Case Study 2：

“The best way to give advice to other people is to find out what they want and then advise them how to attain¹ it.”

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experiences, observations, or reading.

 Student Essay

   When I was in Senior Middle School, I was an excellent student. And all my teachers believed that I would enter into a first-class university and would have a splendid future. Unfortunately, just before the Entrance Examination, l met an accident and laid down in bed for several months. At last, I was only admitted by a second-class university. With great disappointment, I felt that my future was nothing but darkness. And also I was afraid of being blamed by my patents.

   Mother saw through my thoughts. She borrowed several instructive books for me and seldom mentioned the exams. For the first time, my parents asked for several days off and took me to Qingdao--the most famous scenic² spot of China --for vacation. Along the seaside, Mother talked with me for many times. I can still clearly remember what she said: “The ways to success are different. If you keep positive and make efforts continuously, I believe that you will be no less excellent than those from first-class universities.”  At last, eternity³? Ask yourself what are you going to be in the future. Try your best, and you will reach your goal. "

For so many years, Mother' s words seems to have inscribed⁴ in my heart and lead me to gain successes one after another. From this personal experience, I fully⁵ understand and agree that the best way to give advice to other people is to find out what they want and then advise them how to attain it.

Revised Essay

   What is the best way to give advice to other people? The arguer claims that the best way is to find out what other people want and then advise them how to attain it. While I admit that many people do give advice by catering⁶ to other people’s desires, I maintain that this method oversimplifies the issue and often proves both harmful and ineffective.

   In the first place, people very often have no clear idea of what they really want. My personal experience is a case in point. When I was in Senior Middle School, I was an excellent student. Moreover, all my teachers believed that I would enter a first-class university and would have a splendid future. Unfortunately, just before the Entrance Examination, I had an accident and had to lie in bed for several months. As a result, I was admitted only by a second-class university, which pushed me to the brink⁷ of despair. At this decisive moment of my life, my mother came to my rescue. By recommending to me instructive books on life, by talking with me heart to heart, by taking me on a trip to the beach, mother convinced me that the goal of my life was to live a successful and happy life rather than to go to a famous university, and that the ways to success are various. In this way my mother saved me out of the crisis of my life not simply by finding out what I wanted and then advising me how to attain it, but by patiently enlightening me on the essential meaning and purpose of life, making me realize that what I took for granted as my aim of life was not what I really needed.

   In the second place, more often than not what people want is not what is best for them. A naive⁸ child may want to quit school; a patient suffering from TB may want to smoke; a jobless young man may want to commit suicide----this list can go on and on. In all these situations, should we simply find out what they want and advise them how to attain it? Obviously not.

  Admittedly, it would be unwise to ignore the simple fact that people are different.  As we know, excessive interference with other people’s life tends to threaten their freedom and independence, causing hostility⁹ and confrontation¹⁰. Therefore, when offering advice to other people, we should be very sensitive to their unique feelings and desires, knowing that individual human beings have the inalienable right to make choices in their life and that they themselves will be responsible for the results of their decision-making.

   In conclusion, I do not agree that the best way to advise people is simply to find out what they desire and help them achieve it. In my estimation, the pitfalls¹¹ of such a technique outweigh¹² its potential advantages. To be a responsible advisor¹³, we should take into account far more intricate factors relevant to the person to be advised.