2015考研英語(yǔ)作文素材精選

1、<p>　　2015考研英語(yǔ)作文素材精選 (一)</p><p>　　01 The Language of Music</p><p>　　A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a work, but no one can

2、 hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and as arduous a training to become a performe

3、r as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an athlete o</p><p>　　Singers and instruments have to be abl

4、e to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner's responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But t

5、hey have their own difficulties; the hammers that hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound clear.</p><p>　　This problem of getting clear texture i

6、s one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these sound with fanatical but selfless authority.</p><p

7、>　　Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing works written in

8、any century.</p><p>　　02 Schooling and Education</p><p>　　It is commonly believed in United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today c

9、hildren interrupt their education to go to school. The distinction between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.</p><p>　　Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schoo

10、ling. Education knows no bounds. It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or in the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole unive

11、rse of informal learning. The agents of education can range from a revered grandparent to the people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain predictabi&l

12、t;/p><p>　　Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at approximately the

13、 same time, take assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The slices of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the w

14、orking of government, have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subject </p><p>　　03 The Definition of "Price"</p><p>　　Prices determine how resources are to be used. They are

15、 also the means by which products and services that are in limited supply are rationed among buyers. The price system of the United States is a complex network composed of the prices of all the products bought and sold i

16、n the economy as well as those of a myriad of services, including labor, professional, transportation, and public-utility services. The interrelationships of all these prices make up the "system" of prices. The

17、 price of any p</p><p>　　If one were to ask a group of randomly selected individuals to define "price", many would reply that price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a produc

18、t or service or, in other words that price is the money values of a product or service as agreed upon in a market transaction. This definition is, of course, valid as far as it goes. For a complete understanding of a pri

19、ce in any particular transaction, much more than the amount of money involved must be known. Both the buyer </p><p>　　04 Electricity</p><p>　　The modern age is an age of electricity. People are

20、so used to electric lights, radio, televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without them. When there is a power failure, people grope about in flickering candlelight, cars hesitate i

21、n the streets because there are no traffic lights to guide them, and food spoils in silent refrigerators.</p><p>　　Yet, people began to understand how electricity works only a little more than two centuries

22、ago. Nature has apparently been experimenting in this field for million of years. Scientists are discovering more and more that the living world may hold many interesting secrets of electricity that could benefit humanit

23、y.</p><p>　　All living cell send out tiny pulses of electricity. As the heart beats, it sends out pulses of record; they form an electrocardiogram, which a doctor can study to determine how well the heart is

24、 working. The brain, too, sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be recorded in an electroencephalogram. The electric currents generated by most living cells are extremely small - often so small that sensitive i

25、nstruments are needed to record them. But in some animals, certain muscle cells have </p><p>　　The electric eel is an amazing storage battery. It can seed a jolt of as much as eight hundred volts of electric

26、ity through the water in which it live. ( An electric house current is only one hundred twenty volts.) As many as four-fifths of all the cells in the electric eel's body are specialized for generating electricity, an

27、d the strength of the shock it can deliver corresponds roughly to length of its body.</p><p>　　2015考研英語(yǔ)作文素材精選 (二)</p><p>　　05 The Beginning of Drama</p><p>　　There are many theories

28、 about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The on most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings vie

29、wed the natural forces of the world-even the seasonal changes-as unpredictable, and they sought through various means to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results

30、 were then retained and repeated unti</p><p>　　Those who believe that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almo

31、st always used, Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the "acting area" and the "audi

32、torium." In addition, there were performers, and, since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of r</p><p>　　Another theory traces the theater's origin from the h

33、uman interest in storytelling. According to this vies tales (about the hunt, war, or other feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through t

34、he assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitations of animal movements and sounds.</p&g

35、t;<p>　　06 Television</p><p>　　Television-----the most pervasive and persuasive of modern technologies, marked by rapid change and growth-is moving into a new era, an era of extraordinary sophisticati

36、on and versatility, which promises to reshape our lives and our world. It is an electronic revolution of sorts, made possible by the marriage of television and computer technologies.</p><p>　　The word "

37、television", derived from its Greek (tele: distant) and Latin (visio: sight) roots, can literally be interpreted as sight from a distance. Very simply put, it works in this way: through a sophisticated system of ele

38、ctronics, television provides the capability of converting an image (focused on a special photoconductive plate within a camera) into electronic impulses, which can be sent through a wire or cable. These impulses, when f

39、ed into a receiver (television set), can then be electr</p><p>　　Television is more than just an electronic system, however. It is a means of expression, as well as a vehicle for communication, and as such b

40、ecomes a powerful tool for reaching other human beings.</p><p>　　The field of television can be divided into two categories determined by its means of transmission. First, there is broadcast television, whic

41、h reaches the masses through broad-based airwave transmission of television signals. Second, there is nonbroadcast television, which provides for the needs of individuals or specific interest groups through controlled tr

42、ansmission techniques.</p><p>　　Traditionally, television has been a medium of the masses. We are most familiar with broadcast television because it has been with us for about thirty-seven years in a form si

