高齡社會（Elderly / Ageing Society）題佔 Task 2 約 9%，且出現率穩定上升——因為這是全球性議題，題庫裡幾乎每年都出。對台灣考生特別重要：台日韓三國的高齡化速度是全球最快之一，能寫出具體國家數據直接拉分。
六種子題
| 子題 | 典型提問 | |-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | 長者照護 | Should the elderly be cared for at home or in care facilities? | | 退休年齡 | Should the retirement age be raised as life expectancy rises? | | 世代互助 | Is it the responsibility of adult children to support their elderly parents? | | 醫療支出 | Should healthcare be rationed when resources are limited? | | 年金制度 | Are current pension systems sustainable? | | 長者留在職場 | Should older workers be encouraged to stay in the workforce longer? |
四個萬用論點
萬用論點 1：Demographic arithmetic 人口結構算術
適用：退休、年金、照護、勞動力。
核心邏輯：不是價值判斷，是數字不得不處理。
Any serious discussion of pension or healthcare reform must begin with demographic arithmetic. In 1970, most developed economies had roughly six working-age adults for every retiree; by 2040, that ratio is projected to fall below three to one, and in extreme cases such as Japan and South Korea, below two. No amount of rhetorical commitment to generous entitlements can override the mathematical reality that a shrinking base cannot indefinitely fund an expanding one.
萬用論點 2：Dignity and autonomy of the elderly 長者的尊嚴與自主
適用：照護、退休、機構照顧。
Policies affecting the elderly must take seriously the principle that longer lives should mean more good years, not simply extended dependency. This means designing care systems around autonomy — supporting older adults to remain in their own homes when possible, retaining meaningful work or volunteering roles, maintaining community ties — rather than defaulting to institutional care at the first sign of frailty.
萬用論點 3：Intergenerational fairness 世代公平
適用：年金、住房、氣候、公共支出。
An increasingly uncomfortable question in developed economies is whether current public spending disproportionately benefits older generations at the expense of younger ones. Rising house prices, underfunded education, shrinking entry-level wages and inherited environmental debt all fall most heavily on under-thirties — the same cohort expected to finance expanding elderly entitlements. Sustainable social contracts require that this imbalance be addressed explicitly, not ignored.
萬用論點 4：Productive ageing 積極老化
適用：退休年齡、長者就業、健康老化。
The conventional model of a sharp boundary between working life and full retirement fits an era of shorter lifespans and physically demanding work — neither of which now describes most developed economies. A more realistic framework is gradual transition: phased retirement, part-time consulting, mentoring roles and encore careers in sectors such as education and care. This approach captures value from accumulated expertise while easing pressure on pension systems.
為什麼台灣考生有優勢（如果會用的話）
台灣目前已進入超高齡社會的門檻邊緣——2025 年 65 歲以上人口預計超過 20%。如果寫高齡題能帶出台灣、日本、南韓的具體數字（65+ 比例、出生率、扶養比），評分員會感受到你的topic-specific knowledge——直接進 Band 7+ 的 lexical resource。常被忽略的一步是：用 Taiwan, like Japan and South Korea, now... 這種三國並列的句型，顯示你知道區域性結構共同點。
主題詞彙
| 中文 | 英文 | |---------------|---------------------------------------------------| | 人口高齡化 | ageing population | | 人口結構轉移 | demographic shift | | 年金 | pension | | 長者照護 | elderly care | | 世代間的 | intergenerational | | 預期壽命 | life expectancy | | 年長公民 | senior citizen | | 超高齡社會 | super-aged society | | 扶養比 | dependency ratio | | 逐步退休 | phased retirement | | 二度職涯 | encore career | | 居家安老 | ageing in place | | 安養機構 | residential care facilities | | 失能 / 失智 | disability / dementia | | 世代契約 | social contract between generations |
範例段落（退休年齡題）
The case for gradually raising the statutory retirement age rests less on ideology than on arithmetic. When state pensions were first introduced in the early twentieth century, the average life expectancy at retirement was under ten additional years; today, in much of the developed world, it exceeds twenty — and in Japan, nearly thirty. Retaining a fixed retirement age of 65 under these conditions converts what was originally designed as a short bridge into a third of adult life, placing funding pressures on pension systems that their original designers never anticipated. Raising the age, ideally in a phased and flexible manner, is less a cut than a realignment with demographic reality.
為什麼 Band 7：rests less on ideology than on arithmetic 是對比收尾框架、具體世紀對比 + 三個國家參考、a short bridge into a third of adult life 是 vivid metaphor 但 formal、結尾把 raising the age 重新框架成 realignment 而不是 cut——Band 7+ 的 reframing 技巧。
快速練習
題目：In many countries, people are living longer than ever before. What problems does this cause? How can these problems be addressed?
這是 problem-solution 題，不是 direct question。規劃：
- §2 Problems（至少兩個：年金財政 + 長照人力）
- §3 Solutions（對應：phased retirement + 移民照護工作者 / AI 輔助照護）
寫完檢查：problem 跟 solution 有一對一配對嗎？