WORDS: 476          TIME: 1:04:18          DATE: 2007-8-10

I agree with the speaker's assertion that how children are socialized today determines the destiny of society. However, I am disappointed that the speaker has no confidence to raise children to be the pillars of society.

First of all, in my opinion, the word of socialized contains four meanings:

1.) To place under group or government control; especially, to regulate according to socialist principles.

2.) To convert from an antisocial to a social attitude: make friendly, cooperative, or sociable.

3.) To convert or to adapt to the needs of social group.

4.) To take part in social activities.

As I mentioned above, children who will benefit to the society should be law-abiding, friendly, cooperative, sociable, adaptable, and active. Seemingly, that is really a hard mission to raise children to be available for society. However, it is unnecessary to raise a child to be a perfect person. In the history even today, many talents and heroes have weaknesses in their personalities, but these weaknesses do not impede their progress. Albert Einstein who was the greatest physical scientist of 20th century was ashamed to talk with others. Obviously, he was not good at sociable, active and even cooperative, but people respect him not only for his great achievement but also for his friendship. There is only one good personality we find among the six mentioned above. Nietzsche, the great Germany philosopher, he suffered from long term depression, and once tried to suicide. It is hard to imagine that he was available to the society, but his philosophy affects generations. The faithfulness was his best characteristic in his personalities.

By scrutinizing many aspects of this issue, I think our focus should turn to another direction--- how to define a person who is available to a better society. But it is difficult, because no one is perfect, every person may make mistakes, there must be some evil in human's personalities. A friendly man will have many friends, but he may not be adaptable. An adoptable man will adapt a strange circumstance rapidly, but he may not have any friends, and a sociable man may be a liar. But to define a person who is available to a better society, in other words, means to define a person who is harmful to a better society. Obviously, there will be only one answer----the criminal, which causes convulsions and instability.

Therefore, the speaker's anxiety is solved. We can just raise the children to be a law-abiding man, because harmony and stability are the foundation of leading to a prosperous society. Thus, the most important meaning of the socialized is the first one: to place under group or government control; especially, to regulate according to socialist principles. In fact, at present, many countries are taking their efforts for combating crimes. We have already learned how to raise children who can help bring about a better society.

WORDS: 435          TIME: 3:17:50          DATE: 2007-8-9

The speaker figures that society does not place enough emphasis on the intellect, especially on reasoning and other cognitive skills. Although the speaker does not put his assertion directly, I think he is against this phenomenon. It is my brief that modern society is suffering more from the monopoly of the cold logic. Almost all fields in society, from education to industry, and from domesticity to international, we are being restricted by various rules, policies, dogmas, regulations, and so forth.

In education, the standardized "reasonable" tests are doing more to discipline or, in other words, to limit rather that to free students' mind. Almost every question of nature science has a certain process to get one and only one right answer, which we should use the formulas, theorems and axioms. I think over-discipline will make students' mind blind-sided. There is a question: one and only one boat is tying up aside the river, which can carry one person each time, but two persons are going to cross the river at the same time, at last they get it. How can they get it? I am not killing you, nearly 90 percent of my classmates are totally confused, and most of them are good at math and logic.

You may design many methods to make it possible that one cross at first, and then let the boat come back, but the answer is the two people are in the opposite bank.

In industry, the assembly line or the more recent computerization of office is trying to format our mind and behavior. We over-obey the company's rules and conform the interpersonal relationship, as a result, we lose our spirits of passion, creation, optimism and cooperation. One may use the MSN not directly-telling to send massages to his colleague whom is sitting nearly. And some workers only need to look at the assembly line with an empty mind. Machine doesn't make mistakes.

Actually, the reasoning and cognitive skills are people's fundamental elements in our daily life, we have many opportunities to train our reasoning and cognitive mind. For example, when you plan to invest some shares in stoke market, you must analyze the company's balance sheet and profit-loss sheet at first, according to the given information and present economy trend to decide that share is valuable or not to invest.

