题目:
Is it courageous to show vulnerability or show strength?
解析:
和本次亚洲的考题一样,这个题目也是乍一眼无法分类的题目。但是其难度系数不大。 不同于用“than ”连接的题目需要顾全连接词两侧的关键词, 用“or”连接两个选项的题目,选择其中一个方面论述即可。
那也就是说我们可以写的两个方向分别是“it is courageous to show vulnerability” 或者“it is courageous to show strength”。
关键词有三个:courageous,vulnerability, strength. 对这三个关键词的破解方式成为下笔的关键。Courageous倒是很容易理解。关键是怎么体现用例子把vulnerability 或者strength联系起来。
1)很容易想到的方向就是挑战权威-可以把strength理解为面对别人质疑时候的坚定,而这些坚定无疑体现出一个人敢于不随大流,敢于与众不同的勇气。这时候写it is courageous to show strength”会比较好写。因为面对质疑的时候,show vulnerability肯定是不可取的,只能坚强地忍耐别人的不解才能带来新的局面。
2)当然也可以把这个题目归置到失败成功类-面对困难时候的态度。有的人面对困难选择示弱,退缩。而有的人选择迎难而上。那那些迎难而上show strength的人肯定更有勇气。
从这两个角度分析,这个题目非常好入手。
当然有些考生会选择从观点上取胜,因为这个题目肯定是写it is courageous to show strength的人更多,这时候写it is courageous to show vulnerability会更 eye-catching。
联系现实,示弱的体现就是承认自己的缺点,不完美,承认自己凭一己之力无法解决所有问题。这些“承认”跟“面对”其实面对困难的时候拿出勇气更不容易做到。从这个层面理解,将can people benefit from the flaws of people we admire and respect 这个题目稍微变形一下就可以写。那那些有小缺陷的,身残志坚的,需要帮助的。 都可以是选择例子的角度。
觉得SAT考试很难,例子多不好记的考生,学会头脑风暴,从多个角度来理解关键词,就可以做到例子的活学活用啦。
范文:
We tend to convince ourselves and other people that we are strong, smart, and in charge; we are embarrassed to “bare ourselves ” in front of others for the fear of not being accepted. Thus to show vulnerability becomes extremely difficult for us when we decide to hide part of ourselves to fit what we perceive as courageous. But the reality gives us a different picture- courageous people are just the ones who can fully accept their imperfection and embrace their vulnerability. The following examples will properly shed light on my point of view.
It is easy to put on a façade and being untrue to others, but no matter how much human deny it, there is a need to show our vulnerability and humanity; Authenticity and humanity are amongst the things that can make a true difference. Take Waris Dirie as an example. Being extremely unlucky, Waris was born into a country were women were forced to undergo a cruel surgery- Female Genital Cutting, as a way to guarantee loyalty to their future husband. After such surgery, Waris felt mentally and physically tortured, and fled her hometown for a fresh life. It was in London when she realized that she was different from the other girls, as girls in the UK do not have to partially or totally remove their female genital. Excruciating vulnerability washed over Waris. She felt shameful and disadvantaged to be women. After a lot of thinking, Waris decided to tell her story to other people by being an UN ambassador, because she knew that was the only way to set women in her country free from the inhumane tradition of Female Genital Cutting. She gave public speeches and published books, to tell people her experience, which once made her feel embarrassed. Waris was without dispute, a courageous woman. It was her action of telling the world about her vulnerability that aroused public attention on the issue of FGC, and helped the eradication of such tradition. We tend to think that vulnerability is a sign of weakness, but in this case, to be vulnerable means to be open, to be exposed, to have all ones’ disadvantage to be on the table for others to see, just for the goods of other people – that is total contrast to weak. That shows courage.
Waris was not the only case in representing courage by showing vulnerability, great leaders is another subgroup. Take the former CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, as an example. When he took office, GE was on a down hill trend; there was a rigid 9-level hierarchy and redundancy was a big waste of resources. This situation worried Jack Welch to a large extent. Instead of hiding the truth and thought of a good solution by his own, Jack Welch decide to tell his staff about his concern. As a CEO, the person with the highest potion in a company, to allow his team to see and appreciate the emotions he is experiencing takes courage. But it creates much tighter, more trusting team. After racking their brains, the “brain trust” of Jack Welch soon found out a series of revolutions. Finally, GE had witnessed a rise in market value from 12 billions to 280 billions by the end of 2004. Courageous leaders show their vulnerability in an appropriate way, as they acknowledge that there is so much at stake, and the best way is to show vulnerability rather than strength to collect idea and support, for the betterment of the whole team.
It is an illusion to equate vulnerability with weakness. From the two examples above, we could see that to show strength by hiding the entire disadvantage or stumble is an easy way out. But real courageous people are the ones who never put their heads in the sand.
It requires courage to be who we are despite our fears of not being understood. It requires courage to talk about our stumbles and worries. It quires courage to admit that we are facinguncertain or that we do not know the best solution to a problem. All in all, it is courageous to show vulnerability.