78. Work with a group of people or work independently?

While some people emphasize great importance of cooperation, others argue that the significance of individual competition should not be rejected or neglected. To examine whether one is more important than the other, we have to look carefully into further details.

There are circumstances where the ability to work with group is much more important than that to work independently. More often than not, in most fields, a team can achieve much more extensive scope than an individual can, because one has less strength than many have. In team-played sports, such as football, basketball, volleyball, etc. , teamwork is often highly valued and is of essence. To get a goal or make a point, team members have to cooperate with each other, nobody could achieve without others' help. Although individual competence is a must, too much accent on his personal ability will lead him even the whole team to a disaster.

On the other hand, there also are inverse circumstances. In vital decisionmaking, for example, one has to make a final choice with his/her own judgment. Let's consider the same situation mentioned above, on the very same sports ground, each opposite team has only one and should have only one coach, who must work independently to make important decisions, including which player should be replaced, which player should present on what kind of special circumstances, and so many other critical choices. The coach, like the commander in the war, stands on a position where he/she has to be competitive, and his/her only rival is the coach of the other side. Even if he/she at the same time has to consult with others, it is him/her who takes the final step, and he/she essentially has no choice but to have an excellent ability to work independently.

There seldom exists a circumstance where cooperation and competition do not coexist. The point is that emphasis on cooperation doesn't mean competition should be neglected or rejected, and vice versa. Therefore, it hasn't gone too far to say that both the ability of working with group and that of working independently are equally important.

译文

78. 与人协作还是单枪匹马？

有些人强调合作的重要性，而有些人认为不应该忘记或忽视竞争的重要性。要想知道到底是哪一个更重要，我们必须要深入研究一下。

有时候与团队合作的能力比单独工作的能力更为重要。在许多领域中，团队常常比个人取得更多的成果，这是因为团队比个人拥有更多的力量。在足球、篮球、排球等团队运动中，团队协作被高度重视是非常必要的。为了进一个球或得一分，队员们必须相互协作，没有他人的帮助，任何个人都不可能成功。虽然个人的表现也很重要，但是太多的个人表现只能把他自己或者整个团队带向灾难。

从另一方面来说，情况并不往往总是这样，而是会有对立面的。例如：在做重大决定的时候，你必须要根据自己的判断做最后的决定。让我们以上面的情况为例，在同一个赛场上，每个队都只有一个教练。教练必须独自工作并做出重要的决定，如：哪一名队员该被换下，在什么情况下该用哪一名队员等其他许多也很重要的决定。教练就像战场上的指挥官，他所在的位置是具有竞争性的，他惟一的竞争对手就是赛场上对方的教练。即使他还同时咨询其他人，但是还得由他自己做出最终的决定。他别无选择，只能具备良好的独立工作的能力。

很少有合作和竞争不共存的情况。关键是强调合作的重要性并不是要忽略竞争的存在，反之亦然，所以说与团队合作的能力与独立工作的能力同样重要并不为过。

Word List

• emphasize ［ˈemfəˌsaiz］ v. 强调，着重
• inverse ［inˈvə:s］ adj. 倒转的，反转的
• cooperation ［kəuˌa:pəˈreiʃən］ n. 合作，协作
• vital ［ˈvaitl］adj. 生死攸关的，至关重要的
• neglect ［niˈglekt］ v. 忽视，疏忽
• mention ［ˈmenʃən］ v. 提及，说起
• reject ［riˈdʒekt］ v. 拒绝，抵制
• coach ［kəutʃ］ n. 训练，指导；教练
• achieve ［əˈtʃi:v］ v. 完成，达到，获得
• replace ［riˈpleis］ v. 取代，替换
• extensive ［ik ˈstensiv］ adj.广大的，广泛的
• commander ［kəˈmændə］ n. 司令官，指挥官
• scope ［skəup］ n.（活动）范围；机会；余地
• consult ［kənˈsʌlt］ v. 商量，考虑
• teamwork ［ˈti:mˌwə:k］ n. 联合作业，协力
• coexist ［ˌkəuigˈzist］ v. 共存
• disaster ［diˈzæstə］ n. 灾难，天灾，灾祸
• vice versa 反之亦然