Tài liệu Developing writting skills 2 part 9 docx

80 could be done about it. Slavery and peonage were taken for granted. Not until science became prominent did slavery come to be recognized as a dreadful wrong, to be abolished. It was the scientist, supposedly cold and concerned with things rather than ideals, who brought this about. His investigations made possible the harnessing of the energy of the inanimate world. With steam, electricity and radio beams to do our work for us, there was less need for the comparatively weak and fumbling human muscle – and slavery began to vanish. 9. It is also a fact that, before modern technology, the full flower of art and human intellect was reserved for the few. It was the technical advances of printing that scattered books widely, made universal literacy practical. It was the movies, radio, the record player and television that brought many of the marvels of mankind to even the poorest. 10. Yes, science has helped create problems, too – serious ones. And we must labor to solve them – in the only way history tells us problems have been solved: by science. If we were to turn away now, if a noble young generation abandoned the mainstream of an industry, what would happen? Without the machinery of that industry, we would inevitably drift back to slavery. 11. In these days of urban decay and energy crisis, there is a constant longing to return to the land and flee back to a simpler way of life. But it can’t be done. We have a tiger by the tail 1 and we can’t go home again 2 . We never could. 12. When mankind learned how to make use of fire some 50,000 years ago, it meant protection against predators, and more and better food. It also meant that man could venture out of the tropics into colder climates. Do you suppose this didn’t bring problems? When the fire went out in the cave on a winter night and could not be relighted, there was the danger of freezing. Or the smoke would ruin one’s lungs. 13. Why not give up fire, then, go back to the tropics and the simpler, carefree ways? Ah, one could not. Extending his range, man had increased his numbers. Returnees would find the tropics full; 1 “a tiger by the tail” = “in charge of a powerful force” 2 “can’t go home again” = “can’t return to a simpler life” 81 there would be a catastrophic struggle for the smaller supply of food. So, having once learned to use fire, people either endured its discomforts – or did away with them by further technological advance. They learned better ways of making fire, heating dwelling places, handling smoke. 14. No fundamental technological advance has ever been given up willingly by any society. There has been no way to do it. 15. About 8000 B.C., mankind invented agriculture. Again it made possible an increase in numbers. People had never eaten so well, but it meant they had to give up the free, nomadic life and remain bound to the soil. It meant hard labor. It meant banding together to fight off surrounding tribes who, still food gathering, might help themselves to your crops. It also meant the risk of crop failures. 16. Where irrigation was introduced to make harvest more dependable, it meant the formation of a large political unit, the social tyranny of a king, an aristocracy, a priesthood. And, even if the land grew prosperous and populous, any infectious disease that got started ran through the crowded population like wildfire. 17. Why not, then, go back to the wilder, freer ways of hunting and food gathering? Wouldn’t that mean less work and worry, less war, less pestilence? 18. But you can’t! Abandon agriculture and, out of every 10,000 people, only 100 survive. No, the problems to which agriculture gave rise could be solved only by moving forward with additional advances in technology – the use of oxen in place of men, horses in place of oxen, crop rotation, fertilizer, etc. 19. So it is now with our industrial age, which has once again increased man’s numbers and his range – and brought new problems. If there is a shortage of gasoline, can’t we in a pinch abandon our automobiles and go back to horse-and-wagon? Give up our oil furnace for the fireplace? Give up electric lights and use candles? 20. No, we can’t. There are no longer enough horses to move us about, or enough wood to warm us, or enough candles to light our way. Besides, if we try it for long, we will quickly find that the simple life just won’t do. 21. In 1800, when the earth was still supported almost entirely by nonindustrial methods, the population of the planet was 900 million. Now it is pushing four billion. Where does the food come from to 82 support the extra three billion? It comes from the industrialization of the farm: from the use of high-energy machinery to plow and seed the weed and reap. It comes from fertilizers and insecticides produced by sophisticated high-energy chemical factories. 22. We can’t abandon industrialization, if only because our food supply depends on it. You can talk about “natural” food all you want, but if everyone decided to grow food without chemical fertilizers or insecticides or machinery, it would mean that only one quarter of the world population could be fed. 23. Can we abandon some of our industrial technology and hold onto the rest? That would be very difficult, since it all hangs together. 24. We can save, conserve, cut out waste, but what we have we must keep. The only solution, as always in the history of mankind, is to solve problems by still further advances in technology. Explain what is meant by: 1. …the tendency is to exert caution before committing the world to something that may not be reversible. 2. The trouble is, it’s not always easy to tell what the side effects will be. 3. A double-edged sword of good and evil has hung over human technology from the beginning. 