GRE作文范文 Issue-34

“The function of art is not to keep pace with science and technology but rather to provide an escape from these forces.”

嘉文博译Sample Essay

Art has long been a favorite topic for debate within a society. Questions such as “What is art?” and “Is this a work of art?” have been around for millennia. The purpose of art is to entertain, and in some cases, to educate. As a form of entertainment and escape, art does in some ways must keep up with science and technology, but in most aspects the true value of art lies in its ability to free the mind from the fast pace of a modern high-tech society.

In the first place, one needs to simply look at the most valuable art in the world to see that its main function does not lie merely in keeping up with technology. Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” and “Last Supper” were painted around five hundred years ago, but they are still cited as some of the best examples of “true” art in the world and are visited by hundreds of thousands of people every year. Michelangelo’s sculpture “David”, as well as his incredible paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, were also produced around five hundred years ago, but are still revered as some of the absolute pinnacles of artistic achievement. Although technology has changed incredibly in the last half millennium, these enduring works of art still capture the spirit and imagination of millions of people worldwide.

Of course, it follows that as technology has advanced, new art forms have been developed as the ability to express oneself has found new outlets for creativity. Michelangelo and da Vinci could never have imagined having the ability to create works of art in the mediums of television or computer imagery, for example. Modern day avant-garde artists use video, computers, lasers and other high technology to create works of art, while more traditional artists still use the traditional methods of paint, canvas and paintbrush or stone and chisel. It is not the function of art to keep up with science and technology, rather the facility of art to do so that is important. The main purpose of art is still to allow the viewer to escape from what science and technology has wrought upon us.

A further example of the escapism quality that is inherent in art can be found in the art of making a movie. Although some so-called “art purists” might object to calling most of today’s cinematic productions a form of art, there is no denying that there is an artistry involved in the making of at least some of today’s movies. With this art form more so than any other, art does the fine balancing act of keeping pace with science and technology while simultaneously fulfilling its main function - that of entertaining the masses of society. Moviegoers do not pay out relatively large sums of money just to see the state of the art technology of the latest movies; they go to the theatres expecting to be entertained. Proof of this fact can be found in the colossal box office failures of some of the most technologically advanced movies that nevertheless lack entertainment value due to the lack of a good story. If it were purely science and technology that audiences wanted to see, they would pay half the price and go to a planetarium, for example.

Finally, art, science and technology can complement each other in a multitude of different ways, such as the display of famous works of art on the Internet for all to see. But the main function of art is to allow for an escape from the drudgery of day-to-day life that has been created by the combined forces of science and technology.

参考译文

艺术的功能不是紧随科技的步伐，而是提供一种逃离这些力量的方式。

　　艺术一直是各个社会群体热衷争论的话题。诸如“什么是艺术？”以及“这是一件艺术品吗？”等问题，已经存在近千年了。艺术的目的在于娱乐，在某些情况下还进行教育。作为一种娱乐和逃避的方式，艺术的确在某种意义上必须紧随科技的步伐。然而，在多数情况下，艺术的真正价值在于把人的头脑从现代高科技社会的快速节奏中解放出来。

　　首先，我们只要看一下世界上最珍贵的艺术便可知道，艺术的主要功能不是与技术进步保持一致。达?芬奇《蒙娜?丽莎》和《最后的晚餐》是约500年前创作的，但在今天它们仍被认为是世界上“真正的”艺术典范，并且每年有成千上万的人前去观赏它。米开朗琪罗的雕塑《大卫》以及他在梵帝冈西斯廷教堂里不可思议的天庭画，同样是在约五百年前创作的，但今天仍被认为是艺术成就的登峰造极之作。尽管技术在过去的五百年中发生了不可思议的变化，这些具有永久魅力的艺术品仍然吸引着世界上成千上万的人们。

