The effectiveness of a country's leaders is best measured by examining the well-being of that country's citizens

国家领导工作效能最好通过国民的安乐来评判。

老题库170

1. Admittedly, the overriding imperative of any democratic state is to enhance the general welfare of its citizenry. Yet the speaker fails to provide a clear litmus test for measuring that welfare.

2. Many scientific achievements serve to enhance a nation's general welfare.

3. Artistic achievement is also needed to make a nation a better place for humans overall.

4. We should also be careful not to hastily assume that a nation is necessarily great merely by virtue of the achievements of individual citizens.

社会精英和人民大众

观点：Does a nation's greatness lie in the general welfare of its people rather than in the achievements of its artists, rulers, and scientists, as the speaker claims? 尽管welfare是其中一个标志，但是作者忽略了"great nation"的真正含义以及welfare与achievements的关系。

1． At first blush the speaker's claim might appear to have considerable merits. After all, 国家的一个重要责任就是要是提高人民的生活水平，保证人民的general welfare，such as public health and safety, security against military invasions, individual autonomy and freedom, cultural richness, and overall comfort。Therefore，the overall welfare of the general people of a nation is an important indicator of the greatness of a nation.

2． 然而，一个国家的人民的general welfare与其统治者、艺术家或科学家的成就是密不可分的（have lot to do with）。科技改变生活，艺术陶冶情操。例：罗斯福；达芬奇；爱因斯坦

3． 而且，achievements是一个国家是否伟大的一个重要标志。The speaker confused the meanings between"Great" and"good"。"伟大"的意思不只是"好"，除此之外还应该超出好并且有其特殊的贡献，即其统治者、艺术家或科学家的成就对世界的影响和对整个人类社会发展的贡献。瑞士、挪威人民生活很好，但谈不上伟大；中东等国靠输出石油也很富，但不能算伟大。

范文：

The speaker claims that great advances in knowledge necessarily involve rejection of authority. To the extent that political authority impedes such advances, I agree with this claim. Otherwise, in my view most advances in knowledge actually embrace certain forms of authority, rather than rejecting authority out of hand.

One striking example of how political authority can impede the advancement of knowledge involves what we know about the age and evolution of planet Earth. In earlier centuries the official Church of England called for a literal interpretation of the Bible, according to which the Earth's age is determined to be about 6,000 years. IfWestern thinkers had continued to yield to the ostensible authority of the Church, the fields of structural and historical geology would never have advanced beyond the blind acceptance of this contention as fact.

A more modern example of how yielding to political authority can impede the advancement of knowledge involves the Soviet Refusenik movement of the 1920s. During this time period the Soviet government attempted not only to control the direction and the goals of its scientists' research but also to distort the outcome of that research. During the 1920s the Soviet government quashed certain areas of scientific inquiry, destroyed entire research facilities and libraries, and caused the sudden disappearance of many scientists who were engaged in research that the state viewed as a potential threat to its power and authority. Not surprisingly, during this time period no significant advances in scientific knowledge occurred under the auspices of the Soviet government.

However, given a political climate that facilitates free thought and honest intellectual inquiry, great advances in knowledge can be made by actually embracing certain forms of "authority." A good example involves modern computer technology. Only by building on, or embracing, certain well-established laws of physics were engineers able to develop silicon-based semi-conductor technology. Although new biotechnology research suggests that organic, biochemical processors will replace artificial semi-conductors as the computers of the future, it would be inappropriate to characterize this leap in knowledge as a rejection of authority.

In sum, to the extent that political authority imposes artificial constraints on knowledge, I agree that advances in knowledge might require rejection of authority. Otherwise, in my observation advances in knowledge more typically embrace and build on authoritative scientific principles and laws, and do not require the rejection of any type of authority.

---

Orignal From: The effectiveness of a country's leaders is best measured by examining the well-being of that country's citizens