“人口论坛”，是游学姐妹校的网上论坛主题，要求报名前去游学的学生都要先参加网上人口问题论坛，发贴参与讨论，然后根据学生发帖情况确定录取名单。
这里选登一位初二学生参与“人口论坛”讨论的六次英语作业：

[ 本帖最后由 H爸 于 2010-4-12 17:19 编辑 ].

【转登】
I think the population problem is just like the jelly.
Once you eat a jelly, you’ll feel sweet and juicy, that’s why many children like to eat jelly very much. But they seldom discover the danger behind the happiness. We have seen some reports on newspaper that some children died because the jelly sucked in their throat, they can’t breathe, so they died.
The overpopulation problem has similar characteristics. We can have a lot of benefits from a large population, for example, cheap labor, developed manufacture and agriculture industry. However, until recent twenty to thirty years have we discovered the serious result of overpopulation——the damage of the environment, the shortage of energy, etc.
As you can see, overpopulation is just like a jelly, is just like a double-edged sword. Therefore, we have to be clear about its advantages and disadvantages. Otherwise, we’ll certainly be hurt by this sword.
Our country, China, is a country which takes up nearly a quarter of the world’s population. Some people might think that ZPG is really a very suitable goal for China. However, I don’t think so.
Currently, only Germany and Britain, these two developed countries have nearly achieved this goal with the population growth at about 0.5%. However, it’s really difficult for China because on the one hand, since China is a big agricultural country, many people are farmers. They want to give birth to children as many as they can in order to earn more money and have a better life. The number of this kind of people is too big to tell each of them to adopt one-child policy.
On the other hand, on the way to ZPG, maybe China will face even more difficulties, such as the aging problem. When the government concentrates on controlling the birth rate of the baby, they ignore the mortality rate. Because of the high living standard, the average life span of a person is increasing. In that way, fewer children are born and less people are dead, there’ll be less labor. China’s development will then be limited! Can you imagine the serious result of the aging problem?
So my conclusion is—ZPG is a good idea for many European countries, but not a good choice for China..

【转登】
A Modest Proposal
I don’t think we should try any means necessary to reduce the population.
Because as for China, I admit we’re now facing the overpopulation problem, but as we all know, because of the large population base, it’s hard to let everyone have the awareness of one-child policy, so that’s why we can’t have any solutions to solve this serious problem until now.
However, if China finally decides to take some ways to reduce the population, I want to give one suggestion：When you’re paying much attention on decreasing birth rate, don’t forget to balance both birth rate and mortality rate, in order not to cause an aging society.
Also, I don’t think now we should focus on how to decrease the population. Instead, we should think about how to ensure our bright future. Because we’re now facing energy shortage and all kinds of environmental pollution, we should think of some ways to solve these problems so as to continue our existence with the current standard of living intact.
We can find alternative energy as quickly as possible, or we can make full use of some new and environment-friendly energy, like solar energy, wind energy and so on. Talking about environmental pollution, I think we should rise everybody’s awareness of protecting our only home—Earth.
As I know for how to decrease air pollution, I suggest people buy hybrid cars. They use clean fuel and will not pollute the environment. I also suggest citizens take bus more often, because although the fuel bus use will also pollute the environment, there are so many people on the bus, this is a lot cleaner than people driving their own cars.
With new technologies combining these new energies and some useful and practical tips I mentioned above, we can certainly continue our existence with the current standard of living intact..

【转登】
Topic 1  A modest proposal

第一位Harker的学生回复我的第一篇文章说：
I agree. Even though decreasing population is something we should pay attention to, it shouldn't be the only solution. There are many different ways we can ensure a brighter future, and decreasing the population isn't the only solution. We waste time wondering how to make one solution work when there are others that we can develop.
我准备这么回复：
Hi, Cristina,
Yeah, I agree with you. As we can see, China had made countless efforts to reduce the population by any means possible, but those solutions hadn’t succeed finally. It’s really a pity! So are there any changes in your mind that can help Chinese to ensure a bright future?
Thank you very much, bye!
— (Helen)
第二位Harker的学生回复我的第一篇文章说：
你好 **,
I agree with you that we should focus more on other sources of energy and pollution, but we should definitely not dismiss the issue of population growth. If we do not try to manage the population, the number people will grow drastically and we will have an even greater energy shortage. Therefore, while looking for new sources of energy, we should also look at the population growth closely.
再见！
－Priscilla :]

我准备这么回复：
Hello, Priscilla,
I definitely agree with you on the point that while we are looking for new sources of energy, we should also look at the population growth closely. I am not as considerable as you are.
So that means China will have to make double effort to look for new, clean alternative energy, as well as to try their best to perfect the one child policy and let nearly every person has the awareness of reducing population.
Thank you very much, bye bye!
——**(Helen)
Joe, 我这样回复行吗？.

