IELTS ESSAY SAMPLE

LAYOUT The 35553 is a total of 21 sentences. At about 12 words per sentence this is 252 words.

a 3-sentence Intro a 5-sentence para a 5-sentence para a 5-sentence para a 3-sentence conclusion Conclusions

A good conclusion will

rephrase the question summarize the main ideas gi e !our opinion" if !ou ha en#t gi en it alread! loo$ to the future %sa! what will happen if the situation continues or changes&

but will

'()(* add new information

Should we test products on animals? I agree that we need to make sure that animals who are used for testing new products have the minimum of suffering. However, I am convinced that animal testing is necessary, and that it will continue to benefit humans in new and wonderful ways. Should we beat children? In conclusion, physical punishment can be a useful method of discipline. However it should be the last choice for parents. If we want to build a world with less violence we must begin at home, and we must teach our children to be responsible. Is education important? In conclusion, although there are undoubtedly some problems with increased levels of education, I feel strongly that the country can only progress if all its people are educated to the maximum of their ability. ho are the better parents ! men or women?

I think this is not an either/or question. Both men and women have strengths and skills that are important for children s psychological growth. !e need to ensure that both parents play an important role in the family in order to give children a good start in life. ho learns "uic#er ! adults or children? "inally, I feel that we cannot generali#e about children or adults being better learners. It depends on the situation and the motivation of the person, and the level of enthusiasm he or she has for learning. Should dan$erous sports be banned? In summar!" our societ! would be healthier if more people too$ part in sports of all $inds. +e should continue to tr! to pre ent accidents and in,uries. -owe er" we should also ensure that sports are challenging" e.citing" and" abo e all" fun. Through recent medical ad ances we now ha e the capacit! to determine the characteristics of unborn babies" produce clones" transplant animal organs to humans" as well as prolong life. /uch technolog! is unethical" interferes with the course of nature and should be prohibited. To what e.tent do !ou agree with this opinion0 1.In conclusion, recent medical advances offer us advantages such as prolonging our lives, improving the quality of our lives, and providing some infertile couples with the opportunity to experience parenthood. $n the other hand, they pose dilemmas, including compromising our standard of living because of a dependent elderly population, potentially causing harmful mental and physical side effects, and undermining our ethical values. %herefore we have to think about them carefully or it will not be good. This e.ample follows the suggested model of a concluding paragraph. The two summar! statements succinctl! paraphrase the main arguments. The paragraph ma$es a recommendation too" howe er" the benefits of this are not stated" so it is ague and uncon incing. &. !hat is more, poor people often cannot afford to pay for these new medical advances.'onsequently, they are only a benefit to a small, affluent part of the population, so we should prohibit them. This e.ample does not follow the suggested model of a concluding paragraph. There is no statement referring to the main arguments or summar! of them. In fact" it pro ides another argument" which the concluding paragraph should not contain. It does ma$e a recommendation" howe er" this appears to be moti ated b! en ! or ,ealous!" so it is not a er! credible suggestion. (.%o conclude, new medical advances have many positive outcomes. However, we should analyse our ob)ectives carefully in order to decide what is appropriate and what should be permitted. If we do not, the result might not be longer more fulfilling lives, but instead,extended less satisfying existence.

This e.ample follows the suggested model of a concluding paragraph. The summar! statement is good1 it refers bac$ to the main arguments. The paragraph ma$es a recommendation too" which seems logical and acceptable.