4. For the population explosion today is caused not by any rise in average birth rate but by the precipitous drop – thanks to medicine – in the death rate. 5. Or does it mean we should use science to correct the possibly deleterious side effect, devise methods that would make it simpler to reduce the birth rate and keep it matching the falling death rate? 6. It was the scientist, supposedly cold and concerned with things rather than ideals, who brought this about. 7. His investigations made possible the harnessing of the energy of the inanimate world. 83 QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION 1. What is the main point of the first six paragraphs? Which sentence states it best? 2. What are the four examples Asimov uses in the first six paragraphs to prove his main point? 3. What does Asimov think of the idea of returning to a simpler life? Why does he find it necessary to give the realistic picture of life before technology and to stress the role of science in the abolition of slavery? 4. Find the paragraph where the main idea of the essay is stated. Does the essay have a stated thesis sentence? 5. How does the discussion of the invention of fire and agriculture help to prove Asimov’s main point? Do you observe any definite order in the way he developed and arranged the examples? 6. Why does the author put forward so many questions in his essay? Comment on their role. 7. How can you account for the repetition of the short sentence “No, we/you/one can’t” as an answer to most of the questions raised in the essay? 8. Into how many parts would you divide the essay? Why? 9. Which methods of development does Asimov employ in each part? Account for his choice. Account for the reasons of his choice? 10. Is the author’s support effective? Are you convinced? Could he have used any other kinds of support that would have been as effective or more effective? 11. Can you find any weak points in his argument? How would you argue against Asimov? 84 EXPAND YOUR VOCABULARY Match the words in Column A with their definitions in Column B A B 1) reversible a) to invent sth new or a new way of doing sth 2) to brutalize b) make sb worried or anxious 3) side effects c) to control and use the force or strength of sth to produce power or to achieve sth 4) to devise d) a substance added to soil to make plants grow more successfully 5) to harness e) (of a machine, system, etc.) clever and complicated in the way that it works or is presented 6) predator f) to treat sb in a cruel or violent way 7) fertilizer g) (of a process, an action or a disease) that can be changed so that sth returns to its original state or situation 8) sophisticated h) an animal that kills and eats other animals 9) to hang over (sb) i) an extra and usually bad effect that a drug has on, in addition to curing illness or pain YOUR TURN 1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of progress in an argumentative essay. State your own point clearly and provide sufficient support for it. 85 2. “The human race’s prospects of survival were considerably better when we were defenceless against tigers than they are today when we have become defenceless against ourselves”(Arnold Toynbee). Oppose or support this statement in an argumentative essay. Think of an appropriate method or methods of development and arrangement of the information. 3. Imagine that you are living in 2080 A.D. Write an essay entitled “The Twenty-first century”. Other Possible Topics • The twentieth century has often been called “the age of the common man”. What is your view? • Account for the rapid growth of the world population in the last hundred years and discuss some of the main problems this will give rise to. • “Everything that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that shows man he can do what he thought he could not do, is valuable.”( Dr Samuel Johnson) • “Automation is likely to create more problems than ever before”. Note: A writer has more than one pattern of arranging the ideas and details in a paragraph or an essay. From General to Specific Starting with a general statement and supporting it with a specific one is a common way to organize a paragraph or an essay. From Specific to General Beginning with specific details and moving toward a general conclusion (the topic sentence) that relates to these details is another way to arrange information. 86 By Order of Importance Order of importance, sometimes called climatic order, presents examples or points according to how important they are. Most important might mean strongest; it might also mean most common. Usually the most important point is given last, though not always. The pro-con essay generally uses order of importance. The thesis is given; then examples are presented and points are made, with the strongest point last. From Question to Answer A good way to develop a paragraph/an essay is with an interesting question. You can then devote the rest of your writing to details that develop an effective answer to that question. From Problem to Solution Organizing a paragraph/an essay by stating a problem and explaining how to solve it in the sentences that follow is much like asking a question and answering it. It is especially effective when you are explaining a process or analyzing causes and effects. But it can be used with other methods of development as well. 87 TEXT 3 Reach Out and Annoy Someone By Jonathan Rowe Cell phones seem almost everywhere these days—in schools, offices, airports, restaurants, cars, buses, and on the street. How do all these cell phones affect the quality of public life? Jonathan Rowe believes that increasing reliance on cell phones has had negative effects on both the users of these cell phones and the people who are near them. If you enjoy the use of your cell phone, you may think his evaluation is too one-sided. But as you prepare to read, understand that Rowe chose to focus on the social consequences of cell phone use—not the convenience of such phones for the individuals who use them. 1. In the 1990s, in the midst of the high-tech boom, I spent a lot of time in a coffee shop in the theater district in San Francisco. It was near Union Square, the tourist hub, and I observed a scene play out there time and time again. Mom is enjoying her coffee. The kids are picking at their muffins, feet dangling from their chairs. And there’s Dad, pulled back slightly from the table, talking into his cell phone. 