议论文 (Argumentation)写作

议论文又称论说文，是以议论的方式通过摆事实讲道理来阐述自己观点的文章。

议论文有论点、论据、论证三大要素，要写好议论文就得抓住这三大要素。
1. 论点
论点就是指作者提出的观点。提出的论点应有针对性，有的放矢，立论要有新意，使读者耳目一新。另外，提出的论点要有严密的科学性。
2. 论据
论据是作者为自己的观点提出的理由和根据。论点必须由论据来证明。作为论据的材料，大致有两个方面：事实论据和理论论据。
(1) 事实论据
事实论据包括有代表性的人证、物证、典型事例、历史资料、历史事实和经验、统计数字等。比喻性材料也可作为事实论据。
(2) 理论论据
理论论据包括反映客观事物的本质和规律的定义、科学原理、法则，已被证实的公理、定理以及成语、警句、格言、谚语等。
3. 论证
论证是通过逻辑推理的方法来阐明论据与论点间内在的科学联系。论证的方法有：
(1) 归纳法
归纳法是从若干个别事例中综合它们共同的本质，归纳出一般结论和规律的方法。
(2) 演绎法
演绎法与归纳法相反，归纳法是从若干个别事例推论出一般规律（from particulars to generalities），演绎法则是从一般规律推论到个别事物的方法（from general premises to particular conclusions）。
(3) 类推法
类推法就是通过对两个事物进行多方面比较，来推论出结论。