E%UCATIO&
'( As computers are bein$ used more and more in education) there will be soon no role *or teachers in the classroom( There ha e been immense ad ances in technolog! in most aspects of people#s li es" especiall! in the field of education. 'owada!s" an increasing number of students rel! on computers to research for information and to produce a perfect paper for school purposes. 2thers ha e decided to lea e the original wa! of learning to get $nowledge through online schools. These changes in the learning process ha e brought a special concern regarding the possible decrease of importance of teachers in the classroom. /ome people belie e the role of teachers started to fade because computers ha e been helping some students to progress in their studies quic$er than when compared with an original classroom. 3or e.ample" in the same classroom" students ha e different intellectual capacities" thus some would be tied to a slow ad ance in their studies because of others4 incapacit! of understanding. In this wa!" pupils could progress in their acquisition of $nowledge at their own pace using computers instead of learning from teachers. -owe er" the presence of a teacher is essential for students because the human contact influences them in positi e wa!s. 3irstl!" students realize that the! are not dealing with a machine but with a human being who deser es attention and respect. The! also learn the importance of stud!ing in group and respect other students" which helps them to impro e their social s$ills. 5oreo er" teachers are required in the learning process because the! ac$nowledge some student#s deficiencies and help them to sol e their problems b! repeating the same e.planation" gi ing e.tra e.ercises or e en suggesting a pri ate tutor. -ence" students can ha e a bigger chance not to fail in a sub,ect. In conclusion" the role for teachers in the learning process is still er! important and it will continue to be in the future because no machine can replace the human interaction and its consequences. Sample + , 'obod! can argue that the acquisition of $nowledge is more fun and easier with computers. The mere acti it! of touching and e.ploring this de ice constitutes an en,o!able tas$ for a $id. This" accompanied with the rela.ing attitude and software interacti it!" usuall! conduce to a better grasping of new $nowledge. At a higher educational le el1 the a ailabilit! of digital boo$s" simulator and other academic materials" pro ide the student with an e er accessible source of information" that otherwise would not be at hand. 6ut" besides the increasing comple.it! and beha ior of intelligent software" which is usuall! embedded in the academic digital material" the need of human interaction in the learning process will alwa!s be present" at least in the foreseeable future. There is the necessit! for a human being to be able to determine what the specifics needs of each indi idual are. The e.pertise of a teacher in how to e.plain and adapt comple. concepts

to different indi iduals can hardl! be mimic$ed b! a computer" no matter how sophisticated its software is. As computers are becoming a common tool for teaching" teachers should be more aware of their role as guides in the acquisition of $nowledge rather than transmitters of facts. The! ha e to be open minded to the changes that are ta$ing places" $eep updated and ser e as a problem sol ers in the learning process" thus allowing students to disco er the fact for themsel es. To summarize" in m! personal iew" teachers pla! and will%& pla! an important role in the classroom" especiall! at the primar! le el. 'o matter how comple. computers become" there will be no replacement for the human interaction" but in the wa! haw this interaction ta$es place. Excellent essay! Are you a native English speaker? Well done. The only problem: too long, !" #ords instead o$ %"&'%!" maximum. +( In some countries -oun$ people are encoura$ed to wor# or tra.el *or a -ear between *inishin$ hi$h school and startin$ uni.ersit- studies( %iscuss the ad.anta$es and disad.anta$es *or -oun$ people who decide to do this( It is quite common these da!s for !oung people in man! countries to ha e a brea$ from stud!ing after graduating from high school. This trend is not restricted to rich students who ha e the mone! to tra el" but is also e ident among poorer students who choose to wor$ and become economicall! independent for a period of time. The reasons for this trend ma! in ol e the recognition that a !oung adult who passes directl! from school to uni ersit! is rather restricted in terms of general $nowledge and e.perience of the world. 6! contrast" those who ha e spent some time earning a li ing or tra eling to other places ha e a broader iew of life and better personal resources to draw on. The! tend to be more independent" which is a er! important factor in academic stud! and research" as well as gi ing them an ad antage in terms of coping with the challenges of student life. -owe er" there are certainl! dangers in ta$ing time off at that important age. 7oung adults ma! end up ne er returning to their studies or finding it difficult to readapt to an academic en ironment. The! ma! thin$ that it is better to continue in a particular ,ob" or to do something completel! different from a uni ersit! course. 6ut o erall" I thin$ this is less li$el! toda!" when academic qualifications are essential for getting a reasonable career. 5! iew is that !oung people should be encouraged to broaden their horizons. That is the best wa! for them to get a clear perspecti e of what the! are hoping to do with their li es and wh!. /tudents with such a perspecti e are usuall! the most effecti e and moti ated ones and ta$ing a !ear off ma! be the best wa! to gain this. %281 words&

