专四口试对话模拟素材3.doc

专四口试对话模拟素材3

来自21世纪报的讨论话题及正反方思路
1. Is it right to exclude us?
THE civil service's elevated social status and stable salaries are attracting an increasing number of college graduates every year. However, a series of recent events have given rise to a heated debate on whether the sector should shut its doors to fresh college graduates.

First of all, Jiang Yiren, a CPPCC member from Shanghai, proposed last month that the civil service sector should only recruit people who have been working for more than two years. The reason he cited is that new graduates often lack social experience and it's hard for them to understand and solve problems at the grassroots level.

Shanghai officials later clarified that they would not stop employing fresh graduates altogether, but have been increasing the proportion of people they hire with work experience. But even this news sent panic across higher education institutions as college students, who face an increasingly competitive job market, feared another important employment channel might be blocked to them.

Meanwhile, a joint survey by S and the International Herald Leader newspaper found that more than 70 percent of those surveyed believe fresh graduates aren't suitable for public sector jobs.

What is your opinion? Do you think college students should be excluded from government jobs?

Yes

Public servants are expected to serve the people with as much expertise and experience as possible. Fresh graduates are clearly not the best choice.

1. Entry-level jobs in the public sector in particular require lots of interaction with ordinary people. Fresh graduates lacking in social experience and interpersonal skills could easily make mistakes and hurt the image of the government.

2. College students' may find the complexity of government jobs and the stress they entail frustrating. This may destroy their enthusiasm and therefore this may not be the best way to start their careers.

No

It is simply unfair to deny college graduates the opportunity to have public sector employment without giving them a try first.

1. While young graduates in general may not have a lot of social experience, many of them have honed their skills during internships and on-campus employment. Moreover, their integrity makes them even better candidates for government jobs.

2. All fresh graduates have to start gaining experience and expertise from somewhere. If all employers turn them down with the same excuse, they will never have an opportunity to get a foot on the career ladder and properly enter society. Government jobs are good way to improve their interpersonal and service sector skills.

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elevated 提高的

entail 带来

grassroots 基层

2. Is premarital sex a bad idea?
MORE than 100 students signed up for an unconventional class at Zhejiang University last week.
Instead of listening to lectures, students at the two-day session participated in group discussions and "metaphor" games. They watched video materials, all aimed at persuading them to refrain from premarital sex.
The organizers of the "chastity" seminar said it encouraged students to discuss and debate the consequences of premarital sex. They hoped students would also develop a greater awareness of the threat of AIDS and learn about alternatives to premarital sex. Two dozen students signed up directly and more than 100 registered by text message.
News about this seminar gave rise to fierce debate online. Supporters say such seminars serve as helpful counterweight to the wave of "sexual liberty" that has changed many young Chinese in recent years. They say the seminars can teach them to behave responsibly. Opponents argue that such seminars represent an outdated view of sex. They say they may impinge on young people's natural right to have sex.

Do you think "chastity seminars" are good for college students?

Yes

The threat of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases is real. Such seminars help young people protect themselves.

1. Such seminars don't just discourage premarital sex; they also teach students about responsible and safe sex. This is very useful knowledge, and for this purpose alone such seminars is positive.
2. Many seriously negative social phenomena have come about because people are having sex at increasingly younger ages these days. They often lack an adequate understanding of what they are doing. If college students voluntarily signed up for the seminar, they probably wanted to learn something about sex.

No

Such seminars unfairly confuse responsible sex with unsafe and irresponsible sex.

1. College students are adults who have sexual needs. As long as they understand their responsibilities, they can make their own choices about whether to have sex or not. This seminar conveys a conservative message to today's young people.
2. Encouraging young people to avoid having sex before marriage will only make them more curious and obsessed with it. It is natural for some college students to try sex; at the same time, they should learn about responsibility and protection.
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chastity 贞节
impinge
metaphor 隐喻
obsess 使困扰
premarital 婚前的
Bonus

Expressions
counterweight n.平衡物
This negative review is a counterweight to the praise the book has won since publication.
那篇负面的评论是对这本书出版以来所赢得的褒扬的平衡。
refrain from 避免
Though she is curious about his past, she refrains from asking too many questions.
尽管她对他的过去很好奇，但她尽量避免问他过多的问题。
3. Mandatory handwriting course?

