57. The main benefit of the study of history is to dispel the illusion that people living now are significantly different from people who lived in earlier times. 定义Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with th

The speaker asserts that the main benefit of studying history is to understand that people living now are not much different from people living in earlier times. I concede that people of today and people of the past are facing almost the same questions. However, I would like to argue that the manifestations of and the solutions to these problems have changed enormously. Moreover, I contend that the main benefit of the study of the history is to learn human’s initiatives in investigating the outer-world and in developing our cultures.

Admittedly, if we consider the problems that keep haunting humankind throughout the history, the speaker’s argument might hold true. Humans are constantly fighting against several problems: conflicts between different groups, paradoxes between technological developments and environmental protection, social segregation, protections of minorities groups etc. No matter how advanced the technologies are, and no matter we lived in the Renaissances or lived today, we cannot avoid these questions. In retrospect of Chinese two-thousand-years history, we found that almost all dynasties were overthrown by peasant uprising. By comparing the environmental problems in different countries, China and the United Kingdom both experience a period of smog caused by heavy industries. After recognizing the insatiable character of capitalism, that has already provoked several times of economic crisis in twentieth century, the world met again a great economic depression in 2008. The same errors that human repeated seem to prove the speaker’s argument. History seems like circuitous and humans of today make same errors as humans of earlier times.

Even though the main problems that humans encounter are the same, the manifestations of and the resolutions to these problems have overwhelmingly changed. First, compared with the past these problems are more delicately manifested. Take the problem of social segregation, which exists along humans’ history, as an example. In the past, the upper class and the lower-class people had different wearing rules and they can be distinguished at a glance. During Ancient times, social segregation leaded to geographical zones that poor people could only move in limited areas. Nevertheless, today the limit between different social classes is obscure. The clear geographical segregation has disappeared and the social segregation has become a subtle question, such as the lower-classes’ difficulty to enter élite education, the upper-classes’ control over scarce resources and the information barriers between the upper and the lower. Second difference between people of the past and people of today is how they people tackle these problems. To respond to national conflicts, people of today can apply a more peaceful way such as the trade war and the economic barriers employed by China and America. In contrast, in ancient times, conflicts between two ethnic groups often provoked direct physical battles. Through analyzing both the manifestations of and the resolutions to the constant problems, this paragraph aims proving that people do change over the times and people keep working on new methods to resolve these problems.

Finally, I do not favor the argument that the main role of studying history. Had the speaker consider humans’ accomplishments in science and arts, he or she might correct his argument into that the main benefit of studying history is to understand humankind’s non-stop initiatives in discovering both the outer world and the inner world. The European culture of landscape, which investigates the evolution of the relationship between nature and human, illustrates adequately my point. In ancient times, while humans were weak, they were afraid of nature. Thus, the ancient Greek garden was a small fountain in the backyard. In Middle Ages, with the development in physics and geometry, humans were stronger and intended to control over nature. Correspondingly, the French classic gardens were regular and symmetrical. Today, with the increasingly severe environmental problems, people appeal to a harmonious relationship with nature. Consequently, ecological gardens appear. This evolution of landscape culture can be considered as a silhouette of human history. The outer world, the nature is the same, but people’s attitudes and views about them are evolving. Wring our history is just as constructing a wall. Each generation built a thin layer of understanding based on the understanding of our predecessors and finally the understanding is deepened, and the history is evolved. In conclude, the main benefit of studying history is to understand humankind’s non-stop initiatives in constructing and enriching our cultures.

To sum up, the speaker’s argument holds true only when we consider the several big social and environmental problems that keep haunting humankind. However, human culture has changed enormously with the respect of resolutions to these problems. Furthermore, the main benefit of studying history is to understand and to confirm humans’ initiatives in positively investigating the world. This spirit can help us to tackle the problems of the future.