读趣百科

Sports are flourishing in china now. More and more people are willing to take part in sports of different kinds, such as table-tennis, football,volleyball, and so on. Every year there are many matches played on the city, provincial or national level. Sports are no longer limited to a few professional players.Early in the morning people may be seen doing exercise. Martial arts (like Chinese boxing or swordplay) which formerly were cultivated for self-defense, now have become a form of physical exercise and are practiced in parks, streets, gardens, or on campuses. In addition young and old people are also often seen running in order to build up their bodies. China promotes sports to enhance the physical condition of its people;she is formulating policies to provide encouragement of this activity. She awards prizes to the excellent players for the best records both in china and the world. In the world the Chinese have become a strong people instead of―the weaklings of East Asia

Today, many commercial advertisements can be seen everywhere, selling different kinds of products such as cosmetics, toys and clothes. Some people concern that the widespread of advertisements may result in the loss of individuality among people, as they tend to wear the same clothes and use the same makeup. From my perspective, I completely disagree with this viewpoint.

Admittedly, people from different walks of life have various consumption views. However, most people would budget their disposable income wisely instead of wasting all in a set of clothes without serious consideration. Therefore, despite the proliferation of the commercial advertisements for the same luxury product, people would still make decisions of buying or not according to their limited income.

Also, people are capable of distinguishing whether the clothes in the advertisement suit themselves or not. Being exposed in a sea of advertisements for long, people's immune systems towards advertisements have strengthened. Consequently, fewer people would be swayed by the gorgeous clothes in the advisements as they realize that most clothes on advertisements only suit for models but not for the average.

Furthermore, so many different advertisements are provided for people's option that it is fairly difficult to be the same with others. Take clothes for example. There are various styles, ranging from classical to modern, childish to mature, conservative to sexy. Therefore, people still could choose their favorite style to meet their demand.

To conclude, due to the multi-choice of advertisement and people's wise budget, people would not lost their individualities under the strong promotion of the same product in the advertisement.

The human race has experienced a consistent increase in population since the beginning of its history. Famine and disease have done little to offset(抵消) this steady increase. Too many people are added annually to the population of the world. So both the causes of population increase and the results of having more people are worth careful study.Culture evolution is the major factor responsible for population increase.Early in human development, people invented tools to hunt animals. Later they built shelters to protect themselves. Step by step, they made life easier. As a result, fewer died from natural forces, such as harsh climate and disease.In the past, when population grew, there was unexplored territory to inhabit. But now, almost all the habitable land has been explored.The world's population may reach 8.7 billion in 2033. It is clear that world population is a serious issue that needs careful attention. Human beings are unique to solve problems through cultural evolution.( 发展)Facing the world population explosion in the near future. We must carry out the birth control program in order to save the mankind and save the world.

In recent years, young college graduates are having a tough time finding a decent job in an increasingly competitive labor market. Some are even unemployed for over a year. This is really a serious problem on the levels of both individual and the society as a whole.

First, long time being jobless, young people have to deal with some psychological conditions. They are subject to anxiety, lack of self-confidence, lower achievement motivation, and pessimism, all of which are potentially barriers for their future success at workplace and in personal life. Financially, unemployed students are stuck in the dilemma that they have to return home to keep relying on their elderly parents. As for the effect on the society, youth unemployment means that the scarce resources dedicated in higher education are invested in vain as graduates have no opportunity to transfer their academic knowledge and skills into productivity.

Part-time mediocre jobs can be a solution for them to be able to feed themselves for a while. Small businesses in virtual world require lower start-up cost than real-life ones, thereby allowing these youngsters with no bank saving to make a living. The condition has to be an easy access to a bank loan. Graduates tend to focus on major cities, making more competition in employment market. If they are led to some less crowded places, they would possibly have more chances to get hired.

To tackle this problem, governments should take the major responsibility. Governments should encourage these young adults to involve in some voluntary or low paid work in remote underdeveloped areas where are in great need in professional talents. Meanwhile they can gain some working experience which is very useful for their future career in their chosen field.

