2018年05月12日雅思大作文题目：Some people think that arts (such as painting and music) do not directly improve people's life, so government should spend money on other areas. Do you agree or disagree?

解析&审题

本周作文是2012年7月28日的原题再现，同时2013年5月25日的真题也与本次作文高度相仿。

本题的核心在于：政府到底该不该在艺术方面投资?仔细审题，我们会发现题目的前半部分说的是“艺术不能直接改善人们的生活”，也就是说，这个题目已经预设了一个原因，即艺术不直接改善人们的生活。因此，这个题目完整的审题应该是这样的：政府该不该因为艺术不能直接改善人们的生活而不支持艺术?

那么，就这个问题，我们就可以展开讨论。如果认为这个说法很正确，考生就需要论证：

(1)艺术的确不能直接改善人们的生活(甚至可能让人们的生活恶化);(2)政府的资金应该投向那些直接改善人们生活的领域(比如科技、教育、医疗等)。

反过来，如果不同意这个说法，考生就需要论证：

(1)艺术可以直接改善人们的生活(比如艺术可以给国家带来收入);(2)即使艺术不直接改善人们的生活，但艺术可以有其他很多功能(比如丰富人们精神生活，在危机时刻甚至可以将一个国家的所有人团结起来)。这样，这个题目其实就变成了讨论艺术的作用。

[批判思维提示] 本题的题目结构是“原因+结果”型，考生在论证时如果同意题目观点，需要同时对原因和结果表示支持并进行论证;如果不同意题目观点，则可以承认原因，但不承认结果(比如可以承认艺术的确不能直接改善人们的生活，但并不能因此就认为政府不该投资艺术，因为艺术还有其他很多重要的功能)，也可以对原因进行否定(比如认为艺术实际上可以直接改善人们生活)，然后对艺术的其他功能也进行论证。本题给我们的启示是：对题目中给出的原因和结果，我们不要急于去同意，而是要去看看这个原因是否正确，原因和结果之间是否存在必然的因果关系。这个角度给我们提供了批判性的思考机会。

以下请看这个批判思维是如何在高分范文中具体演绎出来的。

老师笔记

01

Though some art forms, one perfect example of which is Hollywood movies, can bring in huge revenues for the government, most arts, like painting and music, do not directly bear on our life. However, this does not follow that the government should not invest in such arts.

虽然一些艺术形式，其中一个完美的例子是好莱坞电影，可以为政府带来巨大的收入，但大多数艺术，如绘画和音乐，并没有直接影响我们的生活。然而，这并不意味着政府不应该投资于这样的艺术。

解析

(1)开头段先扬后抑，提出多数艺术都与我们的生活没有直接联系。然后提出全文论点：我们不能因此认为政府不应投资艺术。

(2)revenue (政府或公司的)收入

(3)bear on 与......相关

(4)this does not follow that... 这并不意味着......

02

In the first place, even if arts, when compared with education, health care system, and technologies, do not help much with the material aspects of our life, they do have much to do with our emotional and spiritual life. In fact, if we admit that our happiness consists not only in materialcontentment but also in spiritual satisfaction, we will have to admit that our life could not do without arts. When we feel sad, we can stand in front of the smiling Monalisa and very soon we may recover from our sadness and regain our peace of mind; we when are happy, we can dance with a beautiful piece of music, which will multiply our happiness.

首先，与教育、医疗系统和技术相比，即使艺术对我们生活的物质方面没有多大帮助，但与我们的情感和精神生活却有很大关系。事实上，如果我们承认我们的幸福不仅在于物质上的满足，还在于精神上的满足，我们就必须承认，没有艺术，我们的生活是无法完成的。当我们感到悲伤的时候，我们可以站在微笑的蒙娜丽莎面前，很快我们就可以从悲伤中恢复过来，重新获得内心的平静;当我们快乐的时候，我们可以随一段美丽的乐曲跳舞，这将让我们的快乐倍增。

解析

(1)本段讨论艺术的个功能：让个人获得精神满足感。论证方法是阐述+例证，首先指出幸福在于物质和精神两个方面，因而我们的生活不能没有艺术。接下来通过举例说明“我们悲伤和开心”时，艺术都能起到作用。这种写作方式摆脱了枯燥的论证，把自己的经历带入作文中，使作文带有很强的个性化特征。

(2)material 物质的

(3)to have much to do with... 与......有很大关系

(4)consist in... 在于......

