（1）1998年真題。Directions:
Study the following set of pictures carefully and write an essay in no less than 150 words.
Your essay must be written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2.
Your essay should cover all the information provided and meet the requirements below:
1. Write out the message conveyed by the cartoon.
2. Give your comments.
(1)
真題分析：
本題是考研短文作文中采用漫畫來作為試題的第一次嘗試。圖中一只母雞在高唱產(chǎn)品承諾，但是我們看一看其承諾會(huì)不禁啞然失笑，因?yàn)樗^的“承諾”只不過的它的本分。漫畫形象生動(dòng)了反映了當(dāng)今社會(huì)上一個(gè)普遍而又奇怪的現(xiàn)象，也就是商家故意混淆“吹噓”和“分內(nèi)事”之間的關(guān)系，從而誤導(dǎo)消費(fèi)者。
本題的難點(diǎn)在于考生需要從大量的文字信息中找到中心思想。這里的一大忌諱就是盲目翻譯打油詩和母雞的承諾，因?yàn)檫@不僅會(huì)占用很多字?jǐn)?shù)，而且不倫不類的翻譯還會(huì)降低文章的質(zhì)量。這就進(jìn)一步說明了在寫作圖畫作文的時(shí)候，抓住中心思想、提煉觀點(diǎn)才是關(guān)鍵。
思路拓展：
職業(yè)道德問題也是中國的經(jīng)濟(jì)和社會(huì)發(fā)展中一個(gè)值得人們長期關(guān)注的關(guān)鍵問題之一。在市場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)大潮中，許多人在利益的驅(qū)使下紛紛都失去了道德和理智，以假冒偽劣產(chǎn)品和劣質(zhì)的服務(wù)來欺瞞消費(fèi)者，損害消費(fèi)者的利益。相關(guān)話題還包括近年來社會(huì)上大力抨擊的商業(yè)欺詐問題，以及努力倡導(dǎo)“誠信”原則等。相關(guān)的領(lǐng)域幾乎可以囊括各行各業(yè)，包括工業(yè)制造業(yè)、商業(yè)、教育、醫(yī)藥、娛樂界等等熱門行業(yè)和產(chǎn)業(yè)。考生應(yīng)該注意在平時(shí)搜集相關(guān)資料，做到舉一反三。

范文：
The cartoon presents a hen singing proudly about her promise of producing good-quality eggs. However, a quick glance at her words reveals ironically that the so-called “promise”―round eggs composed of the three necessary parts of shell, white and yolk―is, as a matter of fact, what a hen is supposed to produce.
The hen mirrors a phenomenon that permeates our society, that is, businesses utilize the basic features of their products and services as the selling points for their advertisement campaigns. These “beautiful promises” tend to shape a false impression in the consumers’ mind that the products and services are of extraordinary characteristics. In this sense, the promise of one’s own responsibility is like a method of cheating, and is quite against professional morals, although there is no evidence of dishonesty if the words are examined literally.
In my point of view, other than promising what one should do, the secret for business success is to have the consumers understand what extra advantages they would be provided with. Such an initiative can push businesses to conduct profound research, dedicate themselves to innovation, and concentrate on quality improvement and perfection, thus leading to healthy industry development and positive social effects. Consequently, businesses themselves are surely to benefit more from a wholesome market environment.

譯文：
這幅漫畫顯示了一只母雞正在驕傲地高歌其生產(chǎn)的優(yōu)質(zhì)雞蛋?？墒瞧骋谎鬯f的話，我們就能發(fā)現(xiàn)所謂的“承諾”―即下蛋不見棱角，保證蛋皮、蛋清和蛋黃―其實(shí)是任何母雞應(yīng)該做的事情。
這只母雞反映了現(xiàn)在社會(huì)上普遍存在的一個(gè)典型現(xiàn)象，即一些商家在廣告中故意用產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)的基本特征來作為宣傳的噱頭。這些“美麗的承諾”給消費(fèi)者們?cè)斐闪颂摷俚挠∠螅顾麄冋J(rèn)為面對(duì)著的產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)擁有一些非凡的特點(diǎn)。從這個(gè)意義上來說，對(duì)于自己本該履行的責(zé)任的承諾就好像商業(yè)欺騙，違反了職業(yè)道德，盡管從字面上來說沒有欺詐的痕跡。[FS:PAGE]
我認(rèn)為，商業(yè)成功的秘密不在于承諾做自己應(yīng)該做的事情，而是應(yīng)該讓消費(fèi)者得到額外的好處。這會(huì)促使企業(yè)加大和深入研究工作、致力于創(chuàng)新、關(guān)注產(chǎn)品質(zhì)量的提高和完善，從而取得健康的產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展和積極的社會(huì)效應(yīng)。商家自身也會(huì)因此從一個(gè)更加健康的市場(chǎng)環(huán)境中得到更多的好處。

