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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
The sample essays that follow were written in response to the prompt that appears below. The rater commentary that follows each sample essay explains how the response meets the criteria1 for that score. For a more complete understanding of the criteria for each score point, see the?"Analyze2 an Issue" Scoring Guide <http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/analytical_writing/issue/scoring_guide>.
As people rely more and more on technology to solve problems, the ability of humans to think for themselves will surely?deteriorate3.
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.
Note:?All responses are reproduced exactly as written, including errors, misspellings, etc., if?any.
Essay Response — Score 6
The statement linking technology negatively with free thinking plays on recent human experience over the past century. Surely there has been no time in history where the lived lives of people have changed more dramatically. A quick reflection on a typical day reveals how technology has revolutionized the world. Most people commute4 to work in an automobile5 that runs on an internal combustion6 engine. During the workday, chances are high that the employee will interact with a computer that processes information on silicon7 bridges that are .09 microns wide. Upon leaving home, family members will be reached through wireless8 networks that utilize9 satellites orbiting the earth. Each of these common occurrences could have been inconceivable at the turn of the 19th?century.
The statement attempts to bridge these dramatic changes to a reduction in the ability for humans to think for themselves. The assumption is that an increased reliance on technology negates10 the need for people to think creatively to solve previous quandaries11. Looking back at the introduction, one could argue that without a car, computer, or mobile phone, the hypothetical worker would need to find alternate methods of transport, information processing and communication. Technology short circuits this thinking by making the problems?obsolete12.
However, this reliance on technology does not necessarily preclude13 the creativity that marks the human species. The prior examples reveal that technology allows for convenience. The car, computer and phone all release additional time for people to live more efficiently14. This efficiency does not preclude the need for humans to think for themselves. In fact, technology frees humanity to not only tackle new problems, but may itself create new issues that did not exist without technology. For example, the proliferation of automobiles15 has introduced a need for fuel conservation on a global scale. With increasing energy demands from emerging markets, global warming becomes a concern inconceivable to the horse-and-buggy generation. Likewise dependence16 on oil has created nation-states that are not dependent on taxation17, allowing ruling parties to oppress minority groups such as women. Solutions to these complex problems require the unfettered imaginations of maverick19 scientists and?politicians.
In contrast to the statement, we can even see how technology frees the human imagination. ?Consider how the digital revolution and the advent20 of the internet has allowed for an unprecedented21 exchange of ideas. WebMD, a popular internet portal for medical information, permits patients to self research symptoms for a more informed doctor visit. This exercise opens pathways of thinking that were previously22 closed off to the medical layman23. With increased interdisciplinary interactions, inspiration can arrive from the most surprising corners. Jeffrey Sachs, one of the architects of the UN Millenium Development Goals, based his ideas on emergency care triage techniques. The unlikely marriage of economics and medicine has healed tense, hyperinflation environments from South America to Eastern?Europe.
This last example provides the most hope in how technology actually provides hope to the future of humanity. By increasing our reliance on technology, impossible goals can now be achieved.? Consider how the late 20th century witnessed the complete elimination24 of smallpox25. This disease had ravaged26 the human race since prehistorical days, and yet with the technology of vaccines27, free thinking humans dared to imagine a world free of smallpox.? Using technology, battle plans were drawn28 out, and smallpox was systematically29 targeted and?eradicated30.
Technology will always mark the human experience, from the discovery of fire to the implementation31 of nanotechnology. Given the history of the human race, there will be no limit to the number of problems, both new and old, for us to tackle. There is no need to retreat to a Luddite attitude to new things, but rather embrace a hopeful posture32 to the possibilities that technology provides for new avenues of human?imagination.
Reader Commentary for Essay Response — Score 6The author of this essay stakes out a clear and insightful position on the issue and follows the specific instructions by presenting reasons to support that position. The essay cogently33 argues that technology does not decrease our ability to think for ourselves, but merely provides "additional time for people to live more efficiently." In fact, the problems that have developed alongside the growth of technology (pollution, political unrest in oil-producing nations) actually call for more creative thinking, not?less.
In further examples, the essay shows how technology allows for the linking of ideas that may never have been connected in the past (like medicine and economic models), pushing people to think in new ways. Examples are persuasive34 and fully35 developed; reasoning is logically sound and well?supported.
Ideas in the essay are connected logically, with effective transitions used both between paragraphs ("However" or "In contrast to the statement") and within paragraphs. Sentence structure is varied36 and complex and the essay clearly demonstrates facility with the "conventions of standard written English (i.e., grammar, usage and mechanics)," with only minor18 errors appearing. Thus, this essay meets all the requirements for receiving a top score, a?6.
点击收听单词发音
1 criteria | |
n.标准 | |
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2 analyze | |
vt.分析,解析 (=analyse) | |
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3 deteriorate | |
v.变坏;恶化;退化 | |
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4 commute | |
vi.乘车上下班;vt.减(刑);折合;n.上下班交通 | |
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5 automobile | |
n.汽车,机动车 | |
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6 combustion | |
n.燃烧;氧化;骚动 | |
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7 silicon | |
n.硅(旧名矽) | |
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8 wireless | |
adj.无线的;n.无线电 | |
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9 utilize | |
vt.使用,利用 | |
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10 negates | |
v.取消( negate的第三人称单数 );使无效;否定;否认 | |
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11 quandaries | |
n.窘困( quandary的名词复数 );不知所措;左右为难 | |
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12 obsolete | |
adj.已废弃的,过时的 | |
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13 preclude | |
vt.阻止,排除,防止;妨碍 | |
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14 efficiently | |
adv.高效率地,有能力地 | |
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15 automobiles | |
n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 ) | |
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16 dependence | |
n.依靠,依赖;信任,信赖;隶属 | |
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17 taxation | |
n.征税,税收,税金 | |
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18 minor | |
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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19 maverick | |
adj.特立独行的;不遵守传统的;n.持异议者,自行其是者 | |
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20 advent | |
n.(重要事件等的)到来,来临 | |
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21 unprecedented | |
adj.无前例的,新奇的 | |
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22 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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23 layman | |
n.俗人,门外汉,凡人 | |
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24 elimination | |
n.排除,消除,消灭 | |
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25 smallpox | |
n.天花 | |
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26 ravaged | |
毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 ); 蹂躏; 劫掠; 抢劫 | |
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27 vaccines | |
疫苗,痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 ) | |
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28 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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29 systematically | |
adv.有系统地 | |
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30 eradicated | |
画着根的 | |
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31 implementation | |
n.实施,贯彻 | |
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32 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
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33 cogently | |
adv.痛切地,中肯地 | |
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34 persuasive | |
adj.有说服力的,能说得使人相信的 | |
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35 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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36 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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