傳統 vs 現代是 Part 3 的萬用 cluster——節慶、建築、語言、性別角色、商業習俗都會問。台灣考生常無意識地選邊：要嘛「現代化萬歲」要嘛「傳統不能丟」。Band 7+ 的答法是承認現代化是不可避免的，但選擇保留什麼是社會選擇。
五個常見角度
| 角度 | 題目範例 | |------|----------| | 節慶變遷 | Are traditional festivals losing their meaning? | | 建築保存 | Should old buildings be preserved or replaced? | | 性別角色 | Are traditional gender roles changing for the better? | | 飲食文化 | Has fast food displaced traditional cuisine? | | 全球化影響 | Does globalisation make all cultures more similar? |
5 題代表題 + Band 7+ 範例
Q1. Are traditional festivals losing their meaning in modern society?
Their form is definitely changing — that’s undeniable. Lunar New Year in Taiwan, for instance, has shifted from a multi-day religious-and-family event to often a long shopping weekend with a family dinner attached. That said, I’d argue the underlying function — pausing, gathering, marking time — survives even when the surface practices simplify. So it’s less that the meaning is lost; it’s that the meaning is being reduced to its most essential parts as everything else gets stripped away.
Q2. Should old buildings be preserved even when they slow down development?
It depends on what they represent. Architecture isn’t just buildings; it’s the visible memory of a place. Cities that have demolished their historical fabric — much of post-war East Asia — often regret it later, because the lost identity is irretrievable. On the other hand, blanket preservation can lock cities into housing crises, as Edinburgh and parts of Tokyo show. So the answer is selective, evidence-based preservation, not all-or-nothing.
Q3. Are traditional gender roles changing? Is this a good thing?
They’re changing dramatically across most societies, and on balance I’d say it’s overdue. Women in Taiwan now outpace men in university completion, which would have been unthinkable in my grandmother’s generation. That said, the change is incomplete — domestic work and emotional labour still fall mostly on women, even when both partners work full-time. So the headline numbers are improving; the lived reality lags behind.
Q4. Has fast food and global cuisine displaced traditional food?
It’s genuinely complicated. Globally, McDonald’s and similar chains have spread, and traditional cooking skills have weakened in many homes. On the other hand, food traditions have proven surprisingly resilient — Italian, Japanese, Thai cuisines have actually globalised in the other direction, and there’s a real revival of artisanal traditional cooking among younger consumers in many countries. So the picture is exchange and hybridisation rather than simple displacement.
Q5. Will globalisation eventually make all cultures look similar?
On the surface yes — chains, fashion, films, English — but I’d argue underneath the surface, deep cultural differences persist remarkably. The same Starbucks looks identical worldwide, but how Taiwanese, Italians and Americans actually use that space — duration, conversation styles, food norms — differs enormously. So the visible layer homogenises; the behavioural layer is much stickier than anyone expected 30 years ago.
三層結構提醒
Claim — On balance / It depends on / Arguably
Reason — because / partly because / the historical record
Example — Lunar New Year / Edinburgh / Italian cuisine globalising主題詞彙（Band 7 級）
| 詞彙 | 中文 | 範例 chunk | |------|------|------------| | cultural heritage | 文化遺產 | protect cultural heritage | | modernisation | 現代化 | the pace of modernisation | | globalisation | 全球化 | globalisation’s cultural impact | | homogenisation | 同質化 | resist cultural homogenisation | | hybridisation | 混合化 | cultural hybridisation in cities | | historic preservation | 歷史保存 | historic preservation policies | | living tradition | 活的傳統 | keep traditions as living practice | | ritual | 儀式 | the social function of ritual | | intergenerational | 世代間 | intergenerational transmission of customs | | identity | 認同 | anchor cultural identity | | commercialisation | 商業化 | over-commercialisation of festivals | | revival | 復興 | a revival of traditional crafts | | collective memory | 集體記憶 | architecture as collective memory |
台灣考生常見陷阱：選邊
"Tradition is good. Modern is bad." 或 "Modern is better. Tradition is useless." ——任一邊都是 Band 5。
修正：拒絕二分法：
I’d push back on the framing — modernisation isn’t really opposite to tradition; it’s a process traditions can survive or fail to survive. Generally speaking, the cultures that hold up best aren’t the most rigidly preserved ones; they’re the ones that adapt while keeping their core meaning. Lunar New Year in Taiwan looks different from 50 years ago, but the underlying function — family time, marking the year — still works. So it’s not tradition vs modernity; it’s about which parts of a tradition can carry forward.