TOPIC 120

TOPIC 120: Some people trust their first impressions about a person's character because they believe these judgments are generally correct. Other people do not judge a person's character quickly because they believe first impressions are often wrong. Compare these two attitudes. Which attitude do you agree with? Support your choice with specific examples.

Essay 1

In our daily life, we will always be told a wealth of such cases as a guy who has fallen into love with a girl at the first sight, one of your friends who impresses your mother deeply on his or her first visit to your house and then is treated exceptionally well by your hard-to-be-pleased mother, and even the applicant who attracts to the HRM (human resources manager) immediately at the first sight of the interview and then is easily employed, to name just a few. All of the above-mentioned cases tell us many people in the world trust the first impressions of a person, his or her character, her conduct and her eloquence, etc., all of which he or she displays at each other's first meet. But is all that he or she displays, or all that you understand through what he or she displays or hints correct or just a blur image which needs to be proved in the later days?

Before we get the question to be treated, let’s think of the most probable (not absolutely) results of the cases mentioned in the first paragraph:

The guy who has just experienced the above-said romance has to say goodbye to his newly-known girlfriend because later on he finds out that the girl is not as good as she looks; the friend of yours who has just won your hard-to-be-pleased mother's trust is criticized by your mother because of his or her great incoherency in the manners, and even the newly-employed employee is dismissed because of he is not telling the truth in his resume. Till now, do you still think the first impressions of a person’s character are dependable?

Psychologically, in our head we had a very perfect image of a person, of course, which varies from one another owing to his of her specific experiences, education and family background, his or her own opinion about a special view, etc. and when such a person as confirms with the image in our head pretty congruently presents, we will, to great extent, overestimate or even exaggerate the his or her merits, while omit the shortcomings as we can help it. Maybe this is the psychological reason, thus we can ourselves lead to the answer to the question referred above that the first impressions of a person are generally incorrect and also irresponsible for yourself.

In a word, to judge a person needs time and the first-sight impression is always undependable.

(Essay ID: 421 )

Essay 2

Any opinion is, in fact, a judgment. I feel that as Americans we would do well to judge others less often. Still, we must be able to decide whom to spend our time with and whom we'd rather forget.

In my opinion, this type of judgment is best after we get to know other people. First impressions are not always accurate impressions. Judging a person based on a first impression does save time. There are more people than anyone could possibly get to know in one lifetime. It is frustrating to waste time getting to know someone, only to find out that your first impression was correct and that you really don't like him-or her. So is it a waste of time getting to know people you probably won't like? That seems to be a valid point of view, but I believe that it is not the best attitude to take.

It's more humane to spend time getting to know people before judging them. I know that I don't always make a good first impression, even when I truly like the person with whom lam interacting. We all have bad days. I wouldn't want to lose a job or a potential friendship simply because I picked out the wrong clothing or said something wrong. I think everyone deserves the chance to make a second impression.

If we all based our final opinion of others on first impressions, it would be hard to get to know anyone. There is always more to people than meets the eye. If we don't give someone a chance, we may be missing out on meeting a life-long friend. That would truly be a shame.

(Essay ID: 215 )