Issue 2 求拍，求批改

zhanghaolin

2. To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must study its major cities.

Write a response in which you 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.

Three hundred years ago, human beings have paced into a new era which is characterized by urbanization, mass production and fast development of science and technology. Almost a hundred years ago, many countries, which are mostly developed countries, accomplished the pace of urbanization, which means ninety percent of population lived in cities. Since the major cities in a country have incomparable status in politics, economy, society, science and technology, many people believe that the cites conclude the most important characteristics of a society which cannot be ignored by researchers. I concede that this opinion has its rationality, however, one should never ignore that in some countries, many important characteristics cannot be revealed from studying cities.

With the fast development of human society and globalization, it is undisputable that cites represent the country. Even in the most poor country in the world, there are big cites with skyscrapers and modern highways. When the level of development in a country does not differ from places to places heavily, such as United States or Germany, its major cities are representative in culture, economy and society. Because the major cities in a country always have dense population, prosper industry and business. The information gathered from there, such as educational level, population quality or living standard, are comprehensive and representative to the general situation of the society. For example, metropolis in United States, such as New York, Los Angles or Chicago, represent the general situation of the nation suitably: people of different colors and races living in the same city, which represents the multi-ethic, freedom and tolerance situation in the country; the prosperity of the Wall street represents the nation's world leading economy and finance.

Aside from the situation listed above, however, I need to point out that in some developing countries, such as majority countries in Asia, Africa or Latin America, only studying the situation of major cities can hardly be sufficient to provide a comprehensive picture of the society in a country. For supporting examples, one needs look no further than the situation China. Admittedly, China is a country with amazing speed of development, especially in recent twenty years. Many large cities, such as Beijing, Shanghais or Guangzhou, are renewed in a short time: skyscrapers are erected one by one, bridges and highways are built fast and the population of cities increases sharply these years. However, large areas in the country are still impoverished and backward with no electrification and urbanization. Only studying the situation in major cities cannot reveal their bad situations, such as poor education, backward industry and medical condition. Furthermore, since the fast development of urbanization, various cultures from all places in the country have not mixed together. One needs to investigate rural areas and mountainous areas to find the source of the cultures. Even though the economic and medical situations there are worse than urban areas, people should not ignore their cultures as significant parts in the whole country.

To sum up, unless the developmental level is even and urbanization is high in the country, I concede one should study major cities in order to understand the most important characteristics of a society. Otherwise, the researchers should not ignore other regions to have a comprehensive picture of all most important characteristics of a society.

竹林中人

这个题目，有两层意思，一是主要城市能否代表社会主要特点，二是除了主要城市，是否有其他途径，尤其在现代化的今天，很多国家的主要城市逐渐变得千篇一律的情况下。文章还略有欠缺的是，对社会主要特点谈的不够具体，如果能具体谈一点，就好了，比如文化多元性或者社会民主，亦或者文化繁荣经济发达，社会和谐等等。