Should college students be forced to take handwriting exams?

CHINESE are finding it increasingly difficult to write Chinese characters properly. With the rapid increase in the use of computers, people have fewer opportunities to write Chinese characters by hand. The beautiful art of calligraphy may soon be lost.
But one government agency is working to reverse this worrisome trend. The National Language Committee has said it will roll out national handwriting standards for elementary schools, middle schools and college students.
Wang Dengfeng, a deputy director of the committee, told the press last week that the standards had been drafted to make sure that students of all ages learn to write their characters correctly and beautifully. Elementary schools in some areas already require students to practice their handwriting skills, but there are no examination standards. The committee is also working on handwriting examination standards for college students, Wang said.
Responses to the Language Committee's proposal have been mixed. Many people recognize the need to emphasize handwriting technique, but they question whether it is necessary to make calligraphy training mandatory.

What do you think? Is it necessary to introduce handwriting exams into college education?

Yes

Good handwriting is an important part of China's cultural heritage. It would be a shame to lose it.

1. College students these days rely heavily on computers. If handwriting exams are not introduced, in the long term, they will simply forget how to write characters and this will seriously affect their language skills. It is necessary to maintain a certain standard through exams.
2. Good handwriting is also a very practical skill for students' future careers: Although it is not much used nowadays, calligraphy training builds character as it is necessary to devote a considerable amount of time to its repeated practice. It also gives practitioners a sense of achievement.
3. Excessive reliance on computers has become a modern disease. Many young people are unable to manage without them. Mandatory calligraphy training would help them understand the value of the non-digital world.

No

Having good handwriting is a personal choice and shouldn't become yet another academic burden.

1. Computers will one day make handwriting completely obsolete, therefore it would be a waste of college students' time to force them to take handwriting classes.
2. There are many styles and schools in Chinese calligraphy, and students could choose different styles. It is very difficult, even impractical, to set fixed standards for judging and examining handwriting.
3. Calligraphy would be a good elective course to offer on a college curriculum, as interested students would gain much from such training. However, the course and exams should not be mandatory and become a burden to students.

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calligraphy 书法
elective 选修课程
heritage 传统
ideology 思想意识
mandatory 强制的
obsolete 荒废的
rectify 调整
reliance 依靠

Bonus
roll out
开始进行，推出产品
The company rolled out its new advertising campaign last week.
那家公司上个星期开始了新的一轮广告宣传。

4. Should we let Xu girls speak?

Should universities invite entertainers to their campuses?

TAIWANESE sisters Xu Xiyuan (Big S) and Xu Xidi (Little S) descended on Beida's campus last Sunday, causing quite a stir.
The duo were promoting a fashion brand and attracted hundreds of screaming fans to Beida's Centenary Hall. The gig was a great success, with the sisters telling students how to keep fit and dress stylishly. Only a few days before, however, some Beida students were calling for students to boycott the sisters' appearance.
The sisters' opponents' argument was simple: They said the sisters are not academically qualified to give a speech at a world-renowned university. The sisters finished their education in senior high school. In the view of the Beida students, the sacred podium in Centenary Hall should be reserved for masters and great minds.
However, others argued that the naysayers were being arrogant. After all, thousands of Beida students enjoy the sisters' shows and claim to be their fans. Also, college students need to know about fashion. Inviting the sisters to talk about what they excel at doesn't necessarily mean Beida is lowering its standard.

What do you think? Was it appropriate for Beida to allow the entertainers to speak to students?

