Some famous athletes and entertainers earn millions of dollars every year. Do you think these people deserve such high salaries? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

某些著名的運動員和娛樂人士每年賺取幾百萬，你認為他們應該得到這麼高的薪水嗎？

1 應該用高工資來維持運動員/娛樂人士之間的競爭

段落大意：高工資有刺激運動員，以達到競爭和進步的效果。

Athletes salaries must stay high to keep the level of competition where it is, and keep striving to get better. Clothing and apparel companies pay the team to make jerseys, shirts, hats, etc. All of this money goes to the owner of the particular team. The truth of the matter is that the owners actually make the most money, and only distribute a small portion of it to their hard working employees. Why not complain about Hollywood actors getting paid astronomical amounts of money for making a movie. The NFL and the United Way have been working together for years. In short, athletes are not at fault for getting paid the amount of money they get.

2 運動員高工資是對他們努力的回報

段落大意：很多人只看到了運動員高收入的光鮮亮麗，但是忽視了他們付出的努力，運動員的高工資是他們刻苦努力的應有回報。

Are athletes getting paid too much? Maybe they are, but I dont really believe that athletes are over paid. People dont understand how the lifestyle of a professional athlete really is or who would get the money we spend if the athletes didnt get it. They just see those astronomical numbers and think that it is unfair that we working class people dont make that amount of money. The psychological stress placed upon athletes is overwhelming. They are constantly worrying about their bodies, because if they get hurt, their career may go to an end.

Your city has decided to build a statue or monument to honor a famous person in your country. Who would you choose? Use reasons and specific examples to support your choice.

你的城市要建一個名人紀念碑或雕塑。你會選擇誰？說出詳細原因和具體例子

1 周恩來

段落大意：周恩來在中國的歷史地位。

A skilled and able diplomat, Zhou served as the Chinese foreign minister from 1949 to 1958. Advocating peaceful coexistence with the West, he participated in the 1954 Geneva Conference and helped orchestrate Richard Nixons 1972 visit to China. Due to his expertise, Zhou was largely able to survive the purges of high-level Chinese Communist Party officials during the Cultural Revolution. His attempts at mitigating the Red Guards damage and his efforts to protect others from their wrath made him immensely popular in the Revolutions later stages.

2 張衡

段落大意：張衡地動儀對於人類的貢獻。

Zhang Heng was an astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan, and lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25–220) of China.Zhang applied his extensive knowledge of mechanics and gears in several of his inventions. He invented the worlds first water-powered armillary sphere, to represent astronomical observation; improved the inflow water clock by adding another tank; and invented the worlds first seismometer, which discerned the cardinal direction of an earthquake 500 km (310 mi) away. Furthermore, he improved previous Chinese calculations of the formula for pi. In addition to documenting about 14,000 stars in his extensive star catalogue, Zhang also posited theories about the Moon and its relationship to the Sun; specifically, he discussed the Moons sphericity, its illumination by reflecting sunlight on one side and remaining dark on the other, and the nature of solar and lunar eclipses. His fu and shi poetry were renowned and commented on by later Chinese writers; his rhapsodies were also highly regarded. Zhang received many posthumous honors for his scholarship and ingenuity, and is considered a polymath by some scholars. Some modern scholars have also compared his work in astronomy to that of Ptolemy (AD 86–161).

If you could meet a famous entertainer or athlete, who would that be, and why? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.

如果你能過遇到一位娛樂人士或者運動員，你希望遇到誰

1 劉翔

段落大意：劉翔獲得的所有榮譽，都是他帶給中國的驕傲。

Chinese Flying man Liu Xiang is surely the pride of all Chinese. His gold medal is the first one that Chinese men athlete has ever won from the track and field in the history of Olympics. On August 28, 2004 at 3:30 AM Beijing Time, the 21-year-old Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang won a gold medal in the men』s 110-meter hurdles in Athens. He became the first Asian to win an Olympic gold medal in hurdle event. This was a momentous occasion for Chinese people. Liu Xiang was a dark horse in the Athens Olympics, because nobody believed an Asian athlete could win an Olympic medal in this event. Asian athletes have had a spare time in the first two days of the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England. But Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang became the first Chinese male athlete to get a world indoor medal in the 18-year history of the championship and was the only Asian medalists this time.

2 姚明

段落大意：姚明用自己的實力把中國帶向世界。

Yao Ming epitomizes Chinese spirit of hard working to achieve greatness. He in a sense brings China to the world. Yao Ming has titillated the interest of millions of young people around the world, with the unavoidable effect of bringing a focus to China and Chinese culture.

If you could ask a famous person one question, what would you ask? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

如果你能夠問一個名人一個問題，你會問什麼問題？

1 什麼在一直激勵著你

段落大意：人人都會碰到失意，悲傷，和失敗的時候，在這些時刻，是什麼在激勵著你？

What inspired you the most in your life that made you so famous? He might have heard some disparaging comments from the people who abhorred him or who are jealous of him. Those people might have even tried to hinder his efforts to succeed. Any person who has heard all these stinging remarks and discouraging comments will be certainly disappointed. To overcome all these hindrances one has to really be determined and must have certainly inspired by someone or something that must have fostered him in keeping on trying or working toward his goal.

2 生命的意義

段落大意：這些名人如何看待生命。他們的看法或許會幫到我們。

Life represents different things to various people. Asking a famous person about his/her view about life might also help us out in how we can view the world around us. Often people who become famous or successful have positive outlook towards present and future. They dont worry about the hardships of the past. This might motivate others to adopt a similar positive view of life.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television, newspapers, magazines, and other media pay too much attention to the personal lives of famous people such as public figures and celebrities. Use specific reasons and details to explain your opinion.

電視，報紙，雜誌或其他媒體對諸如公眾人物或名人傾注過多的關注，同意與否？

When famous people such as actors, athletes and rock stars give their opinions, many people listen. Do you think we should pay attention to these opinions? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

當名人，比如演員，運動員，搖滾歌星發表意見的時候，很多人聽，你認為我們應該關注他們的觀點嗎？

1 名人現象

段落大意：名人效應的傳播

A small number of celebrities can be considered global, in that their fame has spread across the world, even across linguistic and cultural boundaries. These celebrities are often prominent political figures, actors, globally successful artists, musicians and sports stars.

The rise of international celebrities in acting and popular music is due in large part to the massive scope and scale of the media industries, enabling celebrities to be viewed more often and in more places. The reach of entertainment products is further extended by large-scale illegal copying of movies and music, which makes inexpensive pirated versions of DVDs and CDs available throughout even less economically developed countries.

2 名人和名望

Clive James, the Australian writer, broadcaster and performer, wrote a book on the phenomenon of fame in the 20th century (Fame in the 20th Century). He contends that true fame was almost unknown before the 20th century, because of lack of global mass media, and the first true media celebrity was Charles Lindbergh, initially because of his aviation feats and later because of the tragic kidnapping and murder of his son.

James points out that celebrity eventually became distinctly different from fame, resulting in the phenomenon of people who are famous for being famous. He cites Elizabeth Taylor as an early example, whose private life made her more of a celebrity than her film career had. He also contends that fame sometimes backfires on those who seek it by depriving them of their privacy for life, a point illustrated by the rise of the paparazzi and their fanatic desire for pictures and personal stories about celebrities.

He argues that achieving great fame requires frequently reinventing yourself, as exhibited by Madonna and Michael Jackson.

The whole concept of celebrity and the obsessive interest caused by certain media publications such as chat mags and daily paper gossip columnists, has reduced the notion of celebrity to being anyone who has been on the television, or involved in a third rate reality TV program.

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