四六级秋季写作

　　A Famous Clock

When you visit London, one of the first things you will see is Big Ben, the famous clock which can be heard all over the world on the B.B.C. If the Houses of Parliament had not been burned down in 1834, the great clock would never have been erected. Big Ben takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall who was responsible for the making of the clock when the new Houses of Parliament were being built. It is not only of immense size, but is extremely accurate as well. Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day. On the B.B.C. you can hear the clock when it is actually striking because microphones are connected to the clock tower. Big Ben has rarely gone wrong. Once, however, it failed to give the correct time. A painter who had been working on the tower hung a pot of paint on one of the hands and slowed it down!

　　Goals

Everyone has goals. Many people do not reach their goals for lack of planning. These three sets of goals should be developed: lifetime, intermediate and short term.

Lifetime goals should be written out. These goals should be clear and reasonable. For instance, the goal to win a research prize is clear and measurable. Other lifetime goals might include publishing a certain number of influential books or articles, earning a departmental chairmanship at a major university, successfully competing for a grant from the National Science Foundation or securing a consultantship with a big corporation.

Intermediate goals relate to outcomes during the next few years. For the beginning doctoral student, intermediate goals may include completion of course work and preparation of a doctoral research proposal. Like lifetime goals, these are measurable and clearly stated.

Short-term goals involve outcomes expected during the next 12 months. These goals are more performance oriented, and they help with achievement of intermediate goals. Examples of short-term goals are earning an A in a course, learning how to program a computer or performing an experiment.