【转登】
Topic 2 Metaphors and ZPG(回复)

        Robert Deng:
I think your right. ZPG is good for countries that do not need cheap labor but is bad for countries like China who need lot of cheap labor to support their economy.
        My reply is:
Robert,
Hi! First of all, thank you for reading my first reply so patiently. Yeah, I agree with you. Maybe China should control its population within a certain amount but shouldn’t try its best to achieve ZPG. This will not bring any benefit. So can you help me think about a proper to control China’s population. Thank you!
——**(Helen)

        Curran Shah:
I agree when you say that developed countries are achieving ZPG because they
don't need children to support them in their old age. I also agree when you say that countries that have agricultural economies need to have more people to work on the farm. So I guess you have to decide whether to achieve ZPG based on your economy
        My reply is:
Curran,
Hi! You’ve actually mentioned a very good point. Since the social welfare in some developed countries is good, they don’t need children to support them in their old age. They can get free medical treatment. They can attend many community activities free. So maybe without their children, some elders’ lives will also be very interesting. The country can keep a good balance on both the birth rate and mortality rate. So it’s much easier for those countries to achieve ZPG.
——**(Helen)

        Matthew Hong:
Dear **,
That is a good metaphor. ZPG is definitely a very hard thing to obtain and
apparently it is ideal for European countries. But, I also believe that China is not a
good candidate for ZPG.
        My reply is:
Matthew,
Hi! Thank you for your comment on my metaphor. As I have mentioned, because of the good social welfare in those European countries, they can keep a balance between birth rate and mortality rate. They don’t have to worry about the accidental death of many elderly people. Even though the good social welfare has provided a shortcut for those European countries on the way to ZPG, it’s still hard to achieve it, isn’t it?
——**(Helen).

【转登】
Topic 3 Online Population Recourses

Joe:
    我在网站上竟然遇到了我的美国partner—Ria, 就回复了她的帖子！
Ria Desai:
Gapminder is my favorite website because it is a clearly displayed graph, the ability for the user to manipulate the x and y axis to several different categories, and all of the links are functional. I especially love the change in category feature. I also really appreciate that you can switch from a graph to a map of the world. The graph is color coded by region, and a little table on the side shows the user the colored map. Each little colored bubble on the graph is labeled by country. Gapminder is a really great website to see not only the population of the world, but several other things.

My reply is:
Ria,
Hi! I entered the website and saw those three population clocks. I also made a comparison, and I agree with you. The third one is the most functional. We can search for many different information on that clock, like the energy, birth rate and death rate, population growth, per capita income and so on. Most surprisingly, it can make a flash about the population growth in China in recent years. I found that though the population in China is always increasing, the average life span is increasing too. So that means, the living standard of every single person has been largely improved. It is truly a good website!
——**(Helen).

【转登】
Topic 4a: Welfare (Reply)

我的美国partner Ria在Topic 4a中这么说道
We could solve this dilemma by having the Chinese government providing incentives for young couples. In America married people get certain advantages, such as tax breaks. If this policy applied to young couples with children, it would encourage young people to raise children. It is highly likely that some couples would choose this option rather than not have children at all. The government in China should appeal to the needs of the younger generations if they want a new generation to exist. Rewards and incentives are key factors in trying to appeal to the people of China.

My reply is:
I agree with you. If this serious social problem further develops, it will become a negative cycle. The way to solve this dilemma is to provide some incentives for these young couples. They’ll realize the necessity and the benefit of bearing a child. I have also come up with an idea. China can also perfect its social welfare at the meantime. In that way, the older generations will not worry that they may have to depend on their children some day since the pension gradually can’t meet their living demands, and both of the two generations can raise the child. What do you think about that?

