小作文：

　　柱和表格混合圖

　　Australia, Sydney: average salary in different sectors in one country in 2001and 2010.

　　大作文：Government money should support more important things rather than artists. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

　　相關題目：2012年重復出現的題目。

　　Many people think that arts (painting and music) do not directly improve people's life, so government should spend money on other important areas. Do you agree or disagree? 2012.07.28

　　Money for postgraduate research is limited. Therefore some people think financial support from governments should be only provided for scientific research rather than research for less useful subjects. Do you agree or disagree? 2012.09.15

　　關于政府預算的分配問題一直都是高頻題目，大家看下表就知道了。通常討論的對立面都在藝術和科技之間，偶爾在藝術和教育福利之間。

　　寫作思路：

　　第一段：引入話題，藝術是否該獲得政府資金支持

　　第二段：科學研究與社會服務當然可以明顯地提高人民的生活水平，如科技，教育，醫療。但是這些只能滿足人們的物質需求。

　　第三段：政府需要投資藝術，因為：

　　1. 人類有多重的需求，藝術是表達感情和思想的渠道，原始社會就有藝術形式的存在。藝術不活躍，導致思想僵化，科技和經濟發展遲滯。高度文明的社會總是伴隨著繁榮的文化和藝術

　　2. 藝術和文化有地域特點，是國家團結的一個紐帶

　　3. 藝術提供看世界的多重視角，培養人的創造和創新能力

　　第四段：政府應該既投資社會基礎服務，也投資藝術。這樣才能創造一個健康有生機的社會

　　Due to budget shortfall in many countries, the funding for arts is facing a declining trend. The main reason is that some people partially emphasize the role of science and technology and social services such as medical care and education, but underestimate the intangible contribution of the arts which is difficult toquantify.

　　If we were to judge something by its material value, putting the taxpayers money into social service and science surely looks justifiable as it plays a more direct role in increasing people’s living standard than the arts. For example, education empowers people with knowledge and skills that make capable workers. Improving healthcare system leads to better public health and better quality of life. Environmental technologies such as clean energies help make the earth a better place to live. However, these do not necessarily enhance the happiness of people. That is to say the quality of life does not solely depend on material satisfaction.

　　Humans are emotional beings and need not only bread to eat but also roses to enjoy. Arts existed as early as in prehistory era, which is the best evidence of arts significance even under a preliminary living condition. Humans instinctivelyexpress their thoughts and emotions through painting, music or literature, which is always about creativity and uniqueness. Therefore without thriving arts, the other fields such as science, economy and education would lose inspiration and passion. Looking back at the human history, there was no highly advanced civilisation without the company of prosperous arts and culture. Another reason for government to support arts is that arts can enhance national cohesion due to its unique regional and racial characteristics. Citizen engagement in arts activities creates a strong shared identity and instills pride in a state’s cultural heritage.

　　To conclude, it is the arts that deal with non-material aspects of human life and it is as important as basic social services for humans, but in different ways. To maintain a healthy and robust society, governments should not marginalise the arts.