内分享，大大缩短了在医学领域取得快速进步所需的时间，因为每个单独的研究人员再也不必去重复他人的研究努力。通过与全球网络相联的科学家们的共同努力，各种科学知识和信息能够很快地被分享，被检验，被完善。正如教育那样，我们可以再一次说，一个全球性科学网络的潜在益处正在不断增涨，且规模无可限量。

　　对于政治领域而言，在潜在益处这一点上，情形就不是那么的肯定了。一方面，在大多数国家，人们现在可以通过电子邮件瞬间信使服务以及聊天室直接与其他国家的人们进行联络，从而能够弄清楚世界上几乎每一个其他国家中的政治环境和情况。这可能潜在地导致重大的民主进步，因为有更多的人们要求在其政府代表中拥有自己的呼声。但在另一方面，政府可能将这视作对其政权的威胁，并竭力阻止人们获取这些通信方式，这对于全体民众来说显然不是一件好事。

　　就文化和艺术总体而言，全球性网络可能在实际上更多地是一种威胁，而非裨益。尽管艺术迷们现在比以前任何时候能更多地了解其他国家的文化和艺术，但这有可能导致某种艺术的"全球化"或一体化，因为会创立某种国际标准，有可能潜在地使未来的文化艺术差异消失殆尽。例如，法国政府规定，只有有限的一部分信息允许用英语来播出，目的就是为了保护法兰西文化和语言。随着全球性网络变得更为广泛，艺术和文化实际上会失去其民族特性，这似乎是一个自然进程。

　　社会的几乎每个方面都有望获益于全球性网络的飞速增涨。总体而言，人们越是彼此间联系起来，他们就有更多的机会来学会相互理解。但在人们忙着去彼此理解和互相交流的过程中，有一点极为重要，那就是人们不应该丧失那些使其有别于他人的独特文化特征。

 

GRE作文范文 Argument-11

"In order to save a considerable amount of money, Rockingham's century-old town hall should be torn down and replaced by the larger and more energy-efficient building that some citizens have proposed. The old town hall is too small to comfortably accommodate the number of people who are employed by the town. In addition, it is very costly to heat the old hall in winter and cool it in summer. The new, larger building would be more energy efficient, costing less per square foot to heat and cool than the old hall. Furthermore, it would be possible to rent out some of the space in the new building, thereby generating income for the town of Rockingham."

嘉文博译Sample Essay

In this argument, the author of the editorial states that a century-old town hall should be torn down and replaced by a larger, more energy-efficient building. As reasons for the destruction of the old building, the author states that it is too small for the number of town employees, and that it is very costly to heat during the winter and cool during the summer. Finally, the author states that the town could receive income from the new building by renting out some space in the newly constructed building. This argument fails because it is based on mere speculation and opinion and a "zero-sum" game of win or lose.

To begin with, the author mentions energy efficiency and the differences in the costs of heating and cooling the two buildings as the main basis for destroying the old building and constructing a larger one. Certainly it is possible to build a more energy-efficient new building - energy-saving technology in buildings has advanced dramatically over the past one hundred years. However, what the author fails to address is the fact that the old building could be remodeled or renovated to be made more energy efficient, perhaps equal to that or superior to any new building that could be constructed at a reasonable expense. The author also mentions that the old building is too small to comfortably handle the town's employees. Again, the old building could be remodeled or perhaps expanded to be able to accommodate more employees. For that matter, perhaps the town has too many employees and needs to consider downsizing. By failing to address these possibilities, the author's argument is greatly weakened.

Furthermore, there are other options that the author has failed to discuss in his or her argument. Rather than destroying the old building, another new building could be constructed to supplement the old town hall, which could still be renovated to become more energy-efficient. This would be a "win - win" situation where the townspeople get to keep the old building but gain a new building as well. Additionally, the author mentions the possibility of renting out space in the new building to earn income for the town, which would seem to indicate that he or she advocates constructing the building to a larger size than what the town actually needs for its current purposes. A careful cost/benefit analysis would need to be performed to determine whether the extra income created would cover the costs of constructing a larger building before simply stating that it would be a moneymaker for Rockingham.

Finally, the author ignores the aesthetic and historic cultural value of a century old building to the town of Rockingham. The author states that some citizens have proposed a new energy efficient building but fails to mention whether they also advocate the tearing down of the old building. When discussing the "considerable amount of money" that Rockingham can save, the author should take into consideration the value that a traditional old town hall can bring to a community, whether in monetary or sense-of-community terms.

