写作预测

Question:
In your opinion, which one is better, to spend money on something that lasts for a long time, such as valuable jewelry, or spend your money on short term pleasure such as vacation?

参考范文

Answer:

Aesop’s famous fable of “The Ant and the Grasshopper” tells the story of an industrious and hard-working ant, who spends all summer storing up food for the winter. Meanwhile, the grasshopper sits around playing music, singing, and having a grand old time. When winter finally comes, the ant is happily ensconced in his well-stocked home, while the grasshopper is left out in the cold to starve. The fable’s moral, “Idleness brings want,” is meant to teach us that we had better work hard today for some happy idle time in the future; I prefer to think that the grasshopper had a much better life than the grouchy ant. Money that is spent on a current desire (like a vacation) is, in my opinion, money well spent.
In the first place, “saving for a rainy day” does not necessarily mean that when that “rainy day” finally arrives you will be able to enjoy what you have saved. This is a common case with people who work hard all their adult lives, then retire and are miserable because they no longer have anything to keep them busy. And suppose someone puts all his money in, say, gold bullion to ensure his happy retirement, but when the time comes to quit work and take pleasure in the “good life,” he finds that he is now too old and too physically disabled to live it up. Or imagine a woman who believes that “diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” so she collects them from each of her suitors, only to wind up alone and depressed in the last years of her life.
The Buddha tells us, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” If we spend all of our time hoarding our dreams for the future, we may miss the pleasures of our lives today. Most assuredly we will miss out on the joy that comes from human interactions. Parents who put every penny they have into a savings account for their offspring may someday regret that they have no dear memories of happy times with their children. And how many neglected children would give anything they have inherited (real estate, jewelry, investments) for one day of true happiness with their mother and father?
Money can buy you a string of pearls, but it can’t buy you love. And you certainly cannot take it with you when you die. “If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm,” said novelist Morris West, “you'll never enjoy the sunshine.” Tell that to the ant.