1. 议论文大致可分为立论文和驳论文两种。
(1) 立论文
作者先提出自己的观点，然后摆出事实以证实自己观点的正确性。
立论文以“立”为主，确立论点是立论文的关键。对于同一个问题或事物，站的角度不同，大小有异，正反不同，会提出不同甚至相反的论点。所以，确立论点一定要注意对象，抓住问题的要害，正确选择角度。所立的论点不仅要能科学地揭示事物的本质，经得起检验，而且要有新意，使人耳目一新。
确立了论点之后所面临的问题是选择论据，要求论据必须和论点有本质的必然联系。不仅如此，选择的论据必须真实可靠，同时还要恰当典型。
有了论点和论据，还要有巧妙地安排和严密的论证，这样才能构成一篇有理有据有说服力的议论文。巧妙而严密地进行论证，是为了正确的揭示论点和论据、观点和材料之间的逻辑关系，从而达到观点和材料的高度统一。
在提纲式立论类文中，有时题目隐含出题人的观点。而且在提纲中没有提供明显的结论，这时要求考生根据题目及所给的提纲，得出一个结论。应当注意的是有时侯作文的题目既是出题者提出的观点，又是出题者期待考生得出的结论。
(2) 驳论文：
以驳斥（驳论）为主的议论文叫驳论文。驳论和立论是对立而又统一的。从立论来说，“立”就意味着否定它的对立面，立论文中的任何“立论”都包含着“驳论”的因素。同样，从驳论来说，“驳”就意味着“立”。
一般地说，在驳论文的一开始，总是先摆对方论点，然后有的放矢、针锋相对地进行批驳。摆对方论点在驳论文的写作中显得异常重要，因为，对方论点摆得如何直接影响到全文“驳”以至“立”的效果。
虽然在摆对方论点的时候不能忘记自己的立场，但是一定要尽可能客观地摆出对方的论点。只有这样才能最终使得自己反对什么赞成什么变得旗帜鲜明。为了使读者对于对方论点极其性质特点有一个比较充分的认识，便于在文章中对于对方的论点展开驳斥、增强驳斥的力度和效果，必须尽可能地交代对方论点的有关背景。要把代表对方论点的关键语句，甚至段落引出来。所谓“关键”是指最能够代表对方观点、态度、立场的言语。如果对方论点比较集中，则可以直接摘引[要注意的是，不宜将对方的论点引得太多。引用得太多会造成四面出击、难以深入，影响驳斥的效果]；如果对方论点比较分散或者比较隐蔽，则可以根据具体情形对之加以集中概括和分析评述。
精心选择好突破口是写好驳论文的又一关键。选择突破口应该以有利于揭露对方论点的实质、有利于文章的展开、有利于驳倒对方论点、有利于增强文章的力度为原则。
既然“立论文”是由论点、论据和论证三个部分组成的，那么，驳论文则可以根据具体情况，或反驳论点、或反驳论据、或反驳论证。
反驳论点是对对方的论点进行批驳，指出它的虚假和荒谬性。反驳论点可以直接反驳也可以间接反驳。直接反驳是直接指出对方论点的荒谬性。这种方法可以引用不可辩驳的确凿事实，也可以从理论上进行透彻解剖和分析。间接反驳既可以对于对方的论点进行合乎逻辑的引申，很快使其论点的荒谬性昭然若揭，也可以证明与对方论点相对立的论点的正确性，从而证实对方论点的荒谬性。明知对方的论点是错误荒谬的，却故意把它当成是正确的或先假设对方的论点是正确的，然后以此为前提再加以合乎逻辑（合乎情理）地引申、推导，得出必然错误、荒谬的结果（结论），从而推翻其假设的前提，证实对方原来的论点是错误的。这种方法称为“归谬法”。“归谬”就是扩而大之，推类至尽，导致谬误，让其荒谬性充分地暴露出来，使人看清是非、明辨真伪。只要“引申”的合乎逻辑，“归谬”得符合事理，就能置对方于自相矛盾、无以脱身的境地。
反驳论据是对对方论据进行批驳，指出其虚假性和荒谬性。论点和论据是议论文（此处指驳论文）中说理的两个最基本的构成因素。论点是由论据来支撑的。论据真实则论点正确；论据虚假则论点荒谬。论点是论据的集中表现，论据是论点的成立基础。揭露了论据的虚假，驳倒了支撑对方论点的论据，就是驳倒了对方的论点。论点就不攻自破。这种方法犹如釜底抽薪，通过戮穿对方虚假的论据，而直接驳倒对方的论点。当然，也不能把反驳论据和反驳论点截然分开。反驳论据的同时也必须反驳论点。
反驳论证是揭露对方在论证过程中论据和论点之间的逻辑关系的错误，即，驳斥对方的论据得不出相应的论点来。通过反驳对方论点和论据之间逻辑关系的矛盾之处或错误来驳倒对方的论点。议论文的论证就是阐明论点与论据之间的内在逻辑关系和组织论据证明论点的过程。反驳论证就是要揭露对方在论证过程中的逻辑错误，籍此证明对方论点的谬误。运用矛盾法反驳论证，目的就是要用缜密的逻辑推理去揭露对方观点在逻辑上的矛盾。运用矛盾法来反驳论证，不仅可以证明对方论据和论点之间不统一，而且可以揭露对方在论证过程中言论的前后矛盾，还可以揭穿对方在论证过程中偷换了论题的逻辑错误。
一般来说，写驳论文时，作者首先会给出一个明显错误的观点或批驳对象，然后针对其观点的谬误、论据的虚假或论证的逻辑错误进行批驳。

2. 议论文可进一步细致划分为六种：
(1) 分析建议类议论文
通过对某种现象或问题进行深入、辩证地分析，找出其形成的原因或产生的后果，最终提出自己的建议的写作方法。
(2) 原因分析类议论文
对事物之间的因果关系进行客观论证，并得出论证结论的写作方法。
(3) 对比/比较分析类议论文
通过对两种不同事物进行比较和对比，找出它们之间的相同之处和不同之处，最后得出结论的写作方法；也可对同种事物的正反、利弊、优劣、积极和消极两方面进行比较，最后得出结论。
(4) 各抒己见类议论文
通过对两种不同的观点或看法进行分析，最后得出自己的看法或结论的写作方法。
(5) 理由陈述类议论文
从主观角度陈述做某事的理由的写作方法。
(6) 批驳分析类议论文
通过引出错误的观点或做法，再分析其表现形式或之所以存在的依据，最后得出正确的态度或主张的写作方法。

Sample 1
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic Two Educational Patterns. You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 目前有两种教育模式：应试教育和素质教育
2. 两者对比我认为……

