Should museums and art galleries be free of charge for the

general public, or should a charge, even a voluntary charge,

be levied for admittance?
Discuss this issue, and give your opinion.

You should write at least 250 words.

Model Answer 1:
People have argued about the entrance fee to museums and art galleries. Some people believe that it should
be free of charged for the public, while others think that there should be an entrance fee. The following essay
will explain in details regarding to these contradictory opinions, but in my point of view, I do believe that there
should be levied for admittance.
For a number of reasons, many people believe that the public should not be charged with any kind of fees,
when they enter museums or art galleries. Firstly, these sites have been funded by the government through
taxes that were paid by residents. When museums and art galleries charge entrance fees, it means that the
public are paying double charges. Secondly, although these places contain historical and artistic artifacts but
these places are not popular and attractive places. When these museums and galleries charge some fees, it is
predicted that there will be less people who will visit these places.

On the other hand, another group of people think that the public should be charged with either voluntary or
admittance fees, when they visit a museum or an art gallery. These people believe that by charging visitors with
a certain amount of fees, it educates them to appreciate the value of history and arts. Besides that, these fees
can be used to reduce subsidies that have been given by the government. The fund could be relocated by the
government for other important matters such as education, public health or transportations.

In conclusion, people have debate about the entrance fee of museums or art galleries. Several people think
that there should not be any charges for visitors, while others disagree. I personally believe that there should
proportionate charges for people when they enter the museum or an art gallery, as the fund could be used to
cover the operational expense of these places, and reduce the subsidy from the government.

( Written by - Darwin Lesmana )

Model Answer 2:
One very complex issue in todays world is the funding of museums and art galleries. There is an argument that
they should be free to the general public and funded by governments, but there is also a case for saying that

they should charge an entrance fee like other attractions. In this essay, I am going to examine both sides of this
issue.
Those who argue that museums should be free typically make one of two arguments. The first argument is that
institutions like museums are a public service and therefore there should be free access to the man in the
street. If for example there was a charge only the wealthy could afford to enjoy works of art. The second, and
related, argument is that if they did levy a charge fewer people would go to museums. This would be serious as
they are educational institutions and standards would fall.

In contrast, there is only one major argument on the other side of the debate. This is that both museums and
art galleries need to charge an entrance fee if they are to survive in the modern world. Governments do not
have sufficient funds to subsidise all such institutions and there are other priorities for public money. Therefore
these galleries and museums need to charge their customers not only to survive but to update their exhibitions
and make new purchases. By way of illustration, the Tate Modern in London could not have been founded
without revenue from admissions.

My personal position is that there is no clear answer to this question as there are such strong arguments on
both sides. Perhaps it is possible for some museums and galleries to charge fees and for others not to.

( This model answer can be followed as an example of a very good answer. However, please note that this is
just one example out of many possible approaches.)