GRE作文范文 Issue-22

"Sometimes imagination is a more valuable asset than experience. People who lack experience are free to imagine what is possible and thus can approach a task without constraints of established habits and attitudes."

嘉文博譯Sample Essay

Inevitably, there are times when imagination can be a much more valuable asset than experience. Life is full of examples of such situations. There are, however, times when the reverse is also true. No one would probably prefer, as cases in point, a first-time astronaut piloting a dangerous space mission or a newly commissioned officer leading an army into battle. But for many occupations and tasks, imagination leads to creative thinking and solutions that may be beyond the ken of someone with years of experience in that particular field.

One example that immediately comes to mind is that of the superiority of new computer software programmers. The computer software producing companies want to hire the latest graduates that have only the basic programming skills and abilities - and the creative ideas that may not have been presented to the industry before. Although years of computer programming experience may be advantageous for certain tasks, such as the building of computer network systems for businesses, the computer software industry must have the very latest in state-of-the-art design. Imagination leads to creativity that can take computer games and other types of software in directions that were never before thought possible. Innovative computer games and software can earn hundreds of millions of dollars for the company that produces them. The latest and most creative ideas come almost exclusively from the imaginations of fresh talent lacking any formal experience with computer software companies.

Another example that occurs frequently with management and human resources in business is the idea of forming cross-functional task forces to solve problems that arise in the course of doing business. Management creates cross-functional task forces by choosing individuals across several different functional areas, such as the marketing, finance, human resources and accounting departments, to form a team that will address the particular dilemma facing the company. The idea is to invite the idea of "thinking outside of the box", or looking beyond the normal solutions that would probably be proposed by management or the particular department that is affected by the problem. As an example given, suppose that an accounting department is facing a crisis caused by the application of Western accounting principles to Chinese business documentation. By inviting all departments of the organization to focus on the problem, even though most have little or no accounting experience, the company hopes to gain an imaginative solution beyond that of the experience of the accounting department alone.

Politicians give maybe the prime example of the battle between the comparative merits of imagination versus that of experience. The classic battle lines are formed when a new challenger with no political experience faces an incumbent politician with perhaps decades of experience. The newcomer will focus his or her campaign on imagination as he or she attempts to generate new ideas to solve either the age-old problems of government or newly arisen crises. The wizened old politician will focus his campaign and the issues in such a way as to maximize his experience in politics as the prerequisite for an elected leader. Generally, a given voting population opposes change. Therefore in politics, in the absence of problems that obviously require imagination and fresh ideas, the candidate with the greater experience will probably have the edge, all other things being equal.

It goes without saying that in many cases imagination can be a much greater asset than experience. What would the state of technology in the world be today without the imagination and ingenuity of Thomas Alva Edison, as an individual example, or the imagination and experimentation of the thousands of medical doctors that have dramatically advanced the medical sciences over the ages? Experience does have its advantages at times and in certain situations, but it is imagination that can take people outside of their current state of knowledge to solve problems.

(635 words)

參考譯文

有的時候想象力是一種比經(jīng)驗更為可貴的財富。有的人雖然缺乏經(jīng)驗但是卻能夠自由地發(fā)揮想象力，這樣他們就可以不受固有習慣和態(tài)度的約束而完成任務。

確實，有的時候想象力可以成為比經(jīng)驗更為可貴的財富。生活中我們可以看到許多這樣的例子。然而，有時候，經(jīng)驗比想象力更為可貴也是一條不折不扣的真理。比如說，沒有人會愿意看到一個初次飛行的宇航員執(zhí)行一項危險的太空任務或者一個新任軍官指揮部隊進行戰(zhàn)斗。但是，在許多職業(yè)或工作中，想象力可以給人們帶來創(chuàng)造性的思維和解決之道，這是那些在這個特定領域有多年經(jīng)驗的人所望塵莫及的。

我們能夠立刻想到的例子就是那些新的電腦軟件編程人員所具有的優(yōu)勢。制作電腦軟件的公司想要雇用的是剛剛畢業(yè)的學生，他們有的僅僅具有基礎的編程技巧和能力，以及這個行業(yè)可能前所未有的創(chuàng)造性思想。雖然多年的電腦編程經(jīng)驗對于某些工作，比如建立商務電腦網(wǎng)絡系統(tǒng)，可能會是一項優(yōu)勢，但電腦軟件行業(yè)必須要有最新、最好的設計方案。想象力產(chǎn)生的創(chuàng)造力能將電腦游戲或其他軟件向以往未曾想象到的新方向發(fā)展。革新性的電腦游戲和軟件能給生產(chǎn)它們的公司帶來數(shù)以億計的大把美元。最新、最具創(chuàng)造性的思想幾乎無一例外地都是來自那些從未在電腦軟件公司有任何正式經(jīng)驗的人的奇思妙想。

另一個在商務管理及人力資源方面常常遇到的例子就是要組成跨部門的工作力量以解決商務運作中出現(xiàn)的問題這樣一種理念。管理部門從幾個不同的職能部門如市場、金融、人力資源和財務部門抽調(diào)人才創(chuàng)造出跨部門的工作力量，他們作為一個團隊共同工作，去解決公司面臨的困境。這個想法引進了"局外思維"的概念，尋求更好的、更有創(chuàng)新意識的解決辦法，以別于管理部門或已被問題影響到的部門所通常提出的解決方案。舉個例子，假設在將西方會計原理適用于中國商務文件的時候，財務部門遇到了緊急的難題。通過組織各部門共同對這個問題出謀劃策，公司就有希望找到一個更富有想象力的解決方案，這一定比只依靠財務部門的經(jīng)驗要好得多。

政治家為"想象力和經(jīng)驗誰更占上風"這場爭辯提供了最顯著的例子。典型的斗爭在毫無政治經(jīng)驗的新挑戰(zhàn)者與或許擁有幾十年經(jīng)驗的現(xiàn)任政治家之間進行。新的挑戰(zhàn)者在選舉中強調(diào)他或她的想象力會為解決老問題或新危機提出創(chuàng)造性的思路，而老朽的政治家則會最大程度地強調(diào)經(jīng)驗是被選舉成為領導人的先決條件。通常，大部分投票選舉的人都不反對變革，因此，在政治領域內(nèi)，如果沒有明顯需要想象力和新鮮念頭的問題出現(xiàn)，那么，其他方面處于平等位置而經(jīng)驗較為豐富的選手就會占有優(yōu)勢。

顯然，在某些情況下想象力是比經(jīng)驗更為可貴的財富，如果沒有托馬斯·愛迪生的想象力和創(chuàng)造力(作為個人貢獻的代表)，如果沒有成千上萬名醫(yī)生幾個年代以來通過發(fā)揮想象力和進行試驗大大提高醫(yī)學水平的話，如今我們這個世界的技術狀況將會處在怎樣的一個水平?具有經(jīng)驗在有些時候、有些情況下確實非常有利，但是，唯有想象力才可以使人們超出他們現(xiàn)有的知識狀態(tài)去創(chuàng)造性地解決問題。