Two Educational Patterns

At present there exist side by side two contradictory educational patterns: the traditional exam-oriented pattern and the brand-new quality-oriented pattern, which lead to a never-ending-discussion nationwide as to which to choose.
The exam-oriented educational pattern is the inevitable result of the existing exam assessment system. In order to climb into the “ivory tower” or work for their degrees, students are cramming data and facts only for exams and forget all the information almost right after the exams. What’s worse, almost all the students seem to be tried to the chariot of exams, naturally they gradually lose their freedom and creativity. As a result, they always study passively and never attach importance to practical ability and originality.
In contrast, the quality-oriented educational pattern stresses on the creativity of students and their all-round development. Students are not supposed to memorize information mechanically and passively as computers. Instead, they are encouraged to do some creative work actively and independently as the programmers of computers. In this pattern, what students aim at is no longer their academic performances, but their practical ability.
No doubt, what the new quality-oriented pattern cultivates will not be merely learners successful in studies, but citizens fit in health, rich in knowledge and tasteful in memory. Therefore, it’s high time we reformed our existing exam assessment system and adopted the new educational pattern and bid goodbye to the traditional one.

评析：
本文属对比分析类议论文，采用四段式行文。文章开篇便引出其中心议题“目前我国存在两种相互矛盾的教育模式：一种是传统的应试教育模式，而另一种则是全新的素质教育模式” 。随后在第二和第三段中论述了两种不同教育模式的不同特点和不同教育结果。应试教育是一种被动的、重成绩、轻能力的教学模式，往往会培养出许多高分底能不合格的人才；而素质教育则是主动的、重能力、重创造性的教育模式，培养出的将是一代有创新能力的复合型的人才。最后一段作者通过对比得出结论：现存的分数评估体系导致了应试教育。因此，我们应改革分数评估系统，告别应试教育并尽快全面转向素质教育。

Sample 2
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic How to Do as the Romans Do in Rome? You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 当一个人乍被移民到新的文化环境中会感到极不适应。
2. 试分析这一现象的原因。
3. 怎样才能入乡随俗？

How to Do as the Romans Do in Rome?

When suddenly transplanted into a new culture, one feels like a fish being out of water. The new comer is uncertain about everything once familiar to him, such as what to talk about with others, how to approach a stranger, when to laugh at a joke, etc. Then, what causes his confusion and what can be done to help him over it?
The causes of such confusion in his daily activities are complex. Some attribute it to the language used to reflect al the ways of life in the new culture. Others believe that the cause lies in the customs between the two cultures that may be far from identical to one another. The two causes above can hold water but can’t account for all the confusion he feels, so the term “culture shock” is most widely used to explain such why. Such shock results from losing all his familiar patterns and symbols of his normal day-to-day social life.
To realize his transplanting into a new society, some efforts have to be made in advance. The right way to avoid “culture shock” is to combine the study of its language consciously with that of its culture, that is, he must learn the ways in which its language conveys ideas, follows customs, and promotes behavior of its people. Even in it, he also needs to see the world around him as the people there see it, thus adjusting his mind by instinct to the entire way of the new life. Once he attaches as much value to the unfamiliar as to the familiar and also turns the former into the latter, he is sure to feel like a fish that has been put back into water.

评析：
这是一篇客观性（原因）分析与建议类议论文。作者在文章的开头就形象地借用了a fish being out of water 紧扣出题者的要求，转而对由此带来的困惑从三个方面分析了原因。
作者在原因分析中，采用了由表及里和从点到面的写作手法。先从一些人的视角推出人们熟知的原因——语言(language)障碍；再以另一些人的看法阐明第二个原因——习俗差异(difference in the customs between the two cultures)；接着，作者首先肯定了前两个原因的客观性(hold water)，同时又指出了它们的片面性(can’t account for all the confusion)，继而顺理成章地亮出自己所知的综合原因——文化冲击(culture shock)，并解释了其产生的根源(result from losing all his familiar patterns and symbols of his normal day-to-day social life)。作者借鉴了“各抒己见类议论文”的写作模式，为事物的客观性分析开辟了新的写作途径：一些人认为某事物产生的根源是……；另一些人则认为其产生的根源是……；作者更深或更全面的分析：以上两种观点都有合理性的一面，但还有一条更深刻的原因是……
作者在结尾段为帮助新移民能尽快入乡随俗，提出了一条合理的建议：一是在出国前就应既学新环境的语言又要研究其文化习俗(combine the study of its language with that of its culture – the way its language conveys ideas, follows customs and promotes behavior of its people)；二是即使移民到了那里仍须有意识地学用当地人的方式来理解周围的事物，从而逐渐过渡到能本能地适应新环境(adapt by instinct to the new environment)。文章的结束句又重提鱼儿得水(a fish that has been put back into water)，与篇头形成首尾呼应之势，使读者读后能感受到How to do as the Romans do in Rome这一问题解决得彻底与完善。

