大家都知道，托福写作考试中独立作文题目有许多都是非常抽象的话题，如：幸福（happiness），成功（success），金钱（money），社会地位（social status），公共认同（public recognition），乐观精神（optimism），计划和整理（plan and organize），创新（creativity），充满野心的梦想和实际的目标（ambitious dreams and realistic goals），美丽的事物（beautiful things）等等。很多考生遇到此类话题就没有了头绪，因为对他们来说这些东西非常抽象，看不见，摸不着，只是一个概念，因此文章就不知道如何下手，也不知道如何确立观点，并且很想知道考官是不是有偏向性的观点。下面朗阁名师就给大家分析一下对于抽象类话题如何有效的去破解。
关于金钱（money）的话题：
1). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
People who do not have to work because they have enough money are barely happy.（抽象类，快乐与钱）2007.11.3
因为有很多钱，所以不用工作的人们，很少有开心的。
2). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
The main purpose for people who have jobs is for money rather than social status.（抽象类，钱与地位）2012.5.26
人们工作的主要目的是为了挣钱而不是为了社会地位。
3). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Teachers should be paid according to what their students’ perform.（老师）（学生）（钱）2007.10.28 & 2009.8.8
教师应该根据学生的表现获得报酬。
4). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
To improve the quality of education, universities should spend more money on professors’ salaries.（老师）（钱）2010.11.13 & 2012.8.17
（类似考题：Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The best way to improve the quality of education in a country is to increase teachers’ salaries. (111210CNW2=090403NAW2) 为了增加教育质量，应该花更多钱在教授的工资上。）
5). A high school has decided that all students must take a class in which they learn a practical skill. School administrators are trying to decide whether to hold a class in cooking, managing personal finances or auto repair. Which do you think the school should require students to take? Why?
高中决定给所有学生开设一门培养实际技能的课程，学校的管理者在这三者之中纠结：开设厨艺课？开设个人理财课？还是开设汽车修理课？你认为哪个最合适？为什么？
6). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Parents should give money to the school-children for their high marks they get in exams.（家长）（孩子）2009.11.21
家长应该给孩子钱作为考试高分奖励。
7). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
To become financially responsible adults, children should learn to manage money at a very young age.（孩子）（钱）2009.5.9
要成为有财政责任的成年人，孩子在很小的年龄就应该学会理财。
8). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
To achieve successful development of a country, a government should focus its budgets more on young children’s education rather than on universities.（孩子）（）2009.11.7 & 2012.8.25
一个要想成功发展，的预算应该集中在年轻孩子教育的培养上而不是上。
9). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
People should pay to use public transportation. 2007.12.1
人们应该付钱去使用公共交通工具。
10). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement:
The government should spend more money on improving access to the Internet than on the public transportation. (Government) 2008.5.16
应该花钱在改善网络覆盖率还是花钱在公共交通工具上。
11). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Drivers should pay a fee for driving in busy city streets when traffic is in a great amount.（社会类，社会规则）2007.1.14
司机应该在繁忙的城市街道上行驶的时候多交一部分费用。
12). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
It is better to spend money traveling and vacation instead of saving it in the bank for future.（社会类，旅游）2007.10.21
（类似考题：In your opinion, which one is better? To spend money on something that lasts for a long time, such as valuable jewelry, or spend your money on short term pleasure such as vacation?（抽象类，价值观）2007.5.18 在你的想法中，花钱在持续时间很长的东西（如珍贵的珠宝）上，还是花钱在及时行乐（如度假）上。）
13). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement:
Universities should spend more money in buying facilities than hiring famous professors. 2012.8.17
应该花钱在购买设备方面还是应该花钱在雇用有名的教授方面。
14). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Advertisement is a waste of time and money, because customers already know what they want.（社会类，媒体）2007.12.8
广告是很浪费金钱和时间的行为，因为客人已经知道他们想要的是什么了。
15). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
It is more important for the government to spend money on art museums and concert halls than on recreational facilities such as swimming pools and playgrounds.（社会类，）2009.9.19
应该花钱在艺术馆和音乐厅上面，而不是娱乐设施（如游泳池或游乐场）方面。
16). Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
More and more people are spending money on their pets, even though there can be other good ways to spend money.（环境类，动物）2010.8.13
越来越多的人花钱在他们的宠物上，即使有更多好的方式花钱。
以上总结出来关于金钱的话题大体可以分成3种类型，第一类话题：确实是比较抽象的话题，比如说钱和幸福感，钱与社会地位（1-2题），这类话题中的钱是个比较模糊的概念，很大。第二类话题：牵扯到很多具体的小话题，如老师的工资问题（salary），个人理财问题（personal finance），钱作为奖励孩子学习成绩问题（reward），以及人们应不应该付费使用交通工具问题（pay for public transportation），这些话题具体并且和钱息息相关。第三类话题：是应不应该花钱在这方面或者那方面，人们要不要花钱在这方面或那方面，主要针对艺术，体育设施，旅游等消费上，这类话题，其实和钱关系不是太大，只是想通过钱来表现哪个方面更重要，但是同学们也不应该忽视这些方面是不是需要钱来资助这个逆向思维。但是总体来说托福考试与钱相关考的东西还是比较多的，下面我们来详细分析一下这三类问题如何突破。
第一类：关于钱的抽象类话题
这个在系列文章一关于钱和幸福感（happiness）以及系列文章二关于钱与社会地位（social status）的问题上都给大家简单分析过，钱与幸福感的关系非常小，主要集中在钱能带来基本的、表面的物质需求和快乐：External, momentary pleasure (tasty food, warm baths, etc.) People with enough money to make ends meet are happier than people who are poor, but beyond that more money doesn’t make much difference. 幸福感不仅仅来源于外在的快感，如好吃的食物，温暖的淋浴，更多的来源于具有挑战性的活动，社交生活或者人际关系，有意义的生活，以及获得成功之后的成就感。钱与社会地位什么更重要当然也是社会地位，因为社会地位的意义更加广泛，而钱有太多的限制性。这些在之前都给大家分析过，在此不在赘述。
第二类：牵扯到很多具体的小话题
第二类话题牵扯到很多小话题，如老师的工资问题（salary），个人理财问题（personal finance），钱作为奖励孩子努力学习问题（reward），人们应不应该付费使用公共交通工具问题（pay for public transportation），以及驾驶车的人是否应该在繁忙的街道多付费用问题（driver should pay additional fee in busy street），我们来看看老外对这几个方面是如何理解的。
1. 老师的工资salary问题：
老师工资的问题托福一般有两个常见考题：1). 老师工资要不要和学生的表现挂钩。2). 应该花钱提高老师工资来提高教学质量。对于这些题目大家可能需要对国外的教师工资情况略知一二，这样比较容易写到老外心坎上去，如果按照中国老师的现状想当然来写，不一定符合老外的国情，也可能导致老外看不太懂，或者觉得我们说服力不够强。
首先我们来欣赏一下美国教师的平均工资水平（Average teacher salaries），各个州是不一样的，这些数据可以作为开头段引入或中间论证使用，看起来还是非常本土高大上的。
California had the nation's highest average salary in 2002-03, at $55,693. States joining California in the top tier（在最高等级） were Michigan, at $54,020; Connecticut, at $53,962; New Jersey, at $53,872; and the District of Columbia, at $53,194.
South Dakota had the lowest average salary in 2002-03, at $32,414. The other states in the bottom tier were Montana, at $35,754; Mississippi, at $35,135; North Dakota, at $33,869; and Oklahoma, at $33,277. Also in the lowest tier were the Virgin Islands, at $34,764; Guam at $34,738; and Puerto Rico, at $22,164.
如果想对比其他职业的工资如，医生（physician/doctor），律师（lawyer）工资，可以参考以下图表；
Physicians / Doctors Median Salary by Job:
|
Job
|
National Salary Data
|
|
Physician / Doctor, Internal Medicine
|
$172,579
|
|
Family Physician / Doctor
|
$162,867
|
|
Physician / Doctor, General Practice
|
$141,076
|
|
Physician / Doctor, Emergency Room (ER)
|
$210,400
|
|
Physician / Doctor, Radiologist
|
$285,984
|
|
Physician / Doctor, Neurologist
|
$200,233
|
|
Physician / Doctor, Oncologist
|
$245,010
|
|
Attorney / Lawyer Salary
(United States)
The average pay for an Attorney / Lawyer is $76,789 per year. Experience has a moderate effect on salary for this job.
|
National Salary Data
|
|
Salary
|
$45,769 - $149,455
|
|
Bonus
|
$0.00 - $23,058
|
|
Profit Sharing
|
$969 - $30,195
|
|
Commission
|
$0.00 - $36,241
|
|
Total Pay
|
$46,555 - $170,988
|
|
很显然，在美国教师的工资对比医生和律师是不高的，以下有一段直接点明了这一点：
According to a 2006 study done by the National Education Association, 50% of teachers leave the profession within five years because of poor working conditions and low salaries.
