(1)This month Singapore passed a bill that would give legal teeth to the moral obligation to support one's parents. Called the Maintenance of Parents Bill, it received the backing of the Singapore Government. (2)That does not mean it hasn't generated discussion. Several members of the Parliament opposed the measure as un-Asian. Others who acknowledged the problem of the elderly poor believed it a disproportionate response. Still others believe it will subvert relations within the family; cynics dubbed it the "Sue Your Son" law. (3)Those who say that the bill does not promote filial responsibility, of course, are right. It has nothing to do with filial responsibility. It kicks in where filial responsibility fails. The law cannot legislate filial responsibility any more than it can legislate love. All the law can do is to provide a safety net where this morality proves insufficient. Singapore needs this bill not to replace morality, but to provide incentives to shore it up. (4)Like many other developed nations, Singapore faces the problems of an increasing proportion of people over 60 years of age. Demography is inexorable. In 1980, 7.2% of the population was in this bracket. By the turn of the century, that figure will grow to 11%. By 2030, the proportion is projected to be 26%. The problem is not old age per se. It is that the ratio of economically active people to economically inactive people will decline. (5)But no amount of government exhortation or paternalism will completely eliminate the problem of old people who have insufficient means to make ends meet Some people will fall through the holes in any safety net (6)Traditionally, a person's insurance against poverty in his old age was his family. This is not a revolutionary concept. Nor is it uniquely Asian. Care and support for one's parents is a universal value shared by all civilized societies. (7)The problem in Singapore is that the moral obligation to look after one's parents is unenforceable. A father can be compelled by law to maintain his children. A husband can be forced to support his wife. But, until now, a son or daughter had no legal obligation to support his or her parents. (8)In 1989, an Advisory Council was set up to look into the problems of the aged. Its report stated with a tinge of complacency that 95% of those who did not have their own income were receiving cash contributions from relations. But what about the 5% who aren't getting relatives' support? They have several options:(a)get a job and work until they die;(b)apply for public assistance(you have to be destitute to apply); or(c)starve quietly. None of these options is socially acceptable. And what if this 5% figure grows, as it is likely to do, as society ages? (9)The Maintenance of Parents Bill was put forth to encourage the traditional virtues that have so far kept Asian nations from some of the breakdowns encountered in other affluent societies. This legislation will allow a person to apply to the court for maintenance from any or all of his children. The court would have the discretion to refuse to make an order if it is unjust. (10)Those who deride the proposal for opening up the courts to family lawsuits miss the point Only in extreme cases would any parent take his child to court If it does indeed become law, the bill's effect would be far more subtle. (11)First, it will reaffirm the notion that it is each individual's—not society's—responsibility to look after his parents. Singapore is still conservative enough that most people will not object to this idea. It reinforces the traditional values and it doesn't hurt a society now and then to remind itself of its core values. (12)Second, and more important, it will make those who are inclined to shirk their responsibilities think twice. Until now, if a person asked family elders, clergymen or the Ministry of Community Development to help get financial support from his children, the most they could do was to mediate. But mediators have no teeth, and a child could simply ignore their pleas. (13)But to be sued by one's parents would be a massive loss of face. It would be a public disgrace. Few people would be so thick-skinned as to say, "Sue and be damned". The hand of the conciliator would be immeasurably strengthened. It is far more likely that some sort of amicable settlement would be reached if the recalcitrant son or daughter knows that the alternative is a public trial. (14)It would be nice to think that Singapore doesn't need this kind of law. But that belief ignores the clear demographic trends and the effect of affluence itself on traditional bonds. Those of us who pushed for the bill will consider ourselves most successful if it acts as an incentive not to have it invoked in the first place.

Over the past two decades, the popularity of the bicycle as a mean of transportation and recreation has increased tremendously in the United States.

