Issue-22.Claim: The best way to understand the character of a society is to examine the character of the men and women that the society chooses as its heroes or its role models because heroes and role models reveal a society's highest ideals.

满分范文赏析

The claim above asserts that to understand the character of society it is most useful to examine the character of the men and women that are boosted up as heroes and role models. I disagree with this assertion. Let’s examine the argument.

【此段结构】  

开头段，第一句解释了题目的主张；第二句提出了作者的观点（disagree）；最后一句引导读者进入下文具体论述。  

【此段功能】  

解释题目，提出观点。  

To begin with, heroes and role models do reflect mainstream values and the assertions, on this point, are valid. For example, Rev. Martin Luther King, an equal rights activist, is admired by th emajority of American people because his ideas reflected their feelings—that all men are created equal. Without the efforts of Martin Luther King, blacks in America may still have been facing inequality today. Similarly, in the fight against gender bias, Susan Stanton and Elizabeth B. Thorn have been remembered andregarded for their contribution in paving the way for women rights, which,again, reflects the values of American society.

【此段结构】  

非常明显的总分结构。第一句话趁人英雄模范确实反映了社会主流价值观。在此层面上，题目中的主张是valid的。也就是说，作者认为研究英雄模范可以作为研究社会特征的一个切入点。作者举了马丁路德金以及Susan Stanton与Elizabeth B. Thorn的例子，解释这些人物如何反映了社会的大潮流和主要需求。  

【此段功能】  

解释问题的一个方面。承认英雄模范的特征可以反映社会主流价值观。  

Let’s have a look at the argument from another angle. As we all know, the US is best characterized by diversity. In societies like America, I don’t think that the hero’s and role models necessarily reflect the character of the country. If we were to accept the argument that hero’s and role models in America reflect the people in general, we will have discounted a number of different cultural characteristics that are important within American society. This is the characteristic that makes America. It is the common dream of the people that anyone can be a hero, not just Superman or Steve jobs.

【此段结构】  

总分。前三句提出作者的观点，英雄模范无法完全代表整个国家的全部特征。作者以美国的多元文化特征为例，说明个别英雄模范不能代表广大美国社会的characteristics。  

【此段功能】  

解释问题的另一个方面。社会特征不一定完全由英雄模范来反映，言外之意，还有其他多方面途径。  

In summary, from all the discussions above, we can safely draw the conclusion that the author is fundamentally right in pointing out one way to learn the character of society. However, the method doesn’t work for studying all cultures, especially cultures which were founded in cultural diversity.

【此段结构】  

第一句话，作者承认英雄模范是研究社会特点的一个切入点；第二句话，转折，表明这不适用于所有的文化，尤其是多元文化的社会。  

【此段功能】  

总结全文，作者重申自己对题目的看法。

满分要素剖析

一、语言表达
文章短小精悍，可见作者言简意赅。表达观点的句子作者尽量选择了简单句，让人可以很快明白他/她的立场。一些连接词的使用中规中矩，虽然略显死板，但令起承转合比较顺畅，也完成了表意所需，因此未尝不可。

1.The claim above asserts that to understand the character of society it is most useful to examine the character of the men and women that are boosted up as heroes and role models. 文章的第一句用多层从句表达了作者对题目的解读。首先，第一层中，assert后有that引导的宾语从句，整个to和后面的内容都是主语claim的宾语。接下来第二层，分句it is most useful to…是主语从句，it作为分句的形式主语代替to examine及其后的内容。第三层，men and women后that的内容是宾语从句，修饰men and women。

2.…Susan Stanton and Elizabeth B. Thorn have been remembered and regarded for their contribution in paving the way for women rights, which,again, reflects the values of American society. 这一句中使用了pave the way短语，表示为……铺平道路，显得很地道。Which引导的定语从句修饰的是前方的contribution一词。

3.It is the common dream of the people that anyone can be a hero,not just Superman or Steve jobs. 这一句看似是that后接同位语从句，但其实还是it作为形式主语代替that后真正的主语。如果本句是同位语从句，那么it是真正主语，但这是it指代的事物并不清晰，因此还是作为主语从句理解为佳。

二、逻辑结构
作者对题目所谈主张的核心观点是：英雄模范的确反映了一个社会的主流价值观，但研究社会的特征不能仅从英雄模范入手。本文采用了总分总的框架，作者在简单分析题目后，提出了观点；接下来分别论述了英雄模范如何反映了社会主流价值观，又论述了研究社会特征不能只考察英雄模范；最后总结观点，将作者对此问题的两方面看法完整覆盖。