（单词翻译:单击）
"Creating an appealing image has become more important in contemporary society than is the reality or truth behind that image."Has creating an image become more important in our society than the reality or truth behind the image? I agree that image has become a more central concern, at least where short-term business or political success is at stake (＝at risk). Nevertheless, I think that in the longer term mage ultimately yields to substance and fact.
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，二来又容易抓住中心。
精华：a central concern
be at stake
yield to = give up the position to……让位于，被……主宰
The important role of image is particularly evident in the business world. Consider, for example, today's automobile2 industry. American cars are becoming essentially3 identical to competing Japanese cars in nearly every mechanical and structural4 respect, as well as in price. Thus to compete effectively auto1 companies must now differentiate5 their products largelythrough image advertising6, by conjuring7 up(＝create) certain illusory benefits——such as machismo, status, sensibility, or fun. The increasing focus on image is also evident in the book-publishing business. Publishers are relying more and more on the power of their brands rather than the content of their books. Today mass-market books are supplanted8 within a year with products that are essential the same——except with fresh faces, rifles, and other promotional angles. I find quite telling the fact that today more and more book publishers are being acquired by large media companies. And the increasing importance of image is especially evident in the music industry, where originality9, artistic10 interpretation11, and technical proficiency12 have yielded almost entirely13 to sex appeal.
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重要的例子其实是挺好联系实际的。
The growing significance of image is also evident in the political realm, particularly when it comes to presidential politics. Admittedly, by its very nature politicking14 has always emphasized rhetoric15 and appearances above substance and fact. Yet since the invention of the camera presidential politicians have become increasingly concerned about their image. For example, Teddy Roosevelt was very careful never to be photographed wearing a tennis outfit16, for fear that such photographs would serve to undermine his rough-rider image that won him his onlyterm in office. With the advent17 of television, image became even more central in presidential politics. After all, it was television that elected J.F.K. over Nixon. And our only two-term presidents in the television age were elected based largely on their image. Query18 whether Presidents Lincoln, Taft, or even F.D.R. would be elected today if pitted against the handsome leading man Reagan, or the suave19 and politically correct Clinton. After all, Lincoln was homely20, Taft was obese21, and F.D.R. was crippled.
其实在写作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。
In the long term, however, the significance of image wanes22 considerably23. The image of the Marlboro man ultimately gave way to the truth about the health hazards of cigarette smoking. Popular musical actors with nothing truly innovative24 to offer musically eventually disappear from the music scene. And anyone who frequents yard sales knows that today's best-selling books often become tomorrow's pulp25. Even in politics, I think history has a knack26 for peeling away image to focus on real accomplishments27. I think history will remember Teddy Roosevelt, for example, primarily for building the Panama Canal and for establishing our National Park System——and not for his rough-and-ready wardrobe.
In the final analysis, it seems that in every endeavor where success depends to some degree on persuasion28, marketing29, or salesmanship, image has indeed become the central concern of those who seek to persuade. And as our lives become busier, our attention spans briefer, and our choices among products and services greater, I expect this trend to continue unabated—— for better or worse.
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，这是作者的一点小失败了。
