爱华网12.03.08
People aim to achievethe balance between their work and lives. But few people achieveit. What are the causes of the problems? How to overcomeit?
1.
Few people claim to be able tomaintain the work-life harmony due to the competing pressures atwork and demands at home. In this age of modern technology, one ofthe consequences of the imbalance is stress, a chronic problemcommon among working men and women alike. It is possible that theroot of the problem is an undesirable and yet inevitable conflictbetween career ambition and personal as well as familylife.
Some people have begun to think thatworking gets in the way of living, particularly when they arestruggling for professional achievements. A reduction of officialworking hours does little to relieve the stress that affects one'slife because of one's ambition for financial gains and socialrecognition. To illustrate, typical workaholics continue working athome, or telecommuting, in front of a computer screen. Since onehopes to stand out of the crowd, there is little time left forleisure, pleasure and spiritual development. This being the case,home is no longer a heavenly place for rest as it used to be.Accordingly, one may feel out of the work-life equilibrium in thepresence of increasingly keen competition, as if from alldirections.
（Avril总结整理，转载敬请注明http://blog.sina.com.cn/avrildaisy）
More often than not, there is no clearline between work and family life, home becoming almost anextension of the workplace. Thus, the greater is the stress oftrying to become successful, the less likely is the work-lifebalance, considering there is a price to be paid for taking pridein working, usually at the cost of a variety of familyresponsibilities and personal enjoyment. Of course, one can managethe work-life harmony skillfully to some extent, but not for long.In fact, this situation is so much like a teeter-totter, one endbeing work and the other being life. The metaphor refers to ararely steady state, now moving from balance and now moving backtowards it. That is why many people find it difficult to perform abalancing act between work and life.
The conflict of work and life may be thecause of the problem, but the solution must depend on one'sattitude about money and time. Tackling the problem of theimbalance is nothing easy because the stress of work is invadinghome. To be realistic, it makes sense that people work because theyneed money to make ends meet at home, and that time for personallife must sometimes be limited only to uneasy sleep after a hardday.
2.
Nowadays many adults have full-time jobsand the proportion of their lives spent on work is very high. Someof them are under high stress and ignore the other parts of life. Ithink that modern lifestyles are probably responsible forthis.
In many cities, the cost of living is veryhigh, bringing about a heavy burden on city residents. To surviveand lead a better life, people have to work hard and earn enoughincome to cover the daily expenditure. As the urban populationkeeps rising, competition is getting increasingly fierce in the jobmarket and in workplaces. Those who are not conpetent for theirjobs may be laid off. Under so much pressure, many people focus ontheir work and have little time for leisure and exercise. As aresult, their life becomes monotonous and their healthdeclines.
There is no doubt that these lifestyleshave caused negative impact on people's physical and psychologicalhealth and this situation needs to be changed. To begin with,people should be more aware of the consequence of failing to strikea balance between work and life. They hould learn to allocate acertain proportion of time to stay with their family members, orfor exercise. For instance, when they go back from work every day,they can choose to turn off their mobile phones, play with theirkids or take the dog for a walk.
（Avril总结整理，转载敬请注明http://blog.sina.com.cn/avrildaisy）
Perhaps the government needs to constructmore facilities to provide various choices for people to spendtheir spare time. Enterprises should also support employees interms of dealing with stress at work, because this is no longer aproblem for emplyees, but for the long-term prosperity ofenterprises.
12.03.10
It is expected that there willbe a higher proportion of older people than young people in manycountries in the future. Do you think it is a positive or negativedevelopment?
