♦Hints for
points
Yes:
neighboring countries (China, South Korea, and ASEAN countries)
getting wealthier and spending more money on their military
America getting less wealthy
The threat of North Korea
No:
less chance of war than before (strong economic and political
relationships with America, China and other countries)
doubt about solution of international conflicts by military power
(Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, “war on terror”)
Article Nine as a soft power
the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty (American military bases in Japan)
other priorities (global warming, sagging economy, aging society, need
for more research and development of science and technology)
☆Writing Topic
B: In your school schedule, you are required to take an extra class in one of
the following subjects: 1) physical education (sports and exercise activities),
2) home economics (cooking or sewing), or 3) current events (the study of
topics from recent news stories). Which one of the three subjects would you
choose to study?
♦Hints for
points
Physical Education: keep in good shape, opportunities to try
unfamiliar sports, refreshment, make friends
Home Economics: independence, to understand the world at the level
of household (the basic unit of society)
Current Events: to understand what is going on in the world
related to many important aspects of our society such as economy,
politics, and history
area that TV reports do not constantly cover in detail (especially
international affairs)
☆Extra Writing
Topic: School teachers, whether they work for public or private schools, should
not express their opinions on current politics.
♦Hints for
points
Yes:
1. In practice, contracts
between teachers and the schools they work for prohibit them from taking a
stand in politics, and teachers should follow the agreement they made when
hired.
2. Teachers
should be the conveyers of the consensus of the public. They should inform students
of a variety of, well-balanced views, not a slanted, personal view.
3. Having a
radical political view is a stepping stone in any place, including
universities, on this world. Therefore, it is unthinkable and unacceptable for
teachers, who are responsible for their students future careers, to affect
their students’ political views.
No:
1. As long as
they clearly say to their students that what they say is only a private view,
it is ok.
2. Except for
young children, who are still vulnerable to brainwash, students know better
than to believe everything their teachers tell them. They take their teachers’
opinions as one of the many.
3. There is no
neutral view, and, if any, such sterilized statements as those found in
textbooks approved by the government would be the worst teaching materials in
class, where a human beings of two different generations struggle to make the
most of the given time for the better future, which requires realistic understanding
of the past and the present.