/( Some people belie.e that a colle$e or uni.ersit- education should be a.ailable to all students( Others belie.e that hi$her education should be a.ailable onl- to $ood students( %iscuss these .iews( hich .iew do -ou a$ree with? E0plain wh-( 9eople learn through their entire li es. The! constantl! impro e their $nowledge and de elop. I thin$ that a college or uni ersit! education should be a ailable to all students because e er! person has the right to choose the wa! to self-perfection. 6ellow I will gi e some of m! reasons to support m! position. 3irst of all" e er! person should ha e the chance to get a higher degree" gain new $nowledge and e.perience. -owe er" some people belie e that higher education should be a ailable onl! to good students. I thin$ it is sill!. It is li$e to ma$e una ailable tra eling for one who does not ha e I: high enough. /econd of all" some !oung people do not do well at school but the! ha e great personalit! and abilit! to learn. The! are self-confident" persistent and patient. +ith these qualities the! can get higher grades then their classmates who are talented but laz!. Imagine for e.ample situation when a teenager gets high grades because his or her parents constantl! ma$e him or her stud! and help to do most of the homewor$. In this case a child does er! well at school but I thin$ a college can show the opposite results. 3inall!" it is a discrimination against students to ma$e a ailable higher education onl! for good ones. /o" if a student does poor and gets low grades he;she should be sent down. 6ut if a person was ne er gi en a chance to tr! himself;herself at college" what to do in this case0 To sum up" I thin$ that all !oung people should ha e the chance to get a higher education. To ta$e or not this chance must be up to them. %2<< words&

1( Some people belie.e that the best wa- o* learnin$ about li*e is b- listenin$ to the ad.ice o* *amil- and *riends( Other people belie.e that the best wa- o* learnin$ about li*e is throu$h personal e0perience( Compare the ad.anta$es o* these two di**erent wa-s o* learnin$ about li*e( hich do -ou thin# is pre*erable? Use speci*ic e0amples to support -our pre*erence( 3rom m! e er!da! e.perience and obser ation I can stand that the best wa! of learning about life is through personal e.perience. -owe er" some people thin$ that it is wiser to learn about life through listening to the ad ice of famil! and friends. It does not mean I totall! disagree with this wa! of learning. 5oreo er" I thin$ that it is wise for a person to ta$e an intermediate position because each of these wa!s has its own ad antages. 6ellow I will gi e m! reasons to support m! point of iew. 3rom the one side" learning through one#s personal e.perience brings man! benefits. 3irst of all" scientists sa! that personal e.perience has greater impact on a person. I ha e to 6

agree with this. Ta$e for e.ample children. The! will not belie e their parents that something can hurt them until the! tr! it and ma$e sure in it. 3urthermore" most li$el! the! will remember this e.perience longer. /econd of all" people learn how to anal!ze their mista$es" ma$e conclusions and ne.t time tr! to a oid them. /o" I thin$ it is a great e.perience that ma$es people stronger" more self-confident and persistent. The! gain more $nowledge and e.perience that will be er! helpful and aluable in the future. 3rom the other side" listening to the ad ice of famil! and friends brings man! benefits too. 9arents with great patience pass down their $nowledge and e.perience to their children. The! teach them all the! $now and the! want their children do not ma$e the same mista$es. In addition to those practical benefits" learning from someone#s ad ice is painless. 3or e.ample" parents nowada!s er! often tal$ to their children about drugs. I thin$ it is a great e.ample when one should not tr! drugs in order to gain new e.perience. I thin$ it is a case when children must trust their parents. To sum up" I thin$ it is wise to combine both of these wa!s to learn and tr! to anal!ze personal mista$es as well as not personal. I thin$ together the! can greatl! simplif! one#s life and ma$e the wa! to success shorter. %35= words& 2( ith the pressures on toda-3s -oun$ people to succeed academicall-) some people belie.e that non!academic sub4ects at school 5e$, ph-sical education and coo#er-6 should be remo.ed *rom the s-llabus so that children can concentrate wholl- on academic sub4ects( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree? +hat !oung people should stud! at school has long been the sub,ect of intense debate and this is a question that certainl! does not ha e one correct answer. +e need to pro ide !oung people the best possible chance of doing well at school. In traditional curriculum there is a wide ariet! of sub,ects with a mi. of academic and nonacademic sub,ects. In this wa! a !oung person is formed with a rounded education. 'onacademic sub,ects would include sports" coo$ing" woodwor$ and metalwor$. I belie e this is the best form of education. A !oung person should learn things other than academic sub,ects. /port is particularl! important. 7oung people ha e to learn to lo e sport so that the! can be fit and health! later in life. If not we will be raising an obese and unfit generation. I totall! understand the point of iew that education is so important that students must be pushed as hard as possible to achie e their best. It sounds a good idea to onl! e.pose the students to academic sub,ects as then the! can spend all of their school hours on stud!ing areas that will get them into uni ersit! and good ,obs later in life. I ,ust feel a more rounded education would produce a better indi idual. +e must remember too that a lot of people" ma!be e en most people" aren>t academicall! minded and would benefit more from a more ocationall! based education. 3orcing academic studies onto them would lead to failure and the student lea ing school too earl!. Therefore I agree that although a wholl! academic curriculum would suit and benefit some

