GRE issue

刘珊

Issue: In any field of endeavor, it is impossible to make a significant contribution without first being strongly influenced by past achievements within that field.


There is no doubt that numerous significant contributions are achieved on the foundation of past accomplishments, which offer theories and techniques based on ancient people’s keen observation and daily experience. However, the statement exaggerates the function of past achievements and ignores their negative effects on the development of our society, which makes it an incorrect account.

On one hand, some achievements are made not influenced or less affected by past wisdom. There are a lot of factors contributing to the success of an endeavor, among which one element always outweighs all the others. Experience, for instance, acts as the most important basis for Darwin’s theory of evolution. Darwin published his famous book, on the origin of specie, after a five-year voyage collecting fossils and observing geographic distribution of wildlife. In addition, innovation plays a dominant role in the establishment of a new theory. Pioneers in every field have to abandon antiquated opinions to make room for their new ideas.

On the other hand, some past achievements can act as impediments to the progress of our society as they offer wrong ideas owing to a variety of reasons. Aristotle once remarked that heavy objects fell faster than light objects. This statement had long been long considered true until Galileo Galilei proved through the famous experiment on the Leaning Tower of Pisa that heavy and light objects take the same amount of time to reach the ground provided the distance is the same. Aristotle has also made many other assertions which are proved wrong by the current technology. The reason for this is that science and technology are undeveloped at his periods. This example demonstrates that past theories may be false owing to a lack of advanced technology.

Past achievements are not necessarily the most important factor affecting human beings’ contributions in any field. They may function as a less significant factor or even give rise to superstition. Consequently, the statement proves to be wrong.