Further study can postpone college graduation and therefore relieve the pressure on labor market. But this is not a long-term solution. To completely reverse the situation, financial policies supporting small-sized businesses should be formulated at an attempt to create more job positions. While graduates cannot find a job, technical workers are in greater need. Therefore the entrance to university education should be lifted, whereas vocational education is expanded.

In many metropolises around the world, especially in English speaking countries, it is not surprising to see people from different ethnics or cultures living and working together. How this comes into existence and what influence this exerts on our society will be discussed as follow?

Such co-existence of races in many major cities can largely be attributed to modern transportation and telecommunication technologies, to be specific, airplanes， computer and the internet. This advancement increases mobility of human and promotes communication and interaction between people without limitation of space and time. The earliest and most obvious representation lies in the globalization of trade and business which expand beyond the national border and facilitate people involved to immigrate permanently or live overseas temporarily. Some countries like USA or Australia have tradition of immigration and they welcome distinctive cultures and ethnics or at least they tolerate differences well. In these places, multi-culture is the embodiment of a high level of civilization.

Of course melting pots have caused some concerns or problems. Races with different religions sometimes collide due to misunderstanding of other cultures. The dominant culture may have the tendency of assimilating or marginalizing other minor ethnics, leading to the young immigrated generation being confused with their cultural and political identity. Multiculturalism aimed at establishing an egalitarian society is deemed by some people to be over simplistic and idealistic.

However, this trend of globalization seems impossible to reverse and trying to deny it would not be as wise as to keep pace with it. Cultural diversity is believed to stimulate open-mind of people and the creativity and innovation of a society due to accommodation and communication of different ideas, therefore enhancing productivity and prosperity of a society in both economic and cultural terms. Looking back human history, brilliant ancient civilizations always featured a high level of inclusiveness of exotic cultures and religions.

To conclude this essay, the integration of cultures and ethnics in many areas in the world reflects the desire of human beings for widening their horizon and exploring the unknown world and this in turn accelerates more contact between distinctive cultures and ethnic groups. Human society would be more dependent on each other and realizing this sooner would be helpful for us to adapt to the current trend.

Every city has its architectural character, but the similarities between cities are more obvious these days than in the past. In my opinion, one reason for this is the high price of land.

In most large cities, land is scarce and consequently it is very valuable. This has led to the construction of tall buildings which occupy only a small area of land while providing lots of floor space where people can live or work. Buildings of this type are made of concrete and steel and can be built comparatively quickly using prefabricated materials. They do not use local materials, such as stone, timber or brick. In consequence, many cities now look very much the same and you might not know whether you were inBrisbane,BangkokorBerlinwhen you are on the street.

While I realize that we cannot stand in the way of progress, I believe that cities should try to keep some individuality. For example, inParisit is prohibited to build very tall buildings in the center of the city, as this would spoil the overall appearance of the skyline.

Other cities have chosen to design unique buildings to ensure they look different. The twin towers inKuala Lumpuror the Opera House inSydneyare examples of this approach, and I agree with this kind of initiative.

All in all, although it is regrettable that modern cities look similar, I tend to feel that this is unavoidable. However, it can be argued that, even if the buildings are similar, cities will maintain their own character as a result of cultural diversity, the terrain and the climate, which ultimately determine how people live.

In many countries, museums used to be free for visitors to enter. But recently, admission fee is introduced due to a cut in funding from the government.

There are reasons for such proposal. Firstly, charging admission keeps a museum run healthily because it provides museums some funding for maintenance and expansion. As we generally know, building a museum with special characters and functions costs substantially more money than an ordinary residential building. Operation spending including security, staff salary and enriching the collections also need constant financial support. If all this cost has to come from taxation, that would be unfair to some taxpayers who do not visit museums at all. Also charging admission can compensate publicly funded museums for cuts in subsidy granted by the government and do not drop their service quality and security. Meanwhile this would not threaten other independent competitors which rely on their income from entry fees.

However, some people disagree with charging entry because they are convinced of some adverse impacts on the society. It is true that a museum is a venue about learning and enjoying as well. It is the access to vivid presentation of knowledge and local culture and history, and charging admission would decrease the number of visits, hence undermining the inspiration for knowledge and cultural heritage preservation and transmission. Another concern about charging admission of a museum is that a museum, as an important educational resource, may lose its educational function because some students in a disadvantaged position would be deprived of a museum tour.

