GRE北美范文精华

背诵：

Complete forthrightness is a sign of vulnerability and naviete, neither of which will earn a politician respect among his or her opponents, and that opponents will use to every advantage against the honest politician.

It is wrong-headed to equate moral behavior in politics with the simple notions of honesty and putting the other fellow’s needs ahead of one’s own--or other ways that we typically measure the morality of an individual’s private behavior.

Those who claim the effectiveness politicians need not concern themselves with morality fail to appreciate that successful political leadership, if it is to endure, ultimately requires a certain measure of public morality--that is, serving the society with its best interests as the leader’s overriding concern.

Passive viewing of videos or of web pages is no indication that any significant learning is taking place.

Bee-bop music pioneer Thelonius Monk was renowned for his eccentric manner of speech, dress, and behavior. Even as a young student, Frank Lloyd Wright took to carrying a cane and wearing a top hat and a cape. And who could argue that musicians Prime and Micheal Jackson, two of the most creative forces in popular music, are nothing if non-conforming in every way.

By definition creativity requires nonconformity. In other words, any creative act is necessarily in nonconformance with what exists.

Artists draw inspiration not from other art but from the world around them-the essence of which artists attempt to capture and convey.

To the contrary, great art only serves to lift the human spirit in the face of the so-called “progress”that scientific accomplishments brought about.

In a myriad of other respects scientific accomplishments have diminished our quality of life.

Our laws would not reflect changing societal values and address new legal issues from our ever-evolving technology.

There are far more vital concerns the technology seeks to address. Advances in biotechnology can help cure and prevent diseases; advances in medical technology can allow for safer and less invasive diagnoses; advances in genetics can help prevent birth defects; advances in engineering and chemistry can improve the structural integrity of our buildings, bridges, roads, and vehicles; information technology enables education, and communication technology facilitates global participation in democratic process.

True education amounts to far more than gaining the knowledge and ability to excel in one’s major and one’s professional career. True education also facilitates the understanding of oneself, and tolerance and respect for the view point of others; provides the insight and perspective regarding one’s place in society and in the physical and metaphysical worlds, provides an aesthetic appreciation of the world around us.

Education is to afford students cultural perspectives and a capacity for understanding opposing viewpoints, and to encourage and nurture the skills of critical analysis and skepticism—not to indoctrinate students certain ideas while quashing others.

Popular culture is a mirror of society’s impulses and valves.

Without the benefit of historical perspective gained through the earnest study of the arts and literature of the past, it is impossible for us to fully understand, appreciate and critique the arts and literature of the present.

The fallout from the 1992 Los Angeles riots aptly illustrates this point. The “authority” that the rioters sought to challenge was that of the legal justice system, which acquitted police officers in the beating of Rodney King. The means of challenging that authority amounts to flagrant disregard for criminal law on a mass scale--by way of looting, arson, and even deadly assault. This violent challenge to authority resulted in a financially crippled community and, more broadly, a turning back of clock with respect to racial tensions across America.

Attempts to legislate morality invariably fail, as illustrated by Prohibition in the 1930s and more recently, failed federal legislation to regulate access to adult material via the internet.

Consider idealist such as the America’s founders, or Mahatma Gandhi, or Martin Luther King. Had these idealists concerned themselves with short-term survival and immediate needs rather than with their notions of an ideal society, the United States and India might still be the colonies of Britain, and African Americans might still be relegated to the backs of buses.

Research is the exploration of the unknown for true answers to our questions, and for lasting solutions to our enduring problems. Research is also the chief means by which we humans attempts to satisfy our insatiable appetite for knowledge, and our craving to understand ourselves and the world around us.

Art serves to lift the human spirit and to put us more in touch with our feelings, foibles and fates—in short, with our humanity. With a heightened sensitivity to human condition, we become more other-oriented, less self-centered, more giving of ourselves. The art breeds charitable concern for the hungry, the helpless, and the hapless.

