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  3. The following two excerpts are about the spread of Chinese traditional cultur

The following two excerpts are about the spread of Chinese traditional cultur

游客2024-11-05  1
问题    The following two excerpts are about the spread of Chinese traditional culture against the backdrop of globalization and westernization. From the excerpts, you can find the merits of Chinese traditional culture, but there has been doubt about its worth on the contemporary international stage.
   Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 WORDS, in which you should:
   1.   summarize the different opinions about Chinese traditional culture and western culture, and then
   2.  express your opinion towards this issue, especially whether the necessity to popularize Chinese traditional culture is justified.
   Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
   Write your article on ANSWER SHEET FOUR.
   Excerpt 1
                           There’s Nothing New Under the Sun
   When Henry Kissinger was paying his pioneering visits to China in the early 1970s, the country was in the grip of a campaign to criticize Confucius. But China’s own past—the 5,000 years of history of which its leaders often like to remind foreign interlocutors—is a constant presence in its domestic politics and its view of the world.
   Yet China’s recent rise has taken place in a world organized along principles devised elsewhere, by foreign parvenus. For years scholars have struggled to develop a distinctively Chinese theory of international relations. This is almost a matter of national pride: "As a rapidly rising major power, it is unacceptable that China does not have its own theory," one Chinese official said.
   So attempts to apply precepts devised by ancient Chinese philosophers to the modern world are in vogue. One popular revival is the notion of tianxia, or "all under heaven". This dates back to the golden age of classical Chinese philosophy—of Confucius, Mencius, Laozi and the rest—in the "warring states" period. Instead of relying on force of arms, tianxia had the intention of drawing on its own moral and political example as the central state. It is a Utopian vision of universal harmony, where everybody opts into a system of global government. Tianxia is not advocating a world order led by China, but a system of equality. Nor is there to be compulsion. Tianxia is a voluntary choice.
   It has, however, made an impression. Some even see its influence in the ideal adopted by China’s Communist Party leader of a "harmonious society". Some also heard tianxia echoes in the slogan for the 2008 Beijing Olympics; "One world, one dream".
   Excerpt 2
               The Spread of Western Culture Threatens Local Cultures
   The aggressive spread of market economics and communication technologies often under the control of Western multinationals brings new challenges to local cultures and values in non-Western societies. Sometimes it seems as if a tidal wave of the worst Western culture is creeping across the globe like a giant strawberry milkshake oozing over the planet, with a flavor that is distinctly sweet, sickly and manifestly homogenous.
   Suddenly, people all over the non-Westernized regions appear to be imbibing materialistic and individualistic values previously associated with Western culture. One major reason of this is the structural change in the world economy: globalization and the flood of goods dumped in poor countries that are marketed by mass seductive advertising which is obviously superficial but nonetheless successful in creating fresh desires in peoples of traditional societies.
   Starting in the sixteenth century, Western adventurers made a conscious effort to undermine the cultural heritage of various peoples around the world; this has been accomplished by imposing Western religion and cultural practices on those with a different way of life. Colonialism has paved the way for today’s cultural globalization by leaving the colonized in a state of cultural disorientation and consequently vulnerable to continuing cultural invasion. It may sound extreme but academic language studies have proven that as many as 90 percent of the world’s languages will disappear in the next century.
   By far the most important far-reaching effect of cultural globalization is the commercialization of culture. Production and consumption of cultural goods and services have become commodities, along with the essentials of social life, which are the crucibles of cultural creation. As the former chairman of Coca-Cola, Robert Goizueta said; "People around the world are today connected by brand name consumer products as much as by anything else. "
选项
答案    On Propagating Traditional Culture in China
   In today’s vortex-like world where hegemony has little room, China whose development has been catapulted to a soaring height, is zigzagging between embracing the Western civilization and the traditional Chinese one. Those who are ferociously dedicated to the traditional culture argue that it has been an asset both to our past and the world not only as a kind of domestic politics but also a moral and philosophical one aiming at solving deep-rooted universal problems against the damage of the local culture brought by the spread of Western culture, the essence of which is nothing but vulgar materialism and commercialization.
   Traditional Chinese culture, be it embodied in the ethics of Confucius, or the warring arts of Sun Zi, or the benevolence of Mencius, or the fundamental world outlook of Taoism, gushes with wisdom towering all mundane issues. Such ancient pearl of human wisdom though it is, it still applies to the current world. Out of the abysmal living conditions and endless wars and conflicts, these sages spoke nothing but the true and universal laws of nature and human world. A return to the primal vision becomes a fresh assertion of its never-fading luster on contemporary issues. This is especially important when China, with its recent rise in economy, stands like a monolith in a world whose diverse values are being eroded and decimated by Westernization. In a desperate attempt to have its own theory, China, thanks to our ancestors, has classical motifs to draw upon. Rather than shibboleth, ancient Chinese culture echoes our current China dream which cherishes communal solidarity, social equality and family fidelity. The habitude of virtues adored dearly by our forefathers can help turn the jeremiad of today’s conflicting world into a more peaceful one.
   In conclusion, just as Arnold Joseph Toynbee, a prestigious historian once said: "In times of the 21st century crisis, only Confucius and Mahayana can save the world. " Though new chapters of time scroll before us, history repeatedly tells us we are still facing the same chafing issues that centuries ago people faced. So why not summon our old cultural legacy and rejuvenate it into this new era?
解析    本题讨论的话题是在全球化和西方化的背景之下弘扬中国传统文化。选段1主要论述了在国际上向西方看齐的背景之下，中国政府开始重视弘扬中国传统文化的原因；并列举了中国古代哲学中“天下”或“普天之下”在当今时代的应用。选段2重点讲述以商业主义和全球化为主体的西方文化如何渗透并且破坏了世界各地的本土文化。本题写作的重点在于首先概括选段中人们对中国传统文化和西方文化的不同观点，然后提出自己的观点，尤其要论证推行中国传统文化是否合理。
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