Sample 3
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic Under Undue Stress. You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 现代生活以过度紧张而著称。
2. 过度紧张的副作用。
3. 怎样消除过度紧张？
Under Undue Stress

We live in a time when, more frequently than ever before in history, people are living under undue stress: School-goers are under pressure to hit too many books in too little time; wage-earners complain about no chance to lighten the heavy burden that life imposes upon them: and officials are also said to be overloaded with duties. According to the results of scientific researches, however, too much stress exerts an unwanted hold on one’s health.
The side-effects utmost strain produces on us can be boiled down to three major ones. First of all, it forces one to fall out of a Norman balance between work and rest. Who has not suffered from insomnia during the stressful period of his or her important affairs? Secondly, it results in a disorder of one’s moods, which offers an acceptable explanation for why many people lose their temper without cause or why some break down in mental health. Finally, tit helps bring one a few severe diseases, one of which is the top killer, cancer.
If you are often under terrible tension, it is time for you to do something about it. You could set a practical standard for your work or different style of living for a change of your faster pace. In addition, rather than grumble about your surroundings, you could keep on pleasant terms with others so as to live in a cheerful mood. The quotations from the former Chairman Mao “Beware of heartbreak with grievance overfull; range far your eye over long vistas” can serve as good advice on how to rid yourself of undue stress.

评析：
这篇文章是要分析阐述过度紧张的副作用，进而为消除紧张提出作者的建议。作者采取与过去对比的开篇方式(more frequently than ever before in history)来满足题目的要求，再列举出三种人(school-goers, wage-earners, officials)的生活写照，为主题句提供了有力的佐证。在第二段首句中，作者将过度紧张导致的诸多副作用浓缩成三个方面：失去劳逸结合之间的守恒(falling out of a balance between work and rest)；情绪紊乱(disorder of one’s moods)和诱发严重疾病(bringing on severe diseases)。同时，作者并未忘记细节的论证作用，采用了问句说明、举例证明等手法佐证作者的论点。第三段采用了与读者交谈的写作手法，以“您”作为需求建议的对象，使读者不由得自问：我要是过度紧张该怎么办？这样处理拉近了作者与读者的距离，读者会感到文章的勤俭亲近，建议的可信和适用：改变一下生活方式；再不必抱怨一切，应和踏入社会他人和睦相处等。

Sample 4
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic Health – A Serious Issue on Campus. You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 大学生的健康状况令人担忧。
2. 导致这一状况的原因。
3. 这一状况将对中国的未来产生什么影响？

Health – A Serious Issue on Campus

According to a recent survey made in a certain university, there are 43.8 percent of male students and 38.3 percent of female students either facing problems with nutrition or having to miss classes because of illness each term. The results are typical of the health conditions of all the students on the Chinese campus, for all available data show that college students’ health has become a serious issue. To get a better understanding of how the issue affects the future of China, let’s turn first to its causes.
The leading cause of this issue is that a mixture of competition and overpopulation, though best for the survival of the fittest in every field, will certainly cast a long-range shadow on the natural growth of the young people. The anxiety derived from fierce competition at the stage of being is already strong enough to affect their health. Another cause that shouts as loud consists in less and less attention the college staff pays to the improvement of the physique on campus In most cased, students groan under such an increasing burden of studies that the university hardly finds it necessary to set up facilities to cater for their health. Also playing a role is the fact that students themselves show little concern over their own bodies, as shown in the survey that 55 percent of the students at college skip breakfast, the most important meal of the day.
As the future builder of China, this generation on campus, if cursed with bad health, will exert some serious influences on the development of the country. The immediate result it produces is that there will be fewer and fewer healthy and active scientists who are so vigorous as to drive themselves to success in their field. In the long run, our nation will lose her potentialities of competing with others in every aspect of human progress. This really is an urgent matter worth considering and improving.