!oung people" I belie e that for most students non-academic sub,ects are important inclusions still in toda!>s s!llabuses. 7( In man- countries) sports and e0ercise classes are replaced with the academic sub4ects( %iscuss the e**ects o* this trend( 2 er the past few decades" academic sub,ects ha e become increasingl! important in this fast-changing information-based societ!. 'owada!s" there has been a growing debate as to whether it would be more effecti e to replace ph!sical education classes with academic sub,ects. ?espite the importance of sports" I highl! belie e that it is ine itable and more efficient to focus more on academic sub,ects for se eral reasons. Those who argue that sports and e.ercise classes are needed in school base their case on the following arguments. 3irst of all" sports are a good wa! to build character and de elop personalit!. That is" there are necessar! for learning about competition" cooperation" and good sportsmanship. In addition" as a ma,orit! of children these da!s are addicted to the Internet" the! find it hard to lea e their computer. @onsequentl!" a growing number of children are becoming o erweight or obese due to a lac$ of e.ercise. /o" if schools foster an en ironment that depri es students of getting a proper ph!sical education" it will ha e a long-term negati e effect on children both mentall! and ph!sicall!. 'e ertheless" people should not ignore the fact that de oting more time and energ! to academic sub,ects will benefit students more in the long run. The time de oted to ph!sical education now would be better spent teaching students (nglish. This is because spea$ing fluent (nglish will gi e !oung people an ad antage o er other college applicants and ,ob see$ers in the near future. 6esides" science will undoubtedl! benefit !outh more than ph!sical education as well. The principles learned in science will pro ide the necessar! foundation for sol ing and difficult problems that are sure to arise in students# futures. In summar!" there are high hopes that educators and parents e.ercise wisdom in teaching !oung generations. %3== words&

8( Some people thin# hi$h school $raduates should tra.el or wor# *or a period o* time instead o* $oin$ directl- to stud- at uni.ersit-( %iscuss the ad.anta$es and disad.anta$es o* both approaches( 9i.e reasons *or -our answer and include an- rele.ant e0amples *rom -our own #nowled$e or e0perience( -igh school students face man! decisions as the! prepare to graduate" including what the! are going to do after graduation. /ome high school students go directl! to college or uni ersit! after graduation. 2thers prefer to tra el or wor$ for some time before going to uni ersit!. 3or those who choose to go college or uni ersit! after graduation" there are ad antages and disad antages. 2ne of the big ad antages of going directl! from high school to college is that !ou are still in the habit of stud!ing. 6! going to college after graduation" 8