2. I would watch the kids’ faces, vacant and a little forlorn, and wonder what happens to kids whose parents aren’t there even when they are. How can we expect kids to pay attention if we are too busy 88 to pay attention to them? Peter Breggin, the psychiatrist, says much “attention deficit disorder” is really “dad deficit disorder.” Maybe he is right. It was supposed to be a “communication revolution,” and yet here, in the technological epicenter, the members of this family were avoiding one another’s eyes. 3. With technology in particular, we discuss the implications only within a narrow bandwidth of human concern. Is there a health risk? Might the thing cause cancer? That’s about it with cell phones, computers, genetic engineering, and a host of other new developments. 4. I don’t discount the significance of cancer. But there is something missing from a discussion that can’t get beyond the most literal and utilitarian concerns. Actually, some of the problems with cell phones aren’t at all squishy or abstract. If you have been clipped by a car tooling around the corner while the driver sits gabbing, cell phone in hand, then you are aware of this. The big problem, of course, is the noise. For sheer intrusiveness, cell phones rank with mega-amp car stereos and political commercials, and they are harder to escape. 5. We all know the drill. First the endearing beep, which is like an alarm-clock going off at 5:30 a.m. Then people shout into the things, as though they are talking across the Cross Bronx Expressway. It’s become a regular feature at movies and ball games, restaurants and parks. They represent more than mere annoyances. Cell phones affect life in ways that are, I suspect, beyond the capacity of the empirical mind to grasp. 6. Travel is an example. Thomas Carlyle 1 once advised Anthony Trollope 2 to use travel as a time to “sit still and label his thoughts.” For centuries, travel played this quiet role. I used to look forward to Amtrak 3 rides almost as a sanctuary. They provided precious hours in which to work or read or simply muse without the interruptions of the telephone and office. But now, cell phones have caught up with 1 Thomas Carlyle: Scottish historian and social critic (1795-1881) who influenced many important thinkers in the nineteenth century. 2 Anthony Trollope: British novelist (1815-1882) best known for “Barchester Towers” and “The Warden”. 3 Amtrak is a company which runs passenger trains in the US. 89 me. They have turned Amtrak into a horizontal telephone booth; on a recent trip to New York my wife and I were besieged by cell phones and their cousins, high-powered Walkmen, literally on all sides. The trip, which used to be a pleasure, has become one long headache. 7. I wrote the president of Amtrak to tell him this. I tried to be constructive. Why not provide “Quiet Cars” the way they provided No Smoking cars when smoking first became an issue? Amtrak could give riders a choice, which is what America is supposed to be about—and which Amtrak’s main competitors, the airlines, cannot do. This seemed like a no-lose proposition. The yakkers could yak, others could enjoy the quiet, and Amtrak could have a PR coup. The argument seemed pretty convincing, but the answer turned the issue upside down. “We hesitate to restrict users of cell phones,” it said, “especially since many customers find train travel an ideal way to get work done.” But that is exactly why cell phones should be restricted—because many travelers are trying to get work done. For one thing, the notion that people are busily working on cell phones is New Economy hype. I have been a coerced eavesdropper on more conversations than I could count. I have listened to executives gab about their shopping hauls and weekend conquests. I once had to endure, between Philadelphia and New York, an extended brag from an associate sports agent regarding the important people he was meeting. It is not often that I hear anyone actually discussing work. 8. But more importantly, consider the assumption here. We have two people who arguably are trying to get some work done. There is a cell phone user, who wants to make noise. And there’s myself (and probably numerous others), who would appreciate a little quiet. Why does the noise automatically take precedence over the quiet? 9. This is where the trail starts to get warm, I think. There is something about technology that enables it to take the front seat in any situation it enters; that is to say, there is something in ourselves that seeks to give it this seat. A Maine essayist by the name of John Gould once noted this about the ordinary telephone. He was up on the roof one day when his wife called to him about something. “Later,” he said, “Can’t you see I’m working?” Later came, and this time the phone rang. Gould scrambled down the ladder in a frantic attempt to get to that phone. . essay? 8. Into how many parts would you divide the essay? Why? 9. Which methods of development does Asimov employ in each part? Account for his choice social critic (1 795 -1881) who influenced many important thinkers in the nineteenth century. 2 Anthony Trollope: British novelist (1815-18 82) best known