The education authorities in south China’s Guangdong Province have decided t

游客2024-11-08  5

问题     The education authorities in south China’s Guangdong Province have decided to introduce finance into the curriculum in primary and middle schools in Guangzhou. The finance course will cover basic financial knowledge, stock market investment and financial management. This decision has sparked discussions among the public. From the following excerpts, you can find two different opinions toward this policy.
    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 on whether it is suitable to set up finance course in primary and middle schools.
Excerpt 1
            Chen Fang from Xinmin Evening News
    When it comes to finance, people usually focus on investment and money making. Knowing how to spend one’s money is also a part of it. In China, most children are not familiar with financial concepts. During the Spring Festival, for example, how to best put their "lucky money," monetary gifts given to them by adults, to use is a popular topic of discussion, implying a need to begin financially educating young students. Such an idea is not alien to Western countries. The British, for instance, require schools to educate children in financial management at a young age, even requiring youngsters to complete compulsory courses on the topic. In China, college students’ daily expenses have gleaned discussion. Some students’ excess spending is shocking. Partly, this is because they have rich families, but this is also a reflection of their poor financial common sense. Nowadays, a lot of young people spend every penny of their monthly wages without depositing anything into savings. Isn’t this a result of their poor capacity for financial management? Educating students on the proper use of money and giving them some financial knowledge will help them make better use of their allowance and plan for their lives when they mature.
Excerpt 2
            Pi Haizhou from finance.21cn.com
    Primary and middle school students should be informed of basic financial knowledge, such as what money is, the function of money and how to properly use money. A correct understanding of money will help foster positive consumption concepts and habits. However, investment topics are too heavy for such young minds. Besides, they may not have an opportunity to practice. If children are sent to the bank to deposit money, their parents and bank staff may feel uneasy.
    It’s all right for students in middle schools to gain financial knowledge, but it’s too risky for them to go to the stock market. Also, it will squeeze their already limited study time. Their study will be seriously affected if they are distracted by financial issues.
    To become a rational investor, one must know how to make a basic analysis of the stock market and gain a sense of the macroeconomic situation, domestically and internationally. These are difficult topics—how can you expect middle school students to cope with the stock market? A stock market investor must be capable of independently bearing risks, as speculation in this market is a risky practice. There is no necessity to encourage young students to get involved in this speculative activity.

选项

答案             Financial Courses Benefit Young Students
    Average people may associate financial management with investment or the act of making profit, while missing out on the other aspect, that is, rational spending of money. As a matter of fact, these two aspects comprise the core of financial management. In an increasingly commercialized society, it is necessary, as some believe, to teach primary and middle school students financial knowledge, which is a common practice in some Western countries. However, others, admitting the benefit of basic financial knowledge, contend that investment is too serious and too risky a topic for young students who are already obsessed with their school curricula and who lack necessary knowledge of investment. Personally, I believe that offering financial courses to young students is basically beneficial, but precaution should be taken to minimize the downsides of providing such courses.
    Nowadays, children generally have more money at their disposal and conspicuous consumption, in this case mainly caused by peer pressure, is not rare among teenagers. It is not fanciful to believe that these teenagers are less likely to have a sensible consumption concept when they grow up. To foster the proper habit of consumption among young students, financial courses are essential. If financial courses are made available at elementary and secondary schools, then students will learn how to spend their money wisely. What’s more, in a society of rapid economic development, fundamental knowledge of investment, which better prepares students for their future development, is also a life skill. Examples abound that many wealthy people go broke all of a sudden. Therefore, helping children to establish a positive sense of financial management is advisable and recommendable.
    Overall, I hold that setting up such courses as basic financial management and stock exchange is helpful and beneficial to young students. However, the extent to which such courses are implemented should be controlled and supervised so as not to affect the students’ learning of their major curricula.

解析     材料讨论了“是否应在中小学开设理财课”的问题。两个选段的意见各不相同。
    选段一是赞同的观点。当前中国学生理财观念的淡薄(not familiar with financial concepts),理财能力的缺乏导致令人震惊的过度消费(excess spending),由此说明在中小学开设理财课的必要性。理财课能够帮助中小学生学会合理消费,为以后的生活做好规划。
    选段二则承认在中小学传授基本理财知(basic financial knowledge)是必要的,但对开设投资这类比较严肃的课程表示质疑。因为投资对中小学的学生是有难度的,让他们学习投资有两大弊端:一是他们还没有独立承担风险的能力(be capable of independently bearing risks);二是投资会占用他们有限的学习时间(squeeze their already limited study time)。该评论认为开设投资课程明显操之过急。
    开篇:概括材料,分别总结两个选段对在中小学开设理财课的意见,随后提出个人观点——给年轻学生提供理财课程总体来说是有益的,但要尽量降低这一做法的负面影响。
    主体:分两方面阐述在中小学培养学生的理财意识的益处。
    1.现在中小学的学生有更多的零花钱,因此培养其合理消费的意识有其必要性。
    2.在经济快速发展的社会,基础的投资知识可以为学生的未来发展做准备。
    结尾:重申观点,指出理财知识固然重要,但不应该影响学生学习主要课程。
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