2. (-)人民福利不足以评价一个国家是否强大，还要看它对别人的影响。从艺术和科学家两方面说
28. The surest indicator of a great nation is representednot by the achievements of its rulers, artists, or scientists, but by thegeneral welfare of its people.
Write a response in which you discuss the extentto which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoningfor the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, youshould consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true andexplain how these considerations shape your position.
With the development of society andtechnology, more and more people are concerned about their nations and thus givingrise to the question: what is the indicator of a great nation? The authorasserts that it is the general welfare of its people rather than theachievements of its rulers, artists, or scientists. I concede this assertion istrue to some extent, yet this does not rule out the possibility that theachievements of its rulers, artists or scientists also indicate whether anation is great or not. That is, both of them are indicator of the greatness ofa country.
Admittedly, the welfare of the generalpublic of a nation helps us to assess the greatness of the country. After all,the main objective of a nation is to protect the well-being and welfare of itspopulace, such as supplying people with adequate food and clothe, setting uphealth care program and social security system, leading to a harmonious society.Imagine a country where people are worried about their security and safety, howcan that country be considered a great nation. An example illustrating thispoint involves with Iraqi. Because of the Iraqi war, many innocent populacesare killed and a large number of people are forced to leave their home toprotect their lives from being threatened. In this case, it is unreasonable to callsuch a nation a great one.
However, the welfare of its people is not sufficientenough to indicate whether a nation is great or not, other factor must be takeninto consideration. Nowadays, when we refer to a great nation, we mean theprosperous economy, the well known art and literature as well as technologicaladvancements. This is because the art and literature can transmit the merits aswell as the spirits to other areas of the world, satisfying people’s spiritualneeds and cravings. For instance, when we refer German as a great nation, do weonly refer to its good medical care and security programs? Of course not, weare more concerned about the artists that the nation cultivated such as Bach,Beethoven and Brahms in that their works help purify our mind and provide uswith the courage and tenacity to face toughness and adversity in our lives. Inthe realm of scientific research, many inventions make life easier and more convenient,therefore propelling the development of society and civilization. In light ofthis, scientists should also be indicators of a great nation. In the past, ancientChina was regarded as a great nation, largely due to its four great inventionssuch as paper making, printing technique, compass and gun power, which improvethe quality of people’s life to a great extent.
In fact, the general welfare and achievementsof other aspects of the society are mutually dependent and promotive. Thegeneral welfare provides the prerequisites for ruler, artists as well as scientiststo achieve goals, and in turn, the achievements attained by these people helpto improve the quality of the well-being of the populace. Were Von Gough wasprovided with enough aids to get rid of poverty, he might had made moremasterpieces of art.
In retrospect, it is true that the wellbeing of its people is an indicator of the greatness of a nation consideringthe objective of a nation. However, other achievements made by its rulers,artists, and scientists are indispensable for evaluating a nation. In fact,both of them are mutually dependent, and hence there is no need to find outwhich one is the surest.
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发表于 2012-6-30 16:31:00
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