In summary, the author fails to convince with this argument by failing to consider other possible options that could both address the current problems with the old building while still allowing the community to keep it. To strengthen the argument, the author should have presented a cost/benefit analysis that analyzes the relative costs of his or her proposed plan as compared to other options such as renovating the old building or constructing a smaller supplemental building. Without such an analysis, the author is merely stating an unconvincing opinion.

参考译文

　　为了节省相当可观的一部分费用，Rockingham市一个多世纪古老的市政厅应予拆毁，代之以某些市民所倡议的更宽敞的、更节约能源的一幢大楼。旧市政厅规模太小，无法舒适地容纳市政府所雇用的全部员工。此外，旧市政厅夏季降温和冬季供热的成本极为昂贵。更为宽敞的新大楼将更为节约能源，与旧大厅相比，每平方英尺降温和加热的成本较低。此外，新大楼内的一部分空间还可以出租，从而给Rockingham镇带来收益

　　在本项论述中，本社论作者宣称，一个多世纪古老的市政厅应予拆除，代之以一座更为宽敞、更为节省能源的大楼。作为拆毁旧大楼的原因，作者宣称旧大楼过于拥挤，无法容纳市政府雇员，并且，此大楼冬季加热和夏季降温的成本极为昂贵。最后，作者宣称，市政府还可以通过将新建大楼的某些空间出租从而从新大楼那里获取收益。本论点无法站得住脚，因为它基于纯粹的臆测和个人看法，以及一种"得失所系"的输赢游戏。

　　 首先，作者提及能源的节省，以及两幢大楼降温和供热方面的差异，作为拆毁旧大楼和建造更为宽敞的大楼的主要依据。当然，新造的大楼完全有可能来得更加节约能源--建筑物的节能技术在过去一百年中已获得了长足的进步。然而，作者却没能探讨这样一个事实，即旧大楼是可以进行改建或翻新，以便使其更加节约能源，其节能效果或许会与任何一座花合理费用建造起来的新大楼的节能效果同样的好，或甚至更好。作者同样也提到旧大楼规模过小，无法舒适地容纳全体市政府雇员。再一次地，对旧大楼可以进行改建或扩建，以便能容纳更多的雇员。在这一点上，市政府可能雇佣的员工为数过多，需要考虑精简机构。由于没能探讨这些可能性，作者的论点在很大程度上被削弱了。 此外，作者在其论述中还有一些其他的选择方案没能予以讨论。在不拆毁旧大楼的前提下，另一幢新大楼也可以建造起来，对旧市政厅构成一种补充，并且对旧大楼仍可以进行改造，使其变得更加节药能源。这将创造出"双赢"的局面，全镇民众一方面可以继续拥用旧大楼，另一方面又能拥有一座新大楼。此外，作者提到这样一种可能性，即将新大楼部分空间进行出租，以便为市政府赚取收入。这一点似乎表明，作者所倡导的是去建造一座远超过市政府目前实际用途的大楼。作者在单纯陈述新大楼可为Rockingham镇广开财源之前，必须进行仔细认真成本/收益审计，以确定通过出租部分空间所产生的收益是否能涵盖建造一座规模较大的大楼所需的开支。

　 最后，作者无视这座长达一个多世纪古老的大楼对Rockingham镇所具有的美学与历史价值。作者陈述道，某些市民曾提议建造一座更为节约能源的新大楼，但这位作者没有提到这些市民是否倡导将旧大楼拆毁。当作者在讨论Rockingham镇所能节省的"相当一部分费用"时，这位作者应该考虑到一座传统的旧市政大厅所能给一个社区带来的价值，无论是在金钱方面，还是在社区认同感方面。

　　总而言之，作者没能以其论述来说服我们，因为他（她）没能考虑其他一些有可能的选择方案，这些选择方案既能解决旧大楼的现有问题，又能保证Rockingham社区继续拥有这幢旧大楼。若要使其论点更具有力度，作者应该拿出一份成本/收益分析，对他（她）所提出的方案进行成本分析，并将它与其他选择方案--如对旧大楼进行改造，或建造一座规模较小的补充性大楼--的成本进行比较。没有这样的分析，该作者所陈述的仅仅只是一个无法令人置信的意见而已。

嘉文博译郑重声明：