编辑点评: 本系列是native speaker针对GRE写作issue部分的高频话题所写的范文。各位考生在备考时多看此类范文不仅能够拓宽语言能力,也能拓宽逻辑思维。希望对大家有帮助。
There is no such thing as purely objective observation. All observation is subjective; it is always guided by the observer s expectations or desires.
The speaker claims that all observation is subjective--colored by desire and expectation. While it would be tempting to concede that we all see things differently, careful scrutiny of the speaker s claim reveals that it confuses observation with interpretation. In fact, in the end the speaker s claim relies entirely on the further claim that there is no such thing as truth and that we cannot truly know anything. While this notion might appeal to certain existentialists and epistemologists, it runs against the grain of all scientific discovery and knowledge gained over the last 500 years.
It would be tempting to afford the speaker s claim greater merit than it deserves. After all, our everyday experience as humans informs us that we often disagree about what we observe around us. We ve all uttered and heard uttered many times the phase That s not the way I see it! Indeed, everyday observations--for example, about whether a football player was out of bounds, or about which car involved in an accident ran the red light--vary depending not only on one s spatial perspective but also on one s expectations or desires. If I m rooting for one football team, or if the player is well-known for his ability to make great plays while barely staying in bounds, my desires or expectations might influence what I think I observe. Or if I am driving one of the cars in the accident, or if one car is a souped-up sports car, then my desires or expectations will in all likelihood color my perception of the accident s events.
However, these sorts of subjective observations are actually subjective interpretations of what we observe. Visitors to an art museum might disagree about the beauty of a particular work, or even about which color predominates in that work. In a court trial several jurors might view the same videotape evidence many times, yet some jurors might observe an incident of police brutality, will others observe the appropriate use of force to restrain a dangerous individual. Thus when it comes to making judgments about what we observe and about remembering what we observe, each person s individual perspective, values, and even emotions help form these judgments and recollections. It is crucial to distinguish between interpretations such as these and observation, which is nothing more than a sensory experience. Given the same spatial perspective and sensory acuity and awareness, it seems to me that our observations would all be essentially in accord--that is, observation can be objective.
Lending credence to my position is Francis Bacon s scientific method, according to which we can know only that which we observe, and thus all truth must be based on empirical observation. This profoundly important principle serves to expose and strip away all subjective interpretation of observation, thereby revealing objective scientific truths. For example, up until Bacon s time the Earth was observed to lie at the center of the Universe, in accordance with the prevailing religious notion that man was the center of God s creation. Applying Bacon s scientific method Galileo exposed the biased nature of this claim. Similarly, before Einstein time and space were assumed to be linear, in accordance with our observation. Einstein s mathematical formulas suggested otherwise, and his theories have been proven empirically to be true. Thus it was our subjective interpretation of time and space that led to our misguided notions about them. Einstein, like history s other most influential scientists, simply refused to accept conventional interpretations of what we all observe.
In sum, the speaker confuses observation with interpretation and recollection. It is how we make sense of what we observe, not observation itself, that is colored by our perspective, expectations, and desires. The gifted individuals who can set aside their subjectivity and delve deeper into empirical evidence, employing Bacon s scientific method, are the ones who reveal that observation not only can be objective but must be objective if we are to embrace the more fundamental notion that knowledge and truth exist.
雅思阅读文章中常见的两类中心词
雅思阅读:剑桥雅思阅读长难句分析(1)
不同水平考生的雅思阅读方法
剑桥雅思系列阅读真题使用指南
雅思阅读选择题的分类和解题方法(上)
雅思阅读:剑桥雅思阅读长难句分析(9)
雅思阅读:剑桥雅思阅读长难句分析(2)
雅思阅读材料:关于奋斗的英文名言
合理安排做题顺序有助提升雅思阅读成绩
雅思阅读配对题的三个特点分析
雅思阅读拓展资料:地质学
名师辅导:雅思阅读key points解读
看电影学雅思《泰坦尼克号》中的经典台词
雅思阅读考试要点全解(下)
雅思阅读七天备考笔记
雅思阅读材料:伦敦奥运会开幕式(双语)
A类雅思阅读考点解析:词与同义替换
雅思阅读材料:欧洲寓言名著的英文典故
雅思阅读分类词汇:文化类词汇
浅谈提高雅思阅读能力的方法
雅思阅读材料:历届奥运会口号
雅思阅读单选题题型特征和解题步骤
雅思阅读分类词汇:骨科
有效理解雅思阅读生词的方法
雅思阅读题型介绍及备考辅导
雅思阅读材料:科技与自然
新手入门:学术类(A类)雅思阅读概况
雅思阅读材料:电击试验(V42S2)
雅思阅读材料:蚊子为什么咬我不咬他?
雅思阅读八种题型的解答攻略
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