题目翻译：据预测，将来很多国家的老龄化人口的比重将会超过年轻人。你认为这是一种积极还是消极的变化？
关键词分析：olderpeople“老年人”有很多说法，这个词在文章中肯定会多次出现，因此一定要做好同义替换准备。elderly people, theelderly, pensioners, senior citizens都可以，但要少用old people. ageingsociety （Br.E.） / aging society（Am.E.）老龄化社会，这个词是必备的社会学术语。这个词虽然没有在题目中出现，但是考生一定会在正文中用到这个词。关于ageingsociety的相关知识，请阅读维基百科。
话题分类与题型：本题是老题，个别词句略有改动。与2006年2月11日、2011年10月8日的话题基本一致。短期内出现如此接近的题目，在雅思考试中并不多见。属于社会类话题的“人口结构与老龄化”分支。上一次出现社会类话题是在2011年12月17日。题型为议论文中的“利弊分析”，这种题型是所有议论文题型中最简单的，在2011年仅出现4次，这是2012年首次出现该题型。
话题评价：社会类话题共有两大分支：男女平等，人口结构与老龄化。本题在“十大话题万能分类题库”中属于母题，因此只要做好充足的复习准备，难度不大。
相关考题：
1. Surveys show that in many countries,people are living longer but increased life expectancy has manyimplications for the aging individuals and for society as a whole.What are the possible effects of longer living for individuals andsociety? （100306）
2. Some people believe that in order togive opportunities to the new generation, companies shouldencourage high level employees who are older than 55 to retire. Doyou agree or disagree? （030712, 030809）
3. Some countries have an ever-increasingproportion of population who are aged 15 and younger. What is youropinion of the current and future effects it may have in thosecountries? （080419）
4. In many countries, the proportion of older people is steadilyincreasing. Does this have more positive or negative effects on thesociety? (111008)
题型解析与结构思路：“利弊分析”题型有几种出题方式：1. What arethe advantages and disadvantages? 2. Do you think the advantagesoutweigh its disadvantages? 3. Do you think it is a positive ornegative development?其中，第一、二中好处和坏处都必须在文章中提及，文章必须写成双边讨论，结论既可以是好处坏处都有（完全中立），也可以是好处大于或小于坏处（带偏向）。而第三种题型除了以上写法之外，也可以写成单边讨论。“单边讨论”题型必须用五段式写，正文三段分别阐述三个好处，或者三个坏处。本题建议写成双边讨论带偏向的写法，正文第一段承认老龄化带来的好处（如老龄产业会带动相关产业发展），而重点在正文第二段（或五段式的正文二、三段），强调人口老龄化对社会产生的危害（给社会、子女造成负担）。结论段简单地介绍一下解决方法即可（如政府建立完善的社会保障体系，确保老年人的基本生活）。
1.
Due to the improved living standard anddecreased birth rate in many countries, the proportion of elderlypeople keeps rising. This trend is not restricted to developedcountries which boast well-established supporting systems forelderly people, but is also evident among some developing countrieswhose infrastructure falls behind the growth of agedpopulation.
Longevity of citizens is seen as a symbolof social progress and it reflects the advance of medical scienceand the improvement of people's welfare. Most people now enjoyseveral decades of comfort and happiness after retirement as areward for their hard work. In modern cities where life pace isfast, retired people largely take the responsibilities of lookingafter their grandchildren. Elderly people uphold traditional valuesand possess rich experience, which is extraodinarily valuable inthe education of next generations.
（Avril总结整理，转载敬请注明http://blog.sina.com.cn/avrildaisy）
However, the upsurge of aged populationcan pose a series of problems to the society as a whole. The firstissue is the strain on the pension system, which is the majorsource of most old people's income. As they do not work, the shrinkof work force may affect the productivity and slow down the economyin the long term. In addition, given the fact that aged people areprone to disease, the government is required to raise theinvestment on the medical and healthcare system for them, such asthe construction and furnishing of more hospitals. All these wouldimpose a heavy burden on the government and taxpayers.
The increasing percentage of agedpopulation has become a widespread concern in much of the world. Totackle this problem takes the efforts of the whole socity. Apartfrom building basic facilities and improving social safety net, wealso need to create more opportunities for elderly citizens so thatthey can become productive members of the society.
2.
Population ageinghas emerged as a global phenomenon in the wake of the now virtuallyuniversal decline in fertility and increases in life expectancy.Many countries are confronted with new demographic realities thatspread from the cities to the villages. In my opinion, moreproblems than benefits will surface with this trend.
Admittedly, olderpeople often have time to offer for the benefit of family and thecommunity. Nowadays, the young tend to rely on the older generationfor household chores. It is also reported that time devoted tovoluntary work and care is at its height within the age groups over55. Such devotion adds greatly to the community well-being, if notto the GDP.
Population ageing,however, brings about serious economic and social problems. Whenthe number of workers decreases, the national income goes down. Atthe same time, as a person's use of health services increasessignificantly in the later years of their life, an ageingpopulation causes a relative rise in the public resources requiredfor pensions, health and residential care outlays. Moreover, withan ageing population, the problems associated with the “sandwichgeneration”， people who have both children and parents to lookafter, have gained increasing prominence. Members of this“in-between” generation are often torn between the needs of raisingchildren, caring for ageing parents and job responsibilities.
（Avril总结整理，转载敬请注明http://blog.sina.com.cn/avrildaisy）
To sum up,population ageing is an inevitable prospect, the negative effectsof which outweigh the positive. As ageing is a normal part oflifecycle for human beings, we must recognize its challenges to ourlife and society, and work on effective strategies to minimize itsadverse influences.