除了国外老师的工资背景需要知道以外，还需要了解老师这个行业的福利条件，这样写作的时候思路就会相对较广，比如针对第4题托福写作考题，有时候不提高工资，提高福利也可以刺激到老师提高教学质量，如以下这一段：
Teacher’s contracts may include long-term disability insurance（长期伤残保险）, life insurance（人寿保险）, and emergency/personal leave（应急事物/事假） and investment options（投资的选择）. Many teachers take advantage of the opportunity to increase their income by supervising after-school programs and other extracurricular activities（课外活动）. In addition to monetary compensation（财政补偿）, public school teachers may also enjoy greater benefits (like health insurance健康险) compared to other occupations（职业）. Merit pay systems（绩效工资制度） are on the rise for teachers, paying teachers extra money based on excellent classroom evaluations, high test scores and for high success at their overall school. Also, with the advent of the internet, many teachers are now selling their lesson plans to other teachers through the web in order to earn supplemental income, most notably on TeachersPayTeachers.com
以上这段维基百科中对老师的描述中有一些词组和词汇意群可以供大家使用及参考，如welfare benefits: Long-term disability insurance（protect an employee from loss of income in the event that he or she is unable to work due to illness, injury, or accident for long period of time保护员工因为疾病、受伤或事故长时间无法工作）, life insurance, and emergency/personal leave and investment options.（福利制度：保险，假期，投资），并且已经开始涉及托福具体写作话题，如老师工资与学生表现挂钩，并且很多学校已经开始实施学生表现好就给老师额外的merit pay systems（绩效）：paying teachers extra money based on excellent classroom evaluations, high test scores and for high success at their overall school。那么具体这样做有哪些好处，怎样针对第3题论证，我们看看老外又是如何描述的。
There is little doubt that to improve the education of public school students, the way teachers are recruited, educated, certified, hired, and tenured must be changed,” writes Rodney Clifton, a professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba and author of the report. “They must have incentives（激励制度） to work diligently at helping students achieve academically. School level administrators, in turn, must have incentives to help teachers teach the core subjects well and to help other school personnel make valuable contributions to the students’ academic achievement.”
很显然，这一段老外清晰的表达出了自己的观点，老师的各种制度比如说入职，受教育，任期等等都应该改变，都应该围绕着学生的学业表现来重新划分奖励机制，这样有助于更好的帮助老师围绕学生的学业展开教学。其中一些非常实用的表达有：“recruited, educated, certified, hired, and tenured must be changed（录取，教育，资质评判，雇佣，任期）”，这句话中的“tenure”是指a contractual right of a teacher or professor not to have his or her position terminated without just cause（老师或教授不会因为不合理的理由被开除，也就是终身教授制度）, “incentives to work diligently at helping students achieve academically（刺激他们更加勤奋地工作来帮助学生完成学业）”，“teach the core subjects（教授核心知识）”，“school personnel（学校的人员）”。
2. 个人理财（personal finance）问题：
关于个人理财问题，这类考点不多，但是中国学生普遍不是很会写，主要针对孩子是不是应该从小开始理财，高中要不要开设理财课，以及一般人们如何花钱比较合理这几个方面展开的。那么为什么中国孩子不会写呢，因为他们从小也没有什么理财经验，都是爸妈给管着钱，所以一谈到什么叫做personal finance management他们就傻眼了，文章中不断出现这个词组但是却没有充实的内容支撑。而相反，老外从小就开始培养孩子的独立意识，其中一种独立能力叫做自己管理自己的小金库，一想到这，笔者就想起小时候学习新概念中的一篇文章“Fifty pence worth of trouble”的两段：
Children always appreciate small gifts of money. Father, of course, provides a regular supply of pocket-money, but uncles and aunts are always a source of extra income. With some children, small sums go a long way. If sixpences are not exchanged for sweets, they rattle for months inside money-boxes.（在储钱罐里嘎嘎作响好几个月）Only very thrifty children manage to（成功做某事）fill up a money-box. For most of them, sixpence is a small price to pay for a satisfying bar of chocolate.