评析：
本文作者采用引证法开篇使读者马上意识到所议问题的严重性；接着，作者用着一短语阐明问题的普遍性，从而引出主题。这种开篇手法具有极强的说服力和穿透力，吸引读者读下去，了解更深层次的内涵和效应。在第二段和第三段中，作者把握了三大因素：社会因素、人为因素和自身因素。作者在分析这一现状的影响时，使读者既能意识到这一问题的近忧，又能接受作者的远虑；故此，已成为一个亟待解决的问题。

Sample 5
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic New Building of Poor Quality – Possible Killers. You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 近年来不时报道新建筑物因质量低劣造成严重事故。
2. 造成新建筑物质量低劣的原因是……
3. 分析由此带来的后果。

New Building of Poor Quality – Possible Killers

In recent years, it is frequently reported that newly-built structures collapse in tragedy just because of poor quality in construction. The cases of both the flood control works in Jiujiang and the Hong Bridge in Chongqing may be counted as typical ones. To prevent such tragedy from happening again and again, it is our duty to dig out what accounts for it.
In the chain-like process of construction, any weak link such as design, foundation and framework may spell ruin to a project, while, on the whole, the weakest links always originate from three deep-rooted causes of ruin. What should go before everything else is the burning desire both the builder and the supervisor have for money. In order to make more money, the builder hides up inferior steel in faulty concrete, and meanwhile, the supervisor, loaded with bribes, turns a blind eye to the jerry-building, thus leading to the ruin of the people’s hope as well as of the structure itself. Another cause takes shape in the course of bid competition, which lacks in clearness or fairness, and puts many projects in the hands of such builders as are poor in construction but good at the under-the-table business. The third one stems from there being no official criteria on which the registration of any builder is effectively based, which is why our building market is full of good and bad builders mixed up.
Of evil grain no good seed can come. A good deal of manpower, materials and money often turns out, with a bang, to be nothing but a killer; for instance, the collapse of Hong Bridge in January, 1999, caused 40 deaths. What a costly seed it is, stuck with blood and tears! If this situation is allowed to drift in its direction, our government will lose not only material wealth but also consistent support from the people.

Sample 6
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic How to Do as the Romans Do in Rome? You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 为了杜绝政府机构内的腐败现象，有人建议高薪养廉。
2. 有的人则建议完善监督机制。
3. 我的建议。

How to Stop Corruption in Government Bodies?

Nowadays, nothing in government bodies comes close to corruption that brings ruin upon our Party’s image in the people’s minds. For this very reason, many people of insight have come up with some tentative proposals, among which two draw widespread attention throughout the country.
Some suggest that our Party nourish honesty in government departments by raising civil servant’s salaries by a wide margin. Of this move will come much good on the side of an official: a fuller sense of his duties, a better resistance to lure of bribes, and a less embarrassment of being hard up on a formal occasion. And even more, this move will much reduce the chances of an official’s exploiting his office for the material interests of his family members. But ,as bribery comes in more and more names, how much increase in salary can the government afford to curb an official’s desire for any dishonest earnings, in addition to bearing the burden of supporting millions of workers who have been laid off? Therefore, others hold that our Party ought to perfect mechanisms of supervision, under which any official is restrained in exercising his functions and power. With the mechanisms becoming more and more effective, most officials will impose more self-restraints on the performance of their duties while some dishonest ones will get well-earned punishment. Yet, no matter how perfect, any supervision can not ensure every official against corruption.
As neither of the two proposals is effective enough to root up the cause of ruin in government machinery, I favor fruitful interpenetration of each other’s advantages. While encouraging qualified officials to devote more to the people by giving a proper increase in salary, our Party must reinforce efficient supervision over some functional agencies. I am fully confident that, as long as our Party is ready to adopt any suggestion particularly beneficial to the purification of the civil ranks, there will be no more soil for corruption in government bodies.