!ou do not lose the stud! s$ills that !ou de eloped during high school. The big disad antages" howe er" is that !ou ma! not be read! for college. 7ou ma! not $now e.actl! what !ou want to stud!" or !ou ma! be more interested in freedom and parties than in !our courses. At that age" it is often difficult for students to ta$e on the responsibilities of college. There are also ad antages and disad antages to wor$ing or tra eling befor starting college. +or$ing or tra eling allows !ou a better idea of what !ou want to do with !our life. 7ou gain practical e.perience that helps !ou define what !ou want to stud!. 7ou also are well prepared for the responsibilities of college or uni ersit! studies. 2n the other hand" b! the time !ou start college" !ou will probabl! ha e obligations" li$e a ,ob or spouse" which $eep !ou from focusing on studies. In addition" tra elling or wor$ing before college ma! cause !ou to spend enough time out of school that !ou forget how to stud!. The desicion of what to do after hich school graduation can be a difficult one. ?eciding whether to go straight into college or uni ersit! or ta$e time to wor$ or tra el is something that faces e er! high school student. After thin$ing about the ad antages and disad antages of both options" the decision should be based on what is best for !ou. :( The student who stud- *rom the school to uni.ersit- $et bene*it less and contribute less too) than those o* student who $o to tra.el or 4ob and $et s#ills and e0perience be*ore $oin$ hi$h( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree? 'owada!s" in our competiti e world" to succeed" $nowledge from school and uni ersit! is not enough. Therefore" the student who stud! from the school to uni ersit! get benefit less and contribute less too" than those of student who go to tra el or ,ob and get e.perience and s$ills before going high. There are two following reasons to pro e for m! opinion. I call the group of people who stud! from school to uni ersit! is group A and the other group is group 6. 3irstl!" at school and uni ersit!" what group A gain is almost theor!" theor! and theor!. 2f course" theor! is er! neccessar!" howe er" !ou can4t do e er!thing with theor!. 7ou must ha e praticeable e.perience. This is what group A lac$ er! much. Although in the third of forth !ear at uni ersit!" group A can be apprentices in some companies" to help them approach their future ,obs" the! aren4t trained well because of short time. And the real ,ob is still er! strange with them. After graduating" without e.perience" group A can4t accomplish their wor$ perfectl!. 2n the other hand" it ta$e them time and mone! to $eep up with other e.perienced ones and ma! be scorned. Therefore" group A can contribute less than group 6 who ha e the most two important thingsA s$ills and e.perience. /econdl!" as group A is contribute less" the! surel! get less benefit. 5oreo er" man! companies which emplo! people in group A ha e to train them from the bac$-ground. These companies ta$e this cost from group A4s salar! to get rid of the fact that their emplo!ees ma! lea e after being trained to other companies. /o" less benefit is una oidable and certain" +hereas group 6 are more lo!al and effecti e wor$ers. The! also ha e useful e.perience and s$ills. 6esides" their education is the same as or e en higher than group A. As the result" group 6 get more benefit absolutel!.

In conclusion" I thin$ student should go to tra el or ,ob before going high. Therefore" the! can4t onl! ha e basic $nowledge but also s$ills and e.perience which are useful for them to get a good ,ob and a brilliant future. This essay is too long ( "& #ords instead o$ %"&). To $ight this problem, try to #rite more in general and provide $e#er details. The language and ideas are good and so is the essay?s structure. *ooks like +and , to me.

;( %isrupti.e school students ha.e a ne$ati.e in*luence on others( Students who are nois- and disobedient should be $rouped to$ether and tau$ht separatel-( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree?

There is no doubt that some students in schools beha e badl! and their beha iour causes difficult! for others either because it has a negati e effect on the group or because ordinar! students find it difficult to stud! with them. 2ne solution is to ta$e these students awa! and teach them on their own. -owe er" if we simpl! ha e them remo ed after one or two warnings" we are limiting their educational opportunities because it seems to me that a school which caters for difficult students is a sort of BprisonB whate er name !ou gi e it and the people who go there ma! ne er reco er from the e.perience. This can then cause problems for the wider societ!. 9erhaps we need to loo$ at wh! the disrupti e students beha e badl! before we separate them. ?isrupti e students ma! be er! intelligent and find the classes boring because the wor$ is too eas!. 9erhaps these students need e.tra lessons rather than separate lessons. 2r perhaps the teachers are uninspiring and this results in beha ioural problems so we need better teachers. 2n the other hand" most students put up with this situation rather than cause trouble" and some people argue that we ha e to learn to suffer bad teachers and boring situations and that students who can#t learn this lesson need to be taught separatel!. /o before we condemn the students to a special school" we should loo$ at factors such as the teaching" because once the children ha e been separated" it is er! unli$el! that the! will be brought bac$.