12.03.17
News media are importantin modern society. Why are they so important? Are their influencesgenerally positive or negative?
题目翻译：新闻媒体在当代社会中很重要。它们为什么这么重要?它们的影响通常是积极的还是负面的?
关键词分析：media:media来源于拉丁语，是medium的复数形式。因此这个词在英语中大多是用作复数形式，是各种媒体的总称。具体包括：printmedia(平面媒体)，如newspaper, magazine;broadcast media(电波媒体)，如radio,television, 以及new media(新媒体)，主要指the Internet. 以上这些媒体又可以称之为massmedia(大众媒体)。news media: 本文应当围绕新闻媒体来展开，不要提到媒体的娱乐功能。
话题分类与题型：本题是老题新出，与2005年6月25日、2009年3月5日、2009年8月22日的话题基本一致。属于“媒体与广告”类话题的“新闻与媒体”分支。媒体类话题在2011年共出现6次，这次是2012年首次出现，上一次出现是在2011年11月17日。
该题属于混搭类题型(原因+利弊分析)，兼备说明文和议论文的写法(与09年3月5日的题型一致)。混搭题型是近期说明文考察的重点，2011年共出现7次，而标准的说明文(问题+原因+影响+解决方法)仅出现4次，因此在写作的时候应当特别留意混搭题型。
话题评价：媒体与广告类话题共有“新闻与媒体”、“媒体审查制度”以及“广告”三大主题。本题在“十大话题万能分类题库”中属于母题，因此只要做好充足的复习准备，难度不大。
相关考题：
1. Some people think that the news medianowadays have influenced people’s lives in negative ways. To whatextent do you agree or disagree? (050625)
2. Newspapers have an enormous influenceon people's ideas and opinions. Why is this the case? Do you thinkit is positive or negative? (090305)
3. News media is more influentialnowadays. Some people think it is a negative development. To whatextent do you agree or disagree? (090822)
题型解析：混搭题型主要有常见的几种出题方式：原因+利弊分析、原因+同意与否(针对题目中所给出的解决方法)、同意与否+解决方法。回答时一定要紧扣问题。
此题属于“原因+利弊分析”题型，也是混搭类出现最多的类型。这种题目在解答时要注意，第二问建议大家写成双边支持，即好处和坏处都有，这样一来观点容易构思，字数容易达到，二来考官觉得考生思维比较全面。
大家可以思考一下下面这道相同题型的题目：
Some employers think that formalacademic qualifications are more important than life experiencesand personal qualities when they look for an employee. Why is itthe case? Is it a positive or negative development?(071013)
解题思路：本文建议采用五段式。正文分三段，分别交代原因、好处、坏处。
原因：信息化时代informationera的到来和全球一体化globalisation的发展使得现代人越来越依赖于媒体传递的信息。
好处：新闻给人们提供了大量的信息。关于国家的政治动向、政策变化的报道可以指导个人和公司的发展计划、投资理财;天气预报、路况信息等为个人的出行提供了指导;一些针对社会弱势群体的社会新闻也唤起公众的同情心，使有困难的人得到社会的帮助。
坏处：有些新闻来源不靠谱，特别是网络媒体。由于人人都可以通过twitter之类的社交网站social networkingsite来传播信息，因此给谣言rumour的传播提供了可能。有些媒体受政党控制，因此传递的是一些带偏见biased的消息，公众无法客观地从媒体中获取真相。甚至有些无良记者unscrupulousjournalists为了引起轰动sensation，通过捏造一些假新闻chequebookjournalism来吸引读者眼球。
结论：国家可以出台相关的法律法规related laws and regulations should beconstituted，媒体应该进行自我审查imposeauto-censorship，来规范媒体和记者的行为。而公众应当有独立思考能力和批判性思维能力independentthinking and critical thinking ability，来辨别新闻的真假。
全篇段落提纲：
开头段: (铺垫背景,引出话题)
在当代社会(In present-day society),人们获取知识和接收信息的方式更依赖于新闻媒体。电视, 报纸, 网络之类的媒介每天都在向世界各个角落(every singlecorner of the world)传递信息, 使人们和外界保持同步(enable people to keep pacewith the outside world)。可以说, 新闻媒体已经成为现代社会一个不可或缺的部分 (anindispensable part in modern society)
主体第一段:(指明两个新闻媒体为什么重要的最根本原因)
信息时代(informationage)的到来和全球化(globalization)的发展是现代人越来越依赖于媒体的最根本原因(root cause)。在现代社会,各国间以及社会各领域之间(如: 贸易, 科技, 文化, 教育等)的交流和互动 (communication andinteraction), 变得日益频繁。人们日常工作的节奏加快,衣食住行的需求也更多样和宽泛。这些都需要能够及时传递信息和便于交流的新闻媒介。
主体第二段:(阐述新闻媒体的利和弊)
好处: 新闻媒体以各种形式提供现代社会所需的有用信息(vast amounts of useful information in various forms)。通过广播, 电视,报纸和基于网络的媒体(Through broadcast, TV, newspapers, and internet-basedmedia), 人们随时随地可以和各种信息保持亲密接触(stay in close contact with variousinformation)。比如说, 公司和企业可以通过新闻媒体及时得知国家的政策法规, 以便调整其运营模式(operationmode)和投资策略(investment strategy)
坏处: 新闻媒体的信息可能会误导公众(misleadthe public)。以网络为例, 由于人人都可以通过各种网站发布信息, 因此给谣言(rumors)和虚假广告(deceptiveadvertizing)的传播提供了可能。此外, 为了创造高收视率(in order to achieve high audienceratings), 一些媒体夸大甚至歪曲事实(exaggerate or distort an established fact),使公众形成错误的观点(make people form prejudiced opinions)
结尾段: (结论加合理的建议)
结论：从好的方面来看(on the positiveside), 新闻媒体在传递知识和信息方面的作用总体是积极有益的(beneficial)。但另一方面(on the otherhand), 新闻机构的确也会对普通大众和社会有不良影响。国家可以出台相关的法律法规来有效监管新闻媒体(relatedregulations should be constituted to strengthen news media),使他们的信息更加客观真实。而公众也应该提高辨别能力(critical thinking ability),不要盲目跟从新闻媒体(follow news media blindly)
