Over the past generation, about 270m Chinese labourers have left their v

游客2024-11-06  1

问题         Over the past generation, about 270m Chinese labourers have left their villages to look for work in cities. Many of those workers have children; most do not take them along. We call these youngsters liushou ertong, or "left-behind children". It is not hard to imagine that the damage will be felt not just by the left-behind themselves but by society as a whole. The following article analyzes the problem in details.
        Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize briefly the news report;
        2. give your comment
        An estimated 61 million children are "left behind" by their migrant parents.
        Being left behind damages children in many ways. A non-governmental organisation, Growing Home, surveyed them this year and found that they were more introverted than their peers and more vulnerable to being bullied; they also had "significantly higher states of anxiety and depression" than their peers.
        Being brought up by grandparents is a common experience worldwide, and by no means necessarily harmful. But China’s rapid development does make it more of a problem now than it was in the past. Unlike their parents, the left-behind children’s grandparents are often illiterate; their schooling can suffer accordingly.
        Lastly, left-behind children are vulnerable to sexual and other abuse. Child abuse is distressingly common anyway. An analysis of 47 studies in Chinese and English this year estimated that over a quarter of Chinese children are physically abused at some point in their lives. The left behind are among the most vulnerable to such abuse, especially those in boarding schools, because any adults who might speak up for them are far away.
        Leaving such broader consequences aside, the decision to leave behind a child is a hard one. Why do so many migrants make it? According to a survey, two-thirds said they would not have enough time to look after them while working in the city; half said it was too expensive to bring up children there.
        In principle migrants might take along their grandparents rather than leaving behind their children. But the restrictions of the hukou system make that almost impossible. The hukou or household-registration document is a bit like an internal passport, giving people access to various services. When registered in the country, grandparents get a lower pension than urban dwellers—and the money is not enough for them to live in the city. The hukou system also exacerbates things by making it very hard for children registered in a rural area to get state schooling or health care in the city. Private schools that exploit the opportunity this presents are often crowded, substandard and constantly threatened with closure by city governments. On top of this vital school-leaving exams have to be sat where a child is registered. So even if children accompany their parents to the city, they are almost always sent back again at the age of 14 to prepare for the exam.
        Reform of the hukou system-already under way, in a piecemeal fashion-can address some of the problems of the left-behind and those who leave them. But given the underlying factors at work a full response will require China to build a child-welfare system almost from scratch.
        At its heart, the problem of the left-behind is one of misplaced hopes. like so many parents, China’s migrants are deferring pleasure now (that of raising their children) for the hope of a better life later (to be bought with the money they earn). One result has been the stunning growth of cities and the income they generate. Another has been a vast disruption of families-and the children left behind are bearing the burden of loss.

选项

答案                                                                 How to Solve the Problem of Left-Behind Children
        As China’s urbanization quickens its space, more and more rural couples head to the cities in search of work and leave their children behind. The report explores the current situation of the left-behind children in China and discusses the causes and negative consequences. Due to parental absence, these children are more vulnerable to psychological problems as well as challenges to their personal safely and well-being. The emergence of left-behind children is a natural result of the country’s household registration system which limits rural migrants’ access to public services in the cities, and makes it unaffordable for migrant parents to keep their children there. It is a pity that in the rush for economic growth, children are becoming victims, and there should be a solution to this social problem.
        It is urgent for the government to create an information system to track each and every one of these youngsters to ensure that safe custody is provided to all of them. A feasible way may be that rural officials set up files, visit them at home and make sure their parents talk to them regularly via phone or video chat. But these are short-term measures. The fundamental solution is creating more jobs in small towns during urbanization, which will enable migrant workers to find satisfactory jobs closer to home. Meanwhile, reforming the household registration system should not slacken. The government should try to lower the threshold for migrant workers to be registered as urban residents and create conditions to make them financially capable of taking their children along with them. Additionally, enterprises with migrant parents are encouraged to offer paid leave for employees to visit their children, and charity organizations can launch funds or programs to support such reunions.
        The success of battling the problem of left-behind children requires joint efforts of the whole society. Many reforms are needed and they will not bear fruit all at once. But let us not have any doubt about the direction towards which we are moving: for the well-being of the nation’s 61 million left-behind children.

解析         材料围绕中国留守儿童的现象展开分析。可分为三部分内容。
        前四段描述了留守对儿童造成的不良影响,和同龄人相比,他们的性格内向(introverted)、软弱(vulnerable to being bullied)以及焦虑悲观(anxiety and depression),学业成绩不佳(their schooling can suffer)。
        接下来的两段指出留守儿童出现的原因,家长在城市里没有足够的时间(not have enough time)照顾孩子以及城市的消费高(too expensive)。而且受到户籍制度的限制(the restrictions of the hukou system),农村老人的养老金不够维持他们在城里的生活,城里的公办学校及其医疗服务对农村孩子而言都很困难,而且孩子必须回到户籍所在地参加结业考试。
        最后两段总结全文,指出在这一现状下留守儿童是受害者(bearing the burden of loss)。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3833393.html
最新回复(0)