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  3. 　　It is generally accepted that people should visit their aged parents regularly

　　It is generally accepted that people should visit their aged parents regularly

游客2024-11-04  25
问题 　　It is generally accepted that people should visit their aged parents regularly if they live separately. But whether this requirement should be written into law has always been a controversial matter. And then not quite long ago, China issued a decree that requires children to pay regular visit to their parents. The following is an excerpt on this decree. Read it carefully and write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
　　1.  summarize briefly the excerpt, and then
　　2.  give your comment.
　　Not long ago, China issued a decree. According to the new legislation, parents have the legal right to request government mediation or even file a lawsuit against children who fail to regularly drop by for a visit or give them a phone call. The core intent of the law is "to protect the lawful rights and interests of parents aged 60 and older, and to carry on the Chinese virtue of filial piety."
　　Unsurprisingly, the law has strong voices speaking for and against. "It is a great policy and I am very happy to see the government release such a policy to encourage children to fulfill their obligations to their parents," said Huang Kesheng, a 20-year-old student at Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics.
　　However, Bei Zhong, a late-20s white collar professional from Chongqing who works and lives in Shanghai, sees it differently. "I do not think there should be a law that requires people to visit their parents," she told a paper. "It gives the impression to other countries that Chinese people need a law to tell them they should visit their elders. It’s quite embarrassing."
　　Perhaps the controversial — some say silly — law should come as no surprise. After all, China gave the world Confucius — perhaps the most family-oriented philosopher in human history. Given the nation’s Confucian foundations, the rift between its elderly and the post-1980s "me generation" has been especially felt when compared with similar changes that have taken place in other countries.
　　Alongside the generational divide and deterioration of old-fashioned values, a major driving force behind China’s Confucian fallout is urbanization, which often means moving far from home. This is especially true for young professionals like Zhong who are leaving the far flung corners of the country to congregate in economic hubs like Beijing or Shanghai. Simply put, this makes those filial visits both logistically difficult and often expensive.
　　"How often I visit my parents depends on my schedule," Zhong said. "Last year I spent two months with them. But so far this year, I haven’t even had the time to visit my parents yet. Flights are also very expensive." Zhong said that she, along with her friends, often resort to squeezing trips to their hometowns into the brief national holiday of Chinese New Year. It’s worth noting that any travel at this time is no leisurely trips for pleasure. During this time China sees the world’s largest human migration, with hundreds of millions of people crisscrossing the country and completely blocking its transportation networks.
　　While some will wage a war against these trends, it is highly unlikely that they will stop the forces as powerful as China’s urbanization and its growing generation gap. Thankfully for Chinese youth, some parents understand.
　　"My mom and dad would never dream of demanding for me to visit," Zhong said.  "They just want me to be happy."
选项
答案 　　                                             On Requiring Adult Children to Visit their Parents Regularly
　　It is reported that China has made a law that requires adult children to visit their aged parents regularly in order to make the elderly parents feel warm at heart and promote the traditional Chinese virtue of filial piety. With regard to such a decree, some applaud it, believing that it can better make children fulfill their obligations while some other people hold opposite opinion as they deem that it’s embarrassing that people should need a law to tell them to visit their elders. In my opinion, to formulate such a law is neither suitable nor effective.
　　In the first place, "filial piety" is a moral obligation which should not be enforced by law. Whether the adult children should be filial to the parents or not remains better be discussed in the moral dimension, not the legal one. To legislate morality is not a good method to solve the widespread "empty nest elderly" problem in China. We should encourage citizens to visit their aged parents as frequently as possible, but not through legal enforcement.
　　In the second place, law-makers should consider the reality that many adult children have little opportunity to visit their parents due to all-consuming jobs and few days off. To be filial to the parents is the traditional Chinese virtue which is still advocated and fulfilled by most Chinese people, especially the financially disadvantaged migrant workers, who are most willing to visit their parents frequently, but can’t afford the time and money. It is unwise and unreasonable to force the adult children to visit their parents regularly at the cost of losing their jobs, which will only lead to the deterioration of the lives of both the parents and their children.
　　Admittedly, the growing number of elderly people in China is really a big headache for the government. We should make efforts to find a good way to solve the problem. However, to formulate such a legal rule is not a good solution. Such enforced visits would be not only pointless but uncomfortable for both parties.
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