Should we only reward the best students? This has been intensely discussed for years. The following are the supporters’ and opponents’ opinions. Read carefully the opinions from both sides and write your response in about 200 words, in which you should first summarize briefly the opinions from both sides and give your views on the issue.

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.

YES

It is reasonable to offer prizes to the high-level performers. This is because one needs to pay a greater amount of effort than others in order to earn a higher grade in the exams.

Top performers normally act as a facilitator to encourage other students to work harder and they can create a competitive learning environment at the school. Rendering those elite students rewards like scholarships or honors has been justified as a feasible way to inspire students.

Academic study is also a kind of competition, which should abide by the rule of fairness and reward the best performers.

NO

Those best students are relatively few in a class. If we only pay attention to those high-level learners and ignore the rest of the students, their enthusiasm for study, to a large degree, might be reduced.

It is necessary for teachers to give certain awards to those who put considerable efforts in the study. The extrinsic reward provided to them is a motivator for further study since a sense of accomplishment can boost their confidence and help them get great improvements in later study.

Those who have made improvements in their study should be rewarded because it is a kind of recognition of their efforts and industry.

审题思路:

本题讨论是否应该只奖励优等生。在具体行文方面，考生首先要总结材料，简要概述正反双方的观点。然后给出自己的观点：不应该只奖励优等生，还应奖励学习进步的学生。最后总结全文。

高分范文：

Should We Only Reward the Best Students?

Rewarding top students is normally considered as an effective approach to recognize their achievements and inspire other students. But some people argue that although the best students deserve to be rewarded, it is more important to encourage those who show remarkable improvement since they have paid unremitting effort in their study.

My stand is that prizes should also be awarded to students who make conspicuous progress in their academic study. Firstly, education is based on the belief that it will make people more excellent, and encouraging those most improved students will be one of the best ways to fulfill that goal. Moreover, students differ greatly in their talents and living environment. Students from poverty-stricken families may not prevail over the best ones in study, but that doesn’t mean they can’t succeed in their future career. Therefore, spiritual or economic encouragement is likely to stimulate them to tackle seemingly impossible tasks. In addition, to reward the most improved students can not only boost their confidence but also enhance students’ competitive spirit.

In sum, only rendering outstanding students rewards may dampen the others’ enthusiasm, so to encourage both types of students will be a feasible way to establish aspiring learning atmosphere.