The world around us presents a seamless web of physical and anthropogenic forces, which interact in ways that can only be understood in the context of a variety of disciplines.

What we view through camera lens provides only one dimension of our life and times, written documentation will always be needed to quantify, demystify, and provide meaning to the world around us.

In my observation, we human have a psychological need for individual identity, which we define by way of our membership in distinct cultural groups. When a people tradition becomes extinct, the result is a diminished sense of pride, dignity, and self-worth.

By intervening to preserve a dying language a government might be deploying its resources to fight a losing battle, rather than to combat more pressing social problems—such as hunger, homelessness, disease, and ignorance—that plague nearly every society today.

An outward display of traditional customs and distinct heritage is needed to put the world on notice that each tribe is a distinct and autonomous people, with its own heritage, values, and ideas. Otherwise, the tribe risks total assimilation and loss of identity.

The media generally consists of profit-seeking entities, whose chief objective is to maximize profits for their shareholders or other owners. Moreover, our corporate culture has sanctioned this objective by codifying it as an obligation of any corporate execute.

Better society as one characterized by greater tolerance of differing viewpoints and people who are different from ourselves, greater respect for individual rights, and greater cooperation across cultural and national boundaries. 把我们的社会美化成一个能够对其他不同观点，不同于我们的人有更好的包容性，对个人权利的更大的尊重，让超越文化界限和地理界限的合作更好。（这段话慷慨激昂，很适用。。。）

The initial purpose of ritual and ceremonies is rooted not in cultural identity but rather superstition and spiritual belief. The original purpose of a ritual might have been to frighten away evil spirits,

to bring about weather conditions favorable to bountiful harvests, or to entreat the gods for a successful hunt or for victory in a battle.

历史的作用：studying history provides inspiration, innumerable lessons for living, and useful value—clarification and perspective—all of which help us decide how to live today.

Attempts to legislate morality invariably fails, as aptly illustrated by the prohibition experiment in the U.S. during the 1930s, and more recently, failed federal legislations to regulate access to adult material via the Internet. 道德立法从来都是失败的，比如1930年的禁止令，和现在的对通过互联网接触成人材料的管制。

Some social ills spring from failings and foibles the are part-and-parcel of human nature 有些社会痼疾是来自于人类本性中的一些缺点。

Status quo affords people a measure of security and predictability in terms of …现状给了我们在某些方面的安全感和可预测性。

Pique our curiosity…激发我们的好奇心

Mores, values, and ideals of past cultures. 过去文化的习俗，价值观和理想

Social ills are here to stay. 社会痼疾会一直存在

Ample empirical evidence suggests so.

With respect to…, the answer is far less clear.

A more striking marriage between tradition and modernization is …更惊人的一个传统与现代相结合的例子是。。。

Timeless aesthetic ideals 永恒的美学理念

Serve useful purposes 产生有利作用

While sth is a sound advice, this advice should carry with it certain caveats. 虽然某事是很好的建议，但是我们必须要注意几点（用于对某个政策的补充）

Basic values upon which any democratic society depends.

Motivating forces 激励

A firm can easily be cast about in the sea of commerce without clear direction, threatening not only the firm’s bottom line but also its very survival.

Leave formal educators to equip students with a moral compass and ballast to prevent them from being tossed about aimlessly in a turbulent vocational sea.

At first blush 乍一看

Most politicians seem driven by their interest in being elected and reelected—that is, surviving—rather than by any sense of mission, or even obligation to their constituency or country.

Bear no resemblance to 与。。。毫不相关

Preserve tradition associated with our historic structure.

