谢振礼 托福范文: 野心梦想
TOEFL Independent Writing
China 2018-06-30
Topic:
Some people have ambitious dreams and always keep following them, but others always focus on realistic goals and try to achieve them. Which one is the better? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
Essay:
It is true that high achievement often comes from following high expectations and low achievement often comes from setting realistic goals. However, what would happen if big ambitions and small talents happen to be in the framework of an ambitious dream? Although in some cases it is important to keep following ambitious dreams, nevertheless in other cases, people should realize that it is also important to focus on realistic goals.
Why focusing on realistic goals matters? Conventional wisdom has it that those people who are not gifted with talents and not empowered with a strong desire are not meant to fulfill their ambitious dreams. For them, indeed, the right thing to do may be to fix their eyes on realistic goals and try to achieve them without wasting time in always dreaming with closed eyes. If people are too ambitious and forget to keep their feet on the ground, they are likely to fail miserably. It may be said that a blind ambition without substance is only a fantasy that leads to nowhere near big success. Worse, an ambition that has no rest could even destroy its possessor. Based on these views, it is better to succeed in small things and feel happy rather than to be troubled with great ambitions that are far, far away from being realistic. Probably that is why many a time when ambitious dreams end, happiness begins.
However, being ambitious is a virtue because big results require big ambitions plus, of course, big talents to succeed. Those particular people in this category can hold fast to their ambitions with a strong desire and act with enthusiasm to make success happen. So powerful are their dreams that ambitious minds are never satisfied with small results. To link ambitions to talents, it is understandable that talents without ambitions would remain only talents like birds without wings that cannot soar. That said, it is also understandable that ambitions without talents remain to be simply dreams forever. It stands to reason that big ambitions must match big talents since without having ambitious dreams one starts nothing whereas without talents one finishes nothing. That is to say, being ambitious blindly is risky, even tragic because ambitions are not only what one wishes to do but also what one can do.
In conclusion, one should be prudent to balance ambitious dreams and realistic goals. Under different circumstances, ambitious dreams can be positive or negative. In some cases, always following one’s ambitious dreams may be better than always focusing on realistic goals; while in other cases, the contrary may be true.