43、milar to what exists today. During those years, it has been controlled, for the most part, by the broadcast networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, who have been the major purveyors of news, information, and entertainment. These gi

44、ants of broadcasting have actually shaped not only television but our perception of it as well. We have c</p><p>　　07 Andrew Carnegie</p><p>　　Andrew Carnegie, known as the King of Steel, built

45、the steel industry in the United States, and , in the process, became one of the wealthiest men in America. His success resulted in part from his ability to sell the product and in part from his policy of expanding durin

46、g periods of economic decline, when most of his competitors were reducing their investments.</p><p>　　Carnegie believed that individuals should progress through hard work, but he also felt strongly that the

47、wealthy should use their fortunes for the benefit of society. He opposed charity, preferring instead to provide educational opportunities that would allow others to help themselves. "He who dies rich, dies disgraced

48、," he often said.</p><p>　　Among his more noteworthy contributions to society are those that bear his name, including the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, which has a library, a museum of fine arts, an

49、d a museum of national history. He also founded a school of technology that is now part of Carnegie-Mellon University. Other philanthrophic gifts are the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to promote understandin

50、g between nations, the Carnegie Institute of Washington to fund scientific research, and Carnegie Hall to</p><p>　　Few Americans have been left untouched by Andrew Carnegie's generosity. His contribution

51、s of more than five million dollars established 2,500 libraries in small communities throughout the country and formed the nucleus of the public library system that we all enjoy today.</p><p>　　08 American R

52、evolution</p><p>　　The American Revolution was not a sudden and violent overturning of the political and social framework, such as later occurred in France and Russia, when both were already independent nati

53、ons. Significant changes were ushered in, but they were not breathtaking. What happened was accelerated evolution rather than outright revolution. During the conflict itself people went on working and praying, marrying a

54、nd playing. Most of them were not seriously disturbed by the actual fighting, and many of th</p><p>　　America's War of Independence heralded the birth of three modern nations. One was Canada, which recei

55、ved its first large influx of English-speaking population from the thousands of loyalists who fled there from the United States. Another was Australia, which became a penal colony now that America was no longer available

56、 for prisoners and debtors. The third newcomer-the United States-based itself squarely on republican principles.</p><p>　　Yet even the political overturn was not so revolutionary as one might suppose. In som

57、e states, notably Connecticut and Rhode Island, the war largely ratified a colonial self-rule already existing. British officials, everywhere ousted, were replaced by a home-grown governing class, which promptly sought a

58、 local substitute for king and Parliament.</p><p>　　2015考研英語(yǔ)作文素材精選 (三)</p><p>　　09 Suburbanization</p><p>　　If by "suburb" is meant an urban margin that grows more rapidly

59、 than its already developed interior, the process of suburbanization began during the emergence of the industrial city in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Before that period the city was a small highly compa

60、ct cluster in which people moved about on foot and goods were conveyed by horse and cart. But the early factories built in the 1840's were located along waterways and near railheads at the edges of cities, and housin

61、g</p><p>　　With the acceleration of industrial growth came acute urban crowding and accompanying social stress-conditions that began to approach disastrous proportions when, in 1888, the first commercially s

62、uccessful electric traction line was developed. Within a few years the horse-drawn trolleys were retired and electric streetcar networks crisscrossed and connected every major urban area, fostering a wave of suburbanizat

63、ion that transformed the compact industrial city into a dispersed metropolis. This f</p><p>　　10 Types of Speech</p><p>　　Standard usage includes those words and expressions understood, used, an

64、d accepted by a majority of the speakers of a language in any situation regardless of the level of formality. As such, these words and expressions are well defined and listed in standard dictionaries. Colloquialisms, on

65、the other hand, are familiar words and idioms that are understood by almost all speakers of a language and used in informal speech or writing, but not considered appropriate for more formal situations. Almost</p>

66、<p>　　Colloquial speech often passes into standard speech. Some slang also passes into standard speech, but other slang expressions enjoy momentary popularity followed by obscurity. In some cases, the majority never

67、 accepts certain slang phrases but nevertheless retains them in their collective memories. Every generation seems to require its own set of words to describe familiar objects and events. It has been pointed out by a numb

68、er of linguists that three cultural conditions are necessary for the cr</p><p>　　Finally, it is worth noting that the terms "standard" "colloquial" and "slang" exist only as abs

69、tract labels for scholars who study language. Only a tiny number of the speakers of any language will be aware that they are using colloquial or slang expressions. Most speakers of English will, during appropriate situat

70、ions, select and use all three types of expressions.</p><p>　　11 Archaeology</p><p>　　Archaeology is a source of history, not just a bumble auxiliary discipline. Archaeological data are historic

71、al documents in their own right, not mere illustrations to written texts, Just as much as any other historian, an archaeologist studies and tries to reconstitute the process that has created the human world in which we l

