GRE写作issue素材 1.docx

1、GRE写作issue素材 1Section 1 Education1. Proverbs1. A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that individuality is the key to success.2. The primary purpose of a liberal education is to make ones mind a pleasant place

2、 in which to spend ones time.3. Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.4. The classroom-not the trench-is the frontier of freedom now and forevermore.5. Educations purpose is to replace an empty mind wit

3、h an open one.6. It is the purpose of education to help us become autonomous, creative, inquiring people who have the will and intelligence to create our own destiny.7. You see, real ongoing, lifelong education doesnt answer questions; it provokes them.8. People will pay more to be entertained than

4、educated.9. the most important function of education at any level is to develop the personality of the individual and the significance of his life to himself and to others. This is the basic architecture of a life; the rest is ornamentation and decoration of the structure.10. The essence of our effo

5、rts to see that every child has a chance must be to assure each as equal opportunity, not to become equal, but to become different-to realize whatever unique potential of body, mind, and spirit he or she possesses.11. A great teacher never strives to explain his vision-he simply invites you to stand

6、 beside him and see for yourself.12. If you can read and don, you are an illiterate by choice.2. Damaging ResearchA study by National Parent-Teacher Organization revealed that in the average American school, eighteen negatives are identified for every positive that is pointed out. The Wisconsin stud

7、y revealed that when children enter the first grade, 80 percent of them feel pretty good themselves, but by the time they get to the sixth grade, only 10 percent of them have good self-images.3. Education and CitizenshipAn important aspect of education in the United States is the relationship betwee

8、n education and citizenship. Throughout its history this nation has emphasized public education as a means of transmitting democratic values, creating equality of opportunity, and preparing new generations of citizens to function in society. In addition, the schools have been expected to help shape

9、society itself. During the 1950s, for example, efforts to combat racial segregation focused on the schools. Later, when the Soviet Union launched the first orbiting satellite, American schools and colleges came under intense pressure and were offered many incentives to improve their science and math

10、ematics programs so that the nations would not fall behind the Soviet Union in scientific and technological capabilities.Education is often viewed as a tool for solving social problems, especially social inequality. The schools, t is thought, can transform young people from vastly different backgrou

11、nds into competent, upwardly mobile adults. Yet these goals seem almost impossible to attain. In recent years, in fact, public education has been at the center of numerous controversies arising from the gap between the ideal and the reality. Part of the problem is that different groups in society ha

12、ve different have different expectations. Some feel that children should be taught basic job-related skills; still others believe education should not only prepare children to compete in society but also help them maintain their cultural identity (and, in the case of Hispanic children, their languag

13、e). On the other hand, policymakers concerned with education emphasize the need to increase the level of student achievement and to improve parents in their childrens education.Some reformers and critics have called attention to the need to link formal schooling with programs designed to address soc

14、ial problems. Sociologist Charles Moscos, for example, is a leader in the movement to expand programs like the Peace Corps, Vista, and Outward Bound into a system of voluntary national service. National service, as Moscos defines it, would entail “the full-time undertaking of public duties by young

15、people whether as citizen soldiers or civilian servers-who are paid subsistence wages” and serve for at least one year. In return for this period of service, the volunteers would receive assistance in paying for college or other educational expenses.Advocates of national service and school-to-work p

16、rograms believe that education does not have to be confined to formal schooling. In devising strategies to provide opportunities for young people to serve their society, they emphasize the educational value of citizenship experiences gained outside the classroom. At this writing there is little indi

17、cation that national service will become a new educational institution in the United States, although the concept is steadily gaining support among educators and social critics.4. The Teachers RoleGiven the undeniable importance of classroom experience, sociologists have done a considerable amount o

18、f research on what goes on in the classroom. Often they start from the premise that, along with the influence of peers, students experiences in the classroom are of central importance to their later development. One study examined the impact of a single first-grade teacher on her students subsequent

19、 adult status. The surprising results of this study have important implications. It is evident that good teachers can make a big difference in childrens lives, a fact that gives increased urgency to the need to improve the quality of primary-school teaching. The reforms carried out by educational le

20、aders like James Comer suggest that when good teaching is combined with high levels of parental involvement the results can be even more dramatic.Because the role of the teacher is to change the learner in some way, the teacher-student relationship is an important part of education. Sociologists hav

21、e pointed out that this relationship is asymmetrical or unbalanced, with the teacher being in a position of authority and the student having little choice but to passively absorb the information provided by the teacher. In other words, in conventional classrooms there is little opportunity for the s

22、tudents to become actively involved in the learning process. On the other hand, students often develop strategies for undercutting the teachers authority: mentally withdrawing, interrupting, and the like. Hence, much current research assumes that students and teachers influence each other instead of

23、 assuming that the influence is always in a single direction.5. Education PhilosophyFor the past fifty years our schools have operated on the theories of John Dewey (1859-1953), an American educator and writer. Dewey believed hat the schools job was to enhance the natural development of the growing

24、child, rather than to pour information, for which the child had no context, into him or her. In the Dewey system, the child becomes the active agent in his own education, rather than a passive receptacle for facts.Consequently, American schools are very enthusiastic about teaching “life skills” logi

25、cal thinking, analysis, creative problem-solving. The actual content of the lessons is secondary to the process, which is supposed to train the child to be able to handle whatever life may present, including all the unknowns of the future. Students and teachers both regard pure memorization as an un

26、creative and somewhat vulgar.In addition to “life skills”, schools are assigned to solve the ever growing stoke of social problems. Racism, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, drug use, reckless driving, and suicide are just a few of the modern problems that have appeared on the school curriculum.This al

27、l contributes to a high degree of social awareness in American youngsters.6. Student LifeTo the students, the most notable difference between elementary school and the higher levels is that in junior high they start “changing classes”. This means that rather than spending the day in one classroom, t

28、hey switch classrooms to meet their different teachers. This gives them three or four minutes between classes in the hallways, where a great deal of the important social action of high school traditionally takes place. Students have lockers in these hallways, around which thy congregate.Society in g

29、eneral does not take the business of studying very seriously. Schoolchildren have a great deal of free time, which they are encouraged to fill with extracurricular activitiessports, clubs, cheerleading, scoutssupposed to inculcate such qualities as leadership, sportsmanship, ability to organize, etc

30、. those who dont become engaged in such activities or have afterschool jobs have plenty of opportunity to “hang out”, listen to teenager music, and watch television.Compared to other nations, American students do not have much homework. Studies also show that American parents have lower expectations

31、 for their childrens success in school than other nationalities do. (Historically, there has not been much correlation between American school success and success in later life.) “Hes just not a scholar”, the American parents might say, content that their son is on the swim team and doesnt take drug

32、s. (Some of the young do choose to study hard, for reason of their own, such as determining that the road to riches lies through Harvard Business School.)What American schools do effectively teach is the competitive method. In innumerable ways children are pitted against each otherwhether in classroom discussion, spelling bees, reading groups, or tests. Every classroom is expected to produce a scattering of As and Fs (teachers often grade A=excellent; B=good; C=average; D=poor; and F=failed). A teacher who gives all As looks too softso students are aware that they are competing for the limit