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Sample Response to GMAT AWA Issue Questions
4.
“Of all the manifestations * of power, restraint in the use of that
power impresses people most.” * manifestations: apparent signs or
indicators Explain what you think this quotation means and discuss the
extent to which you agree or disagree with it. Develop your position
with reasons and/or specific examples drawn from history, current
events, or your own experience, observations, or reading.
Some argue that people admire powerful individuals who do not use their
power to the utmost to achieve their goals but rather use only the
minimum amount required to attain them. I agree, whatever the power is
big or not, restraint in the use of that power does impress people most,
because of the following reasons.
On one hand, abuse of power can hurt the society. Most people seem to
use the power granted to get what they want. For example, a teacher of a
primary school once told his students who were only 7 or 8 years old
that he would like to let students to choose the exact gift they would
send to him for the coming of festival in terms of avoiding repetition.
We can imagine the incident influenced the children how much. Power
became the tools of the person, who often uses the privilege to do
things sometimes harmful to the public. The corruption is the very
consequence of the abuse of power and hurts the society and the public
most.
On the other hand, restraint in the use of power can greatly benefit the
public. A great example is George Washington’s resistance to take the
third presidency. As the leader of the American Independent War and
thereafter the elected first president of United States, Washington
would have been able to use his power to continue the leadership. But
President Washington resisted to do so and pushed the public to re-elect
the third president. It is safe to say that if Washington had not done
so, then the rule of less-than-three-presidency cannot be applied in
nowadays. Therefore, it is the restraint use of power that leads to the
democracy of today’s United States and the whole world.
Eventually, we should make full use of the positive aspects of power and
restrain it in an appropriate scale; as the consequences of power may
have a great impact on us such as the belief, the confidence, the trust
and so on.
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