08273 invention
雅思议论文难题：古老发明
猫头鹰在线写作实验室报告
谢振礼 Jeenn Lee Hsieh
》听网友说已经选出15道近年来公认最困难的雅思议论文真题。猫头鹰盘点谢振礼老师范文，其中14题早有相应的原创，只遗漏了下面这一题。
其实议论文并没有容易的试题，可以说有多难就有多难。乍看之下，此题话题太广，必须立即缩小范围，要不然很容易跑题。试写一篇专注轮子的发明及对科技文明的影响。请网友检验有没有离题？
》IELTS Essay Topic：
Earlier technological development brought more beneficial changes to the life of ordinary people than the modern technological development does. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
》Example Writing: Jeenn Lee Hsieh
Modern technology is full of wonders, but probably none of these can be compared with the ancient invention of the wheel in terms of the extent of change to which it has benefitted the life of ordinary people. It is because nothing apparently as simple as the wheel exists in nature, and it had to be invented in Mesopotamia as early as 5,000 years ago. There are reasons to think that, among mankind's technological breakthroughs over almost one million years from stone tools to microchips, the wheel is the most important invention.
It is as easy to appreciate the economic progress brought by the recent technological development as to forget the lingering magic of the wheel. In fact, the invention of the wheel should not be taken for granted as if it would "happen" anywhere when a culture reached a certain level of sophistication. Nevertheless, this is not the case. For instance, the great Inca, Aztec and Maya civilizations actually achieved a high level of development in various fields, and yet they never used the wheel. In known history, there is no evidence that the use of the wheel existed among native people in the Western Hemisphere until well after contact with Europeans. Thus, it may be said that the wheel has changed the landscape of the world, widely benefitting the life of ordinary people.
The wheel ought to be considered as one of the best mechanical inventions of all time. It can be seen that nearly every machine built since the beginning of the 19th century involves a single, basic principle embodied in one of mankind's truly significant inventions--the wheel. It is hard to imagine any mechanized system would be possible without the wheel or the idea of a symmetrical component moving in a circular motion on an axis. More recently, from tiny watch gears to jet planes to computer disk drives, the principle is the same. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, the idea of the wheel became the central point of technology and came to be used in thousands of ways in countless mechanisms. The wheel is no smaller an invention that improves the quality of ordinary life than do electrification, radio and television, telephones, and computers, etc., not to mention automobiles.
Modern people are inclined to ignore how technological development as early as the wheel has improved the daily lives of human beings for so long to an extent beyond description. Strictly speaking, even the development of nuclear energy or space technology can bring that kind of real advancement which is provided or inspired by the wheel. Just to get an idea about its significance, ordinary people have only to close their eyes and imagine what a world would be like without the wheel or without the Internet. (Jeenn Lee Hsiehielts360toefl@hotmail.com pigai zuowen)