'<( Some people thin# that uni.ersities should not pro.ide so much theoretical #nowled$e but $i.e more practical trainin$ throu$hout their courses( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this opinion? In the past" a ma,orit! of academics ha e held the opinion that uni ersities should onl! offer a theoreticall!-based approach to teaching throughout their courses" as opposed to the more recent trend towards empirical acquisition of $nowledge in ol ing more Chands onD e.perience. Is this the most effecti e wa! for students to learn ital academic information while underta$ing their degrees0 Endoubtedl!" ad antages and disad antages of both academic learning st!les ha e to be e aluated. 10

3irstl!" on the one hand" despite being the more traditional educational approach" learning from theor! in rele ant academic discourses to identif! established $nowledge allows us to gain a professional insight. 3or e.ample" students can easil! identif! facts and opinions from past discourses. In addition" students acquire $nowledge more easil! when gi en relati e theoretical e.amples to build upon. 3or instance" in sub,ects such as histor! or sociolog!" stud!ing te.tboo$ e.amples allows students to unra el comple. academic theories which the! could e.pand on. Alternati el!" there are some disad antages for students. 2n the other hand" there is no doubt that students could find themsel es reading tedious and monotonous academic papers. 3or instance" uni ersit! degrees in ol ing the e aluation of numerous Flong-winded4 academic discourses pro ide little inspiration for students" discouraging enthusiasm. 2b iousl!" interest can be stimulated through empirical research in class. 6! this I mean that Fthe human brain learns best b! doing4. Although time-consuming" there is no substitute for learning from ma$ing mista$es. In conclusion" while both approaches ha e benefits and drawbac$s in our e er-changing academic world" I honestl! belie e that a more practical approach promotes a stronger acquisition of academic $nowledge. In spite of the comprehensi e nature which theoretical teaching can possibl! pro ide" practical learning equals more positi e learning for future generations. %2G= words&

''( People attend colle$e or uni.ersit- *or man- de**erent reasons 5*or e0ample) new e0periences) career preparation) increased #nowled$e6( h- do -ou thin# people attend colle$e or uni.ersit-? 9eople attend college for a lot of different reasons. I belie e that the three most common reasons are to prepare for a career" to ha e new e.periences" and to increase their $nowledge of themsel es and of the world around them. @areer preparation is probabl! the primar! reason that people attend college. These da!s" the ,ob mar$et is er! competiti e. @areers such as information technolog! will need man! new wor$ers in the near future. At college" students can learn new s$ills for these careers and increase their opportunities for the future. /tudents also go to college to ha e new e.periences. 3or man!" it is their first time awa! from home. At college" the! can meet new people from man! different places. The! can see what life is li$e in a different cit!. The! can learn to li e on their own and ta$e care of themsel es without ha ing their famil! alwa!s nearb!. At college" students ha e the opportunit! to increase their $nowledge. As the! decide what the! want to stud!" pursue their studies" and interact with their classmates" the! learn a lot about themsel es. The! also" of course" ha e the opportunit! to learn about man! sub,ects in their classes. In addition to the s$ills and $nowledge related to their career" college students also ha e the chance to ta$e classes in other areas. 3or man!" this will be their last chance to stud! different sub,ects.

11

@olleges offer much more than career preparation. The! offer the opportunit! to ha e new e.periences and to learn man! $inds of things. I thin$ all of these are reasons wh! people attend college. Sample +, 9eople attend colleges or uni ersities for a lot of different reasons. I belie e that the three most common reasons are to prepare for a career" to ha e new e.periences" and to increase their $nowledge of themsel es and the world around them. @areer preparation is becoming more and more important to !oung people. 3or man!" this is the primar! reason to go to college. The! $now that the ,ob mar$et is competiti e. At college" the! can learn new s$ill for careers with a lot of opportunities. This means careers" such as information technolog!" that are e.pected to need a large wor$force in the coming !ears. Also" students go to colleges and uni ersities to ha e new e.periences. This often means ha ing the opportunit! to meet people different from those in their hometowns. 3or most students" going to college is the first time the!4 e been awa! from home b! themsel es. In additions" this is the first time the!4 e had to ma$e decisions on their own. 5a$ing these decisions increases their $nowledge of themsel es. 6esides loo$ing for self-$nowledge" people also attend a uni ersit! or college to e.pand their $nowledge in sub,ects the! find interesting. 3or man!" this will be their last chance for a long time to learn about something that doesn4t relate to their career. I would recommend that people not be so focused on a career. The! should go to college to ha e new e.periences and learn about themsel es and the world the! li e in. %2H3 words&

