从经济学角度解析雅思写作政府类话题
2016-09-28 14:44阅读：
引言
根据今年问世的剑11来看，政府类话题占据了非常重要的地位，Test
1、2、4都是与政府职能类相关的题目，并且都是Argumentation类型，自2015年以来，政府职能类话题平均每两个月出现一次。对于大多数考生来说，此类话题较为陌生，并常伴有话题交叉，角度多样的特性，比如经常与教育、医疗、城市建设、犯罪等话题相结合，因此在背景知识和社会阅历的缺失下，考生往往不知从何下笔。由于绝大多数的政府类题目都与政府投资、支出相关，因此在本文中，朗阁专家将从经济学的角度论述政府存在的意义和政府的职能特性，以帮助烤鸭们积累相关的话题知识、原版语料，并配以2012-2016年雅思写作政府类话题真题（见Appendix
A），扩展解题思路。
Why governments exist?
政府是一个我们熟悉而又陌生的话题。我们的生活的各个方面比如学习、工作、生活都与政府息息相关，但是对其的探究却并不充分，这导致了大多数学生在论述此类话题时都会存在话语空洞的问题。
要了解政府的职能，我们首先看一下政府存在的目的和原因。Parkin (2012,
p.372)在《Economics》一书中说到“Governments exist for three major
reasons. First, they establish and maintain property rights.
Second, they provide nonmarket mechanisms for allocating scarce
resources. Third, they implement arrangements that redistribute
income and wealth”.首先，政府存在的第一个理由是建立和维护产权，也就是说设定并执行相应的法律体系(set
up and enforce legal system)——管控职能(supervision &
regulation);第二，政府提供了非市场机制(nonmarket mechanism)来分配稀缺的资源(allocate
scarce resources)。经济学中的资源通常指自然资源(land)、劳动力(labour)、生产资本(
capital)、以及企业家资源(entrepreneurship)。由于资源的稀缺性(scarcity),
市场的利己性(self-interest)不会服务于社会利益(social interest), 有时有些公共品(public
goods)比如国防、基础设施(infrastructure construction)，和有益品(merit
goods)就会产出不足，比如教育、医疗、科研等，因此需要政府来进行资源的再配置(reallocation)。最后，政府主要通过税收(taxation)和财政支出(expenditure)进行财富的重新分配，缩小贫富差距(bridge
the gap of wealth/eliminate economic
inequality)。后两项都属于政府的财政职能(fiscal function)。
真题分析
对应到雅思大作文题目，朗阁海外考试研究中心的专家通过总结2012-2016年相关的政府话题，发现雅思大作文的考题正如上述的政府职能一样，分成了财政和管控两方面，并且前者的频次约为后者的3倍（如图一显示）。
财政职能又进一步地分成：
1). 花费由政府承担还是其他（分为个人、公司及其他）；
2). 政府是应该投资A还是B；
3). 政府是否应该投资A（主要为教育和城市生活领域）。
管控职能又可分成：
1). 该由政府管控还是个人的责任和选择
2). 政府是否应该管控A
通过话题的罗列，不难发现，和政府类产生火花的高频领域涵盖了
教育、健康、艺术、科技等（字体颜色对应图中题目，图中数字代表考试日期），这些都属于政府可以提供的有益品(merit
goods), 也就是经济学中所称有外部效益的混合品(mixed goods with external
benefits)——介于公共品public goods和私人品private
goods之间的，是指那些当此类产品被消耗时，会对除使用人以外带来好处的产品，比如Parkin (2012,
p.375)对于education的描述：
”But your being educated brings benefits to
others. It brings benefits to your friends who enjoy your sharp,
educated wit and it brings benefits to the community in which you
live because well-educated people with a strong sense of fellowship
and responsibility toward others make good
neighbours.”中阐述了education对于受教育者的朋友和社区的好处，整段语料可以直接当作雅思写作的论据。
因此，同理，健康、艺术、科技不仅对个人，也对整个社区、城市、国家产生外部效益(external benefits),
当寻找论点论据支持“政府应该投资or管控这类商品”时，可以从
个人、家庭、社会等方面考虑政府投资or管控的好处，e.g.政府是否应该提供free
education (20120906 & 20140109)、free public libraries
(20120112); 政府是否应该管控pollution、housing & health
(20151010)。
其次，当遇到“由政府还是个人（或公司）投资（或负责）A”的时候，也可通过如下论述逻辑：A是merit
goodsè能带来external benefits,
但由于资源的稀缺性è个人或公司无法满足需求è需要政府重新分配资源(land、labour、capital &
entrepreneurship)（or缩小贫富差距、or完善监管制度）。
最后此类“政府应该投资A还是B”的题型，解题的重点在于A和B分别的pros &
cons,而不在government本身是否应该去监管或投资，因此论证的重心需要从政府方面有一定的转移，根据具体情况，具体分析A和B。比如：政府应该投资Art而不是health和education
(20120526), 此时只需重点分析双边的pros & cons即可。
图一、2012-2016年雅思写作政府类话题分类图
Reference
Parkin, M.(2012).
