2006年英语专业八级考试真题

PARTⅥLISTENING COMPREHESION Section A Mini-lecture Meaning in Literature In reading literary works, we are concerned with the “meaning” of the literary piece or another. However, finding out what something really means is a difficult issue. There are three ways to tackle meaning in literature. Ⅰ. Meaning is what id intended by ___1___. Apart from reading an author’s working in question, readers need to 1) read ___2___ by the same author. 2) get familiar with ___3___ at the same time. 3) get to know cultural values and symbols of the time. Ⅱ. Meaning exists “in” the text itself. 1)some people’s view: meaning is produced by the formal propertied of the text like ___4___, etc. 2)speakers view: meaning is created by both conventions of meaning and ___5___. Therefore, agreement on meaning could be created by common traditions and conventions of usage. But different time periods and different ___6___ perspectives could lead to different interpretations of meaning in context. Ⅲ. Meaning is created by ___7___. 1)meaning is ___8___. 2)meaning is contextual. 3)meaning requires ___9___. ——practicing competency in reading. ——practicing other competencies. ——background research in ___10___, etc. Section B Interview In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet. Questions are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now listen to the interview. 1. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Miss Green’s university days? A. She felt bored. B. She felt lonely. C. She cherished them. D. The subject was easy. 2. Which of the following is NOT part of her job with the Department of Employment? A. Doing surveys at workplace. B. Analyzing survey results. C. Designing questionnaires. D. Taking a psychology course. 3. According to Miss Green, the main difference between the Department of Employment and the advertising agency lies in A. the nature of work. B. office decoration. C. office location. D. work procedures. 4. Why did Miss green want to leave the advertising agency? A. She felt unhappy inside the company. B. She felt work there too demanding. C. She was denied promotion in the company. D. She longed for new opportunities. 5. How did Miss Green react to a heavier workload in the new job? A. She was willing and ready. B. She sounded mildly eager. C. She a bit surprised. D. She sounded very reluctant. SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet. Questions based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the two questions. Now listen to the news. 6. The man stole the aircraft mainly because he wanted to A. destroy the European Central Bank. B. have an interview with a TV station. C. circle skyscrapers in downtown Frankfurt. D. remember the death of a US astronaut. 7. Which of the following statements about the man is TRUE? A. He was a 31-year-old student from Frankfurt. B. He was piloting a two-seat helicopter he had stolen. C. He had talked to air traffic controllers by radio. D. He threatened to land on the European Central Bank. Question is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news. 8. The news is mainly about the city government’s plan to A. expand and improve the existing subway system. B. build underground malls and parking lots. C. prevent further land subsidence. D. promote advanced technology. Questions are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the two questions. Now listen to the news. 9. According to the news, what makes this credit card different from conventional ones is A. that it can hear the owner’s voice. B. that it can remember a password. C. that it can identify the owner’s voice. D. that it can remember the owner’s PIN. 10. The newly developed credit card is said to said to have all the following EXCEPT A. switch. B. battery. C. speaker. D. built-in chip. 参考答案: Section A Mini-lecture 1.the author 2.other works 3.literary trends 4.grammar,diction or uses of image 5.cultural codes 6.cultural 7.the reader 8.social 9.reader competency 10. social sructure, traditions of writing or political cultural influences,etc. Section B Interview 1-5 CDDDA Section C News Broadcast 6-10 DCBCA PART ⅠREADING COMPREHENSION (30MIN) In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your coloured answer sheet. Text A The University in Transformation, edited by Australian futurists Sohail Inayatullah and Jennifer Gidley, presents some 20 highly varied outlooks on tomorrow’s universities by writers representing both Western and non-Western perspectives. Their essays raise a broad range of issues, questioning nearly every key assumption we have about higher education today. The most widely discussed alternative to the traditional campus is the Internet University—a voluntary community to scholars/teachers physically scattered throughout a country or around the world but all linked in cyberspace. A computerized university could have many advantages, such as easy scheduling, efficient delivery of lectures to thousands or even millions of students at once, and ready access for students everywhere to the resources of all the world’s great libraries. Yet the Internet University poses dangers, too. For example, a line of franchised courseware, produced by a few superstar teachers, marketed under the brand name of a