新GRE写作优秀范文：思想家

 　　GRE写作题目：

　　Most societies do not take their greatest thinkers seriously，even when they claim to admire them.

　　大多数社会都没把最伟大的思想家当回事，虽然有时候这些社会自称是求才若渴的。

　　GRE写作范文：

　　In this busy，packed and dull world，people's most important concerning is how to make a living. They work assiduously to make money，to support their family，to purchase houses and cars. Hardly one common individual knows who their greatest thinkers are，not mention to take them seriously. Admittedly，in some cases，people claim that they admire the greatest thinkers; however，they actually know little about what the greatest thinkers' thoughts are. The fact is，in history of human civilizations，most societies do not take their greatest thinkers seriously，even when the greatest thinkers are seemed to be respected.

　　Generally，whatever societies the greatest thinkers are in，they have similar characteristics，such as high intelligence，eccentric temperament，wide range of knowledge，and the most essential one： the deeply and often predicted thoughts，which is the product of real wisdom. On one hand，it is the thoughts that distinguish the greatest thinkers from the mass. On the other hand，it is also the thoughts，however correct and predicted，which cause these elites¹ out of the mass' sights and put them into an embarrassment² in which few can understand them and their thoughts. A proper example is the passional German philosopher and poet Nietzche. Nietzche is a pioneer，whose profound exploration in philosophy influenced the descendants deeply. Yet his life is miserable³ and full of tragedies. Without money and job，Nietzche lived an impoverished⁴ life， which along with loneliness defeated him at last： he became insane when 45，and died 10 years later. Until that time，almost no one knew him or his thoughts. Even today，many people including some scholars call him mad philosopher.

　　In some worse cases，the greatest thinkers are even persecuted⁵ by their societies since the greatest thinkers always tend to have skeptical⁶ and critical thoughts，which the manipulators fear mostly and manipulated reluctant to accept. The reason is that once the advanced ideas，which are against the old ones，are accepted by mass，the domination or the present social system will in the danger of collapse⁷. And at the same times，most people are reluctant to admit that what they believe in or cherish，however，always prejudice and rigid⁸ ideas set in people's minds beforehand，are not the truth but falsehood or illusions. A case in point is the great astronomer⁹ Copernicus，who developed the theory that the earth and other planets revolve¹⁰ around the sun. Although the theory was the most advanced astronomy theory in that time，it hadn't come out of press until the year before Copernicus' death because of mass being strongly against it especially the powerful churches，which were afraid that such a theory would shake authority of theology.

　　In some specific period，for political reasons，thinker and intellectuals as a whole undergo ruthless treatment，such as the Culture Revolution from 1966 to 1976 in China. During those ten years，many great thinkers and intellectuals are forbidden to think and express their thoughts freely. Some of them even encountered physical torture. A crueler example is Qin Dynasty in China 2000 years ago. Yingzheng，the first emperor of China，sentenced the thinkers who held different political or social ideas from him to death. Moreover，he buried their writings.

　　It is the greatest thinkers' tragedy not to be understood or even be persecuted. It is also the fact that human beings are always shortsighted， sometimes even foolish. Nevertheless，what is truth will never change itself or disappear along with the elapsing of time however strong the falsehood seems to be. Hence，though almost all the greatest thinkers are hermits，some of them may be even the prisoners in their societies; they would gain their perpetual lives through their glaring

1 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

2 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

3 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

4 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

6 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

9 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

10 revolve   

vi.(使)旋转；循环出现

参考例句：

• The planets revolve around the sun.行星绕着太阳运转。
• The wheels began to revolve slowly.车轮开始慢慢转动。