　　当然，顺理成章的是，随着科技取得了很大的进步，新的艺术形式也应运而生，因为表现自我的能力为创造力找到了新的渲泄渠道。例如米开朗琪罗和达?芬奇决不可能想像到借助电视或计算机图像为手段来创作艺术品。现代先锋派艺术家用录像、电脑、激光以其它高科技手段进行艺术创作，而较传统的艺术家仍然用油料、油画布和画笔或者用石料和凿子等传统的方法从事创作。紧跟科技的步伐并不是艺术的功能，而是艺术的工具，这一点是重要的。艺术的主要目的，仍然是帮助受众逃离科技施加于我们的枷锁。

　　另举一例来证明逃避是艺术的内在本质，这就是电影制作艺术。虽然一些所谓的“纯粹艺术者”会拒绝把今天的电影看作是一种艺术形式，然而，不可否认，在今天某些电影里的确包含着艺术性。这一艺术形式比其它任何艺术形式更紧密地跟随着科技的步伐，同时完成着它的主要功能，即娱乐社会大众，这样，艺术得以保持某种平衡。电影观众要想欣赏一下最近电影的艺术技巧，并不需要付出昂贵的费用。他们来到电影院，期待着被娱乐。有事实证明，技术上最先进的电影也会因为故事性差而缺乏娱乐价值以致于票房收入失败。倘若观众想观赏的只是纯粹的科技，他们会只付一半的钱去参观（比如说）天文馆了。

　　总而言之，艺术和科技可以以许多方式相互补充，例如在互联网上展出著名的艺术品以便让大家都能欣赏它们。但是，艺术的主要功能是为我们提供一个机会，逃避科技力量所产生的日常生活的枯燥乏味。

 

GRE作文范文 Argument-34

The following is a letter from an editor at Liber Publishing Company to the company's president.

嘉文博译Sample Essay

"In recent years, Liber has unfortunately moved away from its original mission: to publish the works of regional small-town authors instead of those of big-city authors. Just last year, 90 percent of the novels we published were written by authors who maintain a residence in a big city. Although this change must have been intended to increase profits, it has obviously backfired, because Liber is now in serious financial trouble. The only way to address this problem is to return to our original mission. If we return to publishing only the works of regional small-town authors, our financial troubles will soon be resolved."

The writer in this argument is an editor claiming that Liber Publishing Company has moved away from its original mission of publishing the writing of regional small-town authors instead of big-city authors. As evidence, the editor states that authors who maintain a residence in a big city wrote ninety percent of the novels published by the company last year. The writer further claims that the change must have been intended to increase profits but that it has backfired as Liber is now in serious financial trouble. The writer concludes that the only way to fix the problem is to return to only publishing the works of regional small-town authors. This argument is full of weaknesses that should leave the president of Liber unconvinced.

The main problem with this argument is that one is left unsure of what exactly is the definition of “regional small-town authors.” The writer gives no clear definition and the only indication of what makes an author a regional small-town author is when he or she mentions that ninety percent of the novels published last year were written by authors who “maintain a residence in a big city”. It does make sense that authors who have been published would be able to afford a residence in a big city because they have already gained a certain level of success simply by having been published. Perhaps they actually live in a small-town but maintain a big city residence for business purposes for use during promotional appearances, etc. However, the editor fails to indicate whether the big city residences are these authors’ sole residences or whether they also maintain a residence in a small town, and whether that makes a difference in their individual categorization. If they also have a small-town residence, does this make them “regional small-town authors”? If a person was born and raised in New York City but moved to a small town in Oklahoma six months ago, does that make them a regional small-town author? The writer’s failure to define what exactly is a regional small-town author critically weakens this argument.

Moreover, the editor maintains that returning to publishing only the works of small-town regional authors is the only way to address Liber’s serious financial problems. Certainly there are other options available to the company to make it financially stable. It does not follow that simply returning to some idealistic mission will automatically lead to a solution to the company’s financial problems. What the company needs are profits – through publishing books that sell well regardless of whether the author is from a small town or a big city, or by reducing costs so that current revenue is enough to maintain a profit. Profitability is not directly tied to whether the company publishes only works by regional small-town authors - in fact, that would appear to be a sure way to further reduce profitability by restricting the scope of the company’s business. Stating that publishing only regional small-town authors is the only way to address the company’s financial problems further weakens the argument.