Research becomes expensive and complex undertaking. 研究几经成为一项耗钱又复杂的活动。Sth pales in importance compared to sth. 某件事情在重要性方面不及另外一件事情。

Sth lend further credence to sth. 某件事情给另外一件事情提供了更多的可信度

On one hand are the two compelling arguments that…一方面是两个有效的论据

Do the society disservice 给社会带来不良后果。

Progress is predicated on rigorous scientific inquiry. 进步是以严格的科学探索为基础的。Pave the way for sth 为。。。铺平道路

Oppression, tyranny and prejudice go unchecked. 压迫，暴政和偏见就会毫无控制了。（这句话是为了讲某些教育失败，政策失败的后果。。。）

Our laws would not evolve to reflect changing societal values and to address new legal issues arising from our ever-evolving technology. 我们的法律将会不适应由不断变化的高科技带来的法律问题，也不能反映一些社会价值。

Observation and common sense informs me that…观察和常识告诉我。。。(用于引出一些例证) Try to do sth vicariously through sth. 试图通过做。。。来做。。。

Careful scrutiny of the speaker’s claim reveals that 对作者的论断例子审查表明。。。（首段用于转折性地表明自己观点）

Confuses observation with interpretation 把观察和解释混淆了

It is tempting to afford the speaker’s claim greater merit than it deserves. 很容易给读者的论断赋予过多的优点。（首段用于转折性地反驳观点）

Sb will in all likelihood does sth. 某些人很可能做某事

A certain question is tied up in the problem of defining … in the first place. 某个问题的解决必须要首先定义某个概念。（用于首段定义某概念，以开展论述）

Supporting examples abound in all areas of human endeavor. 在人类奋斗的各个领域都充满了支持性的例子。

Serve sb’s interests 服务某人自己的利益

The author’s claim is an unfair generalization. 作者的观点是一个不公平的概括。（表明作者的观点大部分正确，但需要改进）

From a mundane economic or political viewpoint. 从一个世俗的经济或政治角度。

In the face of sth are sth. 在某事的对立面就是某事。

The paradigmatic example…一个非常典型的例子

Creative expression is a marriage of one’s cognitive abilities and the expression of one’s feelings and emotions. 创造性的表达式认知能力和人的情感的结合。

At first glance the balance of empirical evidence would seem to lend considerable credence to the speaker’s claim.

However, upon further reflection, it becomes clear that …

Take precedence over…比。。。更重要

Should never be determined indiscriminately 应该不能一概而论

Afford sth sth 给某事赋予某事

The claim is an unfair generalization in that it fails to account for other empirical evidence serving to discredit it.

A threshold claim with the speaker’s claim is that…这个作者的观点的基础是。。。(用于分层次论证)

I fundamentally agree; however, as the speaker implies, it is important not to overstate the comparative value of imagination. 我基本同意，但是，就像作者暗示的，非常重要的是不要过分强调什么的重要性。。。（很好用，用于那些比较折中的观点的）

Police officers 警察。。。

Forgo the near-term profits for the prospect of making lasting contributions. 放弃短期利益为了长远利益。

Lending even more credence to the statement is the…

Adding further credibility to the statement is the…

The speaker makes a threshold claim that…

While I wholeheartedly agree with the threshold claim, the conclusion unfairly generalizes

about…虽然我全心全意接受这个基础论断，这个结论不公平的概括了。。。

Be better able to do sth 更能做好。。。

Conceding that students must learn ideas and concepts, as well as facts relating to them, in order to learn anything meaningful, I nevertheless disagree…虽然我承认。。。。，我不同意。。。。（这个句式好用）

Amounts to little more than sth 简直就是。。。

A more accurate statement would draw a distinction between …and …更准确度论断应该要在。。。和。。。之间做个辨别。

Maximize the shareholder profits. 最大化股东的利益。(有用。。。)

Admittedly this example borders on hyperbole, 虽然这个例子有点夸张。。。

Principles of physics, chemistry, and mathematics know no political boundaries. 科学无国界。With respects to the arts, however, this claim is far less convincing. 在艺术方面，这个就更没有可信度了。

By the same token, …同样的。。。

Render any nation’s securities system more vulnerable. 是任何国家的防御系统更加易受攻击。Have a chilling effect on research and new knowledge. 对任何研究和新知识都是有害的。

I agree insofar as areas of research certain to result in immediate and significant benefits for society should continue to be a priority.

