Topic 27 Should people do things that they do not like?

Should people sometimes do things that they do not enjoy doing? Many people strongly oppose this idea, while others insist that although people naturally favor (способствовать, оказывать помощь, быть пристрастным) doing what they enjoy doing, under certain circumstances (при определенных обстоятельствах) people may well be advised to act against their interests and it would benefit people in many ways. Personally, I would side with the latter.

you are free to do as you wish — ты волен делать, что хочешь you are at liberty to do with me as you please - вы вольны делать со мною все, что угодно

For one thing (С одной стороны), it usually takes quite some time for people to discover their interest. My personal experience serves as a typical example. From my childhood, I learned a lot of time to discover my interest. I tried to play an electronic organ, draw oil paintings, and even learn ballet. Superficially (На первый взгляд), it seems to be a sound solution to find out what my interest is, but when carefully weighing in the mind, I find that it has wasted me plenty of time. A scrutiny of these arguments (Рассмотрение этих аргументов) would reveal how unnecessary they are.

The intellect instinctively dreads lies. — Разум инстинктивно страшится лжи.

For another, many things that people instinctively hate to do will actually benefit them in the long run. A basketball star's personal experience is a good example. He likes running when he was a child. When he was in high school, he joined the track and field team (он вступил в команду по легкой атлетике). By a chance, he met a basketball coach and was asked if he wanted to become an occupational basketball player. Although he was not interested in playing basketball, nevertheless, his parents told him that doing something he hated to do might change his whole life in a good way. By taking the advice of his parents, he went to the basketball team and now he turned out be extremely successes! For another example, we are not always interested to move to different places. In fact, we will have more opportunities of improving our lives by moving around. As President Kennedy pointed out," Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future."

Still some people might list other reasons to explain why people should do some things that they do not enjoy doing. However I assume the points I have discussed in the above analysis are the most relevant (являются наиболее актуальными, важный, существенный)!

Then I admitted that the current problem-situation is relevant too - Затем я признал, что важна и текущая проблемная ситуация.

Topic 28 Has the media paid too much attention to celebrities?

In this global information age where newspapers or magazines are always handy (всегда под рукой) and TV has already turned so many people into couch tomatoes, few people concern about what these mass media has brought to us; we just accept it anyway. While I think the current focus on personal lives of famous people by these media requires further consideration.

Admittedly (следует признать, что), it is reasonable for those media to continuously pay great attention to celebrities, the present fierce competition (жесткой конкуренции) of the various media, the hard-topleased audiences' (публика; зрители) taste, the bombastic (напыщенный, помпезный) effect of coverage of these shining figures (блестящие цифры). No surprise sometimes that we feel we just know more than those famous people than themselves.

However, the consequence of such intense coverage (освещение события) on public figures' personal lives not only violate those being-focused on a certain level, but also do harm to us being-informed in some ways. Firstly, the privacy of those celebrities is ineluctably (неизбежно) encroached (посягают) from time to time. Sometimes the result is sad - do not forget the tragedy of Princess Diana. Secondly, our attention is certainly being diverted (отвлекаться) by such tide of craziness about celebrities (волна сумасшествия о знаменитостях). What about those viewers who want to see something about ordinary people' lives? How can mass media not concern more about those people suffering from pain and poverty?

passing fad — минутная прихоть (звезда однодневка)

Furthermore, one of the significant results of the current fad (сейчас модно) on famous figures is that their behavior is so influential while at the same time the media have little guarantee to ensure what the say and do will not mislead (вводить в заблуждение) the mass public and even cause more problems. For example, if a famous figure is being asked about his or her point of view in a field he or she is not quite acquainted, the words presented to the audience may be misleading. This is especially harmful to those young people who are more likely to watch those programs of their idols, and also are mostly vulnerable to influential but harmful sayings.

In a sense (В некотором смысле) , I do not quite appreciate (понимаю) the coverage of people in the center of spotlight (в центре внимания), maybe once the mass media turn a little bit from their current focus to other aspects of the society, they may find out that the world is wonderful all the same.