2012年专八真题作文及范文

A recent survey of 2,000 college students asked about their attitudes towards phone calls and text-messaging (also known as Short Service) and found the students’ main goal was to pass along information in as little time, with as little small talk, as possible. “What they like most about their mobile devices is that they can reach other people,” says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at AmericanUniversityinWashington,D.C., who conducted the survey. “What they like least is that other people can reach them.” How far do you agree with Professor Baron?

In this first part of your essay you should state clearly your main argument, and in the second part you should support your argument with appropriate details. In the last part you should bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or make a summary. You should supply an appropriate title for your essay. Marks will be awarded for content, organization, language and appropriateness. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.

　　Write your essay on ANSWER SHEET FOUR.

范文

A Mixed Blessing

　　“We have in our mortal hand a power to destroy poverty and all forms of human life.” John F. Kennedy said in his Inaugural Address some 50 years ago. Indeed, science and technology has always been a mixed blessing. The same is true of cell phones, one of spectacular gadgets ever invented by humans in the past perhaps 100 years or so. Cell phones have two ambivalent faces, mostly benevolent, lovely and grim, even macabre sometimes. That is exactly what Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics atAmericanUniversityinWashington,D.C.described, when he said, “What people like most about their mobile devices is that they can reach other people. What they like least is that other people can reach them.” Professor Baron’s conclusion cannot be too true.

　　While mobile devices today are facilitating our life in ways unimagined, they pose problems, too. One of these is that our private life can be encroached at any time and place. For example, suppose one is taking hard-earned holidays at a seaside resort when he receives a call from his boss, who told him that something goes wrong with his work or his client runs into trouble. All of a sudden, his pleasure is totally spoiled. At this moment, modern devices of communications show their gloomy and ghastly face. Blockage to such calls can be hardly possible unless you have decided to leave your present job for good.

　　The second quandary brought about by the mobiles and the Internet is that people are cut off from contract with one another. This is a paradox. This happens most often in the world of business. With the help of these gadgets, many people stay home on workdays. At the click of their fingers, they can receive and send their work on the Net or cell phones. With a mobile, even their salaries can be automatically credited to their accounts. Few people nowadays stand in line receiving their paychecks. They don’t have to see people in person to do all these and other things. Economical and convenient as it is, people are more isolated from each other.

　　Regrettably, the gloomy paradoxical aspect of mobiles goes beyond the field of our work. It also happens in our almost every facet of life. Music used to be a very good social event. But now, most people build a wall of music around them by listening to on-line music or songs downloaded and saved in their cell phones. Watching a film also becomes a detached process. Modern phones are almost almighty, with which they can enjoy the latest box hits in the isolation of the living room. They don’t have to go out, let alone joining with friends. Communications in person are saved when, with omnipotent ‘i-phone’, students can learn a lot of subjects alone instead of discussing problems with their classmates, friends and brothers and sisters and parents. They even don’t have to go classes to acquire all these things where rich human communication can occur.

　　“Every coin has two sides” is an old cliché. But it applies ideally to the case of cell phone today. Cell phones, on the one hand, render our life more convenient and enrich our treasure trove of existence. At the same time, however, they stymie our life. They encroach our privacy and meanwhile, make us reluctant to partake the rich real social life.