famous institution, and heavily advertised, might eventually come to dominate the global education market, warns sociology professor Peter Manicas of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Besides enforcing a rigidly standardized curriculum, such a college education in a box could undersell the offerings of many traditional brick and mortar institutions, effectively driving them out of business and throwing thousands of career academics out of work, note Australian communications professors David Rooney and Greg Hearn. On the other hand, while global connectivity seems highly likely to play some significant role in future higher education, that does not mean greater uniformity in course content—or other dangers—will necessarily follow. Counter-movements are also at work. Many in academia, including scholars contributing to this volume, are questioning the fundamental mission of university education. What if, for instance, instead of receiving primarily technical training and building their individual careers, university students and professors could focus their learning and research efforts on existing problems in their local communities and the world? Feminist scholar Ivana Milojevic dares to dream what a university might become “if we believed that child care workers and teachers in early childhood education should be one of the highest (rather than lowest) paid professionals?” Co-editor Jennifer Gidley shows how tomorrows university faculty, instead of giving lectures and conducting independent research, may take on three new roles. Some would act as brokers, assembling customized degree-credit programmes for individual students by mixing and matching the best course offerings available from institutions all around the world. A second group, mentors, would function much like today’s faculty advisers,but are likely to be working with many more students outside their own academic specialty. This would require them to constantly be learning from their students as well as instructing them. A third new role for faculty, and in Gidley’s view the most challenging and rewarding of all, would be as meaning-makers: charismatic sages and practitioners leading groups of students/colleagues in collaborative efforts to find spiritual as well as rational and technological solutions to specific real-world problems. Moreover, there seems little reason to suppose that any one form of university must necessarily drive out all other options. Students may be “enrolled” in courses offered at virtual campuses on the Internet, between—or even during—sessions at a real world problem focused institution. As co-editor Sohail Inayatullah points out in his introduction, no future is inevitable, and the very act of imagining and thinking through alternative possibilities can directly affect how thoughtfully, creatively and urgently even a dominant technology is adapted and applied. Even in academia, the future belongs to those who care enough to work their visions into practical, sustainable realities. 11. When the book reviewer discusses the Internet University, [A] he is in favor of it. [B] his view is balanced. [C] he is slightly critical of it. [D] he is strongly critical of it. 12. Which of the following is NOT seen as a potential danger of the Internet University? [A] Internet based courses may be less costly than traditional ones. [B] Teachers in traditional institutions may lose their jobs. [C] Internet based courseware may lack variety in course content. [D] The Internet University may produce teachers with a lot of publicity. 13. According to the review, what is the fundamental mission of traditional university education? [A] Knowledge learning and career building. [B] Learning how to solve existing social problems. [C] Researching into solutions to current world problems. [D] Combining research efforts of teachers and students in learning. 14. Judging from the three new roles envisioned for tomorrows university faculty, university teachers [A] are required to conduct more independent research. [B] are required to offer more courses to their students. [C] are supposed to assume more demanding duties. [D] are supposed to supervise more students in their specialty. 15. Which category of writing does the review belong to? [A] Narration. [B] Description. [C] Persuasion. [D] Exposition. Text B Every street had a story, every building a memory. Those blessed with wonderful childhoods can drive the streets of their hometowns and happily roll back the years. The rest are pulled home by duty and leave as soon as possible. After Ray Atlee had been in Clanton (his hometown) for fifteen minutes he was anxious to get out. The town had changed, but then it hadn’t. On the highways leading in, the cheap metal buildings and mobile homes were gathering as tightly as possible next to the roads for maximum visibility. This town had no zoning whatsoever. A landowner could build anything with no permit, no inspection, no notice to adjoining landowners, nothing. Only hog farms and nuclear reactors required approvals and paperwork. The result was a slash-and-build clutter that got uglier by the year. But in the older sections, nearer the square, the town had not changed at all. The long shaded streets were as