Forthatreason,itwouldseemthatthe best.approachwould betowork by persuasion
ratherthancompulsionThiscould bedonebyaprocessofeducationthatpointsout
thewayasmallerfamilycanmeananimproved quality oflifeforthefamilymembers,
aswellaslessstrain onthecountry'sperhapsverylimited,resources.
Thisisthepreferredway.Ofcourseifthis docsnotsucceedwithinareasonabletime
scale,itmay benecessarytoconsider
othermeasures.suchastaxincentivesorchild-benefitpaymentsforsmallfamilies
only.Thesearemidway between persuasionandcompulsion.
So. yes.itissometimesnecessary, but governmentsshouldtry very hardto persuade
first.Theyshouldalsorememberthatthisisavery delicateareaindeed,and
thatsocialengineeringcancreateasmany problemsasitsolves?
Sample 135
Themassmedia,includingtelevision,radio andnewspapers,havegreat
influenceinshapingpeople'sideas.
Towhatextentdo youagreeordisagreewiththisstatement?
Givereasonsforyouranswer.
Youshouldwriteatleast 250 words.Youshouldspendabout 40 minutes onthistask.modelanswer:
Themassmediahaveapowerfulinfluenceinshaping ourlives.Wehavecometo
depend onthemforinformationandentertainment,andin doingsoweletthemaffect
importantaspectsofourlives.
Theundeniableusefulnessofthemediainalmostinstantly providinginformationabout
eventsaroundtheworldislargelytakenforgranted.Butin ourdependence onthe
mediawehaveallowedthemtomould ournotionsand opinionsofevents, placesand
people.Thoughfewofus probablythinkaboutit,ourconceptions of,say, ourelected
officialsspringfromtelevisionimagesand newspaperstories.Mostofuswillnever
meetprimeministersorpresidents, butanyonewhoisregularlyexposedtothemedia
willhave
an opinion ofthem.Whenitistimetocast ourvote,wewillmakeourdecision based on
howthemediaportraythecandidates.Wearesimilarlyswayed bycoverageofwars.
Themedia,representingthevalues
oftheirowners,societiesand governments,tendtoreportwarswith a bias;whichis
the'good'sideandwhich
the'bad'isdeterminedforusbyreporters,editorsandcommentators,andsureenough
thepublicbeginstoformopinions
thatreflectthecoveragetheysee, hearandreadinthemajormedia.
Themediaarealsoinfluentialinthewaytheyfacilitatethespread ofcultureand
lifestyle.Theso-called'globalyouthculture',inwhich onefindsyoung peoplearound
theworld displayingacommoninterestinmusic,clothingstylesandfilms,isan
exampleofthemedia's