Issue-16.Some people believe that in order to be effective, political leaders must yield to public opinion and abandon principle for the sake of compromise. Others believe that the most essential quality of an effective leader is the ability to remain consistently committed to particular principles and objectives.

满分范文赏析

Today’s democratic structure is rooted in the ideas of ancient Greek philosophers. These men advocated for the respect of the individual beings and so they devised an electoral system which could represent the will of the people in government. Over time, the concept of democracy reigned in power and authority, and theoretically ended the age of totalitarianism. Driven by this trend, contemporary politicians are deprived of certain freedom in that they can no longer behave in the way they would like to. That is, being forced to simultaneously attend to a variety of ideological points of view restricts government leaders. In cases like these, it ispossible that leaders must abandon principle for the sake of compromise.

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本段首先简介了现代民主的起源及演变，前两句说到古希腊哲学家在怎样的基础上建立民主，第三句说了民主的成果——结束了集权主义时代。接下来，作者提到在此形势下，当代政治家的特点。民主令他们不能完全遵循个人决定，而是需要兼顾多种意识形态的观点。尾句总结道，领导人为了折衷妥协，很可能需要背弃一些原则。  

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总启全文，介绍背景。既谈到了当前民主政治的大背景，又提到了领导人和原则在此背景下的关系。  

The key to success in democratic politicsis to gain and maintain political power. Such power comes from certain identification of the public morality with the politician’s private one and the balance of different groups’ benefits and demands. Consequently, the politician’s attitudes, behavior and even the lifestyle are tightly restrictedfor fear that any departure from public’s taste may cause a loss of support. Intoday’s world, a successful politician may never enjoy the freedom enjoyed bythe people he or she is meant to represent.

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第二段采用总分结构，首句提出本段讨论的中心：民主政治成功的关键是维护政权。那么维护政权（保证领导的效力）和政治家是什么关系？接下来作者指出，因为维护政权需要平衡政治家自身、民众和多方的需求，所以政治家做出的每个举动都会有所顾虑，他们怕因难以满足公众需求而失去支持。尾句总结道现今成功的政治家都无法享受到他们所代表的民众可以享受的完全的自由。  

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论述了在民主政治中，政治家坚守原则与否与政权成功的关系。  

On the contrary, in less democratic governments, leaders are afforded the opportunity to maintain a single partyline whether it offends the people or not. While these leaders are often prone to abuses of power, they can more efficiently direct the path of a country andare never forced to make compromises that threaten founding principles.

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第一句话提出less democratic governments的领导人的特点：走一党执政的路线。第二句解释说这样领导人虽然容易滥用职权，滋生腐败，但不用对威胁基本原则的势力妥协，可以更有力地进行领导。  

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与前一段围绕的主题进行对比，解释问题的另一方面，即less democratic  governments的领导人的领导力。  

In conclusion, I think that while abuse of power needs to be reigned in, it is better to be consistently committed to particular principles and objectives.  Democracy, as it is currently being practicedin countries like America, is too costly, financially and ideologically. Countries like China, wherein democracy is practiced within a single party, are not burdened with being forced to attend to special interests that challenge acountrie’s founding principles and objectives.

【此段结构】  

总分。第一句先提出了作者的结论：尽管需要考虑滥用权力的现象，领导人还是始终坚持特定的原则和目标为佳。接下来又简单重申了理由，作者认为像美国那种现行民主保持领导力付出的代价太高，而中国这种一党内民主的国家则可以保持领导力，使基本原则不受对其有挑战的利益方所影响。  

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总结。重申了作者对领导人是否坚守原则和保持领导力之间关系的观点。  

满分要素剖析

一、语言表达
本文虽然不长，但总体表达流畅，使用的语法形式较多，时态准确，用词没有过于花哨但涵盖到一些GRE级别的词汇，连接词语的使用令文章非常通顺。

1.Driven by this trend,contemporary politicians are deprived of certain freedom in that they can nolonger behave in the way they would like to. 这一句的driven是过去分词作为状语，表示主语contemporary politicians与drive（驱使、驱动）这个动词之间的被动关系。谓语动词deprive也采用了被动，表示实施这一动作的主体在此并不太重要，因为发生在主语contemporarypoliticians身上的结果才是强调的重点。Inthat在此表示因为、由于，比较书面化。

2.The key to success indemocratic politics is to gain and maintain political power. 这句话中is后面的to引导的部分为不定式做表语，表明主语The key to success in democratic politics“是什么”，起表述作用。

3.Countries like China, wherein democracy is practiced within a single party, are not burdened with being forced to attend to special interests that challenge a countrie’s founding principles and objectives. 这一句的wherein引导了非限定性定语从句，表示in place where之意。Attend to这个短语用得很好，表示take care of和deal with两层意思。

二、逻辑结构
本题需要考生对政治领导人坚守原则与否和领导有效性的关系表明自己的立场。这篇文章采取了分总结构，表达了作者对题目的看法。文章的首段先以民主起源开头，围绕民主政治现状做了简单解说，也谈及了在此条件下当代政治家的特点。第二段作者认为，民主政治的特性使其领导人需要平衡各方意见以保证支持，维护政权。第三段作者用less democratic governments的领导人与前一段的情况做了对比，提出尽管集权易滋生腐败，但是更利于坚持原则，保证领导的效力。全文的最后一段，作者作了总结，概括了自己的立场。他/她认为领导人还需坚守一些基本准则以利于更有效力的领导。