Therefore, in an age of information and technology it is more imperative today for us to emphasize on the cultivation of emotion and imagination. The only way to success of individual, organization, or even society is to strive for the aim with emotional mind and rational skills. 

WORDS: 413          TIME: 2:43:12          DATE: 2007-8-8

The speaker actually tables a question: who create the history, heroes or ordinary people? Obviously, this controversial question seems have only one answer. By scrutinizing many aspects of this question, I think a alternative answer can not conclude a satisfied result.

First of all, leaving the answers alone, let's talk about the reasons of the two opposite parties:

People who think the history is created by heroes will say:

In the history, the heroes play a dominant and crucial role in most significant events and trends. Columbus discovered the new continent, George Washington leaded the War of Independence, Edison invented the electric-light, our world will totally different without these great persons. Heroes can accelerate the development of the process of society. Without heroes' great contribution, American may till be the UK's colony, and people may still use candle in night. It is heroes who change our world. Therefore, heroes create the history.

People who think the history is created by ordinary people will say:

Of course, heroes have their contribution in the history, however, if there is no ordinary people to participate into the significant events and trends, nothing can be done, because without ordinary people's work, human's cultures and spirits will not deliver and spread; without food, house and road, human can not survive; without ordinary people, all of the great ideas, revolutions, wars mean nothing. Even more, many heroes came from ordinary people. Therefore, the ordinary people create history.

To analyze these reasons, both of two sides can not assure their answers come into existence, in other words, either can not prove one another is wrong. So what is the key point? In my opinion, I think it is the heroes and ordinary people who create history together. But due to the contribution of heroes is more significance than of ordinary people, I think that people who support heroes creating the history win this controversy. Here it is but nothing more.

However, I am skeptical about this controversy's meaning. It just seems that we are talking about what makes us win the battle, the general's sensible decision-making or soldiers' valiant fight? It is ridiculous and paradoxical. We are all the part of history, and we are all creating the history of ourselves. The study of history places too much emphasis on individuals, because the heroes' spirits, behaviors, thoughts and stories are representative an era's characteristics, which is good materials to educate next generation and is worth to record in the books.

TOPIC: ISSUE38 - "In the age of television, reading books is not as important as it once was. People can learn as much by watching television as they can by reading books."

WORDS: 430          TIME: 3:59:42          DATE: 2007-8-8

In the age of television, I agree with speaker’s assertion that people can learn as much by watching television as they can by reading books. But I don't think reading books is not as important as it once was.

Generally speaking, television support us a platform to collect numerous in formations in a very short time, we can get the news happened in world in the first time. If a serious accident just happened in Japan, one minute after, we can watch it on television in American. In the past, we should travel a long journey to seek the different cultures, landscapes and architectures, but now we just stay at home and turn on the television, every thing appears on the screen. And information supported by television is direct, objective, three-dimensional and colorful images rather than books of which is indirect, subjective and abstract.

However, the TV programs is controlled by TV stations, they play programs according to the audience rating. You may want to watch some programs about European art, but all TV stations are playing soap opera. You may want to watch a talk show again played in last Monday, but the TV station will not replay it just for you. And the most information without selected, which may cause confusion. And people will pay more attention on entertained programs than educational.

Therefore, reading books is as important as it once was. To compare with television, the classification of books is systematic, including philosophy, natural science, literature, art, and so forth. You can select books according to your interests and needs. And books are convenient to carry, people could read books on chair, bed, bus and so on. If a student wants to study something thoroughly, books not television are the best choice, which is the most important predominance of books relative to television. The books to be a form of  written record have being used for thousands of years, which is the best form to record human history and wisdom, even today, students remain studying knowledge from books. Books as the oldest source of intellectuals treasure will not be substituted, just like we have computer and printer, but we still reserve and use the note and pen.

To sum up, in the era of rapid improvement of science and technology, both television and books have predominance and limits. The television can deliver the last information in time, and the classification of books is systematic. The best way of learning is to combine the two forms together to exert their strongpoint. In that way, we will learn knowledge and information more efficient than before. 