我小的时候在幼儿园表演藏族舞蹈，每个小姑娘都要扎一条花围裙，那是藏族女装最显著的标志，我们都喜欢得不得了。可那么多的小朋友，到哪里去找真正的藏族小围裙呢?幼儿园的阿姨很会想办法，买来自毛巾，贴上彩色蜡光纸的窄条，一条五光十色的藏族小围裙就做好了。 我把这条毛巾和纸做的围裙扎在腰间，对着落地的穿衣镜一照，哈!美丽极了。雪山上的仙女就是这个样子啊!

LanguageDespite the fact that many definitions of language have been proposed, succinct definitions of language usually bring various questions. To understand the notion of language better, there are several aspects that should be taken into consideration.I. Vocal communication in childhood Composition of the system of vocal communication Functions of the system of vocal communication:A.【T1】_____【T1】______B. Express feelings and emotionsC. Influence the activities of othersD.【T2】_____ oneself with friendliness or hostility【T2】______II. Different systems of vocal communication constitute different languages Hard to define the【T3】_____ between languages【T3】______ Different languages- people do not understand each otherwithout【T4】_____ by both parties【T4】______ 【T5】_____【T5】______- different systems of communication that may impede but do not prevent mutual comprehension Idiolect- the【T6】_____ of a single person【T6】______III. Acquisition of languages 【T7】_____: spoken by one's parents or by those【T7】______with whom they are brought up from infancy Second Language: learned to different degrees of competence under various conditions Bilingualism: Completely【T8】_____ two languages【T8】______A. Raised by parents speaking different languages at homeB. Raised within【T9】_____【T9】______IV. Language is species-specific to human beings Animals communicate through【T10】_____ or else【T10】______ Human language is infinitely【T11】_____ and creative【T11】______V.【T12】_____ of language【T12】______ Facilitate communication Express a national or local【T13】_____【T13】______ 【T14】_____ function of language: puns, riddles, and crossword puzzles【T14】______ Functions in imaginative or symbolic contexts: poetry, drama, and religionVI. Language and its relation to society Language is a working system of communicationin a certain【T15】_____【T15】______ The product of history and source of its future development

China has the fastest-ageing population in human history but the state provides very little support for elderly people. Ageing parents have traditionally been looked after by their children—but in today’s China that is not always the case. The following news report gives details of this issue. Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the news report; 2. give your comment. "Who will take care of my aging parents?" Millions of people ponder that question regularly in China, a country with a demographic crisis that its leaders are only starting to confront. According to United Nations figures, nearly 200 million Chinese are now over age 60. Roughly half are "empty nest" parents living alone in rural areas. In the next 15 years, nearly one in four Chinese—more than 320 million people—will be 60 and older, including tens of millions of disabled seniors. In the past, Chinese elders could be assured that, when they were frail and no longer able to work, their children would look after them. But because of the government's one-child policy and the migration of young people to urban jobs, China's traditional system of elder care has been shredded. "The old people in their own homes are often not getting checks from their own children," said Timothy Beardson, author of "Stumbling Giant," a book that examines China's looming challenges, including its demographics. "It is not a happy picture. It is a very gloomy picture." China's government seems well aware that in a nation that is increasingly silver-haired and vulnerable, elder neglect is an ugly side effect of the nation's economic miracle. Three years ago, the government even felt compelled to pass a controversial law, Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People, that spelled out the obligations of young offspring. Yet unlike most industrialized countries, China doesn't have an insurance safety net like Medicare to provide medical treatment for seniors. Nor does it have anywhere near enough nursing home beds to ensure care for the seriously infirm. Recently, a Chinese state media reported that there could be a 100-year wait to get into Beijing's top-ranked nursing home, as some 10,000 applicants were waiting for 1,100 available beds. The nation currently has about 4 million nursing home spots. There are roughly 30 million Chinese age 80 or older. "There are a lot of smart people in the government," said Beardson. "But are they going to be able to respond effectively to the challenges China is facing? I am not sure." A graying population is just one of the bumps China's encountered as it speeds through the 21st century. As Beardson notes in "Stumbling Giant," the percentage of young people in China is shrinking, and with it, the work force that has powered the Chinese economy in recent decades. And while the government has recently loosened its one-child policy, surveys suggest that young urban families—facing high rents and concerns about college costs—have little interest in rearing more than one or two children. All that poses questions for China's leaders: Can they keep the nation's economic engine running without a large pool of low-paid workers? And how will it pay for health care and living costs of hundreds of millions of people who will enter their golden years in the decades ahead?

