各位好，欢迎回到作文专栏的第十一期，关于专栏的介绍可见专栏介绍。
我们在写作文的时候经常要用到很多主题相关表达，比如写“青少年犯罪”类文章会用到 juvenile delinquency，young offenders, crime deterrence 这些搭配和词组。那么，平时应该怎样积累这些主题相关表达呢？
一个方法是阅读与这些写作话题相关的文章，从文章里面学习借鉴表达。推荐BBC新闻：
BBC新闻下面有多个子频道，比如教育、健康、家庭、环境、文化等，每个频道里面都汇集了大量与主题相关的报道，这些报道里面有很多值得我们学习的地方。举个例子，下面是一篇关于父母使用手机对家庭关系影响的文章节选：
An overuse of mobile phones by parents disrupts family life, according to a survey of secondary pupils. ...
Among the pupils:
82% felt meal times should be device-free
22% said the use of mobiles stopped their families enjoying each other's company
36% had asked their parents to put down their phones ...
Research last year by DAUK and HMC showed almost half of secondary pupils were checking their mobile phones after they had gone to bed, amid warnings that they were arriving at school tired and unable to concentrate.
上面段落中加下划线的短语 an overuse of mobile phones，disrupt family life，device-free，enjoy each other's company，arrive at school tired and unable to concentrate 都是看起来很简单但又非常实用的写作表达。长期阅读这些文章并积累好词好句会使我们的遣词造句能力得到很大提升。
今天要分析的作文题目是：
Several languages are in danger of extinction because they are spoken by very small numbers of people. Some people say that governments should spend public money on saving these languages, while others believe that would be a waste of money. Discuss both these views and give your opinion.
这是原始作文版本：
习作/Scottie
As English becomes the world dominant language, minority languages are put in a dangerous place.People who appeal to protect them with tax revenue are opposed by those who regard it as an abuse of public funds.I would argue that the endangered languages should be saved and the government should give financial priority to other important areas, such as education and technology.
The minority languages are a cultural treasure for human beings, which are worth our preservation. Although the languages cannot directly boost economic growth, they are the essence of specific civilization, inheriting different beliefs and values. By contrast, if one day there were on longer other languages except English, the multicultural society would die out as well as the language.As a result, we need to take measures to keep them alive.For instance, the government can establish an institution that recruits interested and capable volunteers to learn and inherit the nearly disappearing languages.Such method does need financial support, but with the help of social funds, it will not take up too much public resources.
On the other hand, the limited revenue of government might be better spend on fields that help improve living standards and make economy productive. The reason why is that many important concerns are under-funded. First, people living under the poverty line still have to struggle for living.It is the government who is responsible for using state pensions to reduce social inequality. Second, education and high technology means the future of a country, so they deserve more financial support.
In conclusion, saving endangered languages need to share revenue moderately ,but a wise government should take advantage of public fund to benefit taxpayers.
这是点评版本：
As English becomes the world's dominant language, minority languages are put in a dangerous place. People who appeal to protect (support protecting) them with tax revenue are opposed by those who regard it as an abuse of public funds. I would argue that the (\) endangered languages should be saved and the government should give financial priority to other important areas, such as education and technology.
The (\) minority languages are a cultural treasure for human beings, which are worth our preservation. Although the languages cannot directly boost economic growth, they are the essence of specific civilization, inheriting different beliefs and values. (they constitute a reservoir of cultural and historical knowledge) By contrast, if one day there were on (no) longer other languages except English, the multicultural society would die out as well as the language. (many cultures would die out with languages) As a result, we need to take measures to keep them alive. For instance, the government can establish an institution that recruits interested and capable (enthusiastic and qualified) volunteers to learn and inherit the nearly (\) disappearing languages. Such method does need financial support, but with the help of social funds, it will not take up too much public resources.
On the other hand, the limited revenue of the government might be better spend on fields that help improve living standards and make the economy productive. The reason why (behind this) is that many important concerns are under-funded. First, people living under the poverty line still have to struggle for living. It is the government who is responsible for using state pensions to reduce social inequality. Second, education and high technology means the future of a country, so they deserve more financial support.
（这一段离题了，题目是问政府是否应该花钱拯救濒危语言，而不是问政府怎么改善民生）
In conclusion, saving endangered languages need to share revenue moderately, (governments should use public money to save endangered languages) but a wise government should take advantage of public funds to benefit taxpayers.
思路分析：
Several languages are in danger of extinction because they are spoken by very small numbers of people. Some people say that governments should spend public money on saving these languages, while others believe that would be a waste of money. Discuss both these views and give your opinion.
小语种消失是目前几乎所有国家都面临的一个问题，而对于政府是否应该拯救濒危语言目前也有不少争议。支持政府拯救小语种的人认为，语言背后承载的是文化以及身份认同，一旦语言消失，语言背后的文化知识以及身份认同感也会随着消失。
另一部分人则认为，语言的消亡只是一种自然演化过程。历史上曾经有无数种语言产生和消亡，这种自然进程是很难干预的。同时，一些少数族裔因为语言问题而无法与主流社会相融合，政府保护小语种的行为可能会加剧这种状况，不利于社会和谐。
下面给出我写的一个版本：
习作/魏剑峰
The global advance of English in the past decades has put many minority languages at risk. This has raised concerns over the disappearance of some languages and triggered debates about whether governments should save them.
Some people argue that the government should put money into the protection of endangered languages because these languages possess cultural and social significance. Each language is a unique expression of the human experience of the world, and the disappearance of it will result in the irrecoverable loss of cultural and historical knowledge. One example is the Inuit, the language spoken by people living in the chilly northern areas of the North America. There are many words for snow in Inuit to match the many varieties people encounter, and they enable us to see snow from a different angle, an experience so valuable that no one could contemplate the loss of Inuit with equanimity. Also, as a language dies, its speakers may experience the loss of their language as a loss of their original ethnic and cultural identity. Such scenarios justify government’s efforts to preserve dying tongues.
However, some deem that it is a waste of time and money to protect minority languages from extinction. Throughout human history, languages have been born, evolved and died. This is a natural process of language evolution, and efforts to reverse the trend will prove to be costly and thankless. Another concern is that governments’ effort to save dying languages might encourage some minority groups to hang on to their mother tongues, making it difficult for them to become assimilate into the community. For these reasons, governments should think twice before allocating public funds to keep alive endangered languages.
Overall, minority languages that are in critical danger of extinction are worth saving. At the same time, governments should encourage minority groups to learn languages shared by the wider society, so as to promote social harmony.
预告：
本专栏下期要分析的作文题目是：
Convenience food will become increasingly prevalent and eventually replace traditional food and traditional methods of food preparation. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
感兴趣的同学可以先思考如何写，然后对照下期的思路分析。建议有空的同学自己动笔写一篇。
本作文专栏长期接受读者投稿，感兴趣的同学可以将习作发到我的邮箱 [email protected]，部分习作有机会得到点评。
