Topic 1: Does increasing travels between countries enable people to learn different cultures or to

Topic 109: Schools should teach children the academic subjects which have a close 
relationship with their future careers, so other subjects like music and sports are not 
important. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
 
(reduce stress), (help us to relax), (create a mood), (create a favorable school environment), 
(reawaken the desire to learn);
(maintain or increase their level of physical, mental, social, and emotional functioning), (develop a 
positive self-image); (develop good sportsmanship), ( value fair play and honesty);
(prepare for future career)
There are many indications that schools have become increasingly vocation-oriented in 
recent years, with integrating many work-based courses in curriculum. Some academics 
advocate that sport and music classes should be cancelled in exchange for more academic 
classes, in an effort to help students beat other jobseekers. This argument has several strong 
elements that deserve attention.
The first is that few employers are interested in a job applicant's performance as music 
lover or sports fan. Instead, they are keen to assess candidates' academic records and 
professional skills. At a time when business grows complex and skill-based, the evidence that 
candidates have sufficient knowledge relating to their job profession is more capable to attract 
the eye of recruiters. A student excelling in a subject is far more marketable in the job market 
than one playing a music instrument adeptly, or displaying talents in a sport.
Another reason is that students, in most cases, engage themselves in sports or music 
spontaneously. There is no need to formalize their pastimes, when the amount of time they 
spend in academic activities is desperately inadequate. Teenagers and young adults have 
plenty of energy to expend daily. Even when heavily loaded with learning tasks, they exert 
themselves for outdoors and group activities. They gather for sport activities and concerts, but 
seldom review their textbooks after school. Given these elements, the top priority for 
educators is to maximize students' contact with academic classes at school and to recommend 
sports and music as extracurricular activities only.
The above discussion favors a conclusion that sport and music classes should be cancelled so 
students are more likely to commit themselves to academic courses, which are more important 
to their forces that foster the consistency of young adults' unemployment, which can be 
analyzed and tackled separately. This essay will present an overall view of these causes and 
potential solutions.
The biggest single cause of rising unemployment among young people is their lack of 
work experience and qualifications. Fresh from high school or college, young jobseekers 
generally have little, if any, practical experience. Besides, most of the knowledge they have 
acquired is from text, which is not satisfactorily consistent with the general practice in the 
workplace. This weakness can be fatal at a time when the market has a strong preference on 
skilled and experienced applicants, who are ready to fill vacancies without requiring any job 
training. It is also the reason why employers tend to believe that young candidates possess 
less value than do those already in the workforce.
Another cause of high unemployment is placed at the feet of the youth themselves. Before 
they reach the working age, young people have little interaction with the world outside the 
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classroom, and, as a consequence, they know little of the situation of the labour market. By 
the time they graduate, they have an inaccurate picture of the world. It leads to their 
exceedingly high occupational and wage aspiration. In addition to remuneration and financial 
incentives, young applicants might have other requirements, such as working environment. It 
causes them to lose many opportunities to join the workforce immediately.
Tackling youth unemployment requires the commitment of both society and youngsters 
themselves. The government can provide employers with taxation incentives for recruiting 
young workers. Low-cost courses, especially job training courses, should be made available 
for the young unemployed. Consultancy services can be provided free of charge, giving 
youngsters instruction on job-seeking and helping them make proper adjustment from school 
to work.
As suggested above, lack of work experience and inappropriate attitudes toward 
employment are two main reasons that account for youngsters' unemployment. For young 
people possibly nothing can be more abrupt than the transition from school to work. In 
reducing unemployment, the government should play an active role and take a number of 
measures, with the emphasis placed on improving young people's skills and adjusting their job 
attitudes. 
1. Troubling = worrying = disturbing
2. Preoccupy=obsess=possess=fixate
3. Presume =assume=believe
4. Jobseeker =job applicant =job candidate 
5. Fatal=deadly=lethal 
6. Skilled=skilful=experienced=competent=proficient=well- trained 
7. Free of charge=at no cost=without charge 
8. Adjustment=alteration 
9. Abrupt=sudden=unexpected
 
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