Debate 辩论

Good afternoon, adjudicators, teachers and fellow students.

各位评判、老师、同学，午安。

Today we debate the motion that homework should be abolished in secondary schools.

今日我们辩论的议题是：中学应该废除家课。

As the first speaker of the proposition, I believe homework does more harm than good.

作为正方第一位发言人，我认为家课的害处大于好处。

Before I begin, let me define our terms: by abolished we mean no more compulsory homework after school.

开始之前，请容我先下定义：我们所讲的「废除」，即是放学后不再有强制家课。

Our team will show you why schools should trust students instead of testing their patience.

我们团队会向大家证明，学校应该信任学生，而不是考验他们的忍耐力。

First, homework takes away the time that students could spend on sports, family and sleep.

第一，家课剥夺了学生做运动、陪家人同睡觉的时间。

Evidence from a university study shows that many Hong Kong teenagers sleep fewer than seven hours a night.

大学研究的证据显示，很多香港青少年每晚睡少于七个小时。

Second, homework is not fair: students who live in small flats have no quiet place to work.

第二，家课不公平：住在狭小单位的学生根本没有一个安静的地方做功课。

The opposition may argue that homework improves results, but I must refute this point.

反方可能会说家课可以提升成绩，但我必须反驳这一点。

Our rebuttal is simple: their own examples show that repeated drilling only improves short-term memory.

我们的反驳很简单：他们自己的例子显示，重复操练只是提升短期记忆。

I concede that a little practice is useful, yet quality matters far more than quantity.

我承认少量练习是有用的，但质素比数量重要得多。

A good school should teach students how to learn, not how to survive endless worksheets.

好的学校应该教学生怎样学习，而不是怎样应付无尽的工作纸。

If we want healthy, curious and creative students, we must give them back their evenings.

如果想培育健康、好奇、有创意的学生，就要还给他们晚上的时间。

For these reasons, we strongly support this motion.

基于以上理由，我们强烈支持这项议题。

Thank you for listening, and we look forward to your questions.

多谢大家聆听，期待你们的提问。