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For a long time, punishing kids who are not performing well academically has been one of the most hotly-debated topics. Should schools be allowed to punish students with bad grades? The following are opinions from different sides. Read the excerpts carefully and write your response in about 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the different opinions; 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.MisterPanda What does it teach the students when you punish them with corporal punishment? It teaches them that the use of force is always right. I'm all for punishment as long as it is smart punishment ( extra lessons, community service, etc. ) and only if the children are not behaving properly. You can't punish a kid for failing an exam. If he didn't study, it means the parents didn't do their job, so parents should be punished. If he studied but failed, then it means the teacher didn't get through, so the teacher should reflect on how to get through to this child.Ratfink Punishing a child for bad grades achieves nothing. Those who have studied education know that school education is a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching; it does not allow for students who do not learn by the methods employed. It's a well-known and documented fact that there are a number of learning models and almost everyone falls into one or more categories based loosely on four main groups, eg: audible (spoken word) , tactile (hands on) , visual (seeing it done) and written (reading about it). Some children, however, will never achieve good grades; this can be due to many reasons including lack of intelligence, motivation, missing out on essential core knowledge when younger or lack of self-worth and many other reasons. So rather than punish students with poor grades it would be better to try to find out why they perform badly at school and then devise ( where possible) a working remedial solution.nl20051405 Punishment is necessary to students' performance at school. For any student at school to study well and get some definite judgments from their teachers and parents is the first step to enter the real society. Some punishment or rewards may be very necessary for the students to reach their aims at school. Competitions cannot be avoided out of campus although the bad grades just show the past experience. A good school may influence a student's whole life, especially for those eager to get advanced education. Chinese usually think nothing is as important as studying. The parents and the students themselves must have more and more specific requirements for the schools they pay for a satisfying result.foreignchinese I remembered those schooldays. The headmaster would personally distribute report cards of pupils. He handed out our report cards accompanied by his magic weapon, a cane. For each subject that we failed, we got a stroke of his stinging cane. This punishment was done in full public view. Of course we feared him as a tyrant and hated him then. Now 30 years later, things have changed. We organized dinner and events to honor this headmaster and even started off charity funds. His old pupils hug him and thanked him for his strict discipline that guided us through our tender years. It was through his strict guidance that the school has produced pupils who triumphed to become doctors, architects, engineers, accountants and lawyers. Write your response on ANSWER SHEET FOUR.

Passage Three

The Oriental plaza, which is used for ice-skating in winter and dining and dancing in summer, is one of Beijing's most popular attraction.

