WRITING I

Some people believe that the Earth is being harmed (damaged) by human activity. Others believe that human activity makes the Earth a better place to live. What is your opinion? Write a composition of about 400 words to state your viewpoint.

In the first part of your composition you should state clearly your main argument, and in the second part you should support your argument with appropriate details. In the last part you should bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or a summary.

Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.

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参考范文：

        There is a common saying: "Man in his forties is a flower in bloom, but woman is soy­bean residue.”A bit vulgar this saying may be, but it does tell us such a fact that man in his forties really possesses undeniable fascination.

In his career, a man at this age possesses the maturity and steadiness that a young lad lacks. Enthusiastic and warm-hearted as a lad may be, he is more brave than steady. Just like a school child, he is likely to make the mistake "Learning without thought is labor lost.” On the contrary, being an adult man, who possesses both vigor and maturity, he is steady yet full of zeal; wise and far-sighted, yet still vigorous in his work. Man at this stage is rich in experience and fond of learning and making progress.

There is no doubt that human activity has an effect on the planet. Some people maintain that human activity makes our earth a better place to live while others contradict this. Personally, I agree with the latter opinion. To begin with, we can see the evidence of mankind's endeavors all around us. Look­ing around, we may find out easily what we have done to the planet, which once was a blue sky with forests covering the whole lands as home to a diversity of creatures. The result of the examination may give us a surprise and force us to admit that the situation is not good for us. Waste is being dumped into rivers, landfills are everywhere and we may have noticed that there may well be several reports in today's newspapers about the leakage of the sunken oil tankers that pollute the sea seriously. The ecosystem of our world is at the edge of breakdown.

Secondly, though our planet gives us everything we need, her greedy son, our human beings, is killing the self-giving mother. We are too avaricious in taking what we want without giving anything back. What's more, we always want to get more than we actually need—more clothes, more food, more furniture, more factories, more cars—the more the better, and maybe the more the faster to bury ourselves by our own hands. You may argue that I am too pessimistic, but such things are facts as the sand storm happened in Beijing, the dead elephants without their beautiful ivories, the barren ground caused by over grazing, the sunken city made because of excessive exploration of groundwater, the tendency of global warming as a result of excessive emission of carbon-dioxide and many other envi­ronment problems. And the natural resources that are used as the main energy are not limitless as we once thought. Such energy as fuel, coal is becoming perilous and will be used up one day, and what can we do then? We can't wait to that day; we must do something to prevent things from becoming worse and worse. Maybe I am a little pessimistic, but to make things more serious than they really are can draw more attention. So as you see, people need to respect the Earth and try every means to preserve it. If we don't, what kind of future will we have? (394)

分析：

    该题要求考生对下面的观点发表自己的见解了人类活动是破坏了地球还是使地球变得更适合人类生存。这篇范文紧扣人类活动破坏了地球这一主题展开论述，观点明确。结构上采取了总一分—总，清晰明了。首先，第一段提出论点：地球正在遭  受人类活动的破坏。接着文章从两方面展开论述：一是在我们周围随处可见人类破坏地球的“罪证”。在此，作者重点列举了污染这一事实佐证；二是尽管地球提供了人类所需的一切，但贪婪的人类却从不满足于自己的所得，反而向地球母亲索取更多。作者在此用了一连串的排比，“more clothes, more food，more furniture...”，读起来朗朗上口，极具说服力；同时也列举了大量形象生动的例子，如北京的沙尘暴、因过度开采地下水而塌陷的城市等证明自己对此并不是悲规主义者，而是事实如此，呼吁人们对此重视。最后进行总结，并提出建议“we must do something to prevent things from becoming worse and worse”，同时提出质疑: “If we don't, what kind of future will we have?”最后一个问题发人深省，深化了文章主题。