英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable - 你在社交媒体上转发些什么？

Topic1 Shoe Factory ProtestEarlier this week, thousands of migrant workers gathered in front of a government building in Wenling city. They were protest against the forced shutdown of some 4,000 local shoe factories in a fire safety campaign.

It is understandable that the government wants to improve the production safety, however, can they just simply close those factories?

Topic2 Free Mobile Phones for Employees?

Retired policeman Zhao Ming reported corruption of a grass-root level court in Dalian which gave out free cell phones to its workers.

Zhao says the court spent 400,000 yuan on cell phone purchase. Higher ranking officials get better phones than lower ranking workers. Official who is above vice-president can get a phone of over 4,000 yuan from the court.

Is it corruption?

Topic3 Private Teachers of CelebritiesWithout professional cutter and polisher, diamond is just a rough stone. Of course a shining entertainment star also needs polishers to shape their bodies, improve their language skills and perfect their temperament. Therefore, teachers ofcelebrities are a group of people that attracts curiosity from the public as well.

Who are they?

Topic4 Beijing to Ban Subway EatingBeijing just issues the first draft of Beijing Subway Safety Law, which stipulates that passengers who eat in subway elevators, walkways and carriages can be fined up to 500 yuan.

Many people are very supportive, while some others express their concern about the feasibility.

Actually, this is a comprehensive regulation. Before we talk about the controversial terms, let's just go through it. What does it aim to do?

Topic5 Beijing Regulates Taxi-hailing AppsBeijing's transport authority has requested the city's taxi drivers to use just one electronic device to check taxi-hailing apps.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport says the regulation aims to ensure transport safety.

Drivers are often distracted while driving as they listen to voice broadcasts from different apps and weigh which passenger order to take, a concern shared both by the transport authority and passengers.

Are the concerns valid?

Topic6 Forwarding Messages on Social NetworksUsers of social media websites and such apps have access to all sorts of information readily available every day.

You can read them, like them, forward them, or simply ignore them as you wish.

One would possibly take it for granted that those messages that got forwarded the most should indeed be worth doing so. But it turns out it might not be the case.

What are the messages being forwarded?