industrious 勤劳的

in response to 回应

academic qualification 学历

an edge in ...的优势

job security 工作保障

promotion prospects 晋升前景

incentive 奖励

committed employees 忠诚的员工

with the promise of ...的承诺

pension plan 退休金计划

presumption 推断

oversimplify 过于简单化

morality 道德

what makes it a mockery is 讽刺的是

an advantageous position 一个有力的位置

in the face of stiff competition 面对激烈的竞争

an increasing sense of alienation 与日俱增的疏离感

original intention 初衷

aspirations for success 成功的愿望

assiduous 勤勉的

be aware of 知晓

It seems that some people tend to be more industrious than their classmates or coworkers, and there are a good number of reasons for this. Generally, I do believe working hard is necessary, though not sufficient.

People are often taught that all they need to succeed is hard work, and they are always told stories about someone who was ordinary turned out so great after years of effort. Therefore, in response to a low level of employment rate of undergraduate and graduate degrees in recent years, students are pushed to study harder to achieve a high level of academic qualification in order to gain an edge in a competitive job market. As for employees, they believe that hard work leads to greater job security and better promotion prospects and that employers value loyalty and may offer additional incentives to committed employees with the promise of a good pension plan.

However, the presumption that hard work alone leads to success and that laziness leads to failure oversimplifies the situation. The top priority of education at any level should be the development of one\'s personality and morality. But what makes it a mockery is that education today focuses on academic studies  exclusively, so students are evaluated only by their performance on examinations. Consequently, instead of making them outstanding, they are deprived of a supportive and cooperative environment that is crucial to their growing up. Besides, more and more working parents tend to spend the majority of their time in the office or even work overtime at home, as they believe they have to ensure an advantageous position in the face of stiff competition. As a consequence, they have little time to be with their children, which may easily result in an increasing sense of alienation in the family. Thus, it is always important to remember to work for a better life with families, not living to work; otherwise, one’s original intention can be lost.

To conclude, people’s aspirations for success require qualities such as being assiduous to guide them through the process to their goals, though they need to be aware of the purpose of education and motivation for their career development.