Sample 7
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic Competition and Cooperation. You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below
:
Competition and Cooperation

As two main pushing forces behind social development, competition and cooperation draw more attention of the public than ever before. Some place more stress on the former while others attach heavier weight to the latter. If asked to make a choice between the two forces, I would not hesitate to choose the latter over the former.
There is no need to deny that competition has contributed much to the survival of the best, but it seems more primitive and ruthless, when compared with cooperation. Just consider the situation in which, for a better chance of survival, people compete ruinously against each other by resorting to deception and fraud, and you will associate it with the law of the jungle by which the weak are the prey of the strong in the animal kingdom. Moreover, with competition in our life growing in intensity, interpersonal relations are cold or warm, depending purely on whether one is successful or not. By contrast, cooperation enables people to feel the strength of unity, as in a football game, one team’s victory results from the better cooperation between its members than that of the other team. In fact, as the pace of modern life renders individuality less and less significant, nothing brings more benefit than cooperation does to the human progress—better mutual understanding between factions that were once hostile to one another, and more chances of getting the impossible possible. A strong proof in point is that of the International Space Station, which has got into shape owing to the extensive coordination between 13 countries worldwide. And what is more, coop0eration reflects more of human civilization.
As can be concluded from the analyses above, when you judge between both on the basis of their nature, potentiality and humanness, don’t you think that my preference for cooperation is more acceptable to our society? Therefore, we should not only realize that competition and cooperation, like two sides of the coin, have to go hand in hand, but fix more attention on how to make full use or cooperation as well.

Sample 8
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic Where to Go for Your Holiday? You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 旅游观光已成为人们生活中的常事。
2. 人们通常选择的去处有两种：人文历史古迹和自然风景胜地。
3. 比较起来，我更喜欢……未被破坏

Where to Go for Your Holiday
It is now common to see light-hearted people on sightseeing tours to places of interest. In general, there are two kinds of places in sight-seers’ better graces, one being humane historic sites and the other natural scenic spots. While many choose the former as attraction for them, I prefer to explore the romantic scenery of natural spots unspoilt by modern civilization. True, humane historic sites, especially the eight wonders of the world, can arouse people’s sense of pride in human history and their curiosity about his treasures of architecture, religion, science, art, etc. , but they can not lead people to properly appraise man’s greatness owing to lack of harmony with nature. As a sharp contrast to them, natural wonders can not only mould people’s sentiments but also make them aware of the truth that man would have no chance of displaying superiority without other inferior living things. In addition, flooded ceaselessly with crowds and littered with such discards of modern life as food packages and cigarette ends, these historic sites are no longer blessed with the advantage of creating a relaxing atmosphere for sightseers arriving in high spirits. By comparison, free from any pollution and unchanged by human activity, virgin scenery holds out more and more attraction to those who are eager to escape from the pressure of their lives. And above all, if man depends too much on his own glorious history for his growth in wisdom, such wisdom will only augment his capacity for evil, as he fails to consider all the important factors concerning all the living things on the Earth and to attach to each its due weight. Man’s success in the application of many scientific inventions, for example, ahs resulted in destroying the ecological balance in much of the world. On the contrary, although you are far away from modern facilities and helpless in emergency, bathing yourself in natural scenery will reward you with a new sense of proportion, thus preventing you from making irrecoverable errors because of too much stress placed on the importance of your own race.
From the comparison and contrast above, anyone can reach the conclusion that natural scenic spots are more pleasing to the eye and more instructive to the mind than humane historic sites. Our vacation is approaching, and I believe more students will make a holiday trip to natural scenic attractions still unknown to many.