Topic 4 Country Research and the environment (Reply)

I have attached a picture with my reply, but I’m sorry it’s in Chinese. As you can see from the picture, the area in red has a population density of more than 400 people per square kilometer, the area in pink 100 to 400. Like the previous ones, the area in orange between 50~100 people, the area in yellow below 50 and the area in white below one. We have a population line in China. The area on the right side of the line only accounts for 43% of China’s whole territory, but contains 94% of China’s population, especially in the areas like HuaBei Plain, Sichuan Basin, some places in Hei Longjiang Province, Taiwan, some costal cities near East Sea with the highest population density. Meanwhile, you can see much white color on the left side of the population line. Among all those regions in the West of China, Tibet Plateau has the least population density, an average of less than 1 people per square kilometer. Strange, isn’t it?.

小H加油！.

为什么你们游学的作业那么严肃？我们自己写的游学日记没有那么深刻的话题。都是最平常的话题。

[ 本帖最后由 不二周助 于 2010-4-11 23:04 编辑 ].

这是外国姐妹校网上的论坛，报名游学的中国同学一定要参加网上人口论坛讨论，发帖子，学校老师进行培训和指导； 对方学校根据发贴情况批准列入游学名单。
游学日记也有五段，稍后贴上来，那个话题就比较轻松了。.

1.Saturday, Jan 10th, 2009
    Today, I feel so excited to meet my partner--Ria at the airport. She is such a lovely girl. Her parents are kind, generous. hospitable and considerate. Even though I felt nauseous on the plane, they took care of me so I feel a lot better now. The room they prepared for me is tidy and clean the lunch, dinner were fantastic!
    This afternoon, we went to the movie theatre and watched <Bolt>. You know, <Bolt>was pretty popular in China nowadays and I couldn't imagine that it has been a little bit old in America. Anyway, we went to the theatre together and watched <Bolt>. It was interesting and we both enjoyed the movie very much. After that, we went to the department stores and looked for the things I need to buy in America. I was amazed by the cheap and good-quality products here. I liked the store very much though we didn't buy anything.
    In a word, I really enjoyed my first day here and Ria and I have already become good friends~
(I didn't take any photos today~).

2. Sunday, Jan 11th, 2009
    It's my second day in America and I've getting used to all the things here. America is  nice place! (At least I thinnk so)
    Today, we wnet to the aquarium first. I enjoyed my visit there. I saw a lot of unique sea creatures there and also watched two live programs of the performances. The hostess seemed to be very knowledgable. She just kept talking and talking and answed the audience's questions wisely. I appreciated her stlye a lot.
    After that, we had ice cream and Grahedelli's chocolate store. The flavor was very authentic and I loved it as soon as I tasted it. Then we had sightseeing of the sea and I also enjoyed it because we can't see that in China. Finally, we wnet tot the oulets. I bought a pair of Converse--All star shoes which I really desired, and also a shirt and a cap(with H&T on it--special meanings). I felt so satisfied and excited when we finished shopping. So was Ria~
(I took a lot of photos in the aquarium!).

3. Monday, Jan 12th, 2009
    Today was my first day in Harker so I was curious about nearly everything in Harker. I liked the uniform and I liked Ria's friends. They are very friendly and outgoing and we had lots of conversations.
    The schedule for morning was a bit tight because Ria's home is far away from Harker, but I can totally understand. When we arrived at school, I was amazed by their lockers. Because they have to change from classroom to classroom, they have a big school bag. But you can just put it outside the classroom when you have lessons. The lunch there were fantastic, but we only had little time to choose what we like from so many delicious food.
    Then let's talk about Ria's lessons! Spanish was absolutely difficult because they have learnt Spanish for more than six years! Biology was also difficult because they do experiments very often and learn a lot more than we do! I like her Math class because the teacher is humorous and I'm very familiar with what they are learning now. Mmm....some other classes like P.E... Oh! It's definitely tiring to have P.E. lessons in Harker because you have to run a mile everyday. We're lucky to run 800 metres compared with them, aren't we? Well, debate classes was interesting, too. They topic they discussed today was so difficult--Cruelty with kindness or with fair punishment. They have only 15minutes to look for information on their laptop and write what they are going to say. But they have 7 minutes to express their points of view. That's really a long time, isn't it? I was surprised that all of them can do perfectly well!
    Oh, there are so many interesting things happened on my first day in Harker. I just can't write them all. Sorry, but I have to say again -- really like here!  
(I didn't take any photos today~).

