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  3. A unique social phenomenon exists exclusively in China—chunyun, or Spring Fes

A unique social phenomenon exists exclusively in China—chunyun, or Spring Fes

游客2023-11-28  29
问题    A unique social phenomenon exists exclusively in China—chunyun, or Spring Festival Travel Rush. The following excerpt is about how a foreign reporter views this issue.  Read the excerpt carefully and write your response in NO LESS THAN 300 WORDS, in which you should:
   1.   summarize briefly the content of the excerpt;
   2.   give your comment.
   Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
   Write your article on ANSWER SHEET FOUR.
   Excerpt
                              Tootling Back to the Village
   The lunar new year holiday shows the strength of rural ties.
   It is often described as the world’s biggest recurring movement of people; a 40-day period spanning the lunar new year, during which astonishing numbers of people travel to join distant family members to celebrate the Spring Festival. Officials call this period chunyun, or spring transportation. The term evokes horror in the minds of many: trains are so jammed that the only place to sit is on lavatory floors. This year the projected number of journeys on public transport during chunyun, which will end on March 15th, is nearly 2.9 billion, a 10% increase over the comparable period a year ago. Yet there are reasons to be a little less gloomy about what this entails.
   The numbers suggest that despite rapid urbanization, the pull of the countryside remains strong. Many of the journeys involve mingong, or peasant workers, as the nearly 300m migrants from the countryside who work in urban areas are often snootily called. Their families are often divided. Children stay in the villages, because a fragmented social security system makes it difficult for migrants to enjoy subsidized education and health care in the cities. Many migrants think it a good idea that some relatives remain: the stay-behinds can help retain land-use rights which might come in handy for the migrants if urban work dries up. The authorities themselves are keen for migrants to keep this backstop.
   But migration patterns are changing.  Wang Kan of the China Institute of Industrial Relations says that, during chunyun, trips between provinces have been declining.  This is because migrants are often working closer to home, thanks to the relocation of some industries away from the coast to inland provinces where labour is cheaper. "We can see the emergence of more regional hubs," says Mr. Wang. No longer is the chunyun rush so concentrated in the biggest and wealthiest cities.
   Analyzing chunyun data is difficult. Liang Xiaohui of Renmin University of China says that companies have recently begun providing private long-distance coach transport for their workers.  These trips do not get counted in official statistics. Other workers, he says, get counted twice if they go by train to a regional hub and from there continue by bus to their hometowns. A single worker doing this in both directions would account for four chunyun journeys.
   The growth of an urban middle class further complicates the picture. Journeys made by holiday tourists, with no rural reunion in mind, are on the rise. Researchers had long felt it safe to assume that trips taken on pricey high-speed trains were made by such travellers. But according to Mr. Wang, migrant workers are increasingly opting for the speed and comfort of the more expensive trains. This, he says, suggests that the purchasing power of migrants is on the rise. Some are even heading back to their villages in newly bought cars (perhaps with paying passengers to offset some of the cost).
   One source of data on this year’s travel rush is Alibaba, an e-commerce firm which has analyzed the sale of train tickets through Alitrip, its online travel business. In a new trend this year, the company says, some families are migrating in reverse for their holiday reunions. Alibaba says there has been a "tremendous increase" in the number of elderly parents travelling from their rural homes to industrial centres, such as the southern city of Guangzhou, to spend the festival with their children. That implies that some migrants are now proud enough of their new urban homes to begin showing off.
选项
答案    Spring Festival Travel Rush
   The definitely unique occurrence in China, chunyun, or the Spring Festival Travel Rush can be ranked as the largest scale of annual human migration. Despite rapid urbanization, the allure of returning to the hometown for the Spring Festival, the tradition that has been cherished since ancient times, is stronger than anything else.
   The peasant workers contribute most to chunyun as they work in economically vibrant cities while leaving their families behind. Moreover, journeys made by holiday tourists are increasing. However, the relocation of some industries from coastal cities to inland provinces helps ease the flow. Furthermore, the elderly travel from the countryside to the cities to reunite with their children. This reverse route also helps slow down the frantic chunyun.
   In my opinion, fruit of urbanization though chunyun appears to be, it embodies the familial value we have been cherishing for centuries. In spite of the higher travel costs, the expected extravagant spending on gifts and other festival items and the bumpy road back home in terms of several pratfalls in securing a train ticket, most Chinese people choose to drop any business at hand just to desperately go back home in the hope of celebrating the most solemn festival with their families. The hubbub on the crowded and often suffocating coaches and trains can never quench their burning nostalgia for long-departed homes. Their pampering spending on their families mirrors a champion of love even though the money may well be earned painstakingly through travail over many furiously sleepless nights in sweatshops.
   In China whose social welfare epitomizes its fair coverage of every citizen, some systems such as hukou (household registration) and the soaring housing prices in cities have successfully prevented migrant workers from settling in their workplaces, thus resulting in this gushing rush. So a generously defined social welfare system might be a panacea for this swelling in travel, or chunyun is doomed a chronic fight-or-flight issue.
解析    本题探讨的是中国的春运这一独特现象，属于社会生活类话题。题目要求简要概括材料中提到的春运反映出来的问题，并发表自己的评论。在具体行文方面，考生可以开篇点题，简要概括材料中关于春运的描述；然后分析春运现象背后的原因以及春运体现出的中国人的品质；最后总结全文，重述论点或者升华主题。
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