clean and neat as when Ray roamed them on his bike. Most of the houses were still owned by people he knew, or if those folks had passed on the new owners kept the lawns clipped and the shutters painted. Only a few were being neglected. A handful had been abandoned. This deep in Bible country, it was still an unwritten rule in the town that little was done on Sundays except go to church, sit on porches, visit neighbours, rest and relax the way God intended. It was cloudy, quite cool for May, and as he toured his old turf, killing time until the appointed hour for the family meeting, he tried to dwell on the good memories from Clanton. There was Dizzy Dean Park where he had played Little League for the Pirates, and there was the public pool he’d swum in every summer except 1969 when the city closed it rather than admit black children. There were the churches—Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian—facing each other at the intersection of Second and Elm like wary sentries, their steeples competing for height. They were empty now,but in an hour or so the more faithful would gather for evening services. The square was as lifeless as the streets leading to it. With eight thousand people, Clanton was just large enough to have attracted the discount stores that had wiped out so many small towns. But here the people had been faithful to their downtown merchants, and there wasn’t a single empty or boarded-up building around the square—no small miracle. The retail shops were mixed in with the banks and law offices and cafes, all closed for the Sabbath. He inched through the cemetery and surveyed the Atlee section in the old part, where the tombstones were grander. Some of his ancestors had built monuments for their dead. Ray had always assumed that the family mo ney he’d never seen must have been buried in those graves. He parked and walked to his mother’s grave, something he hadn’t done in years. She was buried among the Atlees, at the far edge of the family plot because she had barely belonged. Soon, in less than an hour, he would be sitting in his father’s study, sipping bad instant tea and receiving instructions on exactly how his father would be laid to rest. Many orders were about to be given, many decrees and directions, because his father (who used to be a judge) was a great man and cared deeply about how he was to be remembered. Moving again, Ray passed the water tower he’d climbed twice, the second time with the police waiting below. He grimaced at his old high school, a place he’d never visited si nce he’d left it. Behind it was the football field where his brother Forrest had romped over opponents and almost became famous before getting bounced off the team. It was twenty minutes before five, Sunday, May 7. Time for the family meeting. 16. From the first paragraph, we get the impression that [A] Ray cherished his childhood memories. [B] Ray had something urgent to take care of. [C] Ray may not have a happy childhood. [D] Ray cannot remember his childhood days. 17. Which of the following adjec tives does NOT describe Ray’s hometown? [A] Lifeless. [B] Religious. [C] Traditional. [D] Quiet. 18. From the passage we can infer that the relationship between Ray and his parents was [A] close. [B] remote. [C] tense. [D] impossible to tell. 19. It can be inferred from the passage that Ray’s father was all EXCEPT [A] considerate. [B] punctual. [C] thrifty. [D] dominant. Text C Campaigning on the Indian frontier is an experience by itself. Neither the landscape nor the people find their counterparts in any other portion of the globe. Valley walls rise steeply five or six thousand feet on every side. The columns crawl through a maze of giant corridors down which fierce snow-fed torrents foam under skies of brass. Amid these scenes of savage brilliancy there dwells a race whose qualities seem to harmonize with their environment. Except at harvest time, when self-preservation requires a temporary truce, the Pathan tribes are always engaged in private or public war.Every man is a warrior, a politician and a theologian. Every large house is a real feudal fortress made, it is true, only of sun-baked clay, but with battlements, turrets, loopholes, drawbridges, etc. complete. Every village has its defence.Every family cultivates its vendetta; every clan, its feud. The numerous tribes and combinations of tribes all have their accounts to settle with one another. Nothing is ever forgotten, and very few debts are left unpaid. For the purposes of social life, in addition to the convention about harvest-time, a most elaborate code of honour has been established and is on the whole faithfully observed. A man who knew it and observed it faultlessly might pass unarmed from one end of the frontier to another. The slightest technical slip would, however, be fatal. The life of the Pathan is thus full of interest; and his valleys, nourished alike by endless sunshine and abundant water, are fertile enough to yield with little labour the modest material requirements of a sparse population. Into this happy world the nineteenth century brought two new facts: the rifle and the British Government. The first was an enormous luxury and blessing; the second, an unmitigated nuisance. The convenience of the rifle