72、ive - and us ourselves in so far as we are each creatures of our age and social environment. Archaeological data are all changes in the material world resulting from human </p><p>　　Not all human behavior fo

73、ssilizes. The words I utter and you hear as vibrations in the air are certainly human changes in the material world and may be of great historical significance. Yet they leave no sort of trace in the archaeological recor

74、ds unless they are captured by a dictaphone or written down by a clerk. The movement of troops on the battlefield may "change the course of history," but this is equally ephemeral from the archaeologist's s

75、tandpoint. What is perhaps worse, most organic ma</p><p>　　12 Museums</p><p>　　From Boston to Los Angeles, from New York City to Chicago to Dallas, museums are either planning, building, or wrap

76、ping up wholesale expansion programs. These programs already have radically altered facades and floor plans or are expected to do so in the not-too-distant future.</p><p>　　In New York City alone, six major

77、institutions have spread up and out into the air space and neighborhoods around them or are preparing to do so.</p><p>　　The reasons for this confluence of activity are complex, but one factor is a considera

78、tion everywhere - space. With collections expanding, with the needs and functions of museums changing, empty space has become a very precious commodity.</p><p>　　Probably nowhere in the country is this more

79、true than at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which has needed additional space for decades and which received its last significant facelift ten years ago. Because of the space crunch, the Art Museum has become increasing

80、ly cautious in considering acquisitions and donations of art, in some cases passing up opportunities to strengthen its collections.</p><p>　　Deaccessing - or selling off - works of art has taken on new impor

81、tance because of the museum's space problems. And increasingly, curators have been forced to juggle gallery space, rotating one masterpiece into public view while another is sent to storage.</p><p>　　Des

82、pite the clear need for additional gallery and storage space, however," the museum has no plan, no plan to break out of its envelope in the next fifteen years," according to Philadelphia Museum of Art's pre

83、sident.</p><p>　　2015考研英語(yǔ)作文素材精選 (四)</p><p>　　13 Skyscrapers and Environment</p><p>　　In the late 1960's, many people in North America turned their attention to environmental pro

84、blems, and new steel-and-glass skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists pointed out that a cluster of tall buildings in a city often overburdens public transportation and parking lot capacities.</p><p>

85、;　　Skyscrapers are also lavish consumers, and wasters, of electric power. In one recent year, the addition of 17 million square feet of skyscraper office space in New York City raised the peak daily demand for electricit

86、y by 120, 000 kilowatts-enough to supply the entire city of Albany, New York, for a day.</p><p>　　Glass-walled skyscrapers can be especially wasteful. The heat loss (or gain)through a wall of half-inch plate

87、 glass is more than ten times that through a typical masonry wall filled with insulation board. To lessen the strain on heating and air-conditioning equipment, builders of skyscrapers have begun to use double-glazed pane

88、ls of glass, and reflective glasses coated with silver or gold mirror films that reduce glare as well as heat gain. However, mirror-walled skyscrapers raise the temperatur</p><p>　　Skyscrapers put a severe s

89、train on a city's sanitation facilities, too. If fully occupied, the two World Trade Center towers in New York City would alone generate 2.25 million gallons of raw sewage each year-as much as a city the size of Stan

90、ford, Connecticut , which has a population of more than 109, 000.</p><p>　　14 A Rare Fossil Record</p><p>　　The preservation of embryos and juveniles is a rate occurrence in the fossil record. T

91、he tiny, delicate skeletons are usually scattered by scavengers or destroyed by weathering before they can be fossilized. Ichthyosaurs had a higher chance of being preserved than did terrestrial creatures because, as mar

92、ine animals, they tended to live in environments less subject to erosion. Still, their fossilization required a suite of factors: a slow rate of decay of soft tissues, little scavenging by other</p><p>　　The

93、 deposits at Holzmaden, Germany, present an interesting case for analysis. The ichthyosaur remains are found in black, bituminous marine shales deposited about 190 million years ago. Over the years, thousands of specimen

94、s of marine reptiles, fish and invertebrates have been recovered from these rocks. The quality of preservation is outstanding, but what is even more impressive is the number of ichthyosaur fossils containing preserved em

95、bryos. Ichthyosaurs with embryos have been reported from </p><p>　　Why are there so many pregnant females and young at Holzmaden when they are so rare elsewhere? The quality of preservation is almost unmatch

96、ed and quarry operations have been carried out carefully with an awareness of the value of the fossils. But these factors do not account for the interesting question of how there came to be such a concentration of pregna

97、nt ichthyosaurs in a particular place very close to their time of giving birth.</p><p>　　15 The Nobel Academy</p><p>　　For the last 82years, Sweden's Nobel Academy has decided who will recei

98、ve the Nobel Prize in Literature, thereby determining who will be elevated from the great and the near great to the immortal. But today the Academy is coming under heavy criticism both from the without and from within. C

99、ritics contend that the selection of the winners often has less to do with true writing ability than with the peculiar internal politics of the Academy and of Sweden itself. According to Ingmar Bjorksten , the</p>