Day 114 Any leader who is quickly and easily influenced by shifts in popular opinion will accomplish little
Any leader who is quickly and easily influenced by shifts in popular opinion will accomplish little.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.
五问:
(1)原命题中有“ any”这个极端词,我们可以完全认同这个观点吗?一般情况下,我们很难赞同带有极端词的观点,因为过于绝对。
(2)在选定自己的观点之前,我们应该先思考leader(领袖)是如何产生的?是民众选举出来的还是少数人推选的?或是有其他更多的可能? leader产生的过程是否会影响你对于原命题的判断?你认为怎样产生的领袖必须更多地听取“popular opinion”?经由哪种过程产生的领袖则不需要这样?
(3)一个 leader受到来自大众观点的影响一定是错误的吗?一定是正确的吗?讨论“如何判定自己所受到的影响是否正确”,是否要比讨论“是否应该受到影响”显得更加重要?
(4)在什么样的情况下, leader应该更快地“受到影响,做出决策”?你能举出具体的例子吗?例如:当 leader来到一个陌生环境,需要解决紧迫的问题时,需要向当地民众了解情况。
(5)你能否分别举出具体的例子来分析 leader受到影响所导致的好的和坏的结果?例如:某个小区要拆迁, leader听取居民的意见在原地建造回迁房,既保障了居民的权益,又保证了拆迁工作的顺利完成。另一个例子, leader根据居民的需求建造了一座大型购物商场,但商场建成后,居民却觉得商品价格贵而很少光顾,商场最终倒闭了。
翻译练习:
当你无法说服他人接受你的观点,他们也不能说服你赞同他们的观点时,你会怎么做?你会采取和他人都对立的立场呢,还是会放弃自己的观点并跟随大众?对我而言,有自己的判断是我永远不会抛弃的一个原则。很多名人都指出了坚持这一原则的重要性。(可用 A is no more...than B句式。)
参考答案:
When you can no more convince other people to accept your view than they can persuade you to approve of theirs, what will you do? Will you take a stand against all the other people, or will you drop your view and follow the crowd? To me, having my own judgment is one principle I will never abandon. Numerous famous figures have shown the significance of following this principle.