In conclusion, although free access to a museum can promote culture and education, it leads to financial pressure on a museum. Accordingly students should be given a preference treatment and this can be effective with the government’s constant funding for student museum visit. Adults should be charged of admission to a museum. A virtual museum can be another promising option for those less well-off because it is much cheaper to build and run, and therefore can be provided free.

Every city has its architectural character, but the similarities between cities are more obvious these days than in the past. In my opinion, one reason for this is the high price of land.

In most large cities, land is scarce and consequently it is very valuable. This has led to the construction of tall buildings which occupy only a small area of land while providing lots of floor space where people can live or work. Buildings of this type are made of concrete and steel and can be built comparatively quickly using prefabricated materials. They do not use local materials, such as stone, timber or brick. In consequence, many cities now look very much the same and you might not know whether you were inBrisbane,BangkokorBerlinwhen you are on the street.

While I realize that we cannot stand in the way of progress, I believe that cities should try to keep some individuality. For example, inParisit is prohibited to build very tall buildings in the center of the city, as this would spoil the overall appearance of the skyline.

Other cities have chosen to design unique buildings to ensure they look different. The twin towers inKuala Lumpuror the Opera House inSydneyare examples of this approach, and I agree with this kind of initiative.

All in all, although it is regrettable that modern cities look similar, I tend to feel that this is unavoidable. However, it can be argued that, even if the buildings are similar, cities will maintain their own character as a result of cultural diversity, the terrain and the climate, which ultimately determine how people live.

The rapid advancement of computerized technologies and the deepened division of labor have made it possible for increasing number of individuals to accomplish their daily routine at home. Yet whether this development could be a blessing for not only employees but also for employers and the whole society has evolved into a case that bothers businesses and governments worldwide. From my own perspective, I agree that telecommuting would collectively bring more benefits than harm to the general public.

To start with, citizens’ time, particularly of those who live in a distant location from downtown area, can be saved and the depressing traffic congestion will be eased to a large extent, provided that most workers could perform their regular work at home (mostly online). Moreover, employees would feel more relaxed and clear-minded in a familiar surrounding, which might improve the quality and efficiency all together. By contrast, workers who are reluctant to stay in the office merely try all sorts of maneuvers to kill time until 5pm. On top of that, for certain companies like Google and Microsoft, granting employees the priority to work at home is a highly advisable approach to decline the expenditure on rent and furniture, which could eventually constitute a large proportion of their overall budget.

Admittedly, a series of resulting drawbacks would also be brought with the widespread of telecommuters. The primary one, undoubtedly, should be the absence of teamwork, which is the key to success of majority of projects. In current society, not only businesses but also individual workers have been increasingly integrated with one another, and therefore separated employees can hardly communicate and coordinate with their colleagues in person. Aside from that, supervision would be confronted with various obstacles, and it is both immoral and illegal to install a surveillance camera up the roof of employees’ home.

In a nutshell, even though permitting staff to work at home will inevitably face the challenges from supervision and teamwork, I am still convinced that teleworking, from an enlightened standpoint, should be encouraged publicly.

Twelve years into the new millennium, individuals have witnessed the universal utilization of computer in the fields of culture, science, military and so forth. When it comes to the education frontier, computer-related skills as well as their diversified applications，to a large extent，have facilitated students and schools throughout the world. However, whether computer skills should be enlisted in our curriculum, as a forth compulsory component, has sparked heated discussion recently. From my viewpoint, computer skills are important but not necessary in terms of public education.

Admittedly, youngsters would , for certain, gain more popularity in the future job market provided that computer techniques are offered in schools, since computerized products and technologies have penetrated virtually every aspect of every industry. In addition, acquiring the essential knowledge regarding computer or even the internet could, to some degree, help children improve the efficiency and quality of their school learning, which tend to be onerous and monotonous based on the current education system.

On the other hand, it seems pointless to add computer skills into the schooling list just like the other three, namely reading, writing and math. Firstly, the burden of students nowadays is fairly considerable. Adding a forth compulsory subject would undoubtedly frustrate and exhaust them, or even undermine their passion for studying all together. On top of that, computer skills, along with the widespread of personal computers in common household, can be gained in various means besides educational institution. It has been a quite common phenomenon that a major group of adolescents learned how to type by chatting online, how to save files by downloading the very first movie, and how to maintain operation system by installing anti-virus software.

