Aoi, Kyoko, and Jiro are Kamome High School students. One day, they are talking in the classroom after school. Then, Ms. White, their English teacher, talks to them. |
| Ms. White : |
Hi, Aoi, Kyoko, and Jiro.
What are you doing ? |
| Aoi : |
We are talking about a *discussion event *on *political issues.
We will join the event in the *city office next week.
Students from three high schools in our city
and some foreign students visiting our city will talk about *voting. |
| Ms. White : |
Very interesting ! |
| Kyoko : |
I am excited to talk with students from other countries. Ms. White, I have a *graph here.
Researchers asked young people in four countries,
“How much are you interested in political issues ?”
In ①Graph 1, we can say that about 70% of young people
in *Germany were interested or very interested in political issues.
The *rate of young people in Japan who were not so interested or not interested
was almost 50%.
I think that’s a problem. |
| Jiro: |
Young people don’t *vote because they are not interested in political issues. In some countries, people must *pay a fine if they don’t vote. |
| Ms. White : |
Great job, Jiro ! Did you learn anything else ? |
| Jiro: |
Yes. I found this interesting graph
when I did my homework given from the city office.
②Graph 2 shows the voting rate in the national *elections
from 2010 to 2022 in Japan. The voting rate of people *in their sixties was always above 60%. However, the rate of *teenagers never reached 50%.
Now I really think voting is an interesting topic. |
| Ms. White : |
Aoi, for the discussion, what question are you going to ask ? |
| Aoi : |
It’s “What should the *government do to raise the voting rate of young people ?” |
| Ms. White : |
What are your ideas, Aoi ? |
| Aoi : |
I think our government should use more money for young people.
If an election topic is how to use government money for them,
more young people will vote for their own future. |
| Ms. White : |
That’s an amazing idea.
Please enjoy the discussion, everyone. |
* discussion : 議論 on ~ : ~について political issues : 政治的な問題 city
office : 市役所 voting : 投票 graph : グラフ Germany : ドイツ rate : 割合 vote : 投票する pay a fine : 罰金を払う elections : 選挙 in their sixties : 60歳代の teenagers : 10歳代の人
government : 政府 |