Unit5

1.TheSignificanceofLifelongEducation

Decadesago，duetothelowstandardoflivinginChina,onlyasm

allpercentageofthenation’spopulationcouldreceivecollegeeduc

ation.Oncegiventheopportunity，onewouldsurelysecureawell

-paidandmuch—respectedjob，whichheorshewouldprobably

doforalifetime.Therefore,tosecureacollegedegreeusedtobet

heultimategoalofaperson'seducation.

Today,however，wearelivinginwhatiscalleda”knowledgesocie

ty",wherecreativeideasandinnovationsaregeneratedatafantast

icspeed。Onemustconstantlyrenewone’sknowledgeandupgra

deone’sskillssoastomeettheneedsofthechangingworld.More

over，atthestageofgeneraleducation,itispointlessforaperson

toattempttoknoweverything。Whenoneisrequiredtosettledo

wntobeaspecialistinaspecificfield，onehastomakeanin-dep

thstudyofthesubjectoneissupposedtoknow。Inthissense,ge

neraleducationcanprovidestudentswithonlyapassporttolifelon

geducation.AsRobertMaynardHutchinsoncesaid，theobjectof

educationistopreparetheyoungtoeducatethemselvesthrougho

uttheirlives.

Inmyopinion,lifeinmodernsocietyisnotonlyaprocessof"learni

ngtolive”butalsoaprocessof"livingtolearn"。Theslogan”Live

andLearn”canbestreflecttheconceptoflifelongeducation。

2.ShouldFamilySchoolingExist？

MengMuTang,aprivateschoolinShanghai,ismodeledafterthee

ducationalsystemofancientChinesehomeschools,whichfavored

rotememorizationandrecitationofclassicworks.Butthelocaledu

cationauthoritiesinShanghaihavedeclareditillegalaccordingtoa

reportin21stCentury.Shouldfamilyschoolingexist?Whatrolesho

ulditplay？

Inmyopinion,familyschoolingshouldbepermittedtoplayapositi

veroleinthecurrenteducationalsysteminChina.Everyfamilyshou

ldbefreetochoosetheformofeducationthatbestsuitstheirchild

ren’sinterestsandnaturalgifts。Althoughtheexistingeducations

ysteminChinahasremarkablyimproved,itdoesnotfiteachchildp

erfectly.Sincefamilyschoolingprovidesameanstodevelopaperso

n'stalentsanduniqueinterest,MengMuTang,asaprivateschoolg

earedtoaspecificgroupofchildren，shouldnotbebannedinhas

te。Inviewofthecurrentdynamic,quality-mindededucationalref

ormsinChina，weshouldpermitfamilyschoolingtoenrichanddi

versifyoureducationalsystem.

Ontheotherhand，homeschoolingshouldadaptitselftothemo

dernworld.Topreparechildrenforthefuture,itshouldequipthem

withknowledgeandinnovativepowersothattheycancopewitht

hedevelopmentofthemodernworld.Whiletappingchildren’sinn

atetalentsonanindividualbasis,familyschoolingshouldnevernegl

ecttheirall-rounddevelopment.MengMuTangmaynotbeaperfe

ctprivateschool,butweshouldletitliveandhaveatrysothatfam

ilyschoolingmayeventuallybecomeanindispensablecomponent

ofourformaleducation。

Unit6

1.MyViewsonCulturalDifferences

Inmyopinion,culturaldifferenceshavemoreadvantagesthandisa

dvantages。Firstofall，itisculturaldifferencesthatmakeourwo

rldsocolorful。Ifyougotoaforeigncountry,youwillbeimpresse

dnotonlybyitsphysicalenvironmentbutalsobyitsculturalenviro

nment—itsfoods,clothes，customs，socialpractices，etc.Diff

erencesbetweencultureshavealwaysbeenasourceofjoyandins

piration。

Secondly,differencesincultureenrichhumancivilization。

Differentculturescompetewithaswellaslearnfromeachother.R

omanculturewasmodeledonGreekculture,whichhadonceborro

wedalotfromEgyptianculture。Americancultureisalsoablend

ofmanydifferentcultures。

Thirdly,differencesinculturegiveeachcultureitsuniqueidentity。

Acultureisusuallyseeninrelationtoothercultures。Chinesecult

uredistinguishesitselffromothersbyitspeculiarconceptsandthin

gsthatcanhardlybefoundelsewhere。Ofcourse,culturaldifferen

cesmaycauseconflictsandmisunderstandings.Butinterdependen

ce，commoninterestsandmutualgoalsofdifferentnationsalway

soutweighdifferencesinculture.Nationswithdifferentculturessh

ouldlearnfromeachotherandlivepeacefullytogether。Tothise

nd,weshouldbemoretoleranttoothercultureswhilepreserving,

protectinganddevelopingourown.

