为了提高
Which would you choose: a high-paying job with long hours that would give you little time with family and friends or a lower-paying job with shorter hours that would give you more time with family and friends? Explain your choice, using specific reasons and details.
There is much discussion on the relationship between income and leisure hours. Some people like high-paying jobs that demand so much work time that little time can be shared with family and friends. However, others choose lower-paying jobs that give them more leisure time.
Admittedly, by earning more money, one is able to purchase more expensive things, like a large house with luxury decorations. The moment he get those, he may feel great fulfillment. However, an ironic question comes up to him immediately: does he have enough time to enjoy what he has earned? Just imagine that this person spend as much as 60 percent of his life on work, while the rest 30 percent is taken up by his sleep. Whether the house is large enough makes no difference to him, and let alone the decoration — he has no time to appreciate it at all. What he really need at home is only a comfortable bed. Similarly, it is true that he has sufficient money to taste delicious foods in different restaurants, but only 10 percent of his life is left for eating, so that the only choice for him is the cheap fast food sold near his work place.
Therefore, people should ask themselves such a serious question, “What is the purpose of our hard work?” One of the most important answers is for a better life. Maybe sometimes people make less money with shorter work hours, but they have more free time to spend with their beloveds, to experience the best moments that life offers them. An ancient Greek philosopher said, “Happiness is doubled when shared with others.” With enough leisure time, they can watch sunrise at seashore with their lovers, or count stars at a mountaintop; they may eat a wonderful dinner at their little cozy homes with their family, chatting about amusing things. All these do not need much money, but a great deal of time.
Furthermore, family and friends give people vital emotional support. There are countless annoying things happening in everyday life. When people drag their heavy feet back home, the warmth of family help to dispel most of their tiredness and worries. Also, when they encounter frustrations, they can confide their troubles to their friends. The consolation and encouragement from friends will turn into strings of miraculous notes to disperse their uncomfortable feelings. With little time shared with them, one will bear more and more pressures and bitterness, and run out of powers eventually.
From what has been discussed above, in order to lead a meaningful and pleasuring life, I prefer a lower income job that gives more free time to me to spend with my family and friends.
满分要素剖析：
一、 语言表达
本文的语言高深而地道，是读者积累词汇，熟悉用法的好机会。除了自己的语言组织以外，作者还引用名人名言，增加文章理据，也丰富了文章内容。大家能在这篇文章中收获良多。
1. Whether the house is large enough makes no difference to him, and let alone the decoration — he has no time to appreciate it at all. 表示对…来说没有关系，没有改变，词组make no difference+to。然后是“更不用说”let alone。Appreciate表示欣赏，也有赞赏的意思，欣赏艺术品也是用appreciate这个动词。
2. An ancient Greek philosopher said, “Happiness is doubled when shared with others.”名人名言的引用是非常省力的论证方式，通常可以由这个名言来做总结，或者由名言出发，展开一系列的讨论，而且名言能让文章看起来更高级。
3. Also, when they encounter frustrations, they can confide their troubles to their friends. The consolation and encouragement from friends will turn into strings of miraculous notes to disperse their uncomfortable feelings. 这两句话里面包含了很多高级词汇，是平常较少人用到的，比如confide吐露或倾诉(秘密);consolation安慰;miraculous奇迹般的，不可思议的;disperse散开，驱散;a string of一连串的，一系列的;encounter frustration遭遇沮丧(的事情)。
4. With little time shared with them, one will bear more and more pressures and bitterness, and run out of powers eventually.背负压力和痛苦，bear pressures and bitterness，其中bear表示忍受; run out of 表示用完，耗尽。
二、 逻辑结构
文章从两个方面——生活需要和生活理想，验证了人们不是需要奢华的物质，而是需要更多的时间，去陪伴亲朋，享受快乐。接着作者还进一步解释了为什么朋友和亲人值得我们花更多的心思和时间去陪伴，这是一系列，由此及彼的推理和论证，环环相扣，紧密联系。
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