'+( &owada-s) education o.erseas has become more accessible and $rowin$ numbers o* people send their o**sprin$ to stud- in other countries( =owe.er) this trend has its detractors( I stron$l- belie.e that the pros *ar outwei$h the cons) and will e0amine both below( 2ne of the greatest ad antages is that the children learn to be independent. -a ing to coo$" clean" and pa! bills instills this in them. 2ften the! ha e to wor$ part-time to ma$e ends meet" and this impresses upon them the importance of wor$ and mone! management. Another important factor is that these children will be e.posed to different cultures and wa!s of thin$ing. The! will become more open-minded and tolerant and are li$el! to become more adaptable indi iduals. 2ne of the main moti es for sending !oung people abroad to stud! is that it enhances their emplo!ment prospects. In m! e.perience of li ing in foreign countries and spea$ing to arious !ouths" it seems that a foreign education is regarded as something desirable 12

and helpful in getting a decent ,ob. A degree from 6ritain" for e.ample" is seen as being of a higher standard than one from a de eloping countr!. 3urthermore" li ing in a foreign countr! ma! lead to fluenc! in a second language" which is another selling point for prospecti e emplo!ers. In addition" man! companies are $een to recruit people with a global outloo$. There are a few drawbac$s howe er. 3or instance" without parental super ision" the new found freedom children e.perience ma! lead to harmful practices such as drug-ta$ing and drin$ing. *eluctance or inabilit! to reintegrate into their mother countr! is another. To sum up" it can be seen that the ad antages of stud!ing abroad for children are more numerous than the disad antages. 2f course a lot depends on the age of the child" but I belie e that for most teenagers it would be a positi e e.perience. '/( It has been said) >&ot e.er-thin$ that is learned is contained in boo#s(> Compare and contrast #nowled$e $ained *rom e0perience with #nowled$e $ained *rom boo#s( In -our opinion) which source is more important? h-? B(.perience is the best teacherB is an old clichI" but I agree with it. +e can learn a lot of important things from boo$s" but the most important lessons in life come from our own e.periences. Throughout the different stages of life" from primar! school to uni ersit! to adulthood" e.perience teaches us man! s$ills we need for life. As children in primar! school" we learn facts and information from boo$s" but that is not all we learn in school. 2n the pla!ground we learn how to ma$e friends. In our class wor$" we learn how it feels to succeed and what we do when we fail. +e start to learn about the things we li$e to do and the things we don#t. +e don#t learn these things from boo$s" but from our e.periences with our friends and classmates. In our uni ersit! classes" we learn a lot of information and s$ills we will need for our future careers" but we also learn a lot that is not in our te.tboo$s. In our dail! li es both in class and out of class" we learn to ma$e decisions for oursel es. +e learn to ta$e on responsibilities. +e learn to get along with our classmates" our roommates" and our wor$mates. 2ur successes and failures help us de elop s$ills we will need in our adult li es. The! are s$ills that no boo$ can teach us. Throughout our adulthood" e.perience remains a constant teacher. +e ma! continue to read or ta$e classes for professional de elopment. -owe er" our e.periences at wor$" at home" and with our friends teach us more. The triumphs and disasters of our li es teach us how to impro e our careers and also how to impro e our relationships and how to be the person each one of us wants to be. 6oo$s teach us a lot" but there is a limit to what the! teach. The! can gi e us information or show us another person#s e.periences. These are aluable things" but the lessons we learn from our own e.periences" from childhood through adulthood" are the most important ones we learn. J 9eople are learning and practicing through their entire life. I belie e that life e.perience and practice are the basic reasons of the human$ind#s e olution. -owe er" in m! opinion" $nowledge gained from boo$s pla!s a er! important role in the modern life.

