In contemporary society, it is widely acknowledged that(众所周知=there is a widespread belief that) reading has assumed a vital role in（起重要作用） the development of youngsters. The issue of whether reading chosen by students themselves is as important as, or more important than, reading assigned by teachers hastriggered quite a stir（引起争论=arouse a headed discussion）.

Some people believe that teachers will do a better job in choosing reading materials for students because those assigned books are prone to（倾向于=be inclined to） improve students' academic performance. But further analysis will reveal that it is of greater importance for students to make up their mind in reading, which is in line with(符合) my idea, due to the following reasons.

The primary reason for my opinion is that students who chose their own reading list can develop interest with books related to areas that pique（激发=stimulate） their curiosity. Today's young people have to encounter(面对=confront) great pressure in academic work, mostly caused by a number of assigned books. A majority of these required books are obscure（晦涩难懂的=elusive） and time-wasting; however, students take them as obligated assignments that must be finished in order to get credits(学分). In comparison, books chosen by themselves are usually what students are curious about, which may be more practical or valuable in their further development. After mastering knowledge or skills in their interested area, students can dramatically increase their competitiveness（竞争力）. Take Steve Jobs as an example.

When he was in college, he went quite tired of those assigned classes and books, which didn't catch his attention at all. As a result, he dropped out of school and chose to take classes that appealed to him. Back to that time, he was quite interested in calligraphy, so he read numerous books about it. Surprisingly, ten years later when he was designing the first Apple computer, all those knowledge enabled this invention to be perfect with delicate printing types. We can easily tell from this story that students who choose their own reading instead of blindly following teachers' assigned list may have a greater chance for success in further career.

Another factor that we should take into account is that reading books of their own choice is an excellent form of entertainment for students, which enables them to have fun or relax. Students who face a tight study schedule are usually desperate(极度渴望=eager) to relieve stress in free time. Reading amusing or insightful books chosen by themselves allows young people to have a great time on their own, since they will be completely absorbed in plots and characters, somehow getting rid of academic worries. For instance, I would usually spare my Sunday afternoon for some intriguing（有趣的=interesting） books like sciencefiction novels filled with incredible imagination and surreal(超现实的，离奇的) description, as reading a few pages of them is one favorable enjoyment for me to refresh my mind after working on my homework for long. Moreover, experts from Department of Society in FuDan University have pointed out that, of all student participants in college, over 78 percent respond that they have a more relaxing time when reading books chosen by themselves than those required by teachers, which evidently reveals that selecting books on their own can greatly relieve students' pressure.

Based on the arguments above, I can firmly assert that it is more important for students to do reading decided by themselves than those assigned by teachers. Furthermore, without consistent interest or pleasant relaxation, one may never find any improvement in reading teachers' assigned books.