Debate 辯論

Good afternoon, adjudicators, teachers and fellow students.

各位評判、老師、同學，午安。

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

今日我們辯論的議題是：中學應該廢除家課。

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

作為正方第一位發言人，我認為家課的害處大於好處。

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

開始之前，請容我先下定義：我們所講的「廢除」，即是放學後不再有強制家課。

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

我們團隊會向大家證明，學校應該信任學生，而不是考驗他們的忍耐力。

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

第一，家課剝奪了學生做運動、陪家人同睡覺的時間。

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

大學研究的證據顯示，很多香港青少年每晚睡少於七個小時。

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

第二，家課不公平：住在狹小單位的學生根本沒有一個安靜的地方做功課。

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

反方可能會說家課可以提升成績，但我必須反駁這一點。

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

我們的反駁很簡單：他們自己的例子顯示，重複操練只是提升短期記憶。

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

我承認少量練習是有用的，但質素比數量重要得多。

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

好的學校應該教學生怎樣學習，而不是怎樣應付無盡的工作紙。

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

如果想培育健康、好奇、有創意的學生，就要還給他們晚上的時間。

For these reasons, we strongly support this motion.

基於以上理由，我們強烈支持這項議題。

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

多謝大家聆聽，期待你們的提問。