英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable - 故宫要涨价你还去吗？

Topic1 China To Unify Two Pension AccountsRecently, the State Council announced that the country will build a fair, unified and standardized pension system for its rural and urban population before 2020.

Then the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and Ministry of Finance issued adetailed regulation to merge the pension accounts of rural and urban residents.

What do these new moves tell us?

Topic2 China plans modern vocational educationThe State Council, China's cabinet has outlined measures to strengthen vocational education in the country.

The measures include giving vocational schools more independence and developing a talentcultivation mechanism under which schools and the enterprises jointly recruit and teach students.

A recent State Council meeting agreed that developing the program is a strategic move for economictransformation and improvement of people's wellbeing.

What's the current situation with vocational education in China? Is it not enough to cope with demand for talents?

Topic3 Two Sessions Provide Bottled Water on a Real-name BasisAt this year's two sessions, a name system will be introduced for bottled water offered to National People's Congress deputies and members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Why is this being done?

Topic4 Credit Card DiscriminationWhen some Chinese have more than two credit cards in hand, others complain their credit card application has met with discrimination towards their occupation.

People working in bathing centers as massage therapists in different places have been recently turned down multiple times by different banks when they tried to apply for a credit card.

Is it discrimination or banks' reasonable discretion?

Topic5 Entry ticket of Forbidden City will adjustForbidden City or The Palace Museum is a must-visit site for both domestic and foreign tourists. In 2012, the museum received 15.3 million visitors, about over 40,000 tourists per day.

In an effort to attract tourists from peak season to off season, the museum now is considering widen gap between the two seasons' ticket prices.

Is it necessary?

Topic6 Singing BeggarsPhotos about a group of beggars in Shanghai subway train shocked web users with their very complicated begging equipment.

Usually beggars who sing songs only carry a small loudspeaker, but three female beggars in this picture are pushing a handcart on which there is a huge loudspeaker, two microphones and a laptop used to adjust the sound effect. When one of the beggars sings, the other two collect money from passengers.

Is this too much?