My nephew, George, has a money-box but it is always empty. Very few of the sixpences I have given him have found their way there. I gave him sixpence yesterday and advised him to save it. Instead, he bought himself sixpence worth of trouble. On his way to the sweet shop, he dropped his sixpence and it rolled along the pavement and then disappeared down a drain. George took off.
仔细分析一下这两段简直就是老外那些不会理财孩子蠢萌的表现，并且也不得不称赞新概念文章中的语言还是经典之经典，开头段那一连串的同义互换简直就绝了：small gifts of money=a regular supply of pocket-money=a source of extra income=small sums=sixpences=Very few of the sixpences, 除此之外，“rattle”, “found their way there”, “sixpence worth of trouble”都非常形象和生动，学生如果能参照写出如此生动的托福开头或者中间的举例段就再好不过了。
转入正题，那么到底为什么要培养孩子的个人理财能力呢，理财具体包括什么内容呢，首先要知道孩子的理财我们先必须了解大人的理财行为是什么，我们来参考以下老外对于理财见解的原文（原文中有许多关于什么是personal finance management的介绍，解决了之前这个词组在学生眼中的抽象性）：
1). Create an exact record of expenses over the next 30 days.（Make a List of Your Expenses: The first step in making a realistic budget（一个实际的预算） is figuring out where your money goes. To keep track, make an expense record（跟踪，做消费记录）. Record every expense you pay by cash or cash equivalent -- check, ATM or debit card, or automatic bank withdrawal.（记录下每一笔用现金或者使用支票，自动取款机取出来的钱，借记卡，或者自助银行的取款）When you make a payment on a credit card bill（信用卡账单）, list the items paid for. At the end of the months, list seasonal, annual, semi-annual, or quarterly expenses （列出每季度，每年，每半年，每三个月的花费）you incur （引起）but did not pay during your month recording period.
2). Categorize your expenses. You may be amazed at how much money simply slips through your fingers（花钱如流水）right now. The most common are property taxes, car registration and maintenance, magazine subscriptions, tax preparation fees, insurance payments, and seasonal expenses such as summer camp fees or holiday gifts.（常见的花费主要是产权税，车辆登记和维护，杂志订阅，商品税，保险金，还有些季度消费如假期野营和节假日礼物）
3). Determine your "hidden" monthly expenses: car insurance, taxes, dues, membership fees, gifts,（汽车保险，税，手续费，会费，礼物金额） etc. and figure out how much you spend on average per month for these expenses.
4). Look for expenses that you can cut and plan on how you will cut them.（节省开支）It may be helpful to start slowly. Determine how much you will be able to put into savings each month given these cuts.
5). Open a savings account.（开一个存钱的账户） Each month, when you are paying your other monthly bills, write another check to cover your hidden expenses and put it into savings. When you get a bill in this category, pay it from savings.
6). Conceal or cut up your credit cards to help eliminate random purchases.（减少随意的花费）
7). Deposit your excess money each month in savings
8). Whenever you get unexpected money - a raise, a bonus, a refund, a present - put it directly into savings to apply toward your financial goals.
看了这几段之后同学们应该对理财这个概念不陌生也不模糊了，里面使用了大量的和理财相关的词组和词汇，比如说：“cash or cash equivalent -- check, ATM or debit card, or automatic bank withdrawal”, “credit card bill（信用卡账单）”, “list seasonal, annual, semi-annual, or quarterly expenses”, “saving account”等等，都已给大家用横线标出，非常实用，总的来说，老外成年人的理财指的主要是1). budget（预算）；2). expend（花费）；3). saving（存钱）；4). income（收入），也就是收支要平衡，然后结余的钱省下来存起来，以备不时之需，那么孩子的理财是否也是类似的呢？我们来看一下：
1). Saving is earning. First, I will teach my children to save money at early stage. This would increase the importance of money in Children. 增加孩子对钱的意识。
2). Will try to show all the expenses made for family. They need to understand how each rupee is coming and going from the pocket. 他们需要懂得每分钱是怎么挣来的和花掉的，在此“rupee”本意是卢比，在这里指代的是辛苦钱。
3). Make them understand what is needy? And what is luxury? 知道什么是需要花钱的，什么花钱就是浪费，在这里“what is luxury”并不仅仅指代的是奢侈品，而是不需要花掉的钱。
4). Will open bank account for them and ask them to deposit their savings into their account. They should feel that is their money and should know how their money is growing in the Bank account. 开账户存钱，这是一种投资，其中“how money is growing in the bank account”使用得非常形象。
5). Also learn them to contribute some portion of the money to the poor or needy persons. They will come to know the importance of money and the joy of giving. 培养正确的价值观，钱不是万能的，给予是快乐的。
从以上几点可以看出，对于孩子来说，理财的做法和大人差不多，无怪乎是一些saving, expending, 意义也和大人差不多，主要为了培养孩子将来对钱的价值观和如何管理自己的财产有关系，里面使用了非常多的形象短语供大家使用。
除此之外，老外还有一些早教书籍供孩子学习一些理财知识，在这里也可以和大家普及一下，写作文的时候可以作为例子使用：
Here are five books that teach valuable money lessons and remain favorites of our children.