4. Tuesday, Jan 13th, 2009
    It's my second day in Harker and everything is going perfectly well.
    We went to Bucknall, the lower school this morning to teach kids paper-cutting. Those kids are super clever! They've learnt how to cut it within 15 minutes. So we just taught them how to fold rabbits. However, rabbit is a bit difficult an I couldn't express some of the steps in English. Luckily, Ria helped me a lot so the children could understand us. Finally, every kid has got a rabbit done. We were surprised. When we went on the bus again and asked other students about their teaching, they said they have all started teaching rabbits, but because of the time limitation, they weren't able to finish it eventually. We had great sense o achievement after hearing that.  So in a word, our teaching is a great success!!!
    We have two special lessons today, dancing and P.E. Dancing lesson is interesting. We learnt a lot basic steps of jazz and disco. The teacher danced beautifully and energetically so we learnt every step clearly and quickly. It was a lot fun! As for P.E class, we also learned a lot. The teacher taught us some interesting and beneficial games which can train our all-round abilities.
    After school, I had an opportunity to watch Ria dance. I liked the music and the dance! The actions were a bit like robots. And Ria could do all of them perfectly, just like robots! I could feel her passion for dancing when I saw her she practicing. Super!
    The school life today was great! I was happy the whole day. Yeah! Hope I can keep this good mood everyday!
(Sorry, I didn't take any pictures~).

5. Wednesday, Jan 14th, 2009
    Today, we had a great trip to "exploratorium" and the Golden Gate Bridge. I think the "exploratorium" is a bit like the Science and Technology Museum in Shanghai. There are a lot of equipment and facilities in it so we can learn a lot science knowledge through trying different equipment. It was a lot fun! Though I saw many kids playing inside and I already knew some of the reasons of those wierd phenomenen, I still gained a lot.
    It was a pity that we only had thirty five minutes to see the Golden Gate Bridge. So Ria and I walked half way and took many pictures. We also went to the souvenir store and I bought sme postcards for my friends. The weather is usualyl very cold and windy but today was a bit hot and windy, very unusual!  We are very lucky,aren't we?
    Oh, I almost forgot! The lunch today was fabulous! I loved the chips most! You probably know why, the flavor is unique and my classmates give me theirs! I was so surprised~
I really enjoyed myself in San Francisco today.  Tomorrow we are going to visit Standford University. I'm looking forwared to my trip tomorrow! Hope I will have a great time~.

非常好。这个美国游学有几天呢？.

为期两周。十天左右是在美国学校上课和活动，住在美国小伙伴家里；后几天游览洛杉矶、旧金山。
过了几个月，姐妹校来上海游学时，美国小伙伴住在我们家里。.

真好。
唯一可惜时间太短了点。.

是啊，待会儿再帖一篇游学感想的中文稿件。
初中阶段游学，只能如此；高中阶段，看看有没有一年期的交换生机会。.

Report: Our trip in USA

Eighteen students in Grade Eight and two teachers went to San Jose on an exchange program with Harker School this winter vacation. We also had a-week-visit in Los Angeles. All of us had a great time and really enjoyed our stay in USA.
After a tiring ten-hour-flight, we finally arrived at San Francisco International Airport. Most of us were a bit tired because of the jet lag and the lack of sleep on the plane. Then we met with our buddies and their parents. After that, we went home with them and had our first weekend in America spent happily and meaningfully.
On Monday, we went to Harker with our buddies and shadowed them to class. When we arrived in Harker, we were amazed by the advanced facilities there. Every student owns a locker to put her things in and a laptop, which is a necessity for class. After spending more than four days in Harker with my buddy, most of us really like the American way of teaching. The teachers are very kind and patient, the students are also very quiet and hard-working. You can have a good atmosphere to study and meanwhile make every class very rewarding and efficient.
All the eighteen students also had special lessons, like art, dance and P.E. All of us listened very carefully to the teacher during these three lessons. We created our own style of painting in art class, we learned three new types of dancing in dance class and we knew the correct way to strengthen our body in P.E. class. In a word, we really gained a lot.
A week passed in a blink of an eye. We had to say goodbye with our buddies. As you can see, we have already become good friends with our buddies so it’s really hard for us to say goodbye to them. Some of us even burst into tears. They gave us the feeling of home. We would never forget the hospitality and considerable arrangements they provided us in the past week.  All of us expressed our deepest gratitude to our buddies and their parents from the bottom of our hearts. We firmly believe when they came to China in March, we will certainly try our best to make their stay interesting and meaningful and at the same time make them feel at home.

[ 本帖最后由 H爸 于 2010-4-13 14:13 编辑 ].