(5) contentment 满足(n.)

(6) could not do without... 没有......不行

(7)peace of mind 心灵的平静

(8)multiply 倍增;乘

03

Besides, arts may have an even more important role to play in getting people of a troubled nation united as one and fight the problem they have. We all know how Winston Churchill’s powerful speech had encouraged British people to fight Nazis bravely in the Second World War, and how Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” had motivatedAfrican Americans to pursue the social justice they deserved in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, arts that have appeared right after 9/11 terrorist attack have in the same way effectively brought Americans together in face of the nightmare.

此外，艺术可能会发挥更重要的作用，使一个陷入困境的国家的人民团结在一起，与他们面临的问题作斗争。我们都知道温斯顿·丘吉尔的有力演讲鼓励英国人民在第二次世界大战中勇敢地与纳粹作战，马丁·路德·金的“我有一个梦想”促使非洲裔美国人在民权运动中追求他们应得的社会正义。今天，9·11恐怖袭击后出现的艺术，同样有效地将美国人团结在一起，面对噩梦。

解析

(1)本段论述艺术对于整个国家的作用：在国家遇到麻烦的时候，艺术具有振奋人心的作用。本段使用三个例证来论证，请注意范文举例时语言使用的简洁性。

(2)a troubled nation 陷入困境的国家

(3)motivate 激励;激发

(4)social justice 社会公正

(5)deserve 应得

(6)nightmare 噩梦

04

In summary, far from being illusionary and useless as some people might think, arts can be very important in our life, both to the individuals and to the nation as a whole. To maintain a healthy and robust society, therefore, the government should not marginalize the arts.

总之，艺术并不像某些人想象的那样虚幻和无用，艺术在我们的生活中是非常重要的，无论对个人还是对整个国家都是如此。因此，为了维持社会的健康和稳固，政府不应将艺术边缘化。

解析

(1)本段是结论，总结前文的讨论，提出艺术对个人和国家都非常重要，认为政府不应该将艺术边缘化。注意范文结尾实现了“总结+延伸”的基本结构。

(2)illusionary 虚幻的

(3)maintain 维持

(4)robust 稳固的

(5)marginalize 使......边缘化

参考范文

Though some art forms, one perfect example of which is Hollywood movies, can bring in huge revenues for the government, most arts, like painting and music, do not directly bear on our life. However, this does not follow that the government should not invest in such arts.

In the first place, even if arts, when compared with education, health care system, and technologies, do not help much with the material aspects of our life, they do have much to do with our emotional and spiritual life. In fact, if we admit that our happiness consists not only in material contentment but also in spiritual satisfaction, we will have to admit that our life could not do without arts. When we feel sad, we can stand in front of the smiling Monalisa and very soon we may recover from our sadness and regain our peace of mind; we when are happy, we can dance with a beautiful piece of music, which will multiply our happiness.

Besides, arts may have an even more important role to play in getting people of a troubled nation united as one and fight the problem they have. We all know how Winston Churchill’s powerful speech had encouraged British people to fight Nazis bravely in the Second World War, and how Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” had motivated African Americans to pursue the social justice they deserved in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, arts that have appeared right after 9/11 terrorist attack have in the same way effectively brought Americans together in face of the nightmare.

In summary, far from being illusionary and useless as some people might think, arts can be very important in our life, both to the individuals and to the nation as a whole. To maintain a healthy and robust society, therefore, the government should not marginalize the arts.

(315 words)、

需要本次雅思考试机经的同学请：2018.05.12雅思完整机经回忆