was nowhere more appreciated than in the Indian highlands. A weapon which would kill with accuracy at fifteen hundred yards opened a whole new vista of delights to every family or clan which could acquire it. One could actually remain in one’s own house and fire at one’s neighbor nearly a mile away. One could lie in wait on some high crag, and at hitherto unheard of ranges hit a horseman far below. Even villages could fire at each other without the trouble of going far from home. Fabulous prices were therefore offered for these glorious products of science. Rifle-thieves scoured all India to reinforce the efforts of the honest smuggler. A steady flow of the coveted weapons spread its genial influence throughout the frontier, and the respect which the Pathan tribesmen entertained for Christian civilization was vastly enhanced. The action of the British Government on the other hand was entirely unsatisfactory. The great organizing, advancing, absorbing power to the southward seemed to be little better than a monstrous spoil-sport. If the Pathan made forays into the plains, not only were they driven back (which after all was no more than fair),but a whole series of subsequent interferences took place, followed at intervals by expeditions which toiled laboriously through the valleys, scolding the tribesmen and exacting fines for any damage which they had done. No one would have minded these expeditions if they had simply come, had a fight and then gone away again. In many cases this was their practice under what was called the “butcher and bolt policy” to which the Governme nt of India long adhered. But towards the end of the nineteenth century these intruders began to make roads through many of the valleys, and in particular the great road to Chitral. They sought to ensure the safety of these roads by threats, by forts and by subsidies. There was no objection to the last method so far as it went. But the whole of this tendency to road-making was regarded by the Pathans with profound distaste. All along the road people were expected to keep quiet, not to shoot one another, and above all not to shoot at travellers along the road. It was too much to ask, and a whole series of quarrels took their origin from this source. 20. The word debts in” very few debts are left unpaid” in the first paragraph means [A] loans. [B] accounts. [C] killings. [D] bargains. 21. Which of the following is NOT one of the geographical facts about the Indian frontier? [A] Melting snows. [B] Large population. [C] Steep hillsides. [D] Fertile valleys. 22. According to the passage, the Pathans welcomed [A] the introduction of the rifle. [B] the spread of British rule. [C] the extension of luxuries. [D] the spread of trade. 23. Building roads by the British [A] put an end to a whole series of quarrels. [B] prevented the Pathans from carrying on feuds. [C] lessened the subsidies paid to the Pathans. [D] gave the Pathans a much quieter life. 24. A suitable title for the passage would be [A] Campaigning on the Indian Frontier. [B] Why the Pathans Resented the British Rule. [C] The Popularity of Rifles among the Pathans. [D] The Pathans at War. Text D “Museum” is a slippery word. It first meant (in Greek) anything consecrated to the Muses: a hill, a shrine, a garden, a festival or even a textbook. Both Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum had a mouseion, a muses shrine. Although the Greeks already collected detached works of art, many temples—notably that of Hera at Olympia (before which the Olympic flame is still lit)—had collections of objects, some of which were works of art by well-known masters, while paintings and sculptures in the Alexandrian Museum were incidental to its main purpose. The Romans also collected and exhibited art from disbanded temples, as well as mineral specimens, exotic plants, animals; and they plundered sculptures and paintings (mostly Greek) for exhibition. Meanwhile, the Greek word had slipped into Latin by transliteration (though not to signify picture galleries, which were called pinacothecae) and museum still more or less meant” Muses- shrine”. The inspirational collections of precious and semi-precious objects were kept in larger churches and monasteries—which focused on the gold-enshrined, bejewelled relics of saints and martyrs. Princes, and later merchants, had similar collections, which became the deposits of natural curiosities: large lumps of amber or coral, irregular pearls, unicorn horns, ostrich eggs, fossil bones and so on. They also included coins and gems—often antique engraved ones—as well as, increasingly, paintings and sculptures. As they multiplied and expanded, to supplement them, the skill of the fakers grew increasingly refined. At the same time, visitors could admire the very grandest paintings and sculptures in the churches, palaces and castles; they were not “collected”either, but “site-specific”,and were considered an integral part both of the fabric of the buildings and of the way of life which went on inside them—and most of the buildings were public ones.However,during the revival of antiquity in the fifteenth century, fragments of antique sculpture were given higher status than the work of any contemporary, so that displays of antiquities would