TOPIC: ISSUE17 - "There are two types of laws: just and unjust. Every individual in a society has a responsibility to obey just laws and, even more importantly, to disobey and resist unjust laws."

WORDS: 412          TIME: 1:17:11          DATE: 2007-8-2

How can we judge a law is just or unjust? That is a question about moral, value, brief and equity, which may have different standards in different nations. I do strongly agree with that everyone has a responsibility to obey just laws, and disobey and resist unjust laws. However, we don't have a unified principle to establish a just law.

In fact, people live in the same country may also have different judgment about some controversial behaviors, for instance, the homosexual. Obviously, there are tow kind of points about homosexual-----one is acceptance and others resistance. We cannot simply judge one of the tow points is right or wrong, because different people have different morals and briefs. People who support homosexual may say that every person has the right to choose their lovers' gender, because the real love should be respected. But the opponents will say that the homosexual not only disobey human's civilization but also cause AIDS. I think this argument will not finish unless our society achieve a great development both in liberty and science.

In the era of globalization, we constitute some unified laws in which most of them are business related. These laws solve many problems of commercial issues between countries. And we also established the Hague Tribunal to deraign the international issues including economic, politic, and military affairs etc. However, these efforts cannot radically solve the question of just. Almost every year, there are many criminals go into exile especially persons who are sentenced to death, which bring many troubles into international, because some countries reserve the execution but some are not. As we know, the US is the rest few developed countries which reserves execution. To compare with China, the judgment of execution is more careful, the average time from trail to sentence is nine years, which mainly aim to give the criminals enough time to excuse, and to seek more detailed evidences. Unfortunately, the reason of American doing this so carefully is a wrong case of execution happened in 1960s---- they killed a guiltless person.

There are two types of laws: just and unjust. But the most important thing is how can we judge it? Every individual in a society has a responsibility to obey just laws, but the truth is we shouldn't judge it in haste by our conventional or unreasonable morals, values and briefs. These subjective ideas will be changed along with society's progress. Maybe the most just law is our humanity and tolerance. 

 TOPIC: ISSUE2 - "Competition is ultimately more beneficial than detrimental to society."

WORDS: 334          TIME: 1:35:58          DATE: 2007-8-2

In this era of rapid social and technological change leading to increase the competition, both positive and negative exist in our lives.

Competition is the engine of society's development. For students, they can learn many things from the competition such as ability of solving complex questions with their own, and they can find their weakness of their individualities to improve and perfect themselves. For a company's employer, one could learn much about the social abilities, the communication skills, and the professional knowledge, which benefit him or her to get the opportunity of promotions. For countries, the competition leads their people to pursue further aims in order to establish a more beautiful home. No one doubt that the competition mean aggression, advance and success because we learn from the competition, and we win from being better than others.

However, in modern society, people's eager to the money and status leads to competition become a double-edges sword, which perhaps a potential element of danger to society. Some companies bribe the government officials in order to get the contract of an important project which can bring them huge money; as a result, the best company cannot build the most important project. That is ridiculous to a country's establishment. It also happens on individuals, one may do everything possible to obstacle his or her competitors' success. That is abnormal to a person's humanity.

Sum up, the competition should be based on the cooperation，for instance, the teamwork. When we take part in a team for a common purpose, we always help each others and take care with each others, we always discuss an issue together in order to conclude a perfect answer, and the discussion fill with passion but abuse, we always encourage but critic when some of our partners make a mistake. That is a spirit about cooperation and tolerance which is the aesthesis of human beings. If every people can compete with a cooperating heart, I do believe the competition will be ultimately beneficial to the society. 

TOPIC: ISSUE41 - "Such nonmainstream areas of inquiry as astrology, fortune-telling, and psychic and paranormal pursuits play a vital role in society by satisfying human needs that are not addressed by mainstream science."

