问答题

Should museums charge for admission? Museums are expensive to run, with the cost of acquisitions, conservation, maintenance, staff salaries and special exhibitions all weighing heavily upon their budgets. But others think as a non-profit organization, museum should not charge for admission since it can get government support. The following is an article about this issue. Read it carefully and write your response in about 300 words, in which you should:　　1. Summarize briefly the author’s opinion on the issue;　　2. give your comment.　　Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.　　Britain’s museums are in crisis. On the surface, things look good. Our galleries have benefited from years of expansion. But all over Britain, a darker reality is emerging in the wake of spending cuts. A survey has shown that since the spending review 58% of museums have suffered cuts, and a fifth have been hit by devastating cuts of 25%.　　On that measure, yes, 42% have not yet suffered cuts—but surely it’s a policy of divide and rule, with councils, not central government, making the big decisions, and less fashionable venues taking the biggest hits (at least as far as I can see). But an overall climate of contraction will surely hit all museums and all aspects of what they do. And there is little chance of this improving in the near future.　　The worst option is for museums and public collections to start selling works to pay the bills. The recent sale of a Millais by one cash-strapped council is a terrible mistake, a betrayal of our cultural heritage.　　The best option, I am starting to think, may be to introduce admission fees. I spat out this notion earlier this week in the wake of the attack on two paintings recently in the National Gallery. The debate was taken up by the Telegraph. Obviously, attacks on art happen at museums that charge an entry fee as well as at free ones. But this is about much more than security.　　I remember the drab, uncared-for feeling of some of Britain’s biggest museums in the 1980s and 90s. They seemed to be straggling now, with no big plans and no sense of splendor. Free museums with a supportive government are very different from free museums in a climate of austerity. Going to the Louvre or to American museums 20 years ago was like entering a different universe of cultural pride and enjoyment—these museums really wanted to thrill, and they did justice to their collections.　　So do ours—right now. Britons have realized how precious our great collections are. The world shares the passion, and if you visit the British Museum this summer the sheer crowd numbers startle. How about turning that popularity into money? We can’t let recent progress in our galleries and museums be destroyed by a cost-cutting mentality that first freezes, then rolls back, everything that has been achieved.　　Charging for entry cannot be a taboo. I probably make more use of free entry than most people; there are obviously ways to make entrance fees egalitarian. Free entry for everyone under 20 and all students, membership schemes for the rest of us, something like the new National Art Pass for those who want to purchase annual overall access.　　I think free museums are a great British tradition, but I don’t want these museums to decay. Charging for entry is a better remedy than selling paintings, closing galleries or sacking staff. Might it even give visitors a keener sense of the value of some of the greatest experiences it is possible to have?

解析：
【审题构思】
　　本篇文章主要讨论博物馆是否应该向参观者收费以缓解经济压力，主要包括两方面：英国的博物馆由于政府资助减少而陷入经济困境；作者认为收取门票是解决该问题的最佳方法，并给出理由和具体的门票收取方案。根据题目要求，考生可按如下思路写作：
　　第一段：从上述的两方面来概括文章的大意，提出自己的观点，即收取门票的方法并不能完全解决博物馆的财政问题，并给出两个理由。
　　第二、三段：提出理由佐证自己的观点并给出自己的建议，提出有更好的解决方法——一是倡议政府伸出援手；二是博物馆应完善管理制度；三是收取适当的门票费用。
　　第四段：总结全文，重申应当采取三者相结合的措施来解决目前博物馆面临的困境。