申論題

三、Course Design

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has recently launched a five-year program to promote socialemotional learning (SEL) in schools. In fact, SEL has been promoted in the United States and the European Union for several years. Please elaborate on what SEL is, why it is important in today’s educational context, (10%) and how you, as an English teacher, can effectively integrate SEL into your English classes based on the following passage in FOUR periods.

     I am a plastic bag. When I was very young, I was sent from the factory to a convenience store. I stayed there for a long time and waited eagerly to be used. Finally, some kids came along, bought some snacks, and took me along to the beach for a picnic. When it was getting dark, they packed everything up and let me stay there alone! The wind started to howl, and suddenly I was in the sea all on my own.

     I floated helplessly in the water for a while, but soon realized I wasn’t alone. I was surrounded by plastic cups, plates, and straws. After days of drifting, I started to envy the birds up above, who were flying so high and free. I could only follow the currents. Suddenly, I went down a tunnel into a chamber. “What happened?” I asked a fork next to me. “I think we were just swallowed by a huge fish!” he replied. More and more of us were swallowed until it got quite crowded inside. We obviously weren’t that nutritious because the fish died after a few days.

    The fish’s body slowly decomposed, and then I was back in the ocean. One day, a big wave
came and threw me up onto the shore. A few days later, some schoolchildren walked up to me. They were carrying bags and pairs of tongs. I felt a sudden pinch, and the next thing I knew, I was inside a big bag of trash. A teacher told the schoolchildren, “Because of all the littering, a lot of plastic products end up in the ocean. They are then consumed by different sea creatures. You might think that’s okay, but when we eat seafood, the poisonous substances from the plastic end up inside us and make us feel sick.”

    According to a plastic bottle nearby, the humans are going to take us to a recycling plant. I
really don’t understand them. They produce us to make their lives better, but then they misuse us and make everyone’s life worse! I’m tired of floating around, killing fish, and causing harm to the environment. I really hope that my future owner will use me properly in my next life.

Source: Long Teng English Book 1 Lesson 5 The Life of A Plastic Bag