GRE作文范文 Issue-36

“Most people choose a career on the basis of such pragmatic considerations as the needs of the economy, the relative ease of finding a job, and the salary they can expect to make. Hardly anyone is free to choose a career based on his or her natural talents or interest in a particular kind of work.”

嘉文博译Sample Essay

It is an unfortunate reality of life that most people view work as a chore – something that must be done in order to put money in the bank and food on the table. Very few people are fortunate enough during their lives to have a job that they love and can actually make a living while performing it. But it would be an incorrect statement to say that people are not “free to choose” their careers based on his or her natural talents or interests. The main problem with choosing a career is that many times, regardless of their individual right to choose, people simply give up that right and surrender to the demands of family and society.

First of all, in almost every country in the world, people are free to choose what it is that they want to do for their life’s work. Mostly gone are the days of totalitarian regimes forcing children to develop a particular skill at a very young age in order to play a government mandated role in society. Although this is a providential and perhaps inevitable development, it does not mean that all individuals actually pursue a career doing what they love for a living. Indeed, it is a rare individual who loves his or her work and can therefore wholeheartedly put his or her natural skills and interest to the test in order to become successful. These people can count themselves as fortunate, although they probably believe that it is only natural to do something that you like as a career. Though the freedom to choose a career is almost always there, there are many reasons why people choose their work based primarily on pragmatic reasons.

Most of us know what we want to be when we grow up from a very young age: doctors, lawyers, truck drivers or firefighters are common examples. The problem is that as we mature, we lose the clear-headed thinking that is natural for children. Somewhere along the way between childhood and adulthood, we lose the ability to follow our dreams and instead base our choice of career on how much money we can make or maybe simply on what jobs are available in the place that we choose to live. There is a “short-circuit” somewhere between what we always wanted to be as children and what we actually become when we grow up. Perhaps it is because as we mature, we believe that our childhood dreams were somehow foolish and that we never could have become a world famous singer or movie star anyway. Whatever the reason, it is a sad fact of life that somewhere along the way, most of us give in to society’s demands and leave our youthful fantasies to some forgotten place in our minds.

Usually, what an individual’s choice of career comes down to is that the person follows the path of least resistance rather than pursuing something that they possibly believe is an unreachable goal. Perhaps the person falls in love early on, or simply gets tired of going to school and goes to work in a factory, always believing that someday he or she will somehow “make it” to a better station in life. Years pass by before the person realizes that, while working to support the family, pay the mortgage and buy the latest cars and clothes, the opportunity to fulfill those childhood dreams has forever passed them by. Truly fortunate are those who, for whatever reason, have the tenacity to go after what they want and do whatever it takes to make those childhood dreams become reality rather than simply going to work to pay the bills.

参考译文

大多数人在选择职业时基于实用的考虑，例如经济的需要，找工作相对容易，以及他们希望得到的工资报酬等。很少有人因为他/她的天赋或对某工作的兴趣而自由选择职业。

　　大多数人把工作看成是不得不做的一件事——为了挣钱存在银行里以及挣到餐桌上的食物，这是生活中不幸的现实。很少有人一生中非常幸运，能够去从事他们爱干的工作，而且是干工作本身就可以谋生。但是，说人们不能根据他们的天赋或兴趣“自由地选择”他们的职业，这是不正确的。选择职业的主要问题是，在许多情况下，人们尽管拥有个人选择的权利，但是他们不得不屈服于家庭和社会的需要而放弃他们的权利。

　　首先，在世界上几乎任何国家，人们都有自由选择他们想做的事情作为其毕生职业的权利。极权主义政权强迫儿童在很小的年龄培养某一技能以便完成政府授予的任务，这种日子已是在很大程度上一去不复返了。尽管这是不以人们的意志而转移的，或许是必然的进步，但是这并不意味着每个人实际上都可以选择一个他们所喜爱的职业并以此谋生。的确，很少有人热爱他/她的工作而且因此全身心地把自已的才能和兴趣投入到工作中去以便获得成功。这样的人可算是幸运之人，虽然他们可能认为做你喜欢的工作是很自然的。诚然，选择职业的自由是永远存在的，然而有许多理由说明为什么人们依照实用的原因选择工作。