(1) A period of climate change about 130,000 years ago would have made water travel easier by lowering sea levels and creating navigable lakes and rivers in the Arabian Peninsula, the study says. Such a shift would have offered early modern humans—which arose in Africa about 200,000 years ago—a new route through the formerly scorching northern deserts into the Middle East. The new paper was spurred by the discovery of several 120,000-year-old tools at a desert archaeological site in the United Arab Emirates. The presence of the tools—whose design is uniquely African, experts say—so early in the region suggests early humans marched out of Africa into the Arabian Peninsula directly from the Horn of Africa, roughly present-day Somalia. Previously, scientists had thought humans first left via the Nile Valley or the Far East. (2) "Up till now we thought of cultural developments leading to the opportunity of people to move out of Africa," said study co-author Hans-Peter Uerpmann, a retired archaeobiologist at the University of Tubingen in Germany. "Now we see, I think, that it was the environment that was the key to this," Uerpmann said during a press briefing Wednesday. (3) The discovery "leaves a lot of possibilities for human migrations, and keeping this in mind, might change our view completely." During the past few years, a series of tools were discovered at the Jebel Faya site in the U.A.E., some of which—such as hand axes—had a two-sided appearance previously seen only in early Africa. (4) Scientists used luminescence dating to determine the age of sand grains buried with the stone tools. This technique measures naturally occurring radiation stored in the sand. For the climatic data, scientists studied the climate records of ancient lakes and rivers in cave stalagmites, as well as changes in the level of the Red Sea. This warmer period 130,000 years or so ago caused more rainfall on the Arabian Peninsula, turning it into a series of lush rivers that humans might have boated or rafted. (5) During this period the southern Red Sea's levels dropped, offering a "brief window of time" for humans to easily cross the sea—which was then as little as 2.5 miles wide, according to Adrian Parker, a physical geographer from Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom. (6) Once humans entered the peninsula, they dispersed and likely reached the Jebel Faya site by about 125,000 years ago, according to the study, published in the journal Science. (7) Geneticist Spencer Wells called the discovery a "very interesting find," especially because the Arabian Peninsula is becoming a hot spot for archaeological finds—particularly underwater, since the Persian Gulf was a fertile river delta during early human migrations. But he noted that the study doesn't "rewrite the book on what we know about human migratory history." That's because tools dating to the same period have already been found in Israel, so it's "consistent with what we suspected" about an earlier wave of migration into the Middle East, said Wells, director of the National Geographic Society's Geographic Project. Wells also noted there's no evidence yet that the migrants in the new paper were our ancestors—the group, and their genes, may have died out long ago. (8) Bence Viola, of the Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, agreed the finding was interesting but not that surprising, also citing the evidence of humans in Israel about 120,000 years ago. Viola, who wasn't involved in the study, added that the migration route proposed in the paper makes sense on another level—the Arabian Peninsula would have been something early humans were used to. "If you look even today, the environment in the Horn of Africa, in Somalia or northern Ethiopia, is similar to what you see in Oman or Yemen—not like the big desert," Viola noted. "It's not like they needed to adapt to a completely different environment—it's an environment that they knew." (9) Why they made the trek is another question, since they wouldn't have been hurting for food or resources in their African homeland, Viola noted. "Curiosity," he said, "is a pretty human desire."

手机反映出我们的“社交饥渴症”。最为常见的是，一个人走着走着突然停下来，眼睛盯着手机屏幕发短信。他不在乎停在马路中央还是厕所旁边。

他们终于弄清了这件事的来龙去脉。

冬天，一个冰寒的晚上。在寂寞的马路旁边，疏枝交横的树下，候着最后一辆搭客汽车的，只我一人。虽然不远的墙边，也蹲有一团黑影，但他却是伸手讨钱的。马路两旁，远远近近都立着灯窗明灿的别墅，向暗蓝的天空静静地微笑着。在马路上是冷冰冰的，还刮着一阵阵猛厉的风。留在枝头的一两片枯叶，也不时发出破碎的哭声。 那蹲着的黑影，接了我的一枚铜板，就高兴地站起来向我搭话，一面抱怨着天气：“真冷呀，再没有比这里更冷了!……先生，你说是不是？”

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.

