2014.3.22 独立写作机经
第一套：
Younger school children (aged from five to ten) should be required to study art and music in addition to math, language, science and history. (重复2009.5.30NA)
The importance of standardized testing in today’s society has caused us to place an undue emphasis on the core subjects of math, language, science, and history. Arts education often falls by the wayside. But exploring art and music are just as important for a child’s development as studying the main subjects.
For one thing, studying art and music encourages creative thinking. The key is in balancing structured learning with unstructured periods of exploration. Students can be taught certain skills that allow them to express themselves more clearly, and then be given free rein to express whatever they want. Unconventional associations can be encouraged so that students are able to come up with novel and interesting ideas. These sort of activities will accustom students to flexible and inventive ways of thinking, so that when they eventually begin working in the real world, they can make unique contributions to society.
For another thing, arts education aids in healthy emotional development. Art and music provide non-threatening means for children to express their thoughts and feelings. For this reason, researchers are currently experimenting with art and music for therapeutic purposes. Initial studies show that art therapy is hugely effective for addressing emotional issues. I know that at least in my own life, art has helped me greatly. When I was younger, I was skinny and weak. This made me a prime target for bullying. But when I drew, I drew myself as a superhero, and this process of reimagining myself gave me the strength to endure the bullying and eventually stand up for myself.
Finally, a strong engagement with art and music will help students develop a firm appreciation of beauty, and this will make them conscientious people more likely to make the world a better place. This is not to say that a subject like math cannot contain beauty, but beauty is experienced much more frequently and directly in the arts. This direct exposure will make you more likely to, say, appreciate the beauty of a forest or an alternate way of life, and recognize the importance of protecting these things from destruction.
It’s a shame that arts education doesn’t get the attention it deserves, because its benefits are both numerous and immense. It not only breeds creativity, but also helps us lead healthier emotional lives and become more conscientious people. We would do well to incorporate art and music into our children’s education. (Richard 401)
第二套：
Do you agree or disagree: young people today are less dependent on their parents than in the past. 重复 2012.10.27 NA
Parents continue to be a constant source of support for their children, no matter what age. Technology and changing society however has changed the dynamic of society. Social trends indicate that today’s youth are more independent from their parents than previous generations.
A main reason that young people today are less dependent on their parents is the development of technology. This creates independence at a young age. Whereas in previous generous, parents would chaperone and accompany their children places, cellphones have changed that habit. Now parents are not as concerned about where their children are every minute of the day, because they can be easily contacted through cellphones. Parents also do not worry about their children’s safety as much, because they know that if anything goes wrong, their children can easily call for help. Technology has also made children more independent for the mere fact that they are, as experts have termed it, “natives” to the technology age whereas their parents are all “immigrants”. Although parents are usually well versed in using the latest technology, young people automatically have a better understanding of these devices and are therefore much more independent when it comes to navigating themselves in the technology age.
In addition, globalization has created a generation of internationally minded youth, who see going abroad and exploring the world as a real possibility. Young people studying and working abroad is a lot more common than it was in our parents’ generation. Rather than continuing to live at home and work in one’s hometown, youth look beyond the comfort of their hometown to find better job opportunities in larger cities at home and overseas. When my father was young, he went with a program to study abroad and that was a very uncommon thing. However most if not all of my friends and classmates have spent some amount of time studying abroad. Learning about the world and exploring the world has made young people more independent.
Granted, in today’s economy there are a lot of situations in which children cannot find good enough jobs to afford to move away from home. This people continue to live at home and do not have as much of an opportunity to gain independence. After all, they still have to depend on their parents for food and a place to live. While this situation is very common in our generation, it does not mean that if these young people had a chance, they would choose to continue living dependent on their parents.
Every parent will of course always support their child if need be, but blazing one’s own trail and being able to live independently is very important to people in society. Self-reliance is something society applauds. This combined with the independence that technology and the globalization of society has created a generation of youth that are less dependent on their parents than previous generations. (Richard, 481 words)