閃光詞匯及詞組：
so-called: 所謂的
as a matter of fact: 實(shí)際上
utilize: v. 利用
selling points: adj. 賣點(diǎn)
tend to: 易于，傾向于
in this sense: 在這個(gè)意義上，

萬能句型：
The cartoon presents…
However, a quick glance at … reveals ironically that…
… mirrors a phenomenon that permeates our society, that is…
In my point of view…Consequently …

(2) Write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following drawing. In your essay, you should:
1) describe the drawing briefly,
2) explain its intended meaning, and then
3) suggest counter-measures.
You should write on ANSWER SHEET 2.
(2)
“憂”質(zhì)產(chǎn)品

范文：
The above picture features a man who is quite bothered and dissatisfied with his new toothbrush, which is of poor quality. As the caption indicates, the toothbrush is not a product of good attributes, but of unsatisfactory ones. We can also guess that such a toothbrush may hurt the man’s teeth as well as his mood, inconveniencing him greatly.
It is more than clear on this occasion that the cartoonist wishes to draw more attention to the problem of poor-quality products prevailing in our society. The harm of such a phenomenon is self-evident. On the micro level, consumers are vastly hurt by these products, which might even be life-threatening. On the macro level, if low-quality products continue to spread, they will damage the normal function and operation of a healthy market economy.
Therefore, I strongly contend that immediate measures be adopted to address the quandary. First and foremost, the government should make relevant regulations so as to severely punish manufacturers of poor products. Secondly, Consumer Association and other legal procedure should be further smoothed so that consumers possess the right channel to report related issues. Last but not least, enterprises and companies should enhance their awareness of the importance of proceeding excellent commodities.

譯文：
上圖畫出了一個(gè)男人對(duì)于他的新牙刷感到十分不滿和煩惱，因?yàn)樵撗浪⒌馁|(zhì)量太差。正如標(biāo)題所示，這支牙刷并不是優(yōu)質(zhì)產(chǎn)品，而是“憂”質(zhì)產(chǎn)品。我們可以猜到這支牙刷不僅可能傷害這個(gè)人的牙齒，也破壞了他的心情，給他帶來了很多不便。
很清楚，作圖者希望更多的人關(guān)注社會(huì)上泛濫的低質(zhì)量產(chǎn)品的問題。這種現(xiàn)象的害處是不言自明的。從微觀角度看，這類產(chǎn)品會(huì)極大地傷害消費(fèi)者的利益，甚至可能威脅到他們的生命。從宏觀角度看，如果低質(zhì)量的產(chǎn)品繼續(xù)傳播到我們社會(huì)的每一個(gè)角落，就會(huì)破壞健康市場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)的正常功能和運(yùn)行。
因此，我強(qiáng)烈建議必須要采取緊急的措施來處理這個(gè)問題。首先，政府應(yīng)該制定相關(guān)法規(guī)，嚴(yán)懲造假者。其次，健全消費(fèi)者協(xié)會(huì)和其他的訴訟機(jī)制，以便消費(fèi)者能夠有一個(gè)順暢的渠道來報(bào)告類似事件。最后，企業(yè)和公司要提高對(duì)生產(chǎn)優(yōu)質(zhì)產(chǎn)品重要性的認(rèn)識(shí)。

閃光詞匯及詞組：
bother: v. 煩擾、打擾
caption: n. 標(biāo)題
attribute: n. 特點(diǎn)、特征
mood: n. 心情、情緒
prevailing: adj. 流行的
self-evident: adj. 不言而喻的，不證自明的[FS:PAGE]
vastly: adv. 廣大地，很大程度上
life-threatening: v. 威脅生命的
spread: v. 傳播
quandary: n. 困境
smooth: v. 使……順利
channel: n. 渠道

萬能句型：
The above picture features…
It is more than clear on this occasion that the cartoonist wishes to draw more attention to the problem of…
On the micro level…On the macro level…
Therefore, I strongly contend that immediate measures be adopted to address quandary.

(3) Write an essay of 160-200 words based on the following drawing. In your essay, you should:
1) describe the drawing briefly,
2) explain its intended meaning, and then
3) state your point of view.
You should write on ANSWER SHEET 2. (3)

范文：
A first glance at this cartoon tells us that a matchmaker is attempting to create a crush between a man and a woman. But the veil on the head of the bride-to-be covers the fact that she is old and ugly, quite opposite to what the matchmaker is advertising. The picture further points out that the matchmaker symbolizes false advertisements and the woman low-quality products.
The cartoon subtly reveals a phenomenon frequently happening in our society―the false commercial advertising and promotion. Their emergence firstly owes to the negative effect of a growing market economy which emphasizes competition. Economic loser fail to learn the lesson in retrospect, and dedicate themselves to cheating customers instead of improving the quality of products and services. False advertisement, seems to be most convenient to attract clients and incr