Issue 12
"Anyone can make things bigger and more complex. What requires real effort and courage is to move in the opposite direction——in other words, to make things as simple as possible."
Whether making things simple requires greater effort and courage than making them bigger and more complex depends on the sort of effort and courage. Indisputably, the many complex technological marvels that are part-and-parcel of our Lives today are the result of the extraordinary cumulative efforts of our engineers, entrepreneurs, and others. And, such achievements always call for the courage to risk failing in a large way. Yet, humans seem naturally driven to make things bigger and more complex; thus refraining from doing so, or reversing this natural process, takes considerable effort and courage of a different sort, as discussed below.
精華：Indisputably,…part-and-parcel of = necessity/essentiality of…不可或缺的部分
The statement brings immediately to mind the ever-growing and increasingly complex digital world. Today's high-tech firms seem compelled to boldly go to whatever effort is required to devise increasingly complex products, for the ostensible purpose of staying ahead of their competitors. Yet, the sort of effort and courage to which the statement refers is a different one——bred of vision, imagination, and a willingness to forego near term profits for the prospect of making lasting contributions. Surely, a number of entrepreneurs and engineers today are mastering that courage, and are making the effort to create far simpler, yet more elegant, technologies and applications, which will truly make our lives simpler in sharp contrast to what computer technology has delivered to us so far.
精華：seem compelled to boldly go to whatever effort is required to for the ostensible purpose of…stay ahead of…
a different one——bred of vision, imagination, and a willingness to forego near term profits for the prospect of making lasting contributions in sharp contrast to what computer technology has delivered to us so far
Lending even more credence to the statement is the so-called "big government" phenomenon. Human societies have a natural tendency to create unwieldy bureaucracies, a fitting example of which is the U.S. tax-law system. The Internal Revenue Code and its accompanying Treasury Regulations have grown so voluminous and complex that many certified accountants and tax attorneys admit that they cannot begin to understand it all. Admittedly, this system has grown only through considerable effort on the part of all three branches of the federal government, not to mention the efforts of many special interest groups. Yet, therein lies the statement's credibility. It requires great effort and courage on the part of a legislator to risk alienating special interest groups, thereby risking reelection prospects, by standing on principle for a simpler tax system that is less costly to administer and better serves the interests of most taxpayers.
精華：Lending even more credence to the statement is…
stand on principle for…
Adding further credibility to the statement is the tendency of most people to complicate their personal lives——a tendency that seems especially strong in today's age of technology and consumerism. The greater our mobility, the greater our number of destinations each day; the more time-saving gadgets we use, the more activities we try to pack \into\ our day; and with readier access to information we try to assimilate more of it each day. I am hard-pressed to think of one person who has ever exclaimed to me how much effort and courage it has taken to complicate his or her life in these respects. In contrast, a certain self-restraint and courage of conviction are both required to eschew modern conveniences, to simplify one's daily schedule, and to establish and adhere to a simple plan for the use of one's time and money.
In sum, whether we are building computer networks, government agencies, or personal lifestyles, great effort and courage are required to make things simple, or to keep them that way. Moreover, because humans naturally tend to make things big and complex, it arguably requires more effort and courage to move in the opposite direction. In the final analysis, making things simple——or keeping them that way——takes a brand of effort born of reflection and restraint rather than sheer exertion, and a courage character and conviction rather than unbridled ambition.
最后這兩段個(gè)人認(rèn)為是整篇文章的精華了，因?yàn)闊o(wú)論從思想還是從語(yǔ)言都是精品了。我們常聽(tīng)到一些g友痛苦的呼聲：天啊！我們這些non-native speakers什么時(shí)候才能練成像這些人一樣能夠"I think in English, therefore I write in English."畢竟，我們十幾年甚至幾十年來(lái)都是在非英語(yǔ)環(huán)境中成長(zhǎng)，gre作文簡(jiǎn)直是在挑戰(zhàn)我們的極限了——在短短數(shù)月之間就要寫出一篇super professional, and super insightful的文章來(lái)。但是，我們有想過(guò)嗎？既然現(xiàn)在時(shí)間那么緊迫，想一步登天是不大可能的情況下，為何不能邊用中文思索societal phenomena,邊狂練英語(yǔ)句法，雖然作出來(lái)的成品(作文)會(huì)有點(diǎn)別扭，但好過(guò)一直停留在托福的水平上呀。另外，我們不要忘記，做了gre的閱讀后，我們的閱讀和理解能力已大大提高了，我們的思維方式也必將有所轉(zhuǎn)變，而這些都是對(duì)我們準(zhǔn)備作文很有幫助的。因此，我強(qiáng)烈建議：1.多看多讀有g(shù)re風(fēng)味的句子，無(wú)論多么晦澀都要好好琢磨個(gè)中含意；2.堅(jiān)持發(fā)掘?qū)δ阌杏玫纳鐣?huì)現(xiàn)象，聯(lián)系實(shí)際，模仿gre的思維方式，大膽brainstorm，提出自己的見(jiàn)解，與其他人一起探討問(wèn)題，將會(huì)受益匪淺。
"Anyone can make things bigger and more complex. What requires real effort and courage is to move in the opposite direction——in other words, to make things as simple as possible."
