A few weeks back, I asked a 14-year-old friend how she was coping with school.Referring to stress, she heaved a big sigh and said: "Aiyah, anything bad that can happen has already happened."Her friends nearby then started pouring out their woes about which subjects they found hard, and so on. Pessimism again, in these all-too-familiar remarks about Singapore's education system, widely regarded as too results-oriented, and! wonder why I even bothered to ask.The school system of reaching for A's underlies the country's culture, which emphasizes the chase for economic excellence where wealth and status are must-haves.Such a culture is hard to change.So when I read of how the new Remaking Singapore Committee had set one of its goals as challenging the traditional roads to success, encouraging Singaporeans to realize alternative careers in the arts, sports, research or as entrepreneurs, I had my doubts about its success in this area, if not coupled with help from parents themselves.The new Remaking Singapore Committee is a brainchild of the Singaporean Prime Minister, formed to make Singaporeans look beyond the five C's: cash, condos, clubs, credit cards and cars, to help prepare the nation for the future.It is good that the government wants to do something about the country's preoccupation with material success. But it will be a losing battle if the family unit itself is not involved because I believe the committee's success is rooted in a revamp of an entire culture built from 37 years of independence.This makeover has to start with the most basic societal unit -- the family.Parents should not drown their children in mantras of I-want-hundred-marks. Tuition lessons are not the be-all and end-all of life. And a score of 70 for a Chinese paper is definitely not the end of life.If ever I become a parent, I will bring my children camping. I will show them that cooking food in a mess tin over a campfire is fun. I will teach them that there is nothing dirty about lying on a sleeping bag over grass.In fact, it is educational because Orion is up there in the night sky with all the other bright stars whose shapes and patterns tell something more than a myth. For instance, they give directions to the lost traveler, I will say.And who knows, my child may become an astronomer years down the road. All because of the nights I spent with him watching the twinkles in the sky.That's my point. Parents should teach their children that there's more to life than studies. Better still if the nation's leaders echo that idea as well.This way, when their children aspire to be the next Joscelin Yeo, they won't feel like they are fighting a losing battle against a society that holds doctors and lawyers in awe.However, the culture that babysits economic excellence is deeply ingrained and so are the mindsets of many parents. But parents can take the cue from the new Remaking SingaporeCommittee and be aware of giving their children the right kind of education.It is now wait-and-see if, say, 10 years down the road, more would choose alternative careers. Hopefully, by then no one would think sportsmen or musicians as making too big a sacrifice in chasing their dreams.
Passage 2Because the aircraft industry needs ever-increasing quantities of aluminium plate, new equipment has been designed to automate the making of it. It includes a huge heat-treatment furnace, a crane that lifts hot metal plates without damaging them, and a computer system that can manage the complete flow of work.Five years ago, Europe's aircraft industry needed only 8,000 tonnes of aluminium plate a year for its products. Last year the figure reached 21,800 tonnes. By 2004 it should total 30,000 tonnes. Each airliner contains 180 tonnes of it. That is why the plant is being rebuilt to increase both the quality and the amount of its product.Aluminium is alloyed with other metals and cast into ingots, and the surface of the ingots is smoothed off. After pre-heating, it is rolled in a mill that can take 3.75-m-wide slabs. The new equipment can make the process more efficient and can produce a better product. For example, computers control the temperature of the hot plates, the rate at which they pass through the mill, the speed of cooling it with water, and so on.The new plant can handle twice the throughput of the one that it is replacing, thanks to the completely automated and computerized process.
案例分析题某外商投资企业上年10月开业,经营期限10年,开业时领受房产权证、工商营业执照、土地使用证各一份,与其他企业订立转移专用技术使用权书据一份,所载金额80万元;订立购销合同一份,所载金额为150万元;借款合同一份,所载金额40万元;此外,企业营业账簿中,“实收资本”科目载有资金300万元,其他账簿6本。本年2月份,向有关部门领取某种特殊商品出口许可证一份。2月份签订一份非专利技术转让合同,约定转让金额5万元,同时签订一份专利权转让合同,约定金额20万元。本年3月份,兼并一家国有企业,并入单位资产200万元,原单位已按规定缴纳过印花税。本年5月份,该企业财会部门在其下属部门设置明细分类账4本,同时在仓库设置1本不记载资金的登记簿,该企业采取分级核算的形式。本年6月份,外方一次性追加投资3000万美元,假设当期市场汇率为1美元=8.5人民币。根据所给资料,回答下列相关问题: 该企业6月份资金账簿增加,应征收的印花税为()元。
A. 127500
B. 128000
C. 130000
D. 126500