　　我们大多数人在成长过程中知道我们想成为什么样的人。医生、律师、卡车司机、或者救火队员等等。问题是在我们成熟时，我们失去了儿童时拥有的头脑清晰的思维。在我们从童年到成年这一过程的某个时期，我们失去追寻梦想的能力，取而代之的是根据挣钱多少或在我们居住的地区能找到什么工作来选择职业。我们童年时想做什么和成年后实际做什么，两者之间在某阶段出现了“短路”。或许是因为，当我们成熟时我们相信童年的梦幻有点傻或者认为我们不会成为举世闻名的歌星或影星。无论何种原因，我们大多数人在成长过程的某个阶段不得不屈服于社会的需要，把我们年轻时的梦幻扔到我们脑海的忘却地带，这是生活的悲惨事实。

　　通常，在一个人职业选择中所发生的情形是，他要沿着阻力最小的路走，而不是去追求他们认为可能达不到的目标。或许一个人很早就恋爱了，或者懒于上学了，因而就到一家工厂工作了，同时憧憬着有朝一日“发了迹”过上较好的生活。许多年过去了他才认识到，因为要养家糊口、偿还抵押贷款、购买新款汽车和衣服，所以实现童年梦想的机会一个接一个擦身而过。有些人确实是幸运的，这些人不管发生什么事情都锲而不舍地追求他们的愿望并且不辞辛劳以使童年的梦想变成现实，而不是为了支付账单去奔波工作。

 

GRE作文范文 Argument-36

“The citizens of Forsythe have adopted healthier lifestyles. Their responses to a recent survey show that in their eating habits they conform more closely to government nutritional recommendations than they did ten years ago. Furthermore, there has been a fourfold increase in sales of food products containing kiran, a substance that a scientific study has shown reduces cholesterol. This trend is also evident in reduced sales of sulia, a food that few of the healthiest citizens regularly eat.”

嘉文博译Sample Essay

In this argument, the arguer concludes that the citizens of Forsythe have adopted healthier lifestyles. As evidence to support his or her conclusion, the arguer cites their responses to a survey that showed that their eating habits conform more closely to governmental nutritional recommendations than they did ten years ago. The arguer further states that sales of food products containing kiran, a cholesterol reducing substance, have increased fourfold. The arguer also claims that the trend toward adopting a healthier lifestyle is demonstrated by reduced sales of sulia, which is a food that the arguer says few of the healthiest citizens regularly eat. This argument should not be accepted because it is based on faulty reasoning.

First of all, the arguer claims that in responses to a recent survey, Forsythe citizens indicate that their eating habits more closely conform to governmental recommendations than they did ten years ago. There are at least two potential problems with this survey: 1) the respondents misrepresented their actual eating habits because they are now more aware of what the governmental recommendations are, so they told the surveyor what they thought he or she wanted to hear; and 2) the governmental regulations have been changed over the past ten years so that they more closely match what citizens are actually eating. The first case is more likely as it is natural that in a survey, people often respond with answers that indicate what they should be doing, not what they are actually doing. Additionally, there is no evidence presented in the argument showing that the governmental recommendations are indicative of adopting a healthier lifestyle, thus further weakening the argument.

Secondly, the arguer mentions a fourfold increase in the sales of food products containing kiran, which a scientific study has shown reduces cholesterol. This does not in and of itself present evidence that Forsythe citizens have adopted healthier lifestyles, and the time period over which the increase has taken place is not mentioned. There may be other reasons for the sales increase, such as greater availability than before, better advertising for such products, or a simple increase in population that has resulted in increased sales – there is no support presented for the idea that they are buying the products for their cholesterol-reducing properties. Without evidence that people are buying more of these kiran-containing products for healthier eating reasons, the argument fails to convince that Forsythe citizens have adopted healthier lifestyles.

Finally, the arguer cites as support that there have been reduced sales of sulia, a food product that few of the healthiest citizens regularly eat. This “evidence” is irrelevant to the argument that people in Forsythe have adopted healthier lifestyles. There could be a plethora of reasons that less sulia is being sold – it tastes bad, it is no longer readily available, or it is now too expensive. There is no indication of whether it is a healthy food or bad for one’s health. This appears to be nothing more than a random “fact” thrown in and adopted to suit the arguer’s purposes, but it does nothing to advance the argument.

