GMAT考试写作指导：Issue写作范文二三

　　23. The speaker asserts that schools should teach only academic skills, and not ethical

　　or social values. I agree with the speaker insofar as instruction on certain moral issues is

　　best left to parents and churches. However, in my view it is in the best interests of a

　　democratic society for schools to teach at least the values necessary to preserve freedom

　　and a democratic way of life, and perhaps ever) additional values that enrich and nurture

　　a society and its members.

　　We all have in interest in preserving our freedom and democratic way of life- At

　　the very least, then, schools should provide instruction in the ethical and social values

　　required for our democracy to survive―particularly the values of respect and tolerance.

　　Respect for individual persons is a basic ethical value that requires us to acknowledge

　　the fundamental equality of all people, a tenet of a democratic society. Tolerance of

　　differences among individuals and their viewpoints is required to actualize many of our

　　basic constitutional rights―including life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and freedom of

　　speech and religion.

　　While respect and tolerance are the minimal values that schools should teach, the

　　list should ideally go further―to include caring, compassion, and willingness to help

　　one another. A democracy might survive without these values, but it would not thrive.

　　Respect and tolerance without compassion, it seems to me, breed a cool aloofness that

　　undermines our humanity, and leaves those in the worst position to suffer more and

　　suffer alone―an unhealthy state for any society.

　　Admittedly, schools should avoid advocating particular viewpoints on

　　controversial moral issues such as abortion or capital punishment. Instruction on issues

　　with clear spiritual or religious implications is best left to parents and churches. Even so,

　　schools should teach students how to approach these kinds of issues―by helping

　　students to recognize their complexity and to clarify competing points of view. In doing

　　so, schools can help breed citizens who approach controversy in the rational and

　　responsible ways characteristic of a healthy democracy.

　　In sum, schools should by all means refrain from indoctrinating our young people

　　with particular viewpoint on controversial questions of morality. However, it is in a

　　democratic societys interest for schools to inculcate the democratic values of respect

　　and tolerance, and perhaps even additional values that humanize and enrich a society.