1). “Lemonade in Winter” by Emily Jenkins and G. Brian Karas focuses on two siblings who make the interesting choice to open a lemonade stand（摊点） in the middle of winter. The book features a catchy refrain（吸引人的挫折） about lemonade while telling a story about how sometimes great ideas don’t turn out like you hope（如你所愿）.
“Lemonade in Winter” teaches the very basics of entrepreneurship and a small amount of basic math. Age range: 2 to 7 year olds.（教育关于企业家，创业者的基本知识并且教授一些基本数学。）
2). “Bunny Money” by Rosemary Wells is a “Max and Ruby” story, as it centers around a pair of bunny siblings（兄弟姐妹） familiar to most parents of young children today. In this story, Ruby has saved $100 to buy her grandmother a birthday present, but various unexpected events befall（落到） Ruby and Max, causing some of that money to disappear. Will they have enough to buy the gifts for grandmother?
“Bunny Money” teaches basic money math, such as addition and subtraction, as well as the idea of a budget and how emergencies can tear through your money. Age range: 3 to 7 year olds（教授基本的数学，如加法，减法，预算，和紧急事故发生后如何需要钱的）
3). "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat" by Simms Taback tells the story of a frugal（节省的，朴素的）man who has a nice overcoat, but he wears it a lot and it begins to wear out.（磨破）Eventually, he reuses the material to make a jacket, then a vest, then various other things until it becomes a cloth button. The book won a Caldecott Medal for its wonderful drawings which not only bring Joseph’s world to life（让Joseph重生）, but also clearly show how the material from Joseph’s overcoat is reused to make other things.
“Joseph Had a Little Overcoat” teaches frugality and the idea of reusing things, because even items that are worn out can still have valuable use. Age range: 3 to 8 year olds. 教会孩子通过重复使用东西来节省，因为即使东西被用坏了也是有使用价值的。
4). “Annie’s Adventures” by Lauren Baratz-Logsted is the first in an ongoing series called “The Sisters 8” about orphaned octuplet（八胞胎孤儿） girls whose parents disappear. In this volume, the titular Annie ends up having to figure out their parents’ financial situation, including how to write checks, interpret bills and eventually pay for all of it（写支票，理解账单，最终买单）. It’s a gentle and humorous introduction into the reality of adult finances couched in an enjoyable, simple adventure.（这是一个依赖有趣和简单的冒险方式非常委婉和幽默地介绍成人世界的财政）
“Annie’s Adventures” teaches the basics of earning money and paying bills, including the use of checks. There are also elements (in this book and the rest of the series) of entrepreneurship, frugality and money management decisions. Age range: 6 to 12 year olds （教会了孩子赚钱和买单的基本技能，包括使用支票，以及创业，节省，钱的管理决定等）
5). “The Lemonade War” by Jacqueline Davies is the first in a series about two siblings who open up competing lemonade stands. The story escalates（升级）as the siblings use their skills and a few ideas about entrepreneurship to drive their “lemonade war” to amusing heights.（把战争推向了新高度）
“The Lemonade War” teaches the basics of entrepreneurship, planning and money management in the context of an enjoyable adventure story that hits upon the lives of upper elementary children. Age range: 8 to 12 year olds（使用适合高阶段有趣的冒险故事教会了人们创业精神，计划和管理钱财）
3. 孩子学习要不要money reward的问题：
接着我们来看关于钱的另外几个问题，其中一个是孩子要不要使用钱来刺激学习，这个不管在国内还是国外都是一个比较常见的现象，可能在中国更加频繁一些，所以这个题目相对来说不是很难，我们来看看老外是如何解析的：
Many parents who are willing to pay their children for good grades will argue that it is a child’s job to go to school and learn. Therefore, they should be compensated for positive results just as they are at their jobs. If you ask me, this would be the weakest argument for those on the “pro” side of this practice. Logically speaking, it does make sense, but one could counter that not all jobs are rewarded with money. Parents do not clean the house for money. People at unpaid internships get nothing but experience and networking opportunities. Some “jobs” serve not as money-making opportunities, but as character and experience builders. For example, personal growth is one of the main benefits of learning in a classroom with fellow students, which should be payment enough for children.