全部看完了，需要哪个层面的点评？

作为一般聊天来点评还是作为对一个议题的探讨来点评。

不同的层面，对于语言和思考深度的要求是不同的。.

随意，小水写出来的都是好文章。.

不能随意，你一定要给我一个层面，我才能写。.

呵呵，搞大了。 还有五、六篇稿子，发完后侬一道点评，还是分段点评？
就从初中学生用英语进行书面表达的层面，看看思维和行文，行不？.

An unusual winter vacation

Good afternoon, everyone.
This winter vacation, I attended the exchange program between our school and Harker School in San Jose, America. Today, I would like to share with you some of my experiences in America.
I suppose everyone must be very curious about how American students have a lesson. So let’s have a look at these two pictures. Actually, every student in Harker has a laptop. They use it to look for more information while the teachers are giving lessons. But don’t worry! No one will play online games because they are all self-disciplined and hard-working students.
Besides shadowing our buddies to their classes, Harker school also arranged many special classes for us. First, we had an art class with Ms. Saltos. From the photo, we can see that everyone is listening to the teacher very carefully. Then we’re trying to create our own pictures. Finally, it’s show time! All of us are very satisfied with our drawings. After that, we had a dance class with Ms. Palmer. As you can see, everyone is dancing with the music happily. Then we had a P.E. lesson. This lesson is very special because we didn’t have to run a mile with our buddy. Instead, the teacher taught us many useful games to exercise different parts of our body.
Next will be the highlights of my first week in America. We went to the primary school department of Harker, that is Bucknall, to teach the students there Chinese traditional paper cutting and folding. We tried our best to teach. To our surprise, all of our students learned quick and perfectly well. There is a big smile on everyone’s face. I think it’s really a very meaningful experience.
Another highlight is the visit to Stanford University. We are all very excited to see the world-famous university with our own eyes. Under the guide of the college students, we knew more about the history of Stanford University. We were also impressed by the historic building and the advanced equipment there.
At the end of the week, Harker also held a talent show for us. Many of my classmates performed on the stage to show their talents. Richard and David played musical instruments. Another boy wrote calligraphy—Isn’t it a good thing to have friends coming from afar so as to show his happiness. Everyone enjoyed the whole show.
How time flies! The unforgettable week had come to an end! We had a farewell ceremony together on Friday. And on Monday, we said goodbye to our American buddies. We promised to keep in contact after we went back to China.
So now I’m gong to introduce my partner—Ria. Because Ria’s parents are Indians, she looks like an Indian. But actually she was born and grows up in America. She is really hard-working girl and always gets good marks at school. We took many photos together while we were sightseeing. (地名)
After leaving San Jose, we went to L.A. We enjoyed ourselves there, especially in Disney Land and Universal Studio. However, because of the time limitation, I can’t introduce our trip there.
As a conclusion, my stay in America is really unforgettable. And today’s introduction brings back many memories of this year’s unique winter vacation.
Thank you very much!

[ 本帖最后由 H爸 于 2010-4-13 14:15 编辑 ].

不来塞。

偶不能用国内初中生的平均水平来要求小H。你以什么水平要求孩子，孩子最终也就到达那个水平。

从初中生的行文水平来说，小H还是不错的。otherwise /meanwhile/however，这些词用得挺好，使得整个文气是通畅地。印象里有一个倒装也用得不错，腔调足的。不过议论文是要看思想深度的。

我倒也不是不近人情要求初中生要有研究生的思维，但是应当培养严谨思维的发端。在所有的作业中，让我兴奋的是看到第三次作业中开头的第一个Harker学生的观点。他虽然没有展开谈论，但是他已经知道不再二元化思维了。他已经有了一个良好的发端。

[ 本帖最后由 水之形 于 2010-4-12 11:54 编辑 ].

谢谢指点，那就高标准、严要求、多挑毛病帮她进步。.

游学挺好的，我们也想去，H爸能不能介绍一下怎么联系姐妹校？谢谢！.

这是学校对口的姐妹校，不是自己找的。.

明天发你信箱。.

多谢多谢！.

再顶顶Helen。
发现英文的文章发在这里看得人不多。.

引用:

原帖由 不二周助 于 2010-4-16 08:30 发表
再顶顶Helen。
发现英文的文章发在这里看得人不多。

哈哈,帮你顶下!!不是看的人不多,是大家一看头就大!.

飘过~~~~.