Essay by 謝振禮老師 Jeenn Lee Hsieh

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真題還原

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
"For success in school and work, the ability to adapt or adjust to a changing condition or circumstance is more important than having excellent knowledge of a job or in a field of study". Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

范文：

Nowadays, employers are highly selective: requiring employees to have both academic proficiency and social flexibility. Hence, to increase your chances of getting a desired job, having the ability to adapt to a changing condition is as important as having excellent knowledge of a job or in a field of study. Academic data being equal, the ability to reduce conflict and increase participation is a decisive factor that contributes to your career success.

To begin with, the ability to reduce conflict in school and work is partly the course of socialization going beyond the school curriculum. Whereas excellence in any field of study is essential, your success in work depends not only on academic knowledge but also on how to adjust to a changing circumstance. Therefore, it is advisable to learn to be able to adjust to a rather conflictive society because this kind of social flexibility can facilitate your interaction with other people. In other words, communicating respect for potential friends and mates is instrumental to avoiding conflict, particularly in the workplace. In reality, the process of learning this skill begins in school, in both verbal and non-verbal ways. It may be said that without acquiring the ability to reduce conflict, you may run the risk of becoming what is called a "social ineptitude", far away from the spirit of teamwork.

In certain respects, the success in school and work is a matter of the behaviorism to get flexible in social participation. Thus, you are supposed to learn to be as agreeable and acceptable as need be, mainly through taking part in (without intruding into) a variety of social activities, verbally as well as non-verbally. Verbally, you can increase participation by using the skill to say the right thing at the right time in the right place. It is because positive participation implies your good skill in listening as much as speaking. Similarly, in a non-verbal manner, you can increase participation by doing the right thing at the right time in the right place. In short, you had better adapt yourself to a changing condition or circumstance and behave correspondingly in the right behavior.

Finally, worthy of mentioning is that, although socialization may differ from culture to culture, the rules are invariably related to skills to help reduce conflict and increase participation in school and work. Not underestimating the importance of having excellent knowledge of a job or in a field of study, you ought to also learn those essential social skills to become successful in life. Academic proficiency and social flexibility should not be considered as something like "black and white", you may just as well think that the job market is largely in the color of "grey".