英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable - 果壳网之年终10大问题

Topic1 China to better supervise minors' guardianshipChina plans to roll out new laws by the end of this year to increase protection of minors in the wake of a series of child abuse cases last year.

The Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security and several other related departments are working together to establish a legal mechanism that would deprive abusive or negligent parents of their custody rights in the event of such cases.

A Xinhua report says the proposed "underage intervention mechanism" aims to close existing legal loopholes in terms of protecting children and strengthening family guardianship.

Is there a crisis?

Topic2 Combining Primary and Middle School EducationThis September, nine-year primary/middle schools will be added to Dongcheng District in Beijing. The aim is to alleviate the pressure to compete for spots at top-tier primary schools as a steppingstone to prestigious middle schools.

The district just launched its compulsory education comprehensive reform this week, and the nine-year school plan is part of it. Is this a necessary move?

Topic3 Prices of lucky cellphone numbers skyrocket againEnthusiasm in China for "lucky" mobile phone numbers has returned, pushing the prices of some numbers to shocking heights.

A newsstand-owner in Beijing's Dongcheng district says lucky cell numbers are priced at more than 1,000 yuan, or 165 US dollars each, and a number with the last four digits 0666 costs about 12,000 yuan.

Sometimes, a good number can cost as much as an apartment within the fourth ring road in Beijing.

Does it really make sense to spend huge on a number that's supposedly to be lucky?

Topic4 Chinese immigrates, taking 2.8 trillion yuan with themOver the past 23 years, 10 million Chinese people have migrated to other countries, taking more than 2.8 trillion yuan of assets with them. This is from the newest report released by Center for China and Globalization.

What can we tell from this report?

Topic5 Chinese Culture ExportWhen the word Superhero is mentioned, all people can think of are American superheroes like Superman, Ironman, Spiderman, Captain America and Green Lantern. But what about a Chinese superhero dressed in Qin Dynasty armor, the terra cotta warrior? Like it or not, it's going to be the hero in a 2015 film, co-produced by Chinese and US studios.

Is it just another attempt to combine western interest with Chinese culture, in order to export Chinese cultural product overseas?

Topic6 Top 10 Question of 2013 on Guokr.comGuokr.com is a famous Chinese website for popular science lovers. The website's own mission statement says it provides credible contents which aim to make science interesting and part of people's daily life. But some netizens jokingly say that Guokr stands for the stupidity of typical geeks who dissect everything, refusing anyaesthetics of life; they never understand why people use Estee Lauder when there is Vaseline.