1.
I think the news media mainly plays twoimportant roles in modern society: providing information andinfluencing public opinion, and I think its influence is generallypositive.
（Avril总结整理，转载敬请注明http://blog.sina.com.cn/avrildaisy）
Obviously, the news media provides peoplewith vast amounts of information in various forms. We can access itby listening to the radio, reading newspapers and magazines,watching television and by surfing the Internet. The ability toaccess news media is important for individuals and organisationsbecause we make many decisions based on the news provided to us.Some of these decisions are mundane. We check the weather forecastto see whether we should take an umbrella to work. Other news, suchas that about the business world, could influence whether we investour savings in certain companies listed on the stockexchange.
The news is often presented to us incertain ways, using specific words to try to control our feelingsand thoughts. This can be the main negative influence of the newsmedia. Very often, the news media portrays people in simplisticways, giving us some facts, but not the whole story. In the USA,some news media tends to support the Republicans whilst others tendtowards the Democrats and the portrayal of individuals can reflectthis. This is somewhat inevitable, because the editors, journalistsand owners of the news media have opinions and biases. So, I thinkthat it would be better if people checked news stories fromdifferent sources instead of only using one source.
Despite the fact that the news media canreport events incorrectly or with bias, I think that the generalinfluence on society is good. More factual information gives us thechance to make better decisions, both in our personal lives and inour working lives.
2.
In today's world, we are surrounded byvarious kinds of news reports, which havebecomean esential part of our daily lives. The boom of news mediaindustry, particularly the widespread of internet contributes tothis trend.
Besides the traditional news media, suchas newspaper, TV and radio, the popularization of internet makes iteasier for people to access the latest news reports. In the past,people had to tune in to TV or radio programss at fixed time.Butnow, with internet, they can read theup-to-date news without time limit. Internet also allows people tomake comment on the news reports and thus enhance the participationof the public.
Thanks to journalists' work, people aremore involved than ever before in social affairs. For example, whennatural disasters happen, news media can convey the firsthandmessage to the public, who can reach their hands and donate aid forvictims immediately. Public's constant attention would also pushforward the rescue andrelief efforts andsupervise the distribution of resources.
Despite the positive influence, newsmediamay cause detrimental effect to the society.Some journalists tend to involve their personal feeling or distortthe truth of the envents in the reports. In some cases, ecternalpressure from the government or news agency may lead to biasednewsreports. Moreover, if people are bombarded byexcessive news reports, there is a risk that they may lose theirindependent thinking.
（Avril总结整理，转载敬请注明http://blog.sina.com.cn/avrildaisy）
To sume up, as a dominant source ofinformation in modern society, news media bring us trmendousbenefits. Meanwhile, we need to use our own judgment to analyze theinformation we receive from the media.
