What are the effects of living longer on individuals and the society?
Population ageing has emerged as a global phenomenon in the wake of the now virtually universal decline in fertility and increases in life expectancy. Many countries are confronted with new demographic realities that spread from the cities to the villages. In my opinion, more problems than benefits will surface with this trend.
Admittedly, older people often have time to offer for the benefit of family and the community. Nowadays, the young tend to rely on the older generation for household chores. It is also reported that time devoted to voluntary work and care is at its height within the age groups over 55. Such devotion adds greatly to the community well-being, if not to the GDP.
Population ageing, however, brings about serious economic and social problems. When the number of workers decreases, the national income goes down. At the same time, as a person's use of health services increases significantly in the later years of their life, an ageing population causes a relative rise in the public resources required for pensions, health and residential care outlays. Moreover, with an ageing population, the problems associated with the “sandwich generation”, people who have both children and parents to look after, have gained increasing prominence. Members of this “in-between” generation are often torn between the needs of raising children, caring for ageing parents and job responsibilities.
To sum up, population ageing is an inevitable prospect, the negative effects of which outweigh the positive. As ageing is a normal part of lifecycle for human beings, we must recognize its challenges to our life and society, and work on effective strategies to minimize its adverse influences.
專家點(diǎn)評(píng)：
本次考題和2006年3月的一個(gè)考老齡化的題目（In many countries, the proportion of older people is steadily increasing. Does this trend have more positive or negative effects on the society?）類似，本次的考題為討論壽命增長(zhǎng)對(duì)個(gè)人和社會(huì)的影響。這道考題因?yàn)楹蜕鐣?huì)現(xiàn)實(shí)比較貼近，又是生活類文章，因此難度較小。在寫作的時(shí)候，考生需要注意以下三個(gè)問題：
1. 雖然出題的形式為報(bào)告的形式，但事實(shí)上寫作可以從人的壽命增長(zhǎng)的優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)，也就是正面影響和負(fù)面影響來進(jìn)行討論。
2. 討論的時(shí)候要注意，文章已經(jīng)給出了兩個(gè)論證角度，一個(gè)是對(duì)個(gè)人的，一個(gè)是對(duì)社會(huì)的，這兩點(diǎn)都要寫到。
3. 在寫作的時(shí)候多用實(shí)例，例子可以參考范文。
本次所選的范文為上海交通大學(xué)出版社出版的《最新雅思高分范文·第四版》中收錄的2006年3月議論老齡化優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)的文章，雖然和本次考試的論證角度稍有不同，但是對(duì)于考生來說，本文將會(huì)非常有借鑒意義。
Population ageing has emerged as a global phenomenon in the wake of the now virtually universal decline in fertility and increases in life expectancy. Many countries are confronted with new demographic realities that spread from the cities to the villages. In my opinion, more problems than benefits will surface with this trend.
Admittedly, older people often have time to offer for the benefit of family and the community. Nowadays, the young tend to rely on the older generation for household chores. It is also reported that time devoted to voluntary work and care is at its height within the age groups over 55. Such devotion adds greatly to the community well-being, if not to the GDP.
Population ageing, however, brings about serious economic and social problems. When the number of workers decreases, the national income goes down. At the same time, as a person's use of health services increases significantly in the later years of their life, an ageing population causes a relative rise in the public resources required for pensions, health and residential care outlays. Moreover, with an ageing population, the problems associated with the “sandwich generation”, people who have both children and parents to look after, have gained increasing prominence. Members of this “in-between” generation are often torn between the needs of raising children, caring for ageing parents and job responsibilities.
To sum up, population ageing is an inevitable prospect, the negative effects of which outweigh the positive. As ageing is a normal part of lifecycle for human beings, we must recognize its challenges to our life and society, and work on effective strategies to minimize its adverse influences.
專家點(diǎn)評(píng)：
本次考題和2006年3月的一個(gè)考老齡化的題目（In many countries, the proportion of older people is steadily increasing. Does this trend have more positive or negative effects on the society?）類似，本次的考題為討論壽命增長(zhǎng)對(duì)個(gè)人和社會(huì)的影響。這道考題因?yàn)楹蜕鐣?huì)現(xiàn)實(shí)比較貼近，又是生活類文章，因此難度較小。在寫作的時(shí)候，考生需要注意以下三個(gè)問題：
1. 雖然出題的形式為報(bào)告的形式，但事實(shí)上寫作可以從人的壽命增長(zhǎng)的優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)，也就是正面影響和負(fù)面影響來進(jìn)行討論。
2. 討論的時(shí)候要注意，文章已經(jīng)給出了兩個(gè)論證角度，一個(gè)是對(duì)個(gè)人的，一個(gè)是對(duì)社會(huì)的，這兩點(diǎn)都要寫到。
3. 在寫作的時(shí)候多用實(shí)例，例子可以參考范文。
本次所選的范文為上海交通大學(xué)出版社出版的《最新雅思高分范文·第四版》中收錄的2006年3月議論老齡化優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)的文章，雖然和本次考試的論證角度稍有不同，但是對(duì)于考生來說，本文將會(huì)非常有借鑒意義。