summary writing(原文及范文)

summary writing(原文及范文）

Writing

Directions: For this part, you are to write a summary of either of two articles that are presented to you in the following. Your summary should be 150-200 words. Remember to write neatly.

Science and Humanity

The twentieth century saw more momentous change than any previous century: change for better, change for worse; change that brought enormous benefits to human beings, change that threatens the very existence of the human species. Many factors contributed to this change but—in my opinion—the most important factor was the progress in science.

Academic research in the physical and biological sciences has vastly broadened our horizons; it has given us a deep insight into the structure of matter and of the universe; it has brought better understanding of the nature of life and of its continuous evolution. Technology—the application of science—has made fantastic advances that have affected us beneficially in nearly every aspect of life: better health, more wealth,

less drudgery (单调沉闷的工作), greater access to information.

Sadly, however, there is another side to the picture. The creativity of science has

been employed to the detriment(损害) of mankind. The application of science and

technology to the development and manufacture of weapons of mass destruction has created a real threat to the continued existence of the human race on this planet. We have seen this happen in the case of nuclear weapons. Although their actual use in combat has so far occurred only in 1945—when two Japanese cities were destroyed—during the four decades of the Cold War, obscenely huge arsenals(武器库) of nuclear

weapons were accumulated and made ready for use. The arsenals were so large that if

the weapons had actually been detonated (爆炸) the result could have been the

complete extinction of the human species, as well as of many animal species.

William Shakespeare said: "The web of our life is of a mingled (混合的) yarn,

good and ill together. " The above brief review of the application of only one strand of

human activities— science—seems to bear out this adage (格言). But does it have to be

so? Must ill always accompany good deeds? Are we biologically programmed for aggression and war?

I am not an authority in genetics, but from my readings and life-long observation I do not see any evidence that we are genetically condemned to commit evil. On the contrary, on very general grounds I would say that genetically we are destined to do things that are of benefit to the human species, and that the negative aspects are mistakes, transient errors in the process of evolution. In other words, I believe in the inherent goodness of Man.