Issue 15 [b]"Unfortunately, the media tend to highlight what is sensational at the [b]moment. Society would be better served if the media reported or focused [b]more fully on events and trends that will ultimately have the most long- [b]term significance." [b][b][b]The speaker asserts that rather than merely highlighting certain [b]sensational events the media should provide complete coverage of more [b]important events. While the speaker's assertion has merit from a normative [b]standpoint, in the final analysis I find this assertion indefensible.个人认 [b]为这一段最后一句可以背掉放入自己建立的句子库内。 [b][b][b]Upon first impression the speaker's claim seems quite compelling, for two [b]reasons. First, without the benefit of a complete, unfiltered, and balanced [b]account of current events, it is impossible to develop an informed and [b]intelligent opinion about important social and political issues and, in [b]turn, to contribute meaningfully to our democratic society, which relies on [b]broad participation in an ongoing debate about such issues to steer a [b]proper course. The end result of our being a largely uninformed people is [b]that we relegate the most important decisions to a handful of legislators, [b]jurists, and executives who may or may not know what is best for us. [b]Second, by focusing on the "sensational"--by which I take the speaker to [b]mean comparatively shocking, entertaining, and titillating events which [b]easily catch one's attention-the media appeal to our emotions and baser [b]instincts, rather than to our intellect and reason. Any observant person [b]could list many examples aptly illustrating the trend in this [b]direction--from trashy talk shows and local news broadcasts to The National [b]Enquixer and People Magazine. This trend dearly serves to undermine a [b]society's collective sensibilities and renders a society's members more [b]vulnerable to demagoguery; thus we should all abhor and resist the trend. [b]作者运用了让步的手法，先是分析原作为何出此观点的原因，然后再驳斥，提出自己的“正 [b]确”观点。我们要特别留意第一句的架构，虽然过分复杂，但是好像ets就是喜欢这种变态句 [b]子。 [b][b][b]However, for several reasons I find the media's current trend toward [b]highlights and the sensational to be justifiable. First, the world is [b]becoming an increasingly eventful place; thus with each passing year it [b]becomes a more onerous task for the media to attempt full news coverage. [b]Second, we are becoming an increasingly busy society. The average U.S. [b]worker spends nearly 60 hours per week at work now; and in most families [b]both spouses work. [b]Compare this startlingly busy pace to the pace a generation ago, when one [b]bread-winner worked just over 40 hours per week. We have far less time [b]today for news, so highlights must suffice. Third, the media does in fact [b]provide full coverage of important events; anyone can find such coverage [b]beyond their newspaper's front page, on daily PBS news programs, and on the [b]Internet. I would wholeheartedly agree with the speaker if the sensational [b]highlights were all the media were willing or permitted to provide; this [b]scenario would be tantamount to thought control on a mass scale and would [b]serve to undermine our free society. However, I am aware of no evidence of [b]any trend in this direction. To the contrary, in my observation the media [b]are informing us more fully than ever before; we just need to seek out that [b]information. [b]作者从现实需要和事实证明两方面来驳斥原文观点，这一手法不妨借鉴。必须补充的是，作 [b]者运用的”First, … second…”这样的分层次分析使得结构鲜明，表意清晰也是值得学习 [b]的。 [b][b][b]On balance, then, the speaker's claim is not defensible. In the final [b]analysis the media serves its proper function by merely providing what we [b]in a free society demand. Thus any argument about how the media should or [b]should not behave--regardless of its merits from a normative standpoint [b]begs the question. [b]最后一段照例总结，还可以。 [b][b]得分：从语言的复杂度和内容的深刻度，=5分! [b]