Whether making things simple requires greater effort and courage than making them bigger and more complex depends on the sort of effort and courage. Indisputably, the many complex technological marvels that are part-and-parcel of our Lives today are the result of the extraordinary cumulative efforts of our engineers, entrepreneurs, and others. And, such achievements always call for the courage to risk failing in a large way. Yet, humans seem naturally driven to make things bigger and more complex; thus refraining from doing so, or reversing this natural process, takes considerable effort and courage of a different sort, as discussed below.
精華：Indisputably,…part-and-parcel of = necessity/essentiality of…不可或缺的部分
The statement brings immediately to mind the ever-growing and increasingly complex digital world. Today's high-tech firms seem compelled to boldly go to whatever effort is required to devise increasingly complex products, for the ostensible purpose of staying ahead of their competitors. Yet, the sort of effort and courage to which the statement refers is a different one——bred of vision, imagination, and a willingness to forego near term profits for the prospect of making lasting contributions. Surely, a number of entrepreneurs and engineers today are mastering that courage, and are making the effort to create far simpler, yet more elegant, technologies and applications, which will truly make our lives simpler in sharp contrast to what computer technology has delivered to us so far.
精華：seem compelled to boldly go to whatever effort is required to for the ostensible purpose of…stay ahead of…
a different one——bred of vision, imagination, and a willingness to forego near term profits for the prospect of making lasting contributions in sharp contrast to what computer technology has delivered to us so far
Lending even more credence to the statement is the so-called "big government" phenomenon. Human societies have a natural tendency to create unwieldy bureaucracies, a fitting example of which is the U.S. tax-law system. The Internal Revenue Code and its accompanying Treasury Regulations have grown so voluminous and complex that many certified accountants and tax attorneys admit that they cannot begin to understand it all. Admittedly, this system has grown only through considerable effort on the part of all three branches of the federal government, not to mention the efforts of many special interest groups. Yet, therein lies the statement's credibility. It requires great effort and courage on the part of a legislator to risk alienating special interest groups, thereby risking reelection prospects, by standing on principle for a simpler tax system that is less costly to administer and better serves the interests of most taxpayers.
精華：Lending even more credence to the statement is…
stand on principle for…
Adding further credibility to the statement is the tendency of most people to complicate their personal lives——a tendency that seems especially strong in today's age of technology and consumerism. The greater our mobility, the greater our number of destinations each day; the more time-saving gadgets we use, the more activities we try to pack \into\ our day; and with readier access to information we try to assimilate more of it each day. I am hard-pressed to think of one person who has ever exclaimed to me how much effort and courage it has taken to complicate his or her life in these respects. In contrast, a certain self-restraint and courage of conviction are both required to eschew modern conveniences, to simplify one's daily schedule, and to establish and adhere to a simple plan for the use of one's time and money.
In sum, whether we are building computer networks, government agencies, or personal lifestyles, great effort and courage are required to make things simple, or to keep them that way. Moreover, because humans naturally tend to make things big and complex, it arguably requires more effort and courage to move in the opposite direction. In the final analysis, making things simple——or keeping them that way——takes a brand of effort born of reflection and restraint rather than sheer exertion, and a courage character and conviction rather than unbridled ambition.
最后這兩段個(gè)人認(rèn)為是整篇文章的精華了，因?yàn)闊o(wú)論從思想還是從語(yǔ)言都是精品了。我們常聽(tīng)到一些g友痛苦的呼聲：天啊！我們這些non-native speakers什么時(shí)候才能練成像這些人一樣能夠"I think in English, therefore I write in English."畢竟，我們十幾年甚至幾十年來(lái)都是在非英語(yǔ)環(huán)境中成長(zhǎng)，gre作文簡(jiǎn)直是在挑戰(zhàn)我們的極限了——在短短數(shù)月之間就要寫出一篇super professional, and super insightful的文章來(lái)。但是，我們有想過(guò)嗎？既然現(xiàn)在時(shí)間那么緊迫，想一步登天是不大可能的情況下，為何不能邊用中文思索societal phenomena,邊狂練英語(yǔ)句法，雖然作出來(lái)的成品(作文)會(huì)有點(diǎn)別扭，但好過(guò)一直停留在托福的水平上呀。另外，我們不要忘記，做了gre的閱讀后，我們的閱讀和理解能力已大大提高了，我們的思維方式也必將有所轉(zhuǎn)變，而這些都是對(duì)我們準(zhǔn)備作文很有幫助的。因此，我強(qiáng)烈建議：1.多看多讀有g(shù)re風(fēng)味的句子，無(wú)論多么晦澀都要好好琢磨個(gè)中含意；2.堅(jiān)持發(fā)掘?qū)δ阌杏玫纳鐣?huì)現(xiàn)象，聯(lián)系實(shí)際，模仿gre的思維方式，大膽brainstorm，提出自己的見(jiàn)解，與其他人一起探討問(wèn)題，將會(huì)受益匪淺。