Considering all the factors above, I personally reach the conclusion that computer skill should not be added into the current school disciplines, even though it is, indisputably, an essential technique to survive in the modern society.

When visiting foreign countries some people think that it is advantageous to learn their cultures and traditions. How do you think people can learn other cultures and traditions? Why do you think that some people are interested in learning those traditions and cultures while others are not? Give reasons for your opinion and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience

It is common to experience culture shock when visiting other countries with different traditions and customs, particularly for an extended period of time. Some visitors are interested in adapting to foreign cultures and effectively manage culture shock; some people are not. There are several reasons why we can better enjoy travelling with an open mind and develop an appreciation for cultural differences across the world .

As visitors in foreign lands, we are probably in for the feeling of disorientation, insecurity and anxiety in unfamiliar situations. altogether known as culture shock. This phenomenon is understandable because values, behaviors and social customs we routinely take for granted no longer serve us in different surroundings. Of course, it takes time to learn a 'do-as-Romans-do' attitude, but it is always advisable to keep an open mind. We ought not to give in to the temptation to isolate ourselves into the comfort of what is familiar. Perhaps, all we need is a little more patience to understand the new environment in its historical and social context. In all events, the right thing to do is to observe objectively, and not to judge automatically as if anything different is 'wrong' or 'negative'.

To better appreciate differences culture-wise, it is also important that we learn beforehand enough background information about a country we are ging to. In case we know close to nothing about that country, it means that we might have no interest in its culture, so why should we visit there in the first place? For visitors, a little bit of knowledge about a foreign culture tends to be misleading. But it doesn`t have to be that way. For instance, making an effort to learn the local language and social customs can increase communication skills and proper behaviors, both being of great help to demonstrate an interest in a different culture as well as integrating with the local community. In fact, before travelling it pays to learn something of many things about a foreign country's culture and tradition, ranging from the greetings to the clothing to the before-meal ceremonies.

Visiting a foreign country can be a rewarding experience if we are open-minded and knowledge-conscious toward any different culture. It seems necessary to reduce the negative impact of culture shock so that the entire visit would become pure fun. After all, when we come across a new environment, we don't expect to experience everything exactly like back home, do we?

Today, many commercial advertisements can be seen everywhere, selling different kinds of products such as cosmetics, toys and clothes. Some people concern that the widespread of advertisements may result in the loss of individuality among people, as they tend to wear the same clothes and use the same makeup. From my perspective, I completely disagree with this viewpoint.

Admittedly, people from different walks of life have various consumption views. However, most people would budget their disposable income wisely instead of wasting all in a set of clothes without serious consideration. Therefore, despite the proliferation of the commercial advertisements for the same luxury product, people would still make decisions of buying or not according to their limited income.

Also, people are capable of distinguishing whether the clothes in the advertisement suit themselves or not. Being exposed in a sea of advertisements for long, people's immune systems towards advertisements have strengthened. Consequently, fewer people would be swayed by the gorgeous clothes in the advisements as they realize that most clothes on advertisements only suit for models but not for the average.

Furthermore, so many different advertisements are provided for people's option that it is fairly difficult to be the same with others. Take clothes for example. There are various styles, ranging from classical to modern, childish to mature, conservative to sexy. Therefore, people still could choose their favorite style to meet their demand.

To conclude, due to the multi-choice of advertisement and people's wise budget, people would not lost their individualities under the strong promotion of the same product in the advertisement.

As can be argued, government rules can easily become obstacles to scientific achievements. Usually, most of the world's headline-making scientific discoveries do not come through governmental establishments, admitting that fiscal funding is often essential to helping such success to happen in the private sector. It is false to suggest that the government should carry out and control scientific research because the issue is not only about money but also brains.

