Writing Task 2

Some people argue that the government should spend money only on medical care and education but not on theatres or sport stadiums. Do you agree or disagree?

Where the public money goes is an issue of broad interest to the general public. Some people advocate that the government should fund the sectors that bring tangible and immediate benefits to the public, such as medical care and educational systems, while opponents suggest that those large urban developments, such as stadiums and theaters, are worth government funding. In my opinion, the possibility remains that the two opinions can be reconciled and the government can coordinate budgeting to meet the needs of both.

Medical care is essential to the economic and social well-being of a country, particularly of an underdeveloped country. Both empirical knowledge and academic research suggest that making education available throughout a country and eliminating illiteracy can pave the way for economic development. By receiving education, children from impoverished families can shake off poverty, climb high in the social ladder and live better off. Education also allows citizens to secure employment and cam regular income, thereby maintaining or improving their standard of living. For a country as a whole, education is linked to the skilled workforce and to high productivity, affecting both resource use and national output.

Government interference in healthcare and medical services is also highly recommended. Availability of affordable medical service is a mark of the social and economic development of a country. By providing the needy people with medical service, a country can inspire the loyally of citizens. People feel assured living and working in a country where they can be given medical service when unemployed, sick, injured or retired. By comparison, if they cannot afford the high cost of visiting the clinic, hospitalisation, or buying drugs, they are less likely to enjoy their living. Social solidarity will eventually suffer.

Although education and medical services are fundamental to the stability and development of a country, it is not to say that theatres or sport stadiums have no redeeming feature. In the hierarchy of human needs, those needs for food, shelter and health are among the basic. After these targets are attained, people turn to higher aspirations, entertainment and recreation. Leisure facilities like stadiums are cinemas satisfy people's needs in these fields. A game between one's motherland and a visiting country can raise people's sense of national pride and ethnical unity. The cinema brings artistic pleasure to everyone.

To draw a conclusion, the decision to finance theatres or sport stadiums depends on the financial situation of a country. When an economy comes to maturity, the launch of recreational and entertainment projects of this kind is reasonable.

1.     tangible = concrete = solid = material = touchable

2.     reconcile = tailor = modify = alter = adapt

3.     shake oft = get rid of = get away with

4.     assured = confident = self-confident = poised-self-assured

5.     drug = medicine = prescription drug

6.     redeeming feature = desirable quality

7.     hierarchy = pyramid = pecking order = chain of command

8.     shelter = safe haven = housing = accommodation = lodging

9.     motherland = fatherland = nation state