inspire artists to imitation, or even better, to emulation; and so could be considered Muses- shrines in the former sense. The Medici garden near San Marco in Florence, the Belvedere and the Capitol in Rome were the most famous of such early “inspirational” collections. Soon they multiplied, and, gradually, exemplary “modern”works were also added to such galleries. In the seventeenth century, scientific and prestige collecting became so widespread that three or four collectors independently published directories to museums all over the known world. But it was the age of revolutions and industry which produced the next sharp shift in the way the institution was perceived: the fury against royal and church monuments prompted antiquarians to shelter them in asylum-galleries, of which the Musee des Monuments Francais was the most famous. Then, in the first half of the nineteenth century, museum funding took off, allied to the rise of new wealth: London acquired the National Gallery and the British Museum, the Louvre was organized, the Museum-Insel was begun in Berlin, and the Munich galleries were built. In Vienna, the huge Kunsthistorisches and Naturhistorisches Museums took over much of the imperial treasure. Meanwhile, the decline of craftsmanship (and of public taste with it) inspired the creation of “improving”collections. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London was the most famous, as well as perhaps the largest of them. 25. The sentence” Museum is a slippery word” in the first paragraph means that [A] the meaning of the word didn’t change until after the 15th century. [B] the meaning of the word had changed over the years. [C] the Greeks held different concepts from the Romans. [D] princes and merchants added paintings to their collections. 26. The idea that museum could mean a mountain or an object originates from [A] the Romans. [B] Florence. [C] Olympia. [D] Greek. 27. “...the skill of the fakers grew increasingly refined” in the third paragraph means that [A] there was a great demand for fakers. [B] fakers grew rapidly in number. [C] fakers became more skillful. [D] fakers became more polite. 28. Paintings and sculptures on display in churches in the 15th century were [A] collected from elsewhere. [B] made part of the buildings. [C] donated by people. [D] bought by churches. 29. Modern museums came into existence in order to [A] protect royal and church treasures. [B] improve existing collections. [C] stimulate public interest. [D] raise more funds. 30. Which is the main idea of the passage? [A] Collection and collectors. [B] The evolution of museums. [C] Modern museums and their functions. [D] The birth of museums. Text A 11. [B]。 12. [A]。 13. [A]。 14. [C]。 15. [D]。 Text B 16. [C] 。 17. [D] 。 18. [B]。 19. [A]。 Text C 20. [C] 。 21. [B] 。 22. [A] 。 23. [B]。 24. [D]。 Text D 25. [B]。 26. [D]。 27. [C]。 28. [B]。 29. [A]。 30. [B]。 Part ⅡGENARAL KNOWLEDGE There are ten multiple-choice questions in this section. Choose the best answer to each question. Mark your answer on your coloured answer sheet. 31. The President during the America Civil War was A. Andrew Jackson B. Abraham Lincoln C. Thomas Jefferson D. George Washington 32. The capital of New Zealand is A. Christchurch B. Auckland C. Wellington D. Hamilton 33. Who were the natives of Australia before the arrival of the British settlers? A. The Aborigines B. The Maori C. THE Indians D. The Eskimos 34. The Prime Minister in Britain is head of A. the Shadow Cabinet B. the Parliament C. the Opposition D. the Cabinet 35.Which of the following writers is a poet of the 20th century? A. T.SEliot B. D.H.Lawrence C. Theodore Dreiser D. James Joyce 36. The novel For Whom the Bell Tolls is written by A. Scott Fitzgerald B. William Faulkner C. Eugene O’Neill D. Ernest Hemingway 37. _______ is defined as an expression of human emotion which is condensed into fourteen lines. A. Free verse B. Sonnet C. Ode D. Epigram 38. What essentially distinguishes semantics and pragmatics is the notion of A. reference B. meaning C. antonymy D. context 39. The words “kid, child, offspring” are examples of A. dialectal synonyms B. stylistic synonyms C. emotive synonyms D. collocational synonyms 40. The distinction between parole and langue was made by A. Halliday B. Chomsky C. Bloomfield D. Saussure BCADA DBDBD Part Ⅲ. Proofreading and Error Correction We use language primarily as a means of communication with other human beings. Each of us shares with the community in which we live a store of words and meanings as well as agreeing conventions as (1) ____ to the way in which words should be arranged to convey a particular (2) ____ message: the English speaker has iii his disposal at vocabulary and a (3) ____ set of grammatical rules which enables him to communicate his (4) ____ thoughts and feelings, ill a variety of styles, to the other English (5) ____ speakers. His vocabulary, in particular, both that which he uses active- [y and that which he recognises, increases ill size as he grows old as a result of education and experience. (6) ____ But, whether the language store is relatively small or large, the system remains no more, than a psychological reality for tike inpidual, unless he has a means of expressing it in terms able to be seen by another (7) ____ member of his linguistic community; he bas to give tile system a concrete transmission form. We take it for granted rice’ two most (8) ____ common forms of transmission-by means of sounds produced by our vocal organs (speech) or by visual signs (writing). And these are (9)____ among most striking of human achievements. (10)____ 1.agreeing --------agreed 2.