Just because public funds matter, it does not follow that the government should restrict that kind of freedom of thinking which is vital to imaginative minds. Apart from that, nothing is more naive than for the government to play the role of police and rule research activities. Yes, freedom--that is how scientific breakthroughs are born. It goes without saying that probably billions of government's money may be needed to carry out research projects in various scientific fields, but it must be considered that great scientists tend to ignore, or even go against the rules. Indeed, it is hard to imagine how many scientific discoveries could have been missed as a result of unnecessary regulations. To put it strongly, control is the death of scientific research.

Scientific research should not be forced in any event. It is because a research problem is less likely to be solved by any apparatus which money can buy than to be solved by the brains of a free head that money cannot always buy. Thus, it does not seem proper for official amateurs to "know" what on earth scientists are doing. Otherwise, it would not be called "research" in the real sense of the word. Trying to heavily monitor scientific brains is perhaps a dangerous attitude since the consequence is always too much foliage and too little fruit. That can explain in part why the government ought to shift most of the pledged fiscal spending from the public to the private sector.

All aspects taken into account, scientific research is two things: billions and brains. With little doubt, the success in a country's scientific discoveries relies on both sufficient funding from the government and on creative minds from private companies in which pure research is worth every penny it costs. All the government has to do is grant money and expect that somewhere, something incredible is going to be known. (Created by Jeenn Lee Hsieh)

Today the quality of our natural environment has become an important issue. The world population is rising so quickly that the world has become too crowded. We are using up our natural resources and at the same time polluting our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we continue to do this, life on earth cannot survive.Concerned people have made some progress in environmental protection.Governments of many countries have established laws to protect the air,forests and sea resources and to stop environmental pollution.Still more measures should be taken to solve environmental problems.People should be further educated to recognize the importance of the problems, to use modern methods of birth control, to conserve(保存) our natural resources and recycle(再循环) our products. We are sure that we can have a better and cleaner place in the future.

The extent to which people are influenced by advertisements can be measured in terms of the high sales of popular consumer goods, many of them being unnecessary or completely useless. Mainly through the media, advertisements on products and services are able to penetrate the public mind with half truth and half lying. In many cases, consumers are becoming so greedy that they are not only buying things they really do not need but also spending the money they do not have.

Although advertising gives people a chance as consumers, actually most advertisements tend to cause them to desire for something worthless. Under such circumstances, it is easy to change people's need into greed. So much so, they are constantly encouraged to want things--want this and want that. This human behavior is haunted by the media from all fronts: on radio, on television, and online, not to mention printed circulations such as newspapers and magazines. Obviously, a great number of "impulsive" buyers are persuaded under the illusion that new products or services could make a difference in their lives. Despite all the benefits of the free market economy, the effects of unreliable advertising are particularly negative in that the power of advertising does not reflect the real needs of the society in which products and services are sold.

Worse still, many consumers are convinced to waste money they do not have. Surrounded by advertisements, people are too unwise to perform a balanced act between income and expenditure. Increasingly, what seems to be good for economy begins to backfire because advertising is misleading consumers deeply into commercial debts which they probably could not afford to pay in due time. Thus, instead of improving people's lives, advertising may be considered as a "necessary evil" in modern time. Furthermore, as manufacturing and service companies are competing to have a larger share of the market, it is next to impossible to expect the media to reduce the amount of dishonest advertising. Besides, when it comes to making money, companies and the media are in the same religion.

After all, greed being a human instinct, consumers have only themselves to blame for their foolishness toward advertisements. Since outlawing commercial advertising is out of the question, people should educate themselves to be more prudent in buying and spending behaviors. As for consumers, what better measures can be taken to protect themselves other than self-control?

Human life can not continue without science and technology. For many years, human society has developed with the advance of science and technology while the development of science and technology has in turn brought the process to mankind. So the life we are living now is more civilized than that of our fore fathers. The development of science and technology have brought about many changes in people's life. For example, the invention of television and space rocket have opened a new era for mankind. Through the use of TV people can hear the sound and learn the events happening thousands of miles away. Owing to the invention of spaceship and rocket, the dream of man's landing on the moon has now come true. Science and technology also play an important role in our socialist construction. We may say, our socialist construction is just like a skyscraper, while science and technology are its base. Without the base, the skyscraper can't be built. Therefore, we should try our best to contribute to the development of science and technology so as to provide a more solid base to build our country.