这一段使用了驳论法，主要针对一些人同意孩子应该用钱来鼓励这个点是行不通的进行说理，认为孩子在学校学习得更多的是经验和与人相处的技能，而不仅仅是学业上的进步，因此不应该用钱来鼓励孩子，不应该让孩子认为学习就是赚钱的过程。
Another “pro” argument is that the promise of money for grades increases the students’ drive for success and good marks soon follow. Salespeople often get bonuses for high sales numbers, so why not apply this same philosophy to your student in hopes that the potential for income increases effort? One argument against this line of thinking is that kids do not understand the importance of earning money and often don’t really need their own money. If the money does not matter to them, the grades won’t matter. Thus, the promise of getting paid as a reward for good grades is not really a reward. The same argument can be applied to a child that you pay to do tasks around the house. If it comes to a choice of earning $5 to mow the lawn or continuing to play Halo, the kid may not care about the money; he would rather continue his game. To be effective, you must first teach your children how to handle money.
这段同样使用了驳论法，先是提出一部分人赞同的想法就是可以用钱来鼓励孩子，就像成人世界中用钱来鼓励销售一样的道理，但是问题是孩子并不理解钱的重要性，这样即使给孩子钱作为奖励，一旦孩子觉得钱并不重要，这样学习的动力自然也就没有了（作者还举了例子），所以要用钱来奖励孩子不如先教会孩子如何处理钱的问题。
This practice can also get the parents into a bad mindset （使得家长有错误的想法）of thinking money is all that matters to the kid. If a student is struggling, will these parents do everything in their power to have a conversation with teachers or assist with the child’s homework? Would the parents take away driving privileges and time away from friends? Or would they simply threaten to stop paying the kid money? Is the threat of lost money truly enough to entice the student to buckle down and do what is necessary to turn things around in school?
这一段直接点明了给孩子钱作为奖励的问题：比如钱是衡量一切的标准，家长会为此剥夺孩子的课余时间？等等这段里面使用了许多有用的短语，如：“get into a bad mindset”可以代替“wrong thinking”, “do everything in their power”可以代替“try their best”, 以及“driving privileges”（开车的特权）, “entice sb. to do sth”（诱惑某人做某事）,“buckle down（尽全力做某事）”, “do what is necessary to turn things around”（做应该做的事使情况好转）。
4. 公共交通上花钱（pay for public transportation）问题：
其次：对于老百姓要不要在公共交通上花钱，中国孩子一般都会觉得老外的福利好，对于这种福利肯定也不会错过，所以一般会写不赞同，然后把责任转嫁到头上去，觉得应该这样，应该那样，就是万能的救世主，很多考官看到中国孩子的作文都觉得很有意思，因为想法确实会有区别，实际上老外也是很纠结的，一部分认为赞同，一部分认为不赞同，但是大部分还是觉得我们应该自行付这笔费用：
人们应该自行去付公共交通工具的费用：
理由一（不会给、纳税者和交通造成压力）：
I think that public transportation should be paid for by the people using it, because a lot of people who do not own a vehicle use it to go to and from work. I do not think that the government should pay for public transportation. There are a lot of people who use public transportation to travel to and from work because they do not own a vehicle, or choose not to use it to go to work. I think that they have the income to pay for a ride to and from work. I think that if the government started to foot the bill（承担费用） for public transportation, then everyone would park their vehicles（在这里是不再使用车的形象表达） and take the bus to work, especially with the cost of gas now. This will only put a bigger burden on（造成更重的负担） the taxpayers who are more than likely working class（工薪阶层） Americans who do drive to work, in their own vehicles, and have to purchase their own gas. This would not be at all fair to them.