A Short History of the Origins and Development of EnglishI. Origins— dated back to【T1】 1 of three Germanic tribes:【T1】 2the Angles,【T2】 3 and the Jutes.【T2】 4II. Development of EnglishA. Old English1. much more highly inflected【T3】 5 than Middle English【T3】 62. consists of most【T4】 7 words and some borrowed ones【T4】 8B. Middle English1. French words were【T5】 9 the vocabulary【T5】 102. much change on grammar and【T6】 11【T6】 12C. Early Modern English1. elimination of a vowel sound in certain【T7】 13positions【T7】 142. the Great Vowel Shift3. invention of printing:1)common language appearing【T8】 15【T8】 162)bringing【T9】 17 to English【T9】 184. a period of English Renaissance: borrowing words from French ,Latin, GreekD. Late Modern Englishtwo principal factors【T10】 19 more words:【T10】 201. the Industrial Revolution and technology2.【T11】 21 foreign words from many countries【T11】 22III. Main influencing factors on the varieties of EnglishA. the English【T12】 23 of North America【T12】 24example: trash for rubbish:【T13】 25 for lend etc.【T13】 26B.【T14】 27 words like canyon, ranch, stampede etc.【T14】 28C. French wordsD.【T15】 29 words【T15】 30 A Short History of the Origins and Development of EnglishI. Origins— dated back to【T1】 31 of three Germanic tribes:【T1】 32the Angles,【T2】 33 and the Jutes.【T2】 34II. Development of EnglishA. Old English1. much more highly inflected【T3】 35 than Middle English【T3】 362. consists of most【T4】 37 words and some borrowed ones【T4】 38B. Middle English1. French words were【T5】 39 the vocabulary【T5】 402. much change on grammar and【T6】 41【T6】 42C. Early Modern English1. elimination of a vowel sound in certain【T7】 43positions【T7】 442. the Great Vowel Shift3. invention of printing:1)common language appearing【T8】 45【T8】 462)bringing【T9】 47 to English【T9】 484. a period of English Renaissance: borrowing words from French ,Latin, GreekD. Late Modern Englishtwo principal factors【T10】 49 more words:【T10】 501. the Industrial Revolution and technology2.【T11】 51 foreign words from many countries【T11】 52III. Main influencing factors on the varieties of EnglishA. the English【T12】 53 of North America【T12】 54example: trash for rubbish:【T13】 55 for lend etc.【T13】 56B.【T14】 57 words like canyon, ranch, stampede etc.【T14】 58C. French wordsD.【T15】 59 words【T15】 60

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the final cuts to an already pain-peppered California budget in July, one of the most shocking indications of how dire things had become was the decision to close more than a third of the state's parks. Fort Ross State Historic Park, 80 miles north of San Francisco, is among those that would have been closed. It was founded in 1812 as thesouthernmost Russian settlement in North America. Demonstrators outside the State Capitol in Sacramento last summer hung photos to share memories of their park visits. On Friday, though, Mr. Schwarzenegger's office said sufficient alternative savings had been found within the California Department of Parks and Recreation to avoid any closings at all, at least in this fiscal year. The savings, which the department had been unable to identify during months of budget wrangling, were suddenly realized with the help of Schwarzenegger administration finance experts looking over the shoulders of parks officials. In the two months since the July announcement, Mr. Schwarzenegger's threat to close 100 parks had landed in a budget soft spot created by bipartisan outrage among lawmakers, their constituents and lobbyists, and by a growing sense in the administration that closing parks would do little to burnish the governor's reputation as a public figure committed to the environment. Though few will rue the preservation of the park system, the 11th-inning save does underscore how even in the worst fiscal conditions, the threat of vast cuts is sometimes false, fueling skepticism among lawmakers and voters about ominous budget pronouncements and the ballot measures that often ensue to address them. "The budget process is so complicated and confusing to people to begin with, and there is so much distrust in government, that when people hear about changes in spending cuts, they are left questioning whether or not real revenues are really needed," said Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan research group based in San Francisco. A plan to cut $175 million from a health insurance program was also recently reversed, but that program was spared by bipartisan legislation that replaced one tax for another and used federal stimulus money to fill the gaps. The parks department situation is different, because it is essentially a re-do. The department's budget for the current fiscal year, which began July 1, was dealt a reduction of 10 percent, or $14.2 million. As a result, the state said in July, 100 of California's 279 parks were to close at least temporarily unless donations or private partnerships materialized. But in the last week, amid a growing outcry and a leaked parks department memorandum suggesting that closing state parks could result in breach-of-contract lawsuits by the parks' vendors, the administration began to back away. The backpedaling was apparently made complete with Friday's announcement by the governor's office, which said the savings would instead be realized with steps like cutting back on maintenance, delaying the purchase of equipment and reducing days of operation in some parks, hours of operation in others. The announcement described these savings as one-time, suggesting that the cost of running the parks would have to be addressed again in the budget for the next fiscal year. Roy Steams, a spokesman for the parks department, said the earlier budget negotiations, which lasted months, had perhaps not offered sufficient time to find the cuts that will now come to pass. Others attributed the impetus to political pressure from parks advocates and from lawmakers representing districts where businesses profit from the parks' presence. Mindful that Friday's rescue would nonetheless mean reduced hours for the parks, among other steps, Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation, said: "They still have a $14.2 million budget cut. The governor found a clever way to find some political cover on this issue, but it's not clear that the plan won't actually leave Californians with just as limited an access to their state parks as if they were fully closed. " The foundation and other conservation groups hope to place a measure on the November 2010 ballot that would increase vehicle license fees by $15 a year to finance the parks, a move that would double their budget and free it from the state's general fund. In exchange, California drivers would get free admission to all state parks. The governor rejected a similar measure proposed by lawmakers during the legislative session.