Economics. Boston: Pearson Education,
Inc.
Appendix A 2012-2016雅思写作政府类话题真题集
2012.01.12
Some people believe that governments should make investment in
building public libraries in every town, while others think it is a
waste of money because we have access to information via Internet.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
2012.05.26
Some people believe that the government should support the funds
for the arts, while some other people suggest that the money should
be used for public health and education. Discuss both views and
give your opinion.
2012.06.14
Many people believe that scientific research should be carried out
and controlled by the government rather than private companies. To
what extent do you agree or disagree?
2012.09.06
Some people believe that everyone has the right to receive
university education，so the government should make it free to all
people regardless of their financial background. To what extent do
you agree or disagree?
2012.09.15
Since money for postgraduate research is limited, some people think
financial support from the government should be only provided for
scientific research rather than the research for less useful
subjects. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
2013.05.25
Some people believe that government money should be spent on
important things rather than arts such as painting and music. To
what extent do you agree or disagree?
2013.06.06
Some people think that the government should offer financial
support and care to old people, while others think that people
should save money for their future life. Discuss both these views
and give your own opinion.
2013.07.27
The restoration of old buildings in major cities in the world costs
numerous governments' expenditures. This money should be used in
new housing and road development. To what extent do you agree or
disagree?
2013.08.17
In some countries governments pay the money for students'
university fees，while in other countries, students pay for
themselves. Do advantages of governments paying for the students
outweigh its disadvantages？
2013.09.28
Some people think they have right to use as much fresh water as
they want, while others believe governments should strictly control
the use of fresh water, as it is limited resource. Discuss both
views and give your own opinion.
2014.01.09
The best way for the government to solve traffic congestion is to
provide free public transport 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. To
what extent do you agree or disagree？
2014.02.13
Towns and cities are attractive places. Some people suggest that
the government should spend money putting in more works of art like
paintings and statues to make them better to live in. To what
extent do you agree or disagree?
2014.02.22
Children’s education is expensive. In some countries, the
government pays some or all of the costs. Do the advantages
outweigh its disadvantages?
2014.07.19
The government has the duty to ensure that its citizens have a
healthy diet, while others believe this is individuals'
responsibility. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
2014.08.09
Some people think that the government should ban dangerous sports,
but others think that people should have the freedom to choose
sports activities. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
2014.08.16
In some countries, governments are encouraging industries and
businesses to move out of large cities and into regional areas. Do
you think the advantages of this development outweigh its
disadvantages?
2014.09.20
Some people think that the governments of developing countries
should introduce new technology to improve the quality of life,
while some people believe that the best way is to develop
education. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
2014.10.02
Government funding should only be provided for the best students as
scholarships. Other funding of universities should come from
student fees and private organizations. To what extent do you agree
or disagree?
2015.06.13
Because of traffic and housing problems in the cities, the
government encourages businesses move to the rural area. Do you
think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
2015.07.23
Some people say that the government should regard the health care
as the first priority, but some others believe that there are more
important priorities to spend the taxpayers' money. Discuss both
view and give your opinion.
2015.10.10
Some people think governments should focus more on reducing
environmental pollution and housing problems to help people prevent
illness and diseases. To what extent do you agree or
disagree?
2015.10.31
Some people believe that many people who work for creative arts
such as painting, theatre and music should be supported financially
by government. Others think that artists in creative arts should be
supported by other sources instead. Discuss both views and give
your own opinion.
2016.01.09
Some people think that governments should invest more money in
teaching science than other subjects for the development of the
country. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
2016.01.30
In some cities, governments have tried to reduce traffic. For
instance, they imposed a congestion tax during rush hour. Do you
think this development is positive or negative?
2016.03.19
Some people think health care should be made free for all people,
while others believe people should pay for health care by
themselves. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
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