WORDS: 452          TIME: 3:32:58          DATE: 2007-8-7

Frankly speaking, I don't believe astrology and fortune-telling, but I am interested in psychic and paranormal pursuits. I should point out that it is distinguished between former(astrology and fortune-telling) and latter(psychic and paranormal), and therefore, the roles of theses two different nonmainstream areas is different, but both of them can not play vital roles as well as the mainstream science in society, and my reasons as blew:

First, I think the astrology is ridiculous. The localities of stars in sky need thousands of years to move a little distance in sight, which yet human eyes can not distinguish. No one can be alive so many years. It is impossible that someone foresee something according to the different localities of stars. If suddenly you cannot see a star in night, that must be cloudy, or the air pollution. As regards the fortune-telling, which looks like a joke, how can the prognosticator know the future? The crystal ball? I can see nothing except myself when I am gazing the ball. And maybe the crystal ball is made by glass. These professions are just for cheating your money.

But the psychic and paranormal pursuits are something different, because the curiosity of to the unknown things is human's nature. Just about the curiosity, we explore the human body's secrets and establish the international space station, and we went to the moon, which is the greatest achievement in human history. In some spheres, curiosity stimulates human's spirit of exploration

Second, no matter how development of these nonmainstream areas of inquiry is, it can not crash the vital role of science in society. Along with the improvement of science and technology, we have explained large numbers of questions which made us confused and scared in the past. For example, the ancients thought the earth was plane, and the human was created by God. But now, we know that the earth is round, and the gravity keep us standing on the ground. And the human evolved from ape. The ancients' limited ability of organization of the world and disadvanced technology caused confusion and scare to the mysterious nature, as a result, such mysticism as astrology and fortune-tell puzzled people's mind. If the astrology and fortune-tell remain deluding people's eyes, the world will not advance anymore.

At last, such nonmainstream areas of inquiry as astrology, fortune-tell, and psychic and paranormal pursuits never replace the mainstream science to be a vital and major role in society. Human's spirits of exploration can make our society and science developing constantly, which reveal and disclose those what make us confused and scared phenomenon. It is rational thoughts and logical minds satisfy human's needs, and psychic and paranormal pursuits are just about the curiosity. 

TOPIC: ISSUE51 - "Education will be truly effective only when it is specifically designed to meet the individual needs and interests of each student."

WORDS: 439          TIME: 3:51:33          DATE: 2007-8-6

I agree with speaker's assertion that the education should be designed according to students' needs and interests. However, if the education only arrange curriculums by students' needs and interests, it seems unreasonable.

No one would doubt that the interest is the best teacher for a student. When a student finds his interest, he will take effort on it, no matter how many obstacles in that field. The interest is actually energy to stimulate students find their way on the study. Let me tell you my friend's story: we called him Eggs, because he was not good at school curriculums such as mathematics, geography, and physics, and once he got zero in mathematic exam. But surprisingly, in the graduation ceremony of middle school, he played Beethoven’s famous SYMPHONY NO.5 OP. 67/IV.Allegro with piano. And I said to him:” Sorry, man. We thought you were idiot, but you are absolutely not!" He said:" That's ok. I just love in piano." From this story, I learn that every individual has his own talent, it just we may not have a chance to show or to study it. If our school can support curriculums according by individual's interests, I think the educations will more effective than before. When all is said and done, you can not expect all the students to be musicians, novelists, or artists. It is necessary to support some curriculums according to social demands, in order to help students find a satisfying job.

However, it is not enough to a person only learn one skill in the modern society. If there are some grammar mistakes in our resume when we are looking for a job, it's a joke. And if a painter doesn’t know the computer can paint picture too, it's ridiculous. Can you imagine that American president doesn’t know where the Iraq is? Therefore, the British philosopher, Francis Bacon once said:" Histories make men wise; poems witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend." That means it is important to the personality of individuals have a comprehensive knowledge system.