The open policy means that our country is open to investment, trade and technical and economic cooperation with other countries on the basis ofequality and mutual benefit. The purpose of open policy is to acquireadvanced technology, management skills to serve our socialistconstruction so as to promote the realization of the four modernizations.We must adhere to the open policy. Because economic relations betweenstates today have become increasingly close, and no country can possiblyadvance behind close doors. Only in this way, can we gradually close thegap between our country and the developed countries.Through the implementation of policy, we can learn advanced technologyand managerial expertise from abroad; make full use of the foreigncapitals to set up great enterprises; absorb useful and healthy ideas andnew knowledge of the modern civilization; and broaden our views and raise our level of competence.

When visiting foreign countries some people think that it is advantageous to learn their cultures and traditions. How do you think people can learn other cultures and traditions? Why do you think that some people are interested in learning those traditions and cultures while others are not? Give reasons for your opinion and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience

It is common to experience culture shock when visiting other countries with different traditions and customs, particularly for an extended period of time. Some visitors are interested in adapting to foreign cultures and effectively manage culture shock; some people are not. There are several reasons why we can better enjoy travelling with an open mind and develop an appreciation for cultural differences across the world .

As visitors in foreign lands, we are probably in for the feeling of disorientation, insecurity and anxiety in unfamiliar situations. altogether known as culture shock. This phenomenon is understandable because values, behaviors and social customs we routinely take for granted no longer serve us in different surroundings. Of course, it takes time to learn a 'do-as-Romans-do' attitude, but it is always advisable to keep an open mind. We ought not to give in to the temptation to isolate ourselves into the comfort of what is familiar. Perhaps, all we need is a little more patience to understand the new environment in its historical and social context. In all events, the right thing to do is to observe objectively, and not to judge automatically as if anything different is 'wrong' or 'negative'.

To better appreciate differences culture-wise, it is also important that we learn beforehand enough background information about a country we are ging to. In case we know close to nothing about that country, it means that we might have no interest in its culture, so why should we visit there in the first place? For visitors, a little bit of knowledge about a foreign culture tends to be misleading. But it doesn`t have to be that way. For instance, making an effort to learn the local language and social customs can increase communication skills and proper behaviors, both being of great help to demonstrate an interest in a different culture as well as integrating with the local community. In fact, before travelling it pays to learn something of many things about a foreign country's culture and tradition, ranging from the greetings to the clothing to the before-meal ceremonies.

Visiting a foreign country can be a rewarding experience if we are open-minded and knowledge-conscious toward any different culture. It seems necessary to reduce the negative impact of culture shock so that the entire visit would become pure fun. After all, when we come across a new environment, we don't expect to experience everything exactly like back home, do we?

Chinese history leads us to the conclusion that socialism, not capitalism is best for China. But how a socialist China should look at capitalism and more importantly, make use of the better side of capitalism for its own advantage is of vital(至关) importance to the country.As far as our country's economic construction is concerned, taking advantage of the part of capitalism that is useful to us means we need to develop foreign trade, introduce advanced technology and better management, and make use of foreign funds. It also means we can absorb some of the economic theories, and make use of those economic policies,methods and measures that comply with( 遵循) the law of mass production and a commodity economy. By opening our windows wider to the outside world, people can learn more about other peoples and learn to make sensible judgments.Absorbing the better part of the cultures of other people to enrich ourselves is the best way to safeguard our socialist culture. So taking advantage of capitalism and stepping up economic reforms is the only way to make China strong. Closing the county to international exchanges will only keep it weak.

Human life can not continue without science and technology. For many years, human society has developed with the advance of science and technology while the development of science and technology has in turn brought the process to mankind. So the life we are living now is more civilized than that of our fore fathers. The development of science and technology have brought about many changes in people's life. For example, the invention of television and space rocket have opened a new era for mankind. Through the use of TV people can hear the sound and learn the events happening thousands of miles away. Owing to the invention of spaceship and rocket, the dream of man's landing on the moon has now come true. Science and technology also play an important role in our socialist construction. We may say, our socialist construction is just like a skyscraper, while science and technology are its base. Without the base, the skyscraper can't be built. Therefore, we should try our best to contribute to the development of science and technology so as to provide a more solid base to build our country.