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  3. As quoted in Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, what is wrong with being number two? Nevertheless, under the competitive condi

As quoted in Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, what is wrong with being number two? Nevertheless, under the competitive condi

admin2021-05-24  31
问题         As quoted in Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, what is wrong with being number two? Nevertheless, under the competitive conditions that many of us face, being number two is not, generally, the result of trying to come in second. The following is an article presenting comments of being number two. Read it carefully and write your response of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize briefly the author’s opinion;
        2. give your comment.
        When we think about it honestly, trying to be "number one" in a competition is not so healthy for one’s character. If I can only succeed by putting you down, doesn’t that make me wish for you to fail, more than drive me to succeed?
        You have to wonder about professional sports leagues. Every team begins the season thinking and hoping that they will win the championship. Yet everyone knows that only one team will be smiling at the end of the season. Every other team will look back at the season as having been a failure. Why? Because we have created a society which preaches that if you are not the best, then you are not worth much. No one really believes the old sports saying, "It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game."
        The other often-quoted saying is everyone’s real philosophy, "Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing." We live in an environment that motivates through rivalry. And this is a tragedy. As E.R. Holman said, "The desire to win must be wedded to an ideal, an ethical way of life. It must never become so strong that it dwarfs every other aspect of the game of life." Even our schools have student-comparison charts on the bulletin board to determine who knows the material best. The focus has shifted from "who knows things well" to "who knows things best."
        If all I have to do to be successful is to beat you, it’s a whole lot easier to cause you to do worse than me, rather than to get myself to do better than you. The result: students will not push themselves to truly reach their personal maximum if all they have to do to flourish is defeat someone else.
        And what happens to the weaker students who know that they cannot actually win the competition? What is their drive to do their best? Does it really make sense to reward the brightest students more for easily winning than the slower ones who are doing their best?
        It is true that "The envy of scholars increases wisdom", but this does not mean we should compete with someone else. We are supposed to observe the accomplishments of those around us, learning from them in motivating ourselves to excel as best as we can. We don’t rival others; we learn from their example.
        Yes, we should be competitive, but only with ourselves. If I ran the track in 10 minutes last week, let me try to run it in 9 minutes today. Winning does not have to mean defeating someone else. It can be accomplished by struggling against ourselves, trying to improve upon our personal past performance. We don’t have to be Number One. We can be Number Two or even Seventy-three, as long as we are striving to attain personal greatness.
        May God grant us life and prosperity in both the spiritual and physical realms and may He guide us to become all that we can be.
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答案 There Is Nothing Wrong with Not Being Number One Human beings like number ones: we can remember the names of the fastest swimmer or runner in the world, but who remember the name of the second fastest? Being number one means supremacy, glory even epoch-making, but there is nothing wrong with not being number one. Being number two can be just as proud-worthy as winning the first place. In the article the author holds that only focusing on being number one is not good for one’s character as people might neglect the process of the game. We should see others’ accomplishments and strive to better ourselves in the game of life instead of racking our brain to beat others. There is only one number one in the game but there are numerous players who have trained hard for it. They deserve the same respect. I agree with the perspective of the article as I believe in the power of ordinary people, the non-number-ones. Firstly, we need to acknowledge the work and effort of everyone. This is especially true with team work in a competition as well as in a corporation. Number one is an inspiration but the joint effort of all people is the fundamental reason that goals are achieved. It doesn’t make sense that number one takes all the credit. Secondly, life is not necessarily all about competition; it can also be about progress and process. Focusing on self-improvement can be just meaningful as this can make life much happier than chasing being number one. While they struggle against themselves and try to improve upon their personal past performance, people may find that the real success might not be winning over others and taking the first place but break their own limitation and reach more possibilities they have never imagined. In short, I believe there is nothing wrong with not being number one.
解析         材料围绕“第二名的意义”展开论述，文章可分为三个部分。
        第一段开篇点题，摆出“争做第一”不利于健康人格的形成（not so healthy for one’s character）的观点。
        第二、三段分别以运动场和学校的现象为例，说明人们追求第一的倾向。运动员们往往被看做是非胜即败，因为这个社会的信条是如果你不一战成名，就一文不值（not the best…not worth much）；学校所关注的也从成绩良好的学生变成成绩最好的学生（knows things well to… knows things best）。
        第四、五段分析了这一现象潜在的后果。由于成功的定义就是打败别人（be successful is to beat you），而且使别人失败比提升自我来得容易，于是学生们只会想着打败别人（defeat someone else）。同时，对于那些基础太差、无望夺冠的学生而言，则会丧失努力的动力。
        最后三段给出了面对竞争的正确态度：我们要有竞争意识，但对象是和自己竞争（only with ourselves）。向身边的强者学习，从而不断提升自我，比过去做得更好（improve upon our personal past performance）。
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