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  3. Should museums charge for admission? Museums are expensive to run, with the costs of acquisitions, conservation, maintenance, st

Should museums charge for admission? Museums are expensive to run, with the costs of acquisitions, conservation, maintenance, st

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问题     Should museums charge for admission? Museums are expensive to run, with the costs of acquisitions, conservation, maintenance, staff salaries and special exhibitions all weighing heavily upon their budgets. But others think as a non-profit organization, museum should not charge for admissions since it can get government support. The following is an article about this issue. Read it carefully and write your response in about 300 words, in which you should:
    1.  summarize briefly the author’s opinion on the issue;
    2.  give your comment.
    Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
    Britain’s museums are in crisis. On the surface, things look good. Our galleries have benefited from years of expansion. But all over Britain, a darker reality is emerging in the wake of spending cuts. A survey has shown that since the spending review 58% of museums have suffered cuts, and a fifth have been hit by devastating cuts of 25%.
    On that measure, yes, 42% have not yet suffered cuts—but surely it’s a policy of divide and rule, with councils, not central government, making the big decisions, and less fashionable venues taking the biggest hits (at least as far as I can see). But an overall climate of contraction will surely hit all museums and all aspects of what they do. And there is little chance of this improving in the near future.
    The worst option is for museums and public collections to start selling works to pay the bills. The recent sale of a Millais by one cash-strapped council is a terrible mistake, a betrayal of our cultural heritage.
    The best option, I am starting to think, may be to introduce admission fees. I spat out this notion earlier this week in the wake of the attack on two paintings recently in the National Gallery. The debate was taken up by the Telegraph. Obviously, attacks on art happen at museums that charge an entry fee as well as at free ones. But this is about much more than security.
    I remember the drab, uncared-for feeling of some of Britain’s biggest museums in the 1980s and 90s. They seemed to be struggling now, with no big plans and no sense of splendor. Free museums with a supportive government are very different from free museums in a climate of austerity. Going to the Louvre or to American museums 20 years ago was like entering a different universe of cultural pride and enjoyment— these museums really wanted to thrill, and they did justice to their collections.
        So do ours—right now. Britons have realized how precious our great collections are. The world shares the passion, and if you visit the British Museum this summer the sheer crowd numbers startle. How about turning that popularity into money? We can’t let recent progress in our galleries and museums be destroyed by a cost-cutting mentality that first freezes, then rolls back, everything that has been achieved.
    Charging for entry cannot be a taboo. I probably make more use of free entry than most people; there are obviously ways to make entrance fees egalitarian. Free entry for everyone under 20 and all students, membership schemes for the rest of us, something like the new National Art Pass for those who want to purchase annual overall access.
    I think free museums are a great British tradition, but I don’t want these museums to decay. Charging for entry is a better remedy than selling paintings, closing galleries or sacking staff. Might it even give visitors a keener sense of the value of some of the greatest experiences it is possible to have?
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答案 Should Museums Charge for Admission? According to the article, British museums are confronted with spending cuts. The author is worried that such a cut in government support to the museums will lead to their decay. In order to keep the museums alive, the author suggests that museums charge for entry. A charging scheme is suggested: Free entry for everyone under 20 and all students, and membership schemes for the rest of the citizens. However, in my opinion, charging for entry can hardly serve its purpose of reviving museums. First, as is said in the article, the museums which suffered the most cut in government support are those "less fashionable venues". For these places, owing to their small number of visitors, charging for entry would not help much in improving their financial situation; on the contrary, it could further reject potential visitors. Second, museums serve as a public welfare and if they charge for admission, it is possible that they may concentrate on how to make money, thus failing their role for public welfare. In China, those most, popular museums and parks have become tourist attractions, and they normally raise their admission fees every three years, which has caused much criticism from the public. In order to make a balance between "protection of the museum" and "function as public welfare", I think better ways can be found rather than charging for entry. First, it is the responsibility of the government to maintain the museums, and funds must be appropriated to keep their operation. Second, as to the more attractive museums, they can introduce the "daily visiting limit" scheme to ensure their smooth management. That is, when in peak periods, guests must book beforehand so that the museums can have a control of the total visit for each day. In short, I think it a bad idea for museums to charge for admission. Better management and financial measures may be the right solution to this issue.
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