Part Ⅵ Writing (45 min)
Some time ago, China's Ministry of Education banned universitystudents from renting private accommodation during theirstudies. To this people’s attitudes differ sharply. What do youthink? Write an essay of about 400 words.
In the first part of your essay you should state clearly your main argument, and in the second partyou should support your argument with appropriate details. In the last part you should bring whatyou have written to a natural conclusion or make a summary.
You should supply an appropriate title for your essay.
Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness. Failure to follow theabove instructions may result in a loss of marks.
Treat Students as Adults, not Children
Some time ago, China's Ministry of Education banned university students from renting privateaccommodation during their studies. This has given rise to a heated discussion. Some people,especially school management and most parents, embrace such a ban, while others criticize itfiercely. Personally, I am against the ban.
First, most college students are adults and should enjoy the right to choose where to live. Inbanning off-campus housing, the education authorities seem to believe that college students, mostaged 18-22, should be treated as children, rather than adults. Some administrators claim thatstudents lack self-control and cannot make proper decisions for themselves. This is surely not fairtreatment for such a bright young generation. If these students didn't attend colleges, but workedin companies or joined the army, they would be treated as adults.
Secondly, private accommodation is indeed preferable to living on campus for many students. It istrue that living on campus promotes a sense of belonging by being closely connected with otherstudents. This could truly be a valuable part of the four-year college education. Students living oncampus also have easier access to vast school resources, such as libraries, computer rooms andvarious evening seminars. But crowded dormitories, high noise levels, early electricity curfews andother strict codes also make dorms less attractive. At least dorms are not the right home foreveryone. Off-campus housing, meanwhile, offers a greater degree of freedom. That is especiallytrue for self-motivated students, students studying late for important tests or working late onacademic projects. Many students living off-campus also share rooms. They have to negotiatecontracts, pay utilities and probably cook for themselves. All help prepare students to bettermanage their study and life. In fact this also conforms to most schools' creed that students shouldbe in touch with the real world as much as possible.
One of the motives for the housing ban is that education authorities hope this will help preventstudents from cohabitation and having sex during school years. But since students can now legallymarry in schools, why should they be banned from having sex? Reality tells us that this is wishfulthinking. Banning sex among students has been and will be a mission impossible. This is probablywhy some schools have installed condom vending machines on campus or provide free condomsin school clinics, which tells students to have safe sex, rather than no sex.
To sum up, we should treat students as adults instead of children. Though there might beproblems in allowing students to leave off campus, we should not give up eating for fear ofchoking, as the Chinese idiom says. In today's diversified world, schools should show respect tostudents in making their own choices. After all, schools are not military barracks and students arenot soldiers.