More and more people live in towns and cities instead on farms and in villages.

The academic curriculum has never been all that schools and colleges offer to their students. Often a range of other classes, clubs and activities is available to students, referred to as extra-curricular activities and they are mostly voluntary for students. Examples would include sports, musical activities, debate, community service, Young Enterprise projects etc. Whether the extra-curriculum should be attached great importance in schools and colleges? The following are opinions from different sides. Read the excerpts carefully and write your response in about 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the different opinions; 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. Lahowl: Students have the right to be able to choose a broad education. Every child and young person are entitled to experience a broad general education. Even if a student does not aim to be a professional musician they should still have the opportunity to learn an instrument. A career is not the only, or the most important, part of an adult's life—school needs to make sure they have interests and skills that will help them in their family and leisure life too. Megan: Extra-curricular activities are prohibitively expensive for schools. Giving a greater place in education to the extra-curriculum means that many more clubs and activities will have to be organised for students. This will be very expensive as it will require more staff and more resources to be paid for. This explains why most schools that currently offer a large extra-curriculum are well-funded fee-paying institutions. NimmO: Extra-curricular activities have important health benefits. Most extra-curricular activities are physically active, getting the students out from behind their desks and making them try new things. Physical activity is extremely important for general health whilst ensuring that students are exposed to practical tasks, not just what is taught in class. Sport clubs and teams give students the opportunity to do physical exercise in an enjoyable environment. TVO: Making extra-curricular activities compulsory makes them less attractive to students. It will take the fun out of it and strip it of its benefits. In the end, the key is fun. Successful extra-curricular groups work precisely because the students have voluntarily chosen to be there. If some were forced to take part, they would be less enthusiastic and spoil the activity for the rest. And the more the activity is like ordinary school, the less attractive it will be to young people. Most of the personal development benefits associated with extra-curricular commitments—such as altruistic service, initiative-taking, and leadership skills—come from the voluntary nature of the activity. Estelle: Extra-curricular activities encourage interpersonal interactions that are good for building a strong civil society. Boosting the place of the extra-curriculum in schools is one way of addressing a weakness in modern society, a lack of civil strength and community. Activities offered in schools are vital in providing opportunities to learn the diverse skills, and helping to equip young people with the civic spirit, initiative and organizing skills to set up their own clubs, teams and activity groups when they leave education. A successful extra-curriculum often depends on building links between the school and the wider community, bringing local enthusiasts in to work with students, and sending students out to work on community projects. Nicola: Students should focus on gaining the specialist skills they need for their chosen professions. Most specialist professions still provide a range of career opportunities, without any need to compromise academic education by over-emphasis on non-academic activities. There are concerns that schools do not focus enough on core subjects. School-leavers and even graduates lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, according to a survey of big employers. Write your response on ANSWER SHEET FOUR.