Issue 19 [b]"Creating an appealing image has become more important in contemporary [b]society than is the reality or truth behind that image." [b][b][b]Has creating an image become more important in our society than the reality [b]or truth behind the image? I agree that image has become a more central [b]concern, at least where short-term business or political success is at stake [b]（＝at risk）. Nevertheless, I think that in the longer term mage [b]ultimately yields to substance and fact. [b]个人认为以问句为开头是一种百用不厌的好方式，一来吸引了阅卷者的注意，二来又容易抓 [b]住中心。 [b]精华：a central concern [b]be at stake [b]yield to = give up the position to … 让位于，被……主宰 [b][b]The important role of image is particularly evident in the business world. [b]Consider, for example, today's automobile industry. American cars are [b]becoming essentially identical to competing Japanese cars in nearly every [b]mechanical and structural respect, as well as in price. Thus to compete [b]effectively auto companies must now differentiate their products [b]largelythrough image advertising, by conjuring up（＝create） certain [b]illusory benefits--such as machismo, status, sensibility, or fun. The [b]increasing focus on image is also evident in the book-publishing business. [b]Publishers are relying more and more on the power of their brands rather [b]than the content of their books. Today mass-market books are supplanted [b]within a year with products that are essential the same---except with fresh [b]faces, rifles, and other promotional angles. I find quite telling the fact [b]that today more and more book publishers are being acquired by large media [b]companies. And the increasing importance of image is especially evident in [b]the music industry, where originality, artistic interpretation, and [b]technical proficiency have yielded almost entirely to sex appeal. [b]这一段主要是举例说明image 确实在当今竞争激烈的商界、演艺界重磅地位。关于image重要 [b]的例子其实是挺好联系实际的。 [b][b]The growing significance of image is also evident in the political realm, [b]particularly when it comes to presidential politics. Admittedly, by its [b]very nature politicking has always emphasized rhetoric and appearances [b]above substance and fact. Yet since the invention of the camera [b]presidential politicians have become increasingly concerned about their [b]image. For example, Teddy Roosevelt was very careful never to be [b]photographed wearing a tennis outfit, for fear that such photographs would [b]serve to undermine his rough-rider image that won him his onlyterm in [b]office. With the advent of television, image became even more central in [b]presidential politics. After all, it was television that elected J.F.K. [b]over Nixon. And our only two-term presidents in the television age were [b]elected based largely on their image. Query whether Presidents Lincoln, [b]Taft, or even F.D.R. would be elected today if pitted against the handsome [b]leading man Reagan, or the suave and politically correct Clinton. After [b]all, Lincoln was homely, Taft was obese, and F.D.R. was crippled.其实在写作 [b]之中加入一点幽默的成分，会有一些出人意料的效果。正如我们的toefl。 [b][b][b]In the long term, however, the significance of image wanes considerably. [b]The image of the Marlboro man ultimately gave way to the truth about the [b]health hazards of cigarette smoking. Popular musical actors with nothing [b]truly innovative to offer musically eventually disappear from the music [b]scene. And anyone who frequents yard sales knows that today's best-selling [b]books often become tomorrow's pulp. Even in politics, I think history has a [b]knack for peeling away image to focus on real accomplishments. I think [b]history will remember Teddy Roosevelt, for example, primarily for building [b]the Panama Canal and for establishing our National Park System--and not for [b]his rough-and-ready wardrobe. [b][b][b]In the final analysis, it seems that in every endeavor where success [b]depends to some degree on persuasion, marketing, or salesmanship, image has [b]indeed become the central concern of those who seek to persuade. And as our [b]lives become busier, our attention spans briefer, and our choices among [b]products and services greater, I expect this trend to continue unabated-- [b]for better or worse. [b]作者主要着眼于阐释image 的重要性，而多少忽略了对“实质终于表面形象”的论述，这是 [b]作者的一点小失败了。 [b]