GRE issue寫(xiě)作素材：理性和感性之價(jià)值觀

　　Most people think that their deeply held values are the result of rational choice, but reason often has little to do with the way people form values.

　　大多數(shù)人認(rèn)為他們深信不疑的價(jià)值觀是理性選擇的結(jié)果，但是理智往往對(duì)于人們形成價(jià)值觀幾乎根本不起作用。

　　正文：

　　Nowadays there increasingly arises much concern about whether reason plays a role in people forming values or not. As the assertion presented by speaker that most people think that their deeply held values are the result of rational choice, but reason often has little to do with the way people form values. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the deeply believed values are the result of rational choice by people as well as their ancestors.

　　First of all, in the face of different values, people tend to choose one by considering thoroughly and reasonably. One popular example involves people’s rational choice toward the 9.11 terrorism. When the Taliban government proposed and spread the value of terrorism by attacking the Pentagon building, the Americans as well as all other peace-lovers stood out to excoriate the terrorisms with their cold-blooded and brutal terrors. Undeniably, most people chose peace rather than terrorism by reasonable thought. Accordingly, it is via people’ rational, logical, and prudential choice that determine to accept or reject the values newly emerged.

　　Some may argue that most of people’ deeply held values are chiefly instilled by education, and are profoundly influenced by their own culture. This specious argument demonstrates that people’ values are primarily determined by culture rather than their own choice. Nevertheless, where did these values deprive? Why are they cherished and selected to preserve? The only answer is that all these deeply held values are the reasonable choice by not only our ancestors, but also our modern people. Just take a look into America history, one need look no further to find that without Washington’s rational choice of independence and democracy, or Lincoln’s reasonable choice of equality, or Martin Luther King’s wise choice against racial discrimination, these value as freedom, democracy, and equality would not be so deeply rooted in American’s mind. Consequently, the values that are commonly taken over world such as peace,democracy, love, cooperation and so on, are the very choice of our ancestors and are passed down from a generation to generation.

　　Some other people in favor of speaker’s assertion may claim that there are also many values determined by the external forces, such as laws, which are beyond people’s free choice. I concede that indeed, every country has carried out a series of various laws for its citizens to abide by in order to assure the stability of society. However, if only one remembered the failure of Prohibition during the 1930s, and more recently,failed federal legislation to regulate access to adult material via the Internet, as well as the innumerable rules and regulations under continuous amending in order to adapt the updated situations, may he or she clearly realize that it is also people’s reasonable consideration to decision which law is feasible to carry out, which law should be edited,and even which law should be abandoned. In short, once people sensibly chose such valuable values as peace, democracy apart from violence and anarchy, a series of systematic and reasonable laws are another desirable rational choice of people,including the values embodied in the laws.

　　In sum, from the full discussion offered above, we may draw the persuasive conclusion that people’ deeply held values are actually the result of their rational choice, no matter the values imparted by education and preserved by culture, or the values apparently determined by laws, as a matter of fact, all these values are the richness of our entire human legacy chosen, preserved and passed down by one generation to another.