今回の Topic は、２０２０年度早稲田大学政治経済学部の入試問題からです。

１. Topic           

       Do you agree or disagree; “For teenagers, smartphones do more harm than good.”

２. Struture

a) Thesis Statement          

      I agree with the statement, due to high costs, wasting time, and preventing teenagers from  acquiring systematic knowledge and organized thought.

b) Body の部分を構成する３つの Paragraph の Main Idea は、

第１ Paragraph　スマートフォンのイニシャル・ランニングコストは高額すぎる

第２ Paragraph　スマートフォンは時間を無駄に使うことに直結し得る

第３ Paragraph　スマートフォンの使用によって体系的な知識や思考の獲得を阻害する

 

３. Sample

     I agree with the statement, due to high costs, wasting time, and preventing teenagers from  acquiring systematic knowledge and organized thought.      

     To begin with, initial and running costs for smartphones is unreasonably high for teenagers because most of them don’t live independently, leaving the costs for their parents.  In terms of the device for remote communication, monthly fees for traditional cell phones are much cheaper than those of fashionable smartphones.  And the reasonably priced cell phones have basic functions for communication and GPS (global positing system) capability equivalent to expensive smart phones.        

     In addition, smart phone addiction could make teenagers passive and intolerant.  With easy access to streaming video and music  or online video game service provided by smartphones, some teenagers spend most of their free time watching videos and listening to pop music or playing video games, without positively deciding what to do.  As a result, they seem to become very passive and intolerant since they are used to getting what they want instantly via smartphone applications.          

     Finally, easy access to data and information through search engines via smartphones should be detrimental to acquiring systematic knowledge and fostering organized way of thinking for teenagers.  It has been often pointed out that today’s teenagers spend less time reading to acquire basic knowledge for learning liberal studies, such as literature, history, or arithmetic.  Although they have always access to up-to-minute information via smartphones, they  have not developed crucial capacity to incorporate the information into organized framework or paradigm.              

     It is true that digital literacy is essential for teenagers in the future and smartphones could help them acquire it.  However, because of the three reasons I mentioned above, I agree with the statement.

 

To be continued.