2。MyViewsontheInfluenceofWesternCulture

Onweekends,IgatherwithmyfriendsatMacDonald'sorKFC。W

eeatfriedchicken，drinkCoco-colaandtalkaboutthelatestrelea

seofHollywoodmovies.Wereadforeignnovels，listentoWester

nmusicandwatchNBA。WeadmireBillGates，GeorgeMichael

andPrincessDiana。WedressourselvesintheWesternstyleandc

elebrateChristmasandValentine’sDay。Ourwayoflifehasthusc

hanged.Indeed，theinfluenceofWesterncultureisstronglyfelti

noureverydaylife。

Thisinfluenceinturnpreparesuswelltoblendintothemodernwo

rldandparticipateintheworldmarketcompetition.Butweshould

notignoreitssideeffects.Ournationalculturemaygraduallyloseit

sgroundifourattentionisfocusedonlyuponWesternculture。In

followingthetrendofglobalizationweshouldmaintainourowncul

turalidentity,cherishourculturaltraditionanddevelopourowncu

lture。WhatMahatmaGandhioncesaidcanbestsumupmyview

sontheinfluenceofWesternculture："Idonotwantmyhouseto

bewalledinonallsidesandmywindowstobestuffed.Iwantthec

ulturesofallthelandstobeblownaboutmyhouseasfreelyaspos

sible.ButIrefusetobeblownoffmyfeetbyany。"

Unit7

1.MyfavoriteSportsTeam：theChineseWomen’sVolleyballTeam

Inquiteafewsports,Chinesewomenathletesoutshinemenathlet

es.Asagirl，Ialwaysfeelproudofourwomentabletennisplayers

，badmintonplayers，womendiversandgymnasts.Butmygreat

estenthusiasmalwaysgoestotheChineseWomen’sVolleyballTea

m，who,thoughithasundergonesomeupsanddowns,alwayspr

esentsapositive，inspiringimagetothepublic。I'venevermissed

anymajorTVshowsinvolvingtheChinesewomen'steam。Ican't

helpgettingexcitedwatchingthegirlsshineincourt，withtheira

mazingspikesandblocks，andtheirnever—ceasingcourageandf

aithinwinningthematch.Therearetimeswhentheylosethegam

e,sometimeswithembarrassingresultlike0:3；thereareyearsw

hentheysufferalotofinjuriesandnewplayersdonotmatchupto

theveterans,yet，onemustadmitthattheChinesegirlshavebee

npractisingveryhardalltheway.

RecentyearshaswitnessedadifficultperiodfortheteamwhenRus

sian，American，Cuban,andBrazilianteamsarerisinginranking

andwinningchampionships,butIstillhavefaithinourteamandgi

vethemmysupport。IwishthemgoodluckinthecomingOlympi

cs。

2。BenefitsfromHostingtheOlympicGames

Julyof2001witnessedawaveofnationalexcitementinourland:B

eijinghadwonthebidtohostthe2008SummerOlympicGames。It

symbolizedthestrengthofourcountryandrousedournationalpri

de。

SincethenalotofchangeshavetakenplaceinBeijing。Citizensof

Beijingarenowenjoyingbettertransportationfacilities,andtheph

ysicalenvironmenthasimprovedsignificantly.Withtheconstructio

nofathleticvenues,municipalinfrastructureandotherrelevantfac

ilities,newjobopportunitieshavebeencreated.AboominOlympi

c—relatedbusinessesandindustrieshastakenplacenotonlyinBei

jingbutalsoelsewhere。

HostingtheOlympicGamesisalsoamegaculturalevent.Itisagoo

dopportunitytoincreasetheinternationalprofileofthehostcity

。NowmoreandmorepeoplearedrawntoBeijing,andtherehas

appearedanewboomintourism.Preparationsforthe2008Olympi

cGameshavegivenrisetonumerousculturaland

educationalprogramsfocusingonthecitizens’commitmentandde

dicationtothisinternationalevent.Suchprogramshavenotonlyge

neratedawidespreadinterestinsportsbuthavealsopromotedthe

citizens’social,culturalandethicalvisions.Wemusttryourbestto

capitalizeonthisopportunityasfullyaswecan。

Unit8

Writing

1.HowtoSurviveinaCompetitiveSociety

Competitioninpresent—daysocietyisfierceandcruel.Itexistsind

ifferentlinesofwork。Forexample，differentmusicianscompete

foreachseatintheirorchestra,anddifferentorchestrascompetef

ortheprivilegeofmakingrecordingswithprestigiousstudios.Foot

ballerscompeteforpositionswithinthesameteam，andtheywor

ktogethertocompeteagainstotherteamsforchampionships。In

short，whateverwedo,wemayfeelthepressureofcompetition。

However,insteadofdeploringcompetition，weshouldseetheint

errelationshipbetweencompetitionandcooperation。

Cooperationandcompetitionexistsidebysideandtheyarebothu

navoidableinhumansociety.Forexample，whilecompetingwith

otherfactories,producersanddistributorsofthesamefactorymust

cooperateandmakecoordinatedeffortstosatisfy

theneedsofcustomers.Businessrivalshavetocooperatewithone

anotherwhentheircommonmarketisthreatened.Therefore，co

mpetitionalonewillnotbringussuccessinwhatwearedoing.

Inthefaceofcompetition,weshouldkeepacquiringnewskillsand

updatingourknowledgesoastoenhanceourcompetitiveability.A

tthesametime，weshouldlearnthetechniquesofcooperatingw

ithothersinthemosteffectivemanner.

2。ShouldWeOfferSeatstoElderlyPeopleontheBusDuringRush

Hours?Iamamazedtoreadwhatabloggersaysaboutofferingbus

seatstotheelderly。Heclaimsthat"it'stheyoungwhoneeditmo

re”becausetheygotoworkearlyinthemorningandfeelexhauste

dafteraday'swork。Thebloggeralsoarguesthatitisunfairtoof

ferseatstotheelderlysincetheyalreadyenjoyfreerides,andsugg

eststhatduringrus