Admittedly, the ultimate purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one, and to help students become autonomous, creative, inquiring people who have the will and intelligence to benefit our society. It is necessary to our education design curriculums to meet the individual needs and interests of each student. However, we should not neglect the effect of basic knowledge such as the history, poem, mathematics, natural philosophy, logic and so forth. A society’s development need generalists as well as specialists, an individual's development also needs comprehensive knowledge system.  

TOPIC: ISSUE144 - "It is the artist, not the critic, ‘who gives society something of lasting value.’ a person who evaluates works of art, such as novels, films, music, paintings, etc”.

WORDS: 294          TIME: 2:28:36          DATE: 2007-8-7

Who gives society something of lasting value? Does the artist create value or pursue ego? Is the critic a spectator or adherent? The speaker's idea makes me contemplative.

The artist is the creator of every kind of beauty.

For artist, the idea and language is the tools of art.

The part of people's moral life makes up of artist's subject matter.

There is no diseased artist, he can give voice to everything.

For artist, both goodness and evil are the materials of art.

Artist has no moral tropism, if not, that is unpardonate ornament of style.

Artist wants to prove nothing, because even unrealistic thing can be proved.

The critic is a person who translates the art to another form or a new thing.

The bibliographical criticism is the form of criticism both in highest grade and lowest grade.

Persons who think beauty is beauty are sensible.

Persons who find beauty from the beauty is educated and

When critics' opinions to a work can not be unified, artists' opinions are unified.

The dispute to an art work means creation, complexity and vitality.

It is depraved not diverting to find the definition from beauty, which is a mistake.

In 19th century, the abomination to the realism came from the fury that critics find themselves in the works, and the abomination to the romanticism came from the fury that critics can not find themselves in the works.

Maybe the real things that the art wants to put are the spectator not the life.

And the purpose of art is to reveal art and secrete the artist.

Every kind of art is quite unpractical, but its meaning exits in both outside and inside, anybody should undertake their ventures when they dive into the art and read it out.  

TOPIC: ISSUE36 - "The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."

WORDS: 454          TIME: 3:19:32          DATE: 2007-8-5

I am skeptical about speaker's assertion that the greatness of individuals can be only judged by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries. Didn't Mark Twain become a famous novelist and a household name in his life time? Didn't Mozart's music gain people's appreciation in his short-lived 35 years? And didn't Albert Einstein obtain other scientists' identification when he created the theory of relativity?

Admittedly, in the human history, there were many great persons didn't get his merited admiration in his contemporary era. But this phenomena is normal because sometimes the great man's achievement and theory totally exceed ordinary people's ability of understanding, even more some of them challenge the authority and tradition. Nicolaus Copernicus, the Poland astronomer and the father of modern astronomy, he didn't publish his theory of solar system until died, just because he was fear of inquisition's persecution. And Giordano Btuno who is the great Italy philosopher and ideologist, was executed by the inquisition because of insisting on Copernicus theory and criticizing the theology. And in the past, the governor always advocated what he liked and destroyed what he disliked, especially, anything weakened his dominion. Additionally, in any eras of history, people's judgment may be affected by the political pressure and the direction of public opinion. 

However, the particular evidences of history cannot prove today's condition. Everything changes. Along with society’s development and technology's advance, people's mind is more open than before, and people's knowledge is more advanced than predecessors. And a democratic society could support us an equal and unrestricted space to pursuit our dream, to advocate our assertion, and to fight for our rights. For example, American black leader, Martin Luther King who published the famous speech---"I have a dream" to 250 thousand people in front of the Lincoln memorial, he combated the discrimination and fight for human rights, as a result, he got the Noble Prize of the Peace in 1964. It is impossible to imagine that happen in the past of Btruno and Copernicus' time, though his death is a tragedy. From this example, we learn that the key point of deciding an individuals' greatness is not about time but people's mind and society's development.

At last, how paradoxical that we should neglect our any accomplishments and say nothing about any great creation and innovations, if we can only wait for people who live after us to judge our fruitions and achievements. If the speaker's idea is true, I am afraid no one wants to be a great man. It is a tragedy if the era we living is no hero. Therefore, we cannot give up the opportunity to give the great person a merited approval and prize, even though we may make some mistakes.   

