gre范文：GRE作文范文大全（13）
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While we must invest in research irrespective of whether the results might be controversial,
at the same time we should be circumspect about research whose objectives are too vague
and whose potential benefits are too speculative. After all, expensive research always carries
significant opportunity costs--in terms of how the money might be spent toward addressing
society's more immediate problems that do not require research. One apt illustration of this
point involves the so-called "Star Wars" defense initiative, championed by the Reagan
administration during the 1980s. In retrospect, this initiative was ill-conceived and largely a
waste of taxpayer dollars; and few would dispute that the exorbitant amount of money devoted
to the initiative could have gone a long way toward addressing pressing social problems of the
day--by establishing after-school programs for delinquent latchkey kids, by enhancing AIDS
awareness and education, and so forth. As it turns out, at the end of the Star Wars debacle we
were left with rampant gang violence, an AIDS epidemic, and an unprecedented federal
budget deficit.
The speaker's assertion is troubling in two other r~sp,ects as well. First, no amount of
research can completely solve the enduring pr~l~rm of war, poverty, and violence, for the
reason that they stem from certain aspects of human nature--such as aggression and greed.
Although human genome research might eventually enable us to engineer away those
undesirable aspects of our nature, in the meantime it is up to our economists, diplomats, social
reformers, and jurists--not our research laboratories--to mitigate these problems. Secondly, for
every new research breakthrough that helps reduce human suffering is another that serves
primarily to add to that suffering. For example, while some might argue that physics
researchers who harnessed the power of the atom have provided us with an alternative source
of energy and invaluable "peace-keepers," this argument flies in the face of the hundreds of
thousands of innocent people murdered and maimed by atomic blasts, and by nuclear
meltdowns. And, in fulfilling the promise of "better living through chemistry" research has given
us chemical weapons for human slaughter. In short, so-called "advances" that scientific
research has brought about often amount to net losses for humanity.
In sum, the speaker's assertion that we should invest in research whose results are
"controversial" begs the question, because we cannot know whether research will turn out 感谢您阅读《GRE作文范文大全（13） 》一文，查字典出国留学网()编辑部希望本文能帮助到您。本文主要讲解GRE作文相关内容，希望能帮助童鞋们提高写作能力。查字典出国留学网编辑部敬上。
controversial until we've invested in it. As for the speaker's broader assertion, I agree that
money spent on research is generally a sound investment because it is an investment in the
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advancement of human knowledge and in human imagination and spirit. Nevertheless, when
we do research purely for its own sake without aim or clear purpose--we risk squandering
resources which could have been applied to relieve the immediate suffering of our dispirited,
disadvantaged, and disenfranchised members of society. In the final analysis, given finite
economic resources we are forced to strike a balance in how we allocate those resources
among competing societal objectives.
Issue 19
"Creating an appealing image has become more important in contemporary society than is the
reality or truth behind that image."
Has creating an image become more important in our society than the reality or truth behind
the image? I agree that image has become a more central concern, at least where short-term
business or political success is at stake. Nevertheless, I think that in the longer term image
ultimately yields to substance and fact.
The important role of image is particularly evident in the business world. Consider, for
example, today's automobile industry. American cars are becoming essentially identical to
competing Japanese cars in nearly every mechanical and structural respect, as well as in price.
Thus to compete effectively auto companies must now differentiate their products largely
through image advertising, by conjuring up certain illusory benefits--such as machismo, status,
sensibility, or fun. The increasing focus on image is also evident in the book-publishing
business. Publishers are relying more and more on the power of their brands rather than the
content of their books. Today mass-market books are supplanted within a year with products
that are essential the same---except with fresh faces, rifles, and other promotional angles. I
find quite telling the fact that today more and more book publishers are being acquired by large
media companies. And the increasing importance of image is especially evident in the music
industry, where originality, artistic interpretation, and technical proficiency have yielded almost
entirely to sex appeal. 感谢您阅读《GRE作文范文大全（13） 》一文，查字典出国留学网()编辑部希望本文能帮助到您。本文主要讲解GRE作文相关内容，希望能帮助童鞋们提高写作能力。查字典出国留学网编辑部敬上。
The growing significance of image is also evident in the political realm, particularly when it
comes to presidential politics. Admittedly, by its very nature politicking has always emphasized
rhetoric and appearances above substance and fact. Yet since the invention of the camera
presidential politicians have become increasingly concerned about their image. For example,
Teddy Roosevelt was very careful never to be photographed wearing a tennis outfit, for fear
that such photographs would serve to undermine his rough-rider image that won him his only
term in office. With the advent of television, image became even more central in presidential
politics. After all, it was television that elected J.F.K. over Nixon. And our only two-term
presidents in the television age were elected based largely on their image. Query whether
Presidents Lincoln, Taft, or even F.D.R. would be elected today if pitted against the handsome
leading man Reagan, or the suave and poliricaUy correct Clinton. After all, Lincoln was homely,
Taft was obese, and F.D.R. was crippled.
In the long term, however, the significance of image wanes considerably. The image of the
Marlboro man ultimately gave way to the truth about the health hazards of cigarette smoking.
Popular musical acts with nothing truly innovative to offer musically eventually disappear from
the music scene. And anyone who frequents yard sales knows that today's best-selling books
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often become tomorrow's pulp. Even in politics, I think history has a knack for peeling away
image to focus on real accomplishments. I think history will remember Teddy Roosevelt, for
example, primarily for building the Panama Canal and for establishing our National Park
System--and not for his rough-and-ready wardrobe.
In the final analysis, it seems that in every endeavor where success depends to some
degree on persuasion, marketing, or salesmanship, image has indeed become the central
concern of those who seek to persuade. And as our lives become busier, our attention spans
briefer, and our choices among products and services greater, I expect this trend to continue
unabated--for better or worse.
Issue 20
"Most of the people we consider heroic today were, in fact, very ordinary people who
happened to be in the right place at the right time."
I agree with the statement insofar as our heroes tend to be ordinary people like us. However, 感谢您阅读《GRE作文范文大全（13） 》一文，查字典出国留学网()编辑部希望本文能帮助到您。
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