Intercultural Communication
In recent years, it is widely acknowledged that intercultural communication has been becoming an increasingly common phenomenon. From my point of view, a number of factors could account for this trend.
First and foremost, the development of transportation. Now jet planes fly everywhere. It used to take months to travel from Shanghai to Los Angeles, but now it takes only 12 hours. It is now much easier for people to move from one country to another. People of different countries and races get together much oftener than before.
What’s more, the advancement of communication means. Nowadays people get in touch with each other in various ways, through internet, telephone, mobile phone and so on. These efficient means sharply promote intercultural communication to a large extent.
Besides, the ongoing of economic globalization. Since economic globalization lead to the production and market globalization, more and more multinational corporations now operate in quite a few countries. Their employees are of different ethnic groups and from different countries.
Last but not the list, the increasing of migration. Millions of people now move across national borders every year.
Therefore, all these causes contribute to the fact that intercultural communication is now a daily occurrence. Its importance now is being recognized by a growing number of people.
Stepfamily
As is known to all, with the notable increase of divorce rate, stepfamily has been becoming an increasingly common phenomenon. A stepfamily, also known as a blended family or reconstituted family, is a family in which one or both members of the couple have children from a previous relationship.
In the United States today, at least one third of all children will live in a step-family before they turn 18. Step-families are becoming more typical than ever before. People have figured out a variety of methods to deal with stepfamily. First and foremost, before marrying into a stepfamily, it is vital for you to keep in mind that you are not only just marrying a man or a woman, but also marrying the children too! And you are marrying into a system that is, by definition, difficult, frustrating and lonely at times. Even though you have a house full of people you call family, when you're a stepdad or stepmother, you will feel isolated and lonely. This is almost certain - with few exceptions.
Last but not the list, with blended families, it is vital to take things slowly but surely. If children are still reeling from a divorce or the absence or one of their biological parents, it may be difficult for them to accept or appreciate a stepparent at first. If a child is hesitant, do not hold that against him. One conflict that is common with children is feeling like they are betraying their \liking the new stepparent. Try to understand the point of view of your children and give them sufficient time, space and love.
There is no denying that it is not an easy thing to cope with a step family. It takes time for stepfamily members to truly know one another, develop new traditions and form long lasting emotional bonds.
Human Capital and Economic Development
In recent decades, people in growing number are come to realize the importance of human capital. It is widely acknowledged that human capital plays an increasingly important role in economic development. Some economists insist that the effect of human capita on economic development is greater than that of physical capital.
Human capital promotes the economic development in a few ways. First and foremost, it enhance the skill as well as knowledge of the employee notably, as a result, the workers become more and more productive. For instance, if you train a individual to be a better accountant, the accounting performance of that individual will rise. If you train a worker to fix an engine, the worker will be more productive in fixing engines. These are the obvious direct effects of making people more skilled. Last but not the list, human capital also improves the adaptability and allocative efficiency in society. It allow agents to allocate resource more effectively across tasks. It enhances the ability of agents to adapt to changes and to respond to new opportunities.
From my point of view, we have reason to believe that human capital is of great importance in economic development and we’d better spare no effort to make full use of it. Consequently, there is no denying that we must pay more attention to education and improve the quality of population.
(完整版)武汉大学研究生英语期末考试口语话题及素材
