13512 Luck vs. Hard Work 勤奋好运
TOEFL Independent Writing Task
Jeenn Lee Hsieh 谢振礼老师
ielts360toefl@hotmail.com
Writing Topic (选自托福题库185):
"When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success." Do you agree or disagree with the quotation above? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position.
Sample Essay (谢振礼实验范文):
Speaking of success in life, luck is more often a result of your own hard work. Not only can you make your own luck, good or bad; but it is possible to boost your luck quotient. This essay will explore why some people seem 'charmed' to succeed while others seem 'doomed' to fail.
Given that luck has something to do with success, it turns out that luck is not a happenstance or magical force. Rather, it is the product of certain behaviors powered by a strong desire to succeed. Extremely successful persons do not blindly believe in pure luck--except may be in the lottery, and even then, as the saying goes, you cannot win if you do not play. So, if luck is a matter of chance, the most fortunate ones can maximize their 'chance opportunities', expecting good things to happen. Or, otherwise they put a positive spin on bad luck to better deal with it. This positive thinking reflects Thomas Jefferson's words: "I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder Iwork, the more I have of it.".
It appears that all successful persons are 'charmed' with pure luck, when all it comes down to is a lot of hard work. That is to say, today's positive efforts can contribute to tomorrow's chances of achievements, which would eventually tell 'charmed' winners from 'doomed' losers, so to speak. Further, hard work is usually associated with positive thinking. Whereas losers visualize the penalties of failures, winners visualize rewards of success. Therefore, working hard positively is key to success since there is in this world no such force as the force of a strong will to rise and achieve. Normally, lucky people are certain that their future is as bright as expected, and this expectation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because it helps lucky people persist in the face of failure.
Ultimately, do some people succeed because they are destined; or do some people succeed because they are determined? Probably failure is not the worst thing, the very worst being not able to work with determination. It is not that luck matters less, but that hard work matters even more
. (Essay created by Jeenn Lee Hsieh