Yes

The event made campus life more colorful
and helped diversify
students' lives.
1. The spirit of university education should be liberal. Universities shouldn't be afraid to embrace all kinds of ideas. The Xu sisters are pop culture icons admired by millions of young people nationwide. Beida students shouldn't be so snobbish and look down on people like the sisters.
2. The Sunday event was no more than a commercial activity. Beida's Centenary Hall needs to make money in order to provide its services to students. If it can be rented out to performance companies to hold concerts and plays, surely it can be used commercially in other ways.

No

The primary purpose of a university is academic training. Beida should maintain its standards and resist commercialism.
1. Such commercial events could easily distract students from their studies and disrupt the academic atmosphere on campus. Keeping fit and dressing in style should hardly be college students' chief concern. A university should not receive money from businesses while hosting an event that has little educational use.
2. As one of the finest universities in China, Beida should be particularly careful about hosting such commercial events. The university sets an example for other institutions. And this may affect the way other universities treat similar commercial events.

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boycott 抵制
centenary 一百年的
disrupt 干扰
diversify 使多样化
duo 一对
gig 短期表演
icon 偶像
podium 讲台
sacred 神圣的
snobbish 自命不凡的
Bonus
descend on
光临
The presidential campaign team descended on the small town for a rally.
总统竞选团队光临到这个小镇上举行一次竞选集会。
look down on
看不起
That guy is a real snob. He looks down on people without a college degree.
那个家伙是个势利眼。他看不起那些没有大学学历的人。
naysayer
老是唱反调的人
He is such a naysayer. Whenever we have an idea, he will come up with a thousand reasons why it won't work.
他老是唱反调。当我们有什么想法的时候，他总是能想出来一堆理由说我们的想法行不通。
5. Can robbery ever be right?
A CLASS assignment at a Guangzhou university has provoked controversy after local press reported that a professor asked students to design a hypothetical plan to rob a bank.
The professor said the same assignment had been used at the Harvard Business School to train students how to manage human resources.
Many shocked commentators have criticized the assignment as absurd. They suggest that it may even encourage students to commit crime. Such a project wouldn't have any educational value, they argue. Others say that robbing a bank is not necessarily an innovative idea for a college class project; it only shows that the educator has run out of legitimate ideas and methods.
However, a greater number of other commentators support the project. They suggest that such unconventional methods will capture students' imaginations and make the class more interesting.
Students, too, came to the professor's defense, saying it was a very inventive project from which they learned a lot.

Do you think this is a project that should be assigned to a college class?

Yes

It won't turn students into bank robbers. There's no need to make such a fuss over it.

1. College students are adults with a well-grounded sense of right and wrong. Simply being asked by a professor to write a plan for robbing a bank isn't going to provoke them to do carry it out.
2. Not every lesson in a college class has to be about morals or social values. Academic freedom means professors can give students assignments like this, as long as they are challenging and educational.
3. The main problem with the Chinese educational system is its lack of innovation and fresh ideas. Students have been taught for decades to simply recite and repeat. This project is an example of educational innovation and should be encouraged, not criticized.

No

There are better ways to be innovative in the classroom than designing a bank robbery.

1. A bank robbery, however hypothetical, usually involves violence. Although college students probably wouldn't carry out such an act, encouraging them to plan violence is inappropriate.
2. There are better ways to stimulate students' imagination and critical thinking. The fact that the professor chose this particular case means that he is not sensitive enough to the students' real needs.
3. Just because the assignment was used at a US college doesn't mean it's suitable for a Chinese university class. Borrowing "revolutionary" educational methods from abroad without adapting them to the situation in China can lead to problems.

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hypothetical假设的
innovative创新的
legitimate合理的
recite背诵

建议讨论题目：
.1.The banning of alcohol and tobacco advertising in the media.
2. The importance of video and television in education.
..3.. The causes and effects of traffic jams in major cities.
..4. The qualities and skills required of a good company manager.
5. Fiction can teach us more
6. Capital