Corrections · 4
As we can see from the picture, an aged grandmother is sitting on a chair which is placed in front of a large mirror. Faced with the image of herself, the old woman feels extremely lonely and says sadly, “My sons are working in the office while my grandsons are studying in the school, leaving me alone at home. It is so lonely.”
The problem reflected from by the picture is that so many aged people are suffering from the empty-nest syndrome. On the one hand, as the social economy rapidly grows, nowadays old people have to retire at an earlier age and then stay at home with nothing to do. On the other hand, young people face are confronted with more fierce competition(1) both in office at work and at school. As a result, old(2) parents have less and less fewer and fewer (3) opportunities to enjoy time with their children. What’s more important, the increasing isolation will further lead to a further misery in the empty-nest family.
To solve this social problem typified in the above this picture(4) , in my opinion, young people should take on(5) the responsibility of caring for the old (2) . It is not wise to exchange your happiness with families within the family for a promotion or a decent salary. So I think young workers should learn more about what is the true meaning of love, happiness, and duty. Taking care of the old(2) is not only a traditional virtue cherished by the Chinese, but also a real way to experience life.valuable (or ‘rewarding’) life experience In addition, ( or ‘moreover’) a harmonious family atmosphere may become a strong motivation to make can form a stong platform for making further progress in the individual’s personal affairs.
(1) “fierce competition”is ok “more fierce competition “ would mean more (quantity not intensity) fierce compeition, “fiercer” is not common. I’d go with ‘stiffer’ which admittedly is a little more reserved, but you know about the British tradition ofunderstatement!
(2) Interesting case of connotations; “old” nowadays seems to
have negative associations. People tend to say “older parents”“older members of staff” etc and in very many cases we use the words “elderly” or “aged” which seem to be less ‘blunt’
(3) Singular = “less”, plural = “fewer” so “less time, less money”
“fewer people, fewer occasions” BUT many native English speakers get this wrong. I have heard educated people ontelevision making this mistake.
(4) “the above picture” tends to mean that the picture is inserted near the beginning of the text
(5) “take on” can mean “assume, accept, take over”
- “We need somebody to update our list of contacts”
- “OK, I’ll take that on”
and “take on a responsibility” of course
or
“take on” can mean to “take up a challenge, to confront”
“Andy Murray took on Federer and beat him 6-4 etc etc”
VG (teacher talk for 'very good')
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