TOPIC: ISSUE11 - "All nations should help support the development of a global university designed to engage students in the process of solving the world's most persistent social problems."

WORDS: 342          TIME: 3:16:33          DATE: 2007-8-4

The speaker claims that all nations should help support the development of a global university in order to engage students in the process of solving the world's most persistent social problems. Indeed, although, in recent years, human get a amazing improvement especially in the field of international problems, human beings generate numerous problems as well. I do agree to establish a global university to support such an efficient platform to address these persistent social problems as long as to avoid some negative factors by scrutinizing some spheres of this suggestion.

First of all, the issues we study in the university should be the mutual problems such as the energy crisis, poverty, environmental pollution but relate to the sovereignty, religion brief and so on. We should analysis these problems from different aspects and compare with these problems in different countries' situation to find the crucial reasons and then conclude the feasible plans. For instance, there is a good example---WTO, which facilitates the economic development of the world based on fully considering the differences between developed countries and developing countries.

Second, some problems such as the human rights, culture conflicts, and national animosity, etc. are caused by misunderstanding and discrimination. A global university can support a platform to increase the mutual understanding involved in diversified cultures, folk-customs, ideologies and so on, in which will benefit to communication with people come from different countries to mitigate the conflicts.

However, as well as the complicated world, the misunderstanding and discrimination may also exist in the global university that may exacerbate some pressing and sensitive international problems. Therefore, we should avoid, at least control this unreasonable attitude to destroy our initial purpose---to solve the problems. We should concentrate our energy on what is worth for.

Like the two sides of the coin, a global university may exert its function and may not. We should always insist on equity and justice to absorb different sounds, and make every nation as possible to gain an equal opportunity to participate in this institution, and share all the fruition to the world.

TOPIC: ISSUE7 - "The video camera provides such an accurate and convincing record of contemporary life that it has become a more important form of documentation than written records."

WORDS: 477          TIME: 2:30:04          DATE: 2007-8-3

There are four forms of documentation: video camera, written record, images, and radio type. All of them have their own characteristics, and all of them can help us reserve our memories. Here we just talk about the video camera and written record mentioned by the speaker.

First, the video camera is product of high technology, which can bring us visible, vivid, real, continuous images just like watching a movie. And it is easy to record the occasional affairs conveniently and rapidly such as an accident or a big ceremony. I think the video camera is the best choice for traveling. Last year, I went to Beijing for traveling, I recorded many interested things and places with my video camera such as the crowded subway, the beautiful Summer Palace and the Great Wall and so on. That is absolutely a memorable experience in my life, every time I review those records from my computer, it just like I've been there again. And the video camera record is easy to preserve, you just need only to save it into your computer, when you want to watch it, click it, and then the memory of the past appears. What a useful tool the human create!

Second, the written record which has being used for thousands of years. Almost all the human history is recorded by written before the VCR was created, and we learn so much from these records. As far as now, it is still an important type to record our lives and people's activities, and to be the most important way to disseminate human civilization. For example, students study knowledge from books which record our predecessor's wisdom and story. And when we read a novel, the ravishing plots give us a wide space to imagine.

But both the video camera and the book are not perfect. The video camera cannot record a very long time event, and some people will feel nervous when they are facing camera lens that may make the records lose its faciticy. And some politic and military meetings do not permit to use the camera. By the cost of the video camera is still further higher than other types of documentations, not every people can afford it. In another hand, the written records may be impacted by authors' subjective ideas. And it is difficult to keep a long time. We should keep it away from water, and prevent fire; of course the insect pest is also potential insecurity. So it is difficult to compare which one of the tow types is more important than another.

At last, I do believe that there will be a better recording form of documentation created in the future which solving all the questions and ultimately replace other forms. But now, both the video camera and written records are important as forms of documentation to record our lives and history.