Directions:

　　Study the following picture carefully and write an essay in which you should

　　1) describe the picture,

　　2) interpret its meaning, and

　　3) point out its implications in our life.

　　范文1：

　　This simple picture represents a situation that every person must face: when approaching ajunction, which direction should one choose?

　　Most viewers can empathize with the sense of hesitation and uncertainty embodied insuch an image. Without exception, everyone has to make choices in life, whether they concernschool, career, or love. While some choices are simple, one cannot avoid the task of makingdifficult decisions.

　　Choices are often directly related to one's happiness. University students,for example, facea hard and crucial decision upon graduating. Many students have difficulty deciding whether tocontinue studying or begin developing a career. Every individual is different, and one must takethe factors of one's personal life into consideration. In addition to an awareness of specificcircumstances, however, making the right choice also depends on correct appraisal of oneself.

　　In order to choose correctly, therefore, one must be both realistic and self aware.Furthermore, once having made a decision, one should seriously accept and pursue the pathone has chosen, and strive towards the realization of one's goal with spirit.

　　譯文：

　　這幅簡單的畫表現了我們每個人都要面對的情況：走到叉路口了，該選擇哪條路呢?

　　絕大多數讀者都能感受到這幅畫中包含的猶豫和彷徨。毫無例外，每個人在一生中都要多次做出選擇——無論是涉及到學業、職業還是愛情。雖然有些選擇很容易，但一個人無法回避艱難的選擇。

　　選擇通常直接關系到一個人的幸福。比如對大學生來說，臨近畢業就面臨著一個艱難而至關重要的選擇——很多學生難以決定是繼續求學還是開始自己的職業生涯。每個人的情況都不相同，所以一個人應該把自己生活的方方面面都考慮到。除了對周圍特定的環境要有清楚的了解外，做出正確的選擇還依賴于有一個正確的自我評價。因此，一個人為了做出正確選擇，必須既現實又清醒。此外，一個人一旦做出了決定，就應該嚴肅地承認并奉行既定的路線，鼓起勇氣為實現自己的目標而奮斗。

　　范文2：

　　In the picture we can see a man standing at a crossroad with two simi

　　lar roads, and trying to decide which way to take. In daily life we are often faced with suchchoices. More often than not, we have to make cardinal decisions indepentently. This momentis very important for everyone to go through.

　　In order to make a decision that we will not regret, we should bear these two principles inmind: thinking before acting, and never missing any opportunities that arise. On one hand, weshould have an apparent, objective judgment about ourselves while maintaining a clear ideaabout the world around us. On the other hand, we should also think about opportunity. Manypeople may not quite agree with this and think that opportunity is so rare that only theluckiest people come across it. However, opportunity is open to everyone and one shouldmake good use of it when confronted with it. One should take advantage of it just like theproverb states: “Opportunities are only from the prepared minds.”

　　So when one is faced with choices the next time, remember that using the mind and takingadvantage of good opportunities will pave the way to success.

　　譯文：

　　從這幅畫中我們可以看到，一個人正站在叉路岐途之前，等待他的是要決定究竟走哪條路。人生中我們經常會面臨這樣的選擇。我們還時常必須獨立做出重大決定。這是我們每個人都要經歷的重要時刻。

　　如果我們不想為自己做出的決定而感到后悔，就必須遵循這兩個原則：一是三思而后行;二是不要錯過任何機會。一方面，我們要對自身做出客觀公正的判斷，同時還要對我們周圍的世界有一個清醒的認識。另一方面，我們對待機遇要用心思考。有些人可能不太承認機遇，認為機遇太少，而且只是那些幸運兒的專利。然而，機遇是屬于每一個人的，所以在面對機遇時我們要充分利用它。每個人都應利用機遇，正如這句名言所說：“機遇只留給那些做好準備的人。”