All avenues of scientific research. 科学研究的任何领域。

The speaker goes too far by implying that…作者不应该暗示。。。

There are far more vital concerns that technology seeks to address. 科学有更需要关注的东西。Participation in the democratic process. 参与到民主过程中。

What one considers to be the chief aim of technology.

We are more pressed for time than ever is convincing.

For supporting examples one need look no further than a TV set.

Aside from the forgoing two provisos, however, …除了以上的两个条件之外，然而。。。

The speaker’s claim is actually threefold: (1)…. 作者的观点有三重。

Extend tenuously to …. 简单的推广到。。。

It is unconscionable to relegate normative decisions as to which cities or cultural traditions are more deserving to a few legislators, whose notions about culture might be misguided or unrepresentative of those of general populace. 把合理的决定交给那些官员是不理智的，他们关于文化的概念就可能有问题，同时也有可能不能代表最广大人民。

Inadequate resources call for restrictions, priorities and choices. 不充分的资源，所以需要限制，优先和选择。。

Unfairly generalize about…unfairly suggests…不合理的概括了。。。不合理的建议了。。。Including the like of …包括。。。

Have little bearing on…与。。。关系不大。

In a number of more significant respects，。。。. 在一些更重要的方面。。。

The speaker claims that…, and as a result,… while I find the second prong of this dual claim well supported, I take exception with the first prong, aside from…虽然我觉得这个双重的宣告的前一部分很正确，但是，我怀疑他的第二层。

I find the claim is fraught with the problems of defining ethics…我发现这个问题很复杂，需要定义伦理先。

In addressing the issue it is helpful to consider in turn three distinct forms of leadership, business,

political, and social-spiritual. 要想好好解决这个问题，把三种不同的领导分开来看是有用的，政治领导，企业领导，社会精神领袖。

One problem that is tied up in the problem of defining … in the first place.

Draw a distinction between… and … ; strike a balance between…and…在两者之间作个区别，在两者之间取个平衡。

Driving force; motivating force. 推动力

To the extent the occur on a mass scale, 如果他们大范围的发生的话。。。

Base instincts 可鄙的本性。

Find less support from…从。。。更找不到支持。

Work a harm to the society. 对这个社会有害。

Emotions and feeling can serve as important catalysts for compassion and for creativity.

The inescapable…不可避免的。。。

Be secondary to…与。。。比显得不重要。

Government of people, by people, for people, shall never perish from the earth.

Beyond this concession, however, I find the speaker’s contention indefensible. 除了这点之外，我发现作者的观点不可靠。

Trading off sth for sth. 为。。。花费了。。。

Competitive business environment 竞争性的商业环境。

Global participation in the democratic process.

Efficiency is merely a means to these more important ends. 效率仅仅是这些更重要的东西的手段。

Poor substitutes for sth. 是。。。的不好的替代品。

Hold certain advantages over…比。。。要好。

With each passing day. 随着时间的推移。

The comparatively passive nature of these media can render them ineffectual in the learning process.

Serves any person well. 对任何人都好。

Another compelling argument against/for the claim is…

Stay abreast of current affairs. 与时代并进。

Provide perspective and insight on that…对。。。提供了视角和深见。

They would bring to bear their own quirky notions about what would be worthwhile…他们可能会自己决定到底什么东西值不值得。

History is laden with/ is replete of/ is fraught with supporting examples. 历史充满了支持性例子。

Indulge their personal intellectual fantasies at taxpayer expense.

The principles of economy dictates that…经济规律决定了。

Accept on blind faith. 盲目地相信。

Oppression, tyranny and prejudice go unchecked…

Exploit to every advantage. 尽力开发。。。

Keeping up with frantic pace of change is of essential for almost any high-tech firm’s survival. Rob sb of sth.

Place too little value on…对。。。评价太低。

In several respects, I find this claim compelling.

Rise up against