In summary, the editor’s argument ultimately fails because there is no basis in fact for his or her conclusion. To make the argument stronger and more believable, the editor should present direct evidence that the company has lost sales by moving away from its original mission. The writer must also prove that there is a sufficient market available to the company for selling regional small-town authors’ works that would actually resolve the financial troubles of Liber Publishing Company.

参考译文
下述文字摘自Liber出版公司的一位编辑致公司总裁的一封信函：

　　在最近几年中，Liber公司已经很不幸地背离了它原初的使命：出版和发行地方性小镇作家的作品，而非大都市作家的作品。仅在去年我们所出版的小说中，有90%是由那些在大城市中维持居住状况的作家创作的。尽管这一变化旨在增加盈利，但它显然适得其反，因为Liber公司现已陷入严重的财务危机。解决这一问题的唯一途径是回归到我们原初的使命。如果我们重新开始只出版地方性小镇作家的作品，我们的财务麻烦便会很快迎刃而解。”

　　本项论述的作者是位编辑，据他宣称，Liber出版公司背离了其原初只出版地方性小镇作家而非大城市作家作品的使命。作为证据，这位编辑陈述道，在大城市居住的作家所创作的作品占到了该出版公司去年一年中所出版的小说总数的90％。这位作者进一步宣称，这一变化虽意欲增加公司的利润但却适得其反，因为Liber公司现在已陷入严重的财务危机。这位作者最后的结论是，解决这一问题的唯一方法是重返只出版地方性小镇作家的作品这条老路上去。这一论述中充斥着种种薄弱之处，不足以使Liber出版公司的总裁信服。

　　 这项论述的主要问题在于，我们无法确切地知道何谓“地方性小镇作家”。作者没有给出明晰的定义，而唯一能表明一位作家何以是一位地方性小镇作家的地方是当这位作者（或论是他还是她）提及，去年所出版的小说中，有90％是由那些在“大城市中维持居住状况的”作家创作的。我们的理解是，那些出版过作品的作家应该有足够的经济实力在大城市中居住和生活，因为纯粹通过出版作品他（她）们早就获得了一定程度上的成功。或许，他们实际上居住在小镇上，但却出于商业目的而维持一种大城市的居住状态，例如用于出版物促销期间在公众面前露面，等等。然则，这位编辑没能明确指出，在大城市的寓所是否是这些作家唯一的寓所，还是说这些作家也在小镇上维持居住状态，还是说这一点在这些作家各自的范畴划分中果真有所差异。如果他们也拥有一处小镇寓所，这能使他们成为“地方性小镇作家”吗？如果有一个人出生于纽约市但在6个月前移居到俄克拉何马州的一座小镇，这是否能使他成为一个地方性小镇作家呢？作者由于没能确切地对何为“地方性小镇作家”进行定义，故严重地削弱了其论点。

　　此外，这位编辑坚持认为，回到仅出版地方性小镇作家的作品这条老路是解决Liber出版公司严重财政问题的唯一出路。勿容置疑，对于该公司来说，不乏其它一些选择途径来使它在财政方面保持稳定。仅仅回归到某种理想主义式的使命就能自然而然地导致公司财政问题的解决，这并不合乎逻辑。该公司真正需要的是利润——或者是通过出版那些能够畅销的书，不管其作者来自一座小镇还是来自一座大都市；或者是通过减缩成本，以便使目前的收益足以来维持一定的利润水平。盈利能力与该公司是否仅出版地方性小镇作家的作品并不直接相关。事实上，限制公司的业务范围，这似乎肯定会进一步降低该公司的盈利能力。作者所作的陈述，即仅出版地方性小镇作家的作品是解决公司财政问题的唯一出路，进一步削弱了其所作的论述。

　　归纳而言，这位编辑的论述最终无法站得住脚，因为没有任何事实依据来支持其结论。若要使其论点更具力度且更为可信，这位编辑应该摆出直接的证据来证明，他（或她）所在的公司是因为偏离了其原初的使命而导致销售下降的。这位作者还必须证明，对于该公司而言，存在着一个足够大的市场，以销售那些可在实际上解决Liber出版公司财政困境的地方性小镇作家的作品。

嘉文博译郑重声明：