|
Topic 32: Do you think a museum is to educate or entertain people?
Museums have long been known as centres of research and education. By acquiring, conserving, researching and exhibiting a great variety of tangible items (such as artefacts and specimens), museums are of great educational value. However, this notion has been refuted by some people in recent years, who tend to think that museums are intended for entertainment as well. In my opinion, a museum can serve dual purposes, although education tends to play a larger part.
Museums impart knowledge to visitors through different means. One is collecting and displaying objects of scientific, artistic or historical importance at a specific site. Staff members working for museums are trained to provide interpretations of the collected objects to the general public. Viewing these items enables visitors to acquire knowledge of a given subject, such as history, art, environment and technology. History museums are for example concerned with specialised aspects of history at the local or national level. Another approach taken by a museum is to invite specialists to lecture regularly in different fields, which is instructive as well. An entertainment business, by comparison, hardly serves an educational purpose.
In addition to the way it operates, a museum is distinct from any operator in the entertainment industry in some oilier aspects. First of all, museums are entirely not-for-profit. Although sometimes charging an admission fee, a museum very often has free entrance, and does not engage in any profit-making activity. It does not target any specific audience like an entertainment business does. Instead, it is open to the general public. Museums, meanwhile, choose items on display not according to their commercial values but according to the line of items they mainly focus on. For instance, a history museum would focus only on those items that are of historical value, although those items might not have sufficient market value.
However, a noteworthy development of museums in recent years is related to entertainment to some extent. Similar to other educational institutions, museums have to balance their budget. Many museums have therefore sought to operate more activities to attract more visitors, in order for an additional entry fee to cover costs. In addition to the traditional services, such as making collected objects available for public viewing, and organising lectures, a museum is interested in such entertainments as films, musical or dance performances, most of which are linked to the culture of its host region. Art museums, for example, bear a close resemblance to art galleries, in exhibiting a wide range of artworks. Museums falling in this category give visitors pleasure, and can be taken as a provider of both knowledge and entertainment.
As suggested above, there are many benchmarks against which a museum can be made distinct from an entertainment provider. Some museums are now providing services in overtly entertainment nature, although educational for the most part.
artefact = ornament = manufactured article = work of art = object
specimen = example = sample
refute = contest = rebut = disprove
lecture = make a speech = give an address
instructive = informative = educational
resemblance = similarity = likeness = semblance
benchmark = standard
overtly = openly = clearly = obviously = explicitly
Topic 33: People tend to work longer hours nowadays. Working long hours has a negative effect on themselves, their families and the society, so working hours should be restricted. Do you agree or disagree?
In recent years, working hours have become a controversial issue, at a time when employees' benefits have been given serious thought. Although the extension of working hours is believed to have an impact on general well-being and result in work-family conflict and job stress, this practice is remarkably popular in many countries. I am supportive of the argument that long working hours have a negative impact upon individuals, the organisations they work for, and ultimately upon the national economy and society as a whole.
To job holders, working long hours triggers at least two problems. It is not only to damage personal relationships (with families particularly), disrupt social lives and impede community activities but also to cause a feeling of stress, a psychological disturbance that is experienced by many working people. It also tends to exert pressure on the employment market and make fewer employment opportunities available. Those with caring responsibilities for example, would be disadvantaged, because they are either unable or unwilling to work long hours. A high unemployment rate is always regarded as a threat to a country's economy.
To employers, long working hours, although promising maximum benefit from limited resources every now and then, have destructive effects in the long term. The primary reason is that employees tend to be less productive, and meanwhile, at greater risks of sickness. It would lead not only to the lower quality of work outputs but also to high turnover and absenteeism. As a result, employers have to spend much more on recruiting and training new workers. To a country as a whole, it has chronic effects, disabling the optimisation of resource use, human capital and natural resources.
Some might argue that it is reasonable for an employer to expect some degree of flexibility during a particularly busy period, but to those employers, reliance on the jobs with extended hours has the tendency to become a regular event. Tolerance of this practice would allow employers to exploit labour and disregard the benefits that employees are entitled for, thereby posing a challenge to the legal system. It is time that employers assessed alternatives like re-scheduling, flexible working arrangements and job redesign to explore the full potential of each employee.
As shown from the above discussion one can see no reason why working long hours us acceptable. It would lead to low productivity and frequent sick leaves, thereby doing more harm than good to employers and the society alike.
impede = hold back = hinder = hamper
productive = fertile = yielding
chronic = persistent = never-ending
optimisation = best use
tolerance = forbearance
disregard = pay no attention to = ignore = take no notice of
scheduling = arrangement-preparation
arrangement = roster = timetable
redesign = re-arrangement = re-scheduling = re-organisation
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