Free public transport may be misused（被滥用） by people and may affect the financial status（影响财政地位）of government. Present culture of（当前） paying for their travel is the best way of transport. If public travelling is made free it may be misused by some people. It may also affect the financial status of government. Even they may suffer from loss of income（受到收入减少的影响） from transport department. Some may have unnecessary travel（不必要的旅行）affecting others. It may lead to congestion and crowd（拥堵） in public transport.
理由二（应该资助那些更核心的方面，而交通费用并不核心，也不贵）：
All public transport should not be free and paid for by the government because there are more impotent things（无能为力的事情需要被负担） to pay for. In my opinion, there are more important things that the government should support and fully cover（完全承担）, like hospitals, fire and police departments, and maybe even schools.（应该承担如医院，救火，警察部门甚至是学校的费用） They could even support child care or children hospitals more, because they can't be fully free. Transport is cheap enough as it is.（当前的交通费用已经很便宜了）The government can't pay for everything.
Public transport should not be paid for by the governments because it cannot be afforded. Public transport should not be free and paid for by the government because government cannot afford to pay for it unless other vital services to the general public are cut drastically. The possibility of free public transportation falls far below the necessities of other services and should be prioritized according to importance of maintaining a viable society.
人们不应该自行去付公共交通工具的费用：
理由一（增加就业，促进经济发展）：
Good for the Common People in the Economy I'm not for entitlements, but when the government pays for a good or service and it benefits the economy as a whole it's not an entitlement. If everyone can get from point A to point B whenever they have to for free this creates the potential for great upward mobility.（造成一个潜在的增加流动性的危险） This would reduce unemployment as job opportunities could be searched for in a wider area for people without cars. We should include not just intracity but intercity（不仅仅是市内交通，更要发展城市间的交通） and even magnet trains （甚至是磁悬浮列车）to allow for even interstate commutation（洲际交流） between states further away from each other.
理由二（环保，省钱：这个点是中国孩子想不到的，因为国外，特别是美国公共交通如火车汽车等的费用有时候比自己开车多多了，后面作者还举了一个10美元的小例子）：
Good for the ecosystem. It would save the planet from global warming and in turn（反过来） would save money because more people would be using the same car saving millions. It costs almost $10 for a one way trip across town and for many people this could pay for dinner.（单程过一个镇子几乎要花掉10美金并且对于很多人来说这个钱都可以付晚餐了）On top of this it （除此之外）would reduce congestion on the road. More public transport would reduce global warming by taking cars off our roads.（更多的公共交通会通过减少车从而减少全球变暖状况）
Free public transport would reduce the number of cars on the road. Global warming is a serious issue and, if public transport was free, more people would use it, taking cars off the road. 1 train could take 2000 cars off the road. A public transport system with 20 trains could take 40,000 cars off the road. Some people would simply choose to not own cars, further reducing the number of cars on the road. Across dozens of cities in a nation and thousands world-wide, the result of free public transport would be dramatic in cutting vehicle emissions and combating global warming.（减少汽车尾气以及抵抗全球变暖）
5. 关于开车人要在繁忙街道付额外费用的问题driver should pay additional fee in busy street or not：
这个问题实际上和上个要不要给公共交通付钱问题比较类似，牵扯到的话题主要是环保，的职能以及每个公民的义务，所以观点和词汇上比较相近，就不赘述了。
第三类：关于钱的话题（和钱的关系不大，主要通过钱来衡量事物的重要性）：
这类话题的题目非常多，主要集中在应不应该花钱在这方面或者那方面，个人要不要花钱在这方面或那方面，公司，机构，组织，学校要不要花钱在这方面或那方面，主要针对艺术，体育设施，旅游，员工工资激励，学校设施，短期娱乐，长期投资，环保等消费或花费上，当然还有一些比较偏和细小的话题，比如要不要花钱在宠物身上，广告上等。这类话题其实和钱关系不是太大，只是想通过钱来表现哪个方面更重要，所以在这些问题的思路上主要还是根据个体事物的特点出发，比如应该在基础设施上花多的钱还是在音乐厅美术馆上花更多的钱，这种题目就可以分别讨论基础设施的优缺点以及美术馆音乐厅这些娱乐方式的优缺点，从中选出自己认为的最优项，但是同时同学们也不应该忽视这些方面是不是需要钱来资助这个逆向思维。这些个别的话题特点我们将放在以后的类，教育类中详细讨论。