∧words----------these/those words 3.in the disposal --------at the disposal 4.enables--------enable 5.delete “the” before “other English speakers” 6.old------ older 7.seen ------ perceived, understood, comprehended 8.delete “it” before “for granted” 9.And ----- Yet; However 10.∧most ------ the most striking PartⅣ Traslation Translate the following text into English. Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET THREE. I have nothing to offer but blood,toil,tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our poliy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word, It is victory. Victory at all costs-victory in spite of all terrors-victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival. Let that be realized. No survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall move forward toward his goal. 除了苦干、流汗、流泪、甚至流血,我别无所能。我们所面对的是一种最痛苦的磨难,是历时数月之久的斗争和苦难。 你们会问,我们的对策是什么?我认为是从地面,海上和空中发动的一场战争,—一场竭尽我们所能,竭尽上帝所赐予我们的全部力量的战争,一场与人类罪行簿上所记载的最黑暗,最悲哀的恶魔暴政相抗争的战争。 你们还会问,我们的目的是什么?我可以用一个词来回答,那就是胜利,——付出任何代价的胜利,不顾任何恐怖的胜利。没有胜利就没有生存。 我们必须意识到这一点:没有胜利,就没有大英帝国的存在,就没有大英帝国所代表的一切的存在,就没有愿望的存在,就没有时代理想的存在,就没有朝着人类目标的买进。 Translate the underlined part of the following text into English. Write your translation on ANSWER SHEET THREE. 中国民族自古以来从不把人看作高于一切,在哲学文艺方面的表现都反映出人在自然界中与万物占着一个比例较为恰当的地位,而非绝对统治万物的主宰。因此我们的苦闷,基本上比西方人为少为小;因为苦闷的强弱原是随欲望与野心的大小而转移的。农业社会的人比工业社会的人享受差得多,因此欲望也小得多。况中国古代素来以不滞于物,不为物役为最主要的人生哲学。并非我们没有守财奴,但比起莫里哀与巴尔扎克笔下的守财奴与野心家来,就小巫见大巫了。中国民族多数是性情中正和平、淡泊、朴实,比西方人容易满足。 Chinese people has never thought of human being as the highest creature among everything since ancient times,whose reflection takes a quite appropriate proportion with all others in our natural world in both aspects of philosophy and arts,but not as an absolute dominant ruler. Therefore,our bitterness and depression are basically less than those of westerners,because the intensity of which is growing with the expansion of one‘s desire and ambition. People in the agriculture society enjoyed far less than people in the industry society,thus their wants are far less either. Besides,ancient Chinese always regard “not confined by material,not driven by material” as the major philosophy. PartⅤ Writing Ambition Joseph Epstein, a famous American writer, once said, "We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide (so) that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about." Do you agree or disagree with him? Write an essay of about 400 words entitled: Ambition Joseph Epstein, a famous American writer, once said, " We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide (so) that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how different the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about." He gives due weight to the role of ambition in our life, but he ignores the fact that ambition alone cannot form or change a person's destiny. To fulfill ambition and "make us significant", we also need to be hard-working, persistent, and courageour. First of all, if you have know clearly what you want your life to be, it is hard work that carries you there. Take myself for example. I was born and grew up in a mountain village where many parents were illiterate and few children could go to first-class high schools, let alone enter college. Dissatisfied with living a farmer' life, I always dreamed of going to university and seeing the outside world. During the 12 years of schooling before college, I spent most of my time learning and worked harder than any classmate. Now, when I enjoy the fruits of my labor, I believe more firmly that "hard work" makes perfect Besides hard work, it takes persistence to travel on the path to your dream place. Numerous stories of success tell us that there is no royal road to great accomplishment. Thomas Edison experimented and failed hundreds of times before inventing the light bulb. Abraham Lincoln lost dozens of political elections before becoming president of the US. Whatever your ambition is, the way to achieve it is not always even. To get where you want, you sometimes have to be able to face setbacks, overcome obstacles, and above all never give up. In many other cases, it takes courage to do what you aspire to. Darwin would not have publicized his The Evolution of Species if he had been afraid to fight against his times. Amelia Earhart would not have become a pilot and realized her ambition to fly across the Atlantic Ocean if she had lacked the courage to defy social conventions. As these examples have illlustrated, if you have a strong faint in what you choose to do and in what you want to achieve, you must be strong enough to stick to it despite sneers, oppositions, and social pressure. I agree with Joseph Epstein that we can shape our own destiny, but as the above has shown, I am not convinced that ambition alone can make it happen. To turn our dreams into reality, we need to work hard, persevere and be brave.