O水准英语备考 |O水准英语作文卷分享

　　课窝O-level为大家带来O水准英语作文，希望对大家备考O水准考试有所帮助。

　　Paper 1

　　Section C. Essay

　　Question

　　“A thing of beauty is a joy forever”. What are your views?

　　This is written for an extra, self-directed exercise (Secondary Four, Term 3).

　　The passage below is editted, with a few errors corrected.

　　We all appreciate and love beautiful things. Often, we are moved by the aesthetic pleasure beautiful objects excite in us: that is why we linger before graceful statues and gaze at the slim figures longingly; that is why we fix our eyes admiringly at skilful paintings; that is why we shed tears at mellifluous music. Beauty can also extend beyond mere artistic attainments – we call virtue beauty as well – and we are likewise touched by compassionate, humane images and stories. Beauty brings happiness to us as we behold it, and its charm is enduring.

　　The link between beauty and joy is profound, as it can be traced from the very beginning of human civilisation – even as the concept of ‘beauty’ had not been fully articulated, or ‘joy’ properly defined. Millions of years ago, art was produced by our cave-dwelling ancestors, depicting scenes in life and mythical stories. Though archaeologists and anthropologists studying those crude works of art have often placed more emphasis on the socio-religious uses of their content such as praying for better luck in hunting, their emotional significance is not to be blithely ignored: indeed, interdisciplinary research tapping on history, psychology and sociology has established a connection between social networks constructed around primeval art and emotional bonds fostered through communal activities such as art-making. In other words, our ancestors created art to express their ideas and emotions; while doing so as a group, they experienced the joy of forming a closely-knit community and affirmed their collective identity – thus the foundation of civilisation, of people coming together to develop a shared way of life, was built. Therefore, ‘joy’ which implies willingness and encourages desire for repetitive action to gain pleasure and ‘beauty’ which is associated with art are not only related, but firmly so – that their intimate connection underpins the entire humanity, because art is our first common language.

　　How beauty brings joy is not confined to historical analysis. Observing many people’s own responses to things of beauty can be illuminating enough. People in general are attracted to beautiful forms of art – be it visual or performative. According to a Harvard survey, 58.6% of people in ten different countries have identified ‘listening to music’ as the most relaxing activity that gives them joy and another 27.9% choose ‘looking at artworks such as paintings and statues’ as the most pleasurable engagement. There is also scientific evidence providing an explanation for our inclination for beautiful things: Eric Kandel, the 2000 Nobel Laureate in medical science, who has published research on the relation between neurobiology and art, points out that when viewing works of art, our brains release dopamine which gives rise to excitement – and the visceral feeling of joy is the basis of what we call ‘aesthetic pleasure’. The sense of happiness increases especially when we encounter art that has a certain degree of ambiguity, as our prefrontal cortex works hard to excite our imagination, triggering memories that help fill the gaps in what we can see and comprehend. Thus, beauty stimulates joy and that is the reason why we love visiting galleries and attending concerts.

　　Some people might argue that beauty is too narrowly defined if it is merely related to art. In line with this, Plato has once declared that the highest form of beauty is virtue, and Confucius, his Eastern counterpart, has observed that befriending a virtuous person is like beholding a beautiful jade. Beauty in terms of virtue encompasses kind words and charitable acts. When people empathise with others and extend their helping hands, they perform virtuous acts that can move not just others’ hearts but their own. Just as the adage says, “the fragrance stays in the hands that give the rose” – virtuous people can attain inner contentment and peace associated with kindness. Mother Teresa, the Nobel Peace Laureate known for compassion, had more than once talked about the joy she gained from helping others: “Doing what I can to make others’ lives better gives me such happiness that I may venture to imagine its likeness to ‘heavenly bliss’.” Don’t her words stand testament to the link between beautiful acts of kindness and joy?

　　“Beauty is truth, and truth beauty.” Keats’ words encapsulate his own yearning for ultimate beauty which equates to absolute truth, because such beauty inflames his sense of poetic ecstasy. Many poets and artists like him celebrate beauty in fervour – and we all do, loving beauty and experiencing immense joy when we discover and appreciate beauty as well. Objects of beauty are eternal – indeed, every one of beautiful things, whether it is a beautiful work of art or a virtuous act, contains “a flowery tale” woven into the fabric of human civilisation.

　　【Sources】

　　Question: the quote is taken from John Keats’ ‘from Endymion’.

　　"Beauty is truth, and truth beauty" and "a flowery tale" are taken from John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn".

　　老师评语

　　A fairly challenging question, but you've done great work!

　　A wealth of references, a variety of vocabulary; clear & fluent.

　　若想了解新加坡olevel试题、o水准是什么意思以及olevel考试题型等问题都可以在线咨询我们哦!