Sample GRE Issue:(满分作文)感受一下GRE作文难度
题目:
The best way for a society to prepare its young people for 
leadership in government, industry, or other fields is by 
instilling in them a sense of cooperation, not competition.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you 
agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting 
your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons 
or examples that could be used to challenge your position.Whenever people argue that history is a worthless subject or that 
there is nothing to be gained by just “memorizing a bunch of stupid 
names and dates,” I simply hold my tongue and smile to myself. 
What I’m thinking is that, as cliche as it sounds, you do learn a 
great deal from history (and woe to those who fail to learn those 
lessons). It is remarkable to think of the number of circumstances 
and situations in which even the most rudimentary knowledge of 
history will turn out to be invaluable. Take, for example, the issue 
at hand here. Is it better for society to instill in future leaders a 
sense of competition or cooperation? Those who have not examined 
leaders throughout time and across a number of fields might not 
have the ability to provide a thorough and convincing answer to 
this question, in spite of the fact that it is crucial to the future 
functioning of our society. Looking closely at the question of 
leadership and how it has worked in the past, I would have to agree 
that the best way to prepare young people for leadership roles is to 
instill in them a sense of cooperation.Let us look first at those leaders who have defined themselves 
based on their competitiveness. Although at first glance it may 
appear that a leader must have a competitive edge in order to gain 
and then maintain a leadership position, I will make two points onthis subject. First, the desire to compete is an inherent part of 
human nature; that is, it is not something that needs to be “instilled” 
in young people. Is there anyone who does not compete in some 
way or another every single day? You try to do better than others in 
your school work or at the office, or you just try to do better than 
yourself in some way, to push yourself. When societies instill 
competitiveness in their leaders, it only leads to trouble. The most 
blatant example in this case is Adolf Hitler, who took competition 
to the very extreme, trying to prove that his race and his country 
were superior to all. We do not, however, need to look that far to 
find less extreme examples (i.e., Hitler is not the extreme example 
that disproves the rule). The recent economic meltdown was caused 
in no large part by the leaders of American banks and financial 
institutions who were obsessed with competing for the almighty 
dollar. Tiger Woods, the ultimate competitor in recent golfing 
history and in many ways a leader who brought the sport of golf to 
an entirely new level, destroyed his personal life (and perhaps his 
career -- still yet to be determined) by his overreaching sense that 
he could accomplish anything, whether winning majors or sleeping 
with as many women as possible. His history of competitiveness is 
well documented; his father pushed him froma very early age to be 
the ultimate competitor. It served him well in some respects, 
but it also proved to be detrimental and ultimately quite destructive.Leaders who value cooperation, on the other hand, have historically 
been less prone to these overreaching, destructive tendencies. A 
good case in point would be Abraham Lincoln. Now, I am sure 
at this point you are thinking that Lincoln, who served as President 
during the Civil War and who refused to compromise with the 
South or allow secession, could not possibly be my model of 
cooperation! Think, however, of the way Lincoln structured his 
Cabinet. He did not want a group of “yes men” who would agree 
with every word he said, but instead he picked people who were 
more likely to disagree with his ideas. And he respected their input, 
which allowed him to keep the government together in the North 
during a very tumultuous period (to say the least).My point in choosing the Lincoln example is that competitiveness 
and conflict may play better to the masses and be more likely to be 
recorded in the history books, but it was his cooperative nature that 
allowed him to govern effectively. Imagine if the CEO of a large 
company were never able to compromise and insisted that every 
single thing be done in exactly her way. Very quickly she would 
lose the very people that a company needs in order to survive, 
people with new ideas, people ready to make great advances. 
Without the ability to work constructively with those who have 
conflicting ideas, a leader will never be able to strike deals, reach 
consensus, or keep an enterprise on track. Even if you are thebiggest fish in the pond, it is difficult to force your will on others 
forever; eventually a bigger fish comes along (or the smaller fish 
team up against you!).In the end, it seems most critical for society to instill in young 
people a sense of cooperation. In part this is true because we seem 
to come by our competitive side more naturally, but cooperation is 
more often something we struggle to learn (just think of kids on the 
playground). And although competitive victory is more showy, 
more often than not the real details of leadership come down to the 
ability to work with other people, to compromise and cooperate. 
Getting to be President of the United States or the managing 
director of a corporation might require you to win some battles, 
but once you are there you will need diplomacy and people-skills. 
Those can be difficult to learn, but if you do not have them, you 
are likely to be a short-lived leader.美国大学研究生院录取量表,你可知道?
                
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