12.03.31
In some cultures the oldage is highly valued, while in some cultures youth is highlyvalued. Discuss and give youropinion.
考题和关键词解析:本考题属于典型的社会类。以前类似考题曾考过“老年人与年轻人之间的不同”和“Everygeneration of people is different in importantways”.而本考题在考查范围上有所定位, 用了“valued”这个词。此题属于“Discuss类”, 有两个方面,在论证时需要运用对称式写法。
全篇段落提纲:
开头段: (铺垫背景,引出话题)
在不同的社会和文化背景下（under diverse social andcultural circumstances）, 公众对老年人和年轻人的重视度有所不同（people from dissimilarbackgrounds may have divergent attitudes towards the same issuewith respect to the value of the old and youthrespectively.）必须承认，双方都各有价值和优点。（Admittedly,there are meritsconcerning both sides.）
主体第一段: (a.指明老年人的价值和优势＆b.重视老年人的原因或目的)
a.
饱经风霜（Having experienced and endured all thehardships of life）；
富有经验，知识广博（sufficiently experienced and wellknowledged）
怀旧,懂得珍惜,容易满足,更能吃苦耐劳,更加理智（reminiscent-inclined, moresensible to cherish, easily contented, bear hard work, morereasonable）
有丰富的人生观和价值观（abundant philosophy , socialvalues and outlook on life）; 社会责任感强（strong sense of socialresponsibility）
b.
充分开发老年资源（Well explore the resources of theold），提高老年人生命和生活质量，构建和谐社会，促进人口老龄化与经济、社会协调发展，实现社会可持续发展。实行积极的老龄化对策：健康、参与和保障。(enhancethe life expectancy and standard to construct a harmonious societywhich promotes the coordinate growth of economy and sustainabledevelopment as well,with the implement of positive countermeasureinvolving health, participation and ensurance.)
主体第二段: (a. 指明年轻人的价值和优势＆ b.重视年轻人的原因或目的)
a.
有活力的,精力充沛,可塑性强（dynamic，energetic，moldable）
富于创新、勇于挑战（innovative，challengeable）
善于学习和接受新事物、新想法（be adept in learning andadopting up-to-date objects and notions.）
独立性强，有幽默感和灵活性，有上进心，(independent, with senseof humor,flexible,striving)
接受了更好的教育，有竞争意识和合作意识，( better cultivated,with competitive and cooperative spirit)
熟知科技知识，善于沟通交流（well-informed of advancedtechnology, skillful in communication）
b.
给社会发展注入新的动力和提供更广阔的空间（novel motive power forsocial advancement with a wider range）
创造出更多的挑战和机遇（create more challenges andopportunities）
鼓励年轻人致力于奉献社会，实现人生目标和社会价值（encourage youth todevote themselves to society for the sake of achieving life goaland social value）
结尾段：折中的写法（重申老年人和年轻人各有不同价值，都应受同等的重视）
各自有不能比拟的优点和不可取代的价值，不应偏颇对待
On account of the incomparable advantagesand irreplaceable value possessed by the old and youthrespectively, special importance deserves to be attached to bothaccordingly to an identical extent rather thanprejudiced.
In some countries people have a highopinion aboutsenior citizens and create goodconditions for them to lead a happy life. In someothercountries the government focuses on thedevelopment of young people, who are considered to be more valuablethan any other age groups.
（Avril总结整理，转载敬请注明http://blog.sina.com.cn/avrildaisy）
In some countries, elderly citizens enjoywell-established social welfare system. They can receive highpensionafter retirement, as the governmentallocates ahigh proportion of budget tosupportold people. When they get sick, they donot have to worry about the medical cost, as the medical service isfree of charge. There are a variety of choices for them to spendtheir late years. They can choose to live in old folks homes iftheir adult children are too busy to take care of them. Some ofthem play an active role in participatinginvoluntary activities in communities.
On the other hand, in some cultures, thewhole society gives priority to the education and development ofyoung people andtheir oldagedconterpartsmay be neglectedto some extent. Young people are bound to become the main force inthe political, economic and culture areas in the future. It isbelieved that money spent on young people will be more rewardingthan that on old people. In some countries, the tuition is coveredby the government, whild the facilities supporting old populationare quite limited.
In my opinion, there is no denying thatyoung people deserve the attention of the whole society, as theirdevelopment determines the long-term prosperity of a country.However, we should also give special care and support to oldpeople, whose well-being also represents the civilization of thecountry.
（Avril总结整理，转载敬请注明http://blog.sina.com.cn/avrildaisy）
