The primary goal of technological advancement should be to increase people's efficiency so that they have more leisure time

技术进步的首要目的是增加人们的效率，以便大家有更多闲暇的时间。

可供参考老题库30.. "The primary goal of technological advancement should be to increase people's efficiency so that everyone has more leisure time."

技术进步的首要目标应该是提高人们的效率以便于每个人都享有更多的闲暇时光。

  Disagree:

1. The chief reason for my disagreement lies in the empirical proof: with technological advancement comes diminished leisure time.

2. Meanwhile, the suggestion that technology's chief goal should be to facilitate leisure is simply wrongheaded. There are far more vital concerns that technology can and should address.

技术进步之空闲时刻

Begin: 同意。

1． 技术进步的确提高了我们的效率, in many situations.

2． However, we should not neglect the fact that the rapid pace of life has resulted in an unprecedented high number of problems. (CarsàGreenhouse effect, pollution; Instant communication à 人与人亲情友情逐渐冷淡). In addition, an even worse situation is that the rapid pace has exerted high psychological stress and anxiety. 以上很多问题给人类造成的后果都是无法弥补的。

3． However, the increasingly rapid pace of life is inevitable; it is the natural result of the development of society. 在不得不适应这种快节奏的同时, we should not neglect the fact that a lot benefits are produced by the increasing pace of life. 高效率的社会发展使得人民的生活水平不断提高。快节奏带来了竞争，使得人们不断挖掘自己的潜力，更好的提高自己。

可供参考老题库124. "Instant foods, instant communication, faster transportation-all of these recent developments are designed to save time. Ironically, though, instead of making more leisure time available, these developments have contributed to a pace of human affairs that is more rushed and more frantic than ever before."

方便食品、即时通讯、更快捷的交通----所有这些最新的发展都是为了节省时间。具有讽刺意味的是，这样的发展并没有带来更过的休闲时间，反而使人们的生活节奏前所未有的匆忙和混乱。

提纲1：while I agree that leisure time is declining as a result of efficiencies which technology has brought about, whether the irony to which the speaker refers is real or imagined depends on what one considers to be the chief aim of technology.

1. Few would disagree that technology has enhanced the speed and efficiency with which we travel, prepare our food, plan and coordinate projects, and communicate with one another.

2. What explains the irony—this decline in leisure despite increase in efficiency that new technologies have brought about? I agree that technology itself is the culprit. We use the additional free time that technology affords us not for leisure but rather for work.

3. Yet there are far more vital concerns which technology seeks to address; therefore, the above-mentioned irony does not seem so ironic after all.

技术进步之生活节奏

提纲2：

1. Theoretically speaking, such recent inventions as instant foods, instant communication, and fast transportation have made it possible for us to set aside more time for repose and relaxation.

2．Actually we are living a more hurried life today than ever before.

3. In my opinion, what makes us hurry today is our values that give too much stress to competition and efficiency rather than these inventions which is developed to cater to our values.

范文：

The speaker contends that technology's primary goal should be to increase our efficiency for the purpose of affording us more leisure time. I concede that technology has enhanced our efficiency as we go about our everyday lives. Productivity software helps us plan and coordinate projects; intranets, the Internet, and satellite technology make us more efficient messengers; and technology even helps us prepare our food and access entertainment more efficiently. Beyond this concession, however, I find the speaker's contention indefensible from both an empirical and a normative standpoint.

The chief reason for my disagreement lies in the empirical proof: with technological advancement comes diminished leisure time. In 1960 the average U.S. family included only one breadwinner, who worked just over 40 hours per week. Since then the average work week has increased steadily to nearly 60 hours today; and in most families there are now two breadwinners. What explains this decline in leisure despite increasing efficiency that new technologies have brought about? I contend that technology itself is the culprit behind the decline. We use the additional free time that technology affords us not for leisure but rather for work. As computer technology enables greater and greater office productivity it also raises our employers' expectations--or demands--for production. Further technological advances breed still greater efficiency and, in turn, expectations. Our spiraling work load is only exacerbated by the competitive business environment in which nearly all of us work today. Moreover, every technological advance demands our time and attention in order to learn how to use the new technology. Time devoted to keeping pace with technology depletes time for leisure activities.

I disagree with the speaker for another reason as well: the suggestion that technology's chief goal should be to facilitate leisure is simply wrongheaded. There are far more vital concerns that technology can and should address. Advances in bio-technology can help cure and prevent diseases; advances in medical technology can allow for safer, less invasire diagnosis and treatment; advances in genetics can help prevent birth defects; advances in engineering and chemistry can improve the structural integrity of our buildings, roads, bridges and vehicles; information technology enables education while communication technology facilitates global participation in the democratic process. In short, health, safety, education, and freedom--and not leisure--are the proper final objectives of technology. Admittedly, advances in these areas sometimes involve improved efficiency; yet efficiency is merely a means to these more important ends.

In sum, I find indefensible the speaker's suggestion that technology's value lies chiefly in the efficiency and resulting leisure time it can afford us. The suggestion runs contrary to the overwhelming evidence that technology diminishes leisure time, and it wrongly places leisure ahead of goals such as health, safety, education, and freedom as technology's ultimate aims.

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