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  3. Recently, some teenage students "kowtowed," or knelt down, in front of t

Recently, some teenage students "kowtowed," or knelt down, in front of t

游客2023-11-25  11
问题         Recently, some teenage students "kowtowed," or knelt down, in front of their parents in a traditional ritual of worship in a primary school, which sparked a hot debate. The following are opinions on this issue.
        Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize briefly the arguments on both sides;
        2. give your comment.
Gao Fusheng from 16S.com
        Kneeling down in front of parents could easily have been read as being merely ceremonious in nature. However, its symbolic significance can’t be ignored. Asking teenage students to kneel down in front of their parents will probably not dramatically change their behavior or lead them to act in a more polite way in daily life. The ceremony at least granted them a rare opportunity to demonstrate love and gratitude to their parents formally.
        Primary and middle schools are critical stages for students’ growth in addition to the formation of their values. Solely imparting knowledge on the matter onto the young is not very effective, as they must be informed of how to apply these values in practice. Students need opportunities to show how truly grateful they are to their parents. The ceremony will provide better outcomes than were students never granted the opportunity.
        The lack of filial piety has long been a social grievance in modern times. Whenever there are similar events, people tend to be critical, instead of undertaking concrete measures to promote filial piety in their own way. There is no rigid etiquette for how filial piety should be conducted. The modern era has brought with it a number of innovative new ways of doing this. As for this practice, although it may have been old-fashioned, its intentions were good, and attempts of this nature should be encouraged. We need to show more tolerance toward the various ways in which schools promote filial piety and traditional culture on the whole.
Zhi Feng from cnhubei.com
        Kowtowing is a generic traditional ritual, not necessarily linked to filial piety per se. In order to clarify this issue, we need to trace the ritual back to its origin. In the feudal era, people inferior in terms of social status were supposed to kowtow to those who were superior, a ritual that highlighted differences in the social hierarchy. Often considered as a symbol of inequality, it is a rite we would perhaps be better off cutting ties with.
        Nowadays, the ritual of kowtowing is seldom seen except on very limited occasions such as funerals. Therefore, it’s vital for schools to first make clear what message this or that traditional ritual sends before they begin to organize activities designed to promote traditional culture.
Liu Xuesong from Beijing Times
        Plucking ancient rituals from history and applying them unchanged to the present-day educational setting seem a strange practice. After all, modern society is no longer familiar with these old rituals, many of which have been abandoned for more than a century.
        Chinese traditional culture stresses that filial piety trumps all other virtues. However, schools need to learn that the core of filial piety lies not in kneeling down in front of the parents or in showing absolute obedience, but in respect for one’s parents arising from the bottom of one’s heart. Moreover, in modern times, people are encouraged and expected to think independently and develop independent personalities. This obviously clashes with the traditional concept of filial piety.
选项
答案                                                                         To Kowtow or Not to Kowtow
        Kowtow, an ancient practice showing respect in China, has been recently put in midst of a heated debate for a ritual held by a primary school where young students kowtowed in front of their parents. To kowtow or not has sparked a hot debate among the public.
        Those who support the practice believe that it offers a rare opportunity in modern times for students to show filial piety to their parents and promotes traditional culture among students. However, this conduct suffered from serious attacks. Opponents believe that kowtow is an old-fashioned way showing absolute obedience in feudal society where exists a strict system of hierarchy. Psychological studies of children’s development, however, favor nurturing independent personality in children. Therefore, asking students to kowtow sends the wrong message and is not conducive for healthy parent-child relationship.
        I believe that the aim of promoting filial piety is well-intended but asking students to kowtow is probably not the most effective means to reach this aim. Firstly, kowtow, which only sends nominal message of respect or obedience, does not bring any actual good to the parents. There are numerous other ways that both develops filial piety and brings actual good. For example, the school can encourage students to do some housework for the family each week, or give their parents a foot massage in a hot tub. Secondly, it is not feasible to promote filial piety through kowtow nowadays. Students do not have many opportunities to kowtow so it is impossible to promote filial piety through the limited number of kowtows. Last but not least, kowtow does not promote a healthy parent-child relationship. An increasing number of people have realized the importance of independent personality and equal parent-child relationship. Kowtow, however, runs contrary to that.
        In conclusion, kowtow is well-intended but has limited effects in promoting filial piety, others means can be adopted.
解析         材料选取了三个人对“是否应该向父母磕头”的看法。第一个人表示支持这种做法，而后两个人则表示反对。
        支持者认为，磕头仪式给孩子提供了少有的机会（granted them a rare opportunity）以表孝心，中小学生正处于叛逆期（critical stages），只是简单地给他们灌输价值观（Solely imparting knowledge）并不见效，还需要给他们提供体现这些价值的实践机会（apply these values in practice），而磕头仪式就是其中一种实践方式。
        反对者则认为，磕头仪式传递的是强调社会等级（highlighted differences in the social hierarchy）的信息，是不平等的象征（a symbol of inequality），应予以剔除；孝顺不是在父母跟前屈膝磕头表示绝对服从（absolute obedience），而是尊重父母（in respect for one’s parents）。同时，磕头的做法与现代社会所弘扬的独立思考能力（think independently）和独立人格（independent personalities）相悖。
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