Sample 9
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic On
Criticism You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 批评催人奋进。
2. 然而，现实生活中总有许多人害怕批评，也害怕批评别人。
3. 正确的态度。
On Criticism

No one will deny that criticism helps us know our negative qualities better and adds to our self-knowledge. But in the real life, many people tend to hold a protective web around themselves in defense against criticism or to take the friendly attitude by only offering others compliment. Then how should we handle the criticism from others?
Admittedly, criticism may make people feel unfriendly, unfair, or simply hurt. For this reason, very often some people complain that criticism makes them completely puzzled about how to behave and do things properly. And when they are criticized, they will refuse to correct the mistakes, thinking of the criticism as unreasonable demand. Obviously, they ignore the fact that only those who care for us will offer us criticism in order to stop us from erring. Criticism is more helpful than compliment because those criticized can improve and will not make the same mistakes in the future. Criticism to us is like good medicine to the sick.
Being criticized means standing a good chance of being judged, and such judgment implies a demand that we should make improvement in our work. So, I hold that we should not take a negative attitude towards criticism, for such an attitude will keep us from knowing what others really think of us. As the old saying goes, “One will improve only with criticism.”

Sample 10
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic Should Cloning Be Encouraged? You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 有的人反对发展克隆技术。
2. 有的人赞成发展克隆技术。
3. 我的看法。
Should Cloning Be Encouraged?

As the newest technology in the 20th century, Cloning has aroused wide concern in all circles of the world since the first clone of the Scottish sheep Dolly. So, on whether it would be a blessing or a curse to clone an entire human being based on the new discovery, there are two typical speculations that are poles apart.
Some people believe that the Cloning, like the nuclear technology that provokes a global panic, will raise the biggest moral and ethical problem and even damage the love-enjoying of a man and woman in normal reproduction. They fear that by a progression of small steps scientists could eventually provide all technologies needed to clone the entire human beings. Thus they call for a worldwide disapproval of the scientists’ risk of tampering with man’s nature. However, others who take the opposite position argue that Cloning – one of the greatest technological advances – is less of a problem ethically. They claim that only through Cloning research can scientists understand the ways human cells change. Then they strongly hope that the Cloning research will continue at higher speed so as to provide organs for sick people some day. And those who worry about a Genie from the bottle, according to them, obviously disregard the benefits man has received from Cloning.
In my opinion, now that it is impossible to reverse knowledge, human beings should take a wiser step to determine and control the direction of the Cloning research. On the one hand, limited Cloning can be encouraged to exploit its potential benefits like providing help for treating fatal diseases by experimenting on cloned animals, saving rare wild animals and so on. On the other hand, in order to prevent the genie from coming out of the bottle, there should be immediate moves to set up, if possible, an international treaty to ban experiments regarding human Cloning worldwide.

Sample 11
Directions: For this part, you are allowed thirty minutes to write a composition on the topic The Career I Pursue. You should write at least 150 words, and base your composition on the outline (given in Chinese) below:
1. 社会上可供大学生选择的职业多种多样。
2. 我所追求的职业及其理由。
3. 为此，……

The Career I Pursue

In speaking of what kinds of job to take up upon graduation, most college students have already formed vivid but different pictures in their minds of ideals. Among these ideal jobs may be lawyer, or doctor, or engineer, or businessman, or any other professions that can ensure them fame and wealth. As for me, however, I still keep my first resolve to pursue teaching as my life-ling career.
A few reasons have led me to choose this occupation over other moneymaking ones. In the first place, a teacher can enjoy more freedom and independence than many other professionals. Rather than learn my part beforehand by heart as an actor does, I am free to invent my act as my course goes along – making decisions, arranging lectures and putting ideas across to my audience, all at my own will—a privilege hardly available to man job-holders. In the second, a teacher is provided with ample chances of perfecting himself from all sides. In order to prepare my students well for their future world, I have to force myself to acquire newer knowledge, better self-cultivation and enrich experience in life, during which I am always the first to grow fuller of good stuff. And the most sacred to teaching, though, is that it brings new hope to a nation. With a key to human treasures in my hand, I feel greatly honored to transform many teenagers, from ignorance to intelligence, from stupidity to wisdom and from savageness to civilization.
For the reason above, I do not think there is any occupation in the world that is better than teaching. Now, I am determined to devote all my life to this bright and glorious cause and I am convinced, too, that teaching will be an enjoyable experience to me in my future life.