36. A transportation vehicle that has changed people's lives Choose one of the following transportation vehicles and explain why you think it has changed people's lives. ? automobiles ? bicycles ? airplanes Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
『分析』根据[70]，应该选择automobiles。注意，要回答为.什.么.汽车改变了人们的生活。汽车改变了人们的时间、空间观念，进而改变了人们的生活。汽车使货物的远程运输成为可能，进而使人们可以购买更多的商品。汽车使汽油变得格外重要，直接间接导致了很多中东地区的战争。汽车使空气污染更加严重，导致人们的健康受到影响相关
题目：[70]、[106]、[177]
『范文』 Automobiles, as the exponent of modern transportation vehicles, virtually have contributed to modern life more than most people have imagined, even though automobiles, as is true of all other technologies, have also created many problems. The advancement of modern transportation, certainly including that of automobiles, has made more goods available in local markets. For example, in China, some fruits are only cultivated in the southern part of the country and not in the northern, such as litchi, sugarcane, pineapple—partly due to sheer gradient of temperature. Thanks to the advancement of modern transportation system, people in the northern part of the country can now get those southern cultivated fruits readily available in almost every local market. In the far past when such system didn't exist, when goods could be transported only by primitive tools such as carts, some fruits such as litchi were the privilege of imperial household. At the same time, the development of modern transportation has also made goods in local markets much less expensive. Take litchi for example again. Two decades ago, litchi was pretty expensive, and was a luxury. But the development has made the transportation easier and the cost lower and lower. On the other hand, due to previous factors, more merchants are engaged in the business that simultaneously intensified the competition, which certainly affected the prices. Thus, the price of litchi subsequently dropped. The same goes for other goods as well. Today, people are able to buy almost any goods they want no matter where the origin of the goods is, and to make choice among more counterparts, and the best of all, to take the goods home with less expenditure. Moreover, advanced transportation vehicles such as automobiles have to some extent made people more independent than before. It is not hard to imagine that 50 years ago a young widow who lived in a small village and whose husband had died when she was 23 had little chance to get married again, for the sake of the tradition or culture, or whatever. But if that happened in the present day, things would be entirely different. Advanced transportation vehicles being readily available, she could easily get to another city within at most 2 days and by lower expenses, say from the small village located in the north east of China to the far southern city, Guangzhou - several thousands of miles away. That's a big city, that's a new city, and nobody knows her there; she has a brand new start, and she is entirely independent.
37. Is progress always good? Do you agree or disagree that progress is always good? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
『分析』不同同意。Always是一个绝对的修饰词。大多数的时候进步是好的。电的发明、交通方式的进步、通讯方式的改良也有些时候进步带来一些副作用。参见：[29]
『范文』 Progress can be measured in many ways, but one very tangible way to measure progress is by looking at economic development. In these terms, progress can be seen as a very positive force, helping many people rise up from poverty. But history shows that progress, even as measured by economic progress, always has its cost. Take Germany in the 1930's for example. Humiliated by unequal treaties after World War I, the German people were suffering from a terrible economy and massive inflation. Then Hitler took power and mobilized the German economy, in several years the Germans economy had recovered and was actually becoming among the most powerful in Europe. But Hitler's economic miracle came at a terrible price. His plan was to use Germany's economic power to finance its military power. Germany's aggression sparked World War II, a catastrophe that killed tens of millions of people all over the whole world, including countless millions of civilians. When progress serves evil, the result hurts. Likewise the progress of America, arguably the most advanced of all nations, has come at a heavy price. America used to be the land of native Americans. America's current "progress" would probably not have been achieved if most of the land in America still belonged to the Native Americans. From their perspective, America's current progress is their profound loss. Finally, China's economic growth over the past 25 years has been truly remarkable. Standards of living have gone up dramatically, but the progress has negative aspects as well as the obvious positive ones. As income gaps between the rich and the poor widen, social problems like crime and poverty become more pronounced. The damage done to the environment by factories and "progressive" human activity might not be undone for hundreds of years, affecting the lives of Chinese people for generations to come. If these problems are not addressed, our grandchildren might truly come to regret current alleged "progress."
38. Does history have any value for people living in the present? Learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the present. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.