（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品承諾，但是我們看一看其承諾會不禁啞然失笑，因為所謂的“承諾”只不過的它的本分。漫畫形象生動了反映了當今社會上一個普遍而又奇怪的現象，也就是商家故意混淆“吹噓”和“分內事”之間的關系，從而誤導消費者。
本題的難點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，因為這不僅會占用很多字數，而且不倫不類的翻譯還會降低文章的質量。這就進一步說明了在寫作圖畫作文的時候，抓住中心思想、提煉觀點才是關鍵。
思路拓展：
職業道德問題也是中國的經濟和社會發展中一個值得人們長期關注的關鍵問題之一。在市場經濟大潮中，許多人在利益的驅使下紛紛都失去了道德和理智，以假冒偽劣產品和劣質的服務來欺瞞消費者，損害消費者的利益。相關話題還包括近年來社會上大力抨擊的商業欺詐問題，以及努力倡導“誠信”原則等。相關的領域幾乎可以囊括各行各業，包括工業制造業、商業、教育、醫藥、娛樂界等等熱門行業和產業。考生應該注意在平時搜集相關資料，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的優質雞蛋。可是瞥一眼她說的話，我們就能發現所謂的“承諾”―即下蛋不見棱角，保證蛋皮、蛋清和蛋黃―其實是任何母雞應該做的事情。
這只母雞反映了現在社會上普遍存在的一個典型現象，即一些商家在廣告中故意用產品和服務的基本特征來作為宣傳的噱頭。這些“美麗的承諾”給消費者們造成了虛假的印象，使他們認為面對著的產品和服務擁有一些非凡的特點。從這個意義上來說，對于自己本該履行的責任的承諾就好像商業欺騙，違反了職業道德，盡管從字面上來說沒有欺詐的痕跡。[FS:PAGE]
我認為，商業成功的秘密不在于承諾做自己應該做的事情，而是應該讓消費者得到額外的好處。這會促使企業加大和深入研究工作、致力于創新、關注產品質量的提高和完善，從而取得健康的產業發展和積極的社會效應。商家自身也會因此從一個更加健康的市場環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: 實際上
utilize: v. 利用
selling points: adj. 賣點
tend to: 易于，傾向于
in this sense: 在這個意義上，

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”質產品

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：
上圖畫出了一個男人對于他的新牙刷感到十分不滿和煩惱，因為該牙刷的質量太差。正如標題所示，這支牙刷并不是優質產品，而是“憂”質產品。我們可以猜到這支牙刷不僅可能傷害這個人的牙齒，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注社會上泛濫的低質量產品的問題。這種現象的害處是不言自明的。從微觀角度看，這類產品會極大地傷害消費者的利益，甚至可能威脅到他們的生命。從宏觀角度看，如果低質量的產品繼續傳播到我們社會的每一個角落，就會破壞健康市場經濟的正常功能和運行。
因此，我強烈建議必須要采取緊急的措施來處理這個問題。首先，政府應該制定相關法規，嚴懲造假者。其次，健全消費者協會和其他的訴訟機制，以便消費者能夠有一個順暢的渠道來報告類似事件。最后，企業和公司要提高對生產優質產品重要性的認識。

閃光詞匯及詞組：
bother: v. 煩擾、打擾
caption: n. 標題
attribute: n. 特點、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