In summary, the argument is based on ambiguous evidence that neither proves or disproves anything. Additionally, only eating habits and sales of two kinds of food are mentioned as evidence – adopting a healthier lifestyle also involves factors such as quitting smoking, drinking less alcohol and getting more exercise, for example. Without such evidence of healthier lifestyles, the argument ultimately fails to deliver on its premise.

参考译文

　　Forsythe 的公民们已采用了较为健康的生活方式。从他们对一项近期的调查所作的回答来看，在其饮食习惯方面，他们比10多年前更密切地遵循着政府的营养建议。此外，在含有kiran——一种经科学研究证明可减少胆固醇的物质——的食品的销售中，已出现了四成的增长。这一趋势也明显体现于sulia的销售下降中，而sulia则是最健康的公民通常几乎不会食用的一种食品。

　　在上述论点中，论述者的结论是，Forsythe的公民已采用了较为健康的生活方式。作为佐证其结论的证据，论述者援引了这些公民对近期某项调查所给出的回答，这份调查报告表明，他们的饮食习惯与10多年前相比，现在更密切地遵循着政府的营养建议。论述者进一步称，含有kiran——一种可减少胆固醇的物质——的食品的销售已增长了四成。论述者还宣称，采用一种较为健康的生活方式的趋势也体现在sulia的销售下降这一现象中，而sulia这一食物被论述者描述为最健康的公民通常绝少食用的一种食物。由于该项论述基于谬误的逻辑推理，故我们应将其摈弃。

　　 首先，论述者宣称，针对一项近期的调查，Forsythe的公民们表示，他们的饮食习惯与10多年前相比更密切地遵循着政府的营养建议。围绕这一项调查，至少存在着两方面的问题。首先，这些回答调查的人没能准确地表述他们的实际饮食习惯，因为他们现在更加意识到政府的营养建议是什么，因此他们所告知调查人员的信息，正是他们认为这些调查人员所想听到的内容。其次，政府的规定在过去10 年中已经发生了变化，所以这些规定能更加密切地匹配公民们所实际食用的食品。前一种情形更有可能，因为在任何一项调查中，人们在回答问题时所给出的答案，往往表明他们所应该做的事情，而不是他们实际上正在做的事情，这一点是甚为自然的。此外，论述中没有摆出任何证据来证明政府的营养建议代表着一种较为健康的生活方式，从而进一步削弱了这项论述。

　　第二，原文论述者提到，含有kiran的食品出现了四成的销售增长，且科学研究已证明，kiran可减少人体内部的胆固醇。这一点就其本身而言并不能作为证据来证明Forsythe的公民已采用了较为健康的生活方式。此外，这种销售究竟是在哪一段时间发生的也没被提及。而这种销售量的增长可能有着其他的原因，比如这些食品比以前更易于购得，这类产品的广告声势更为强劲，或者纯粹因为人口增长，从而造成了销售量的增长。但不管怎么说，没有任何依据来支持这样一种说法，即Forsythe的公民们是因为这些食品降低胆固醇的作用而去购买这些食品的。如果没有证据来说明人们是出于更为健康的饮食原因而在购买更多的这类含kiran食品的话，那么，该项论述就无法使人相信Forsythe的公民已采用了较为健康的生活方式。

　　最后，论述者为了支持其论点，援引了这样一条信息，即sulia这样一种最健康的公民通常很少会食用的食品已出现了销售量下降的现象。这种所谓的证据与Forsythe的公民已采用了较为健康的生活方式这一论点完全风马牛不相及。sulia食品的销售量减少可以有形形色色的原因，诸如它味道不好，它不再易于买得到，或者它售价过高。没有任何迹象表明它是一种有益于健康还是一种有害于健康的食品。这似乎只是被论述者抛进来的一个不着边际的“事实”，用来满足其自身的目的，但却不起任何作用来推进该项论述。

　　总而言之，这项论述基于甚为模棱两可的证据，既不能证明也不能否定任何东西。此外，作为证据被提及的只有饮食习惯和两种食品的销售。但我们知道，采取较为健康的生活方式也涉及到其他各种因素，诸如戒烟，减少饮酒，以及从事更多的运动。如果没有这样一些健康生活方式诸方面的证据，该项论述最终无法论证其命题。

嘉文博译郑重声明：