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The most ob iousl! important ad antage of boo$s is that the! hold all $nowledge gained b! pre ious generations. 9eople write boo$s about their disco eries and in entions" which are gained through practice and e.perience. This $nowledge is accumulated in boo$s that are passed from generation to generation. /o" basicall!" people get all $nowledge about the pre ious achie ements from boo$s" anal!ze it and than" according to their e.perience and new data" write new boo$s. In this case" boo$s are the holders of human$ind#s e.perience. 3or e.ample" at old times people thought that the (arth was flat. It was concluded from obser ations and studd!ing. -owe er" the ne.t generations" using the e.perience of their ancestors" pro ed that the (arth was round. 9ersonall!" I thin$ that boo$s are er! important because the! are able to gi e people the basic and fundamental $nowledge. 6oo$s store histor!" the important e ents and disco eries. +ithout them it is difficult and sometimes impossible to mo e forward" ma$e new disco eries and in entions. To summarize" I thin$ a person should ta$e basic $nowledge from boo$s because it will help him to ma$e his own in entions" conclusions and disco eries. 2nl! using both boo$s and one4s e.perience one can mo e forward. %23< words&

'1( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? People should read onl- those boo#s that are about real e.ents) real people) and established *acts( Use speci*ic reasons and details to support -our opinion( /ome people thin$ that fiction boo$s ha e no use at all. The! claim that people should read about real e ents that too$ place" real people" and established facts. I ha e to totall! disagree with this statement. 3rom m! e er!da! e.perience and obser ation I can stand that fiction" miracles and fair! tails are required in our life. 3or se eral reasons" which I will mention below" I belie e that fiction boo$s pla! an essential role in our life. 3irst of all" it is $ind of difficult to imagine a si. !ear old child reading about politics or histor! with the real facts that are not alwa!s pleasant. I thin$ that children need miracles and /anta @laus because the real world is too complicated for them. The! are too innocent and ine.perienced to $now the real facts and understand what a real life is about. In addition" I am sure that ma$ing a child read onl! non-fiction boo$s can result in shoc$. /econd of all" following this statement about refusing from reading boo$s about fiction e ents we also should refuse from festi als" parades" and celebration such holida!s as -alloween because most of the characters there are fictional. 5oreo er" comic boo$s will disappear as well as animated films and fiction mo ies. The disad antage of non-fiction lies in the facts that nothing happens to e.cite the mind and spirit. 3rom the other side" fiction pro ides a great slope for a mind to thin$ creati el!. In conclusion" I thin$ that people need miracles. +e can not be satisfied with onl! na$ed

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truth. -uman $ind must belie e in something and this belief helps people brea$ limits and ma$e new in entions. %2<3 words& '2( 9oin$ o.erseas *or uni.ersit- stud- is an e0citin$ prospect *or man- people( ?ut while it ma- o**er some ad.anta$es) it is probabl- better to sta- home because o* the di**iculties a student ine.itabl- encounters li.in$ and stud-in$ in a di**erent culture( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? There is no doubt that going to stud! in a foreign countr!" with its different language and culture" can be a frustrating and sometimes painful e.perience. 6ut while o erseas stud! has its drawbac$s" the difficulties are far outweighed b! the ad antages. Indeed" people who go abroad for stud! open themsel es up to e.periences that those who sta! at home will ne er ha e. The most ob ious ad antage to o erseas uni ersit! stud! is real-life use of a different language. +hile a person can stud! a foreign language in his or her own countr!" it cannot compare with constant use of the language in academic and e er!da! life. There is no better opportunit! to impro e second-language s$ills than li ing in the countr! in which it is spo$en. 5oreo er" ha ing used the language during one#s studies offers a distinct ad antage when one is appl!ing for ,obs bac$ home that require the language. 2n a uni ersit! campus" the foreign student is not alone in ha ing come from far awa!. -e or she will li$el! encounter man! others from o erseas and it is possible to ma$e friends from all around the world. This is not onl! e.citing on a social le el" but could lead to important o erseas contacts in later professional life. 3inall!" li ing and stud!ing abroad offers one a new and different perspecti e of the world and" perhaps most important" of one#s own countr!. 2nce be!ond the initial shoc$ of being in a new culture" the student slowl! begins to get a meaningful understanding of the host societ!. 2n returning home" one ine itabl! sees one#s own countr! in a new" often more appreciati e" light. In conclusion" while an! an.iet! about going o erseas for uni ersit! stud! is certainl! understandable" it is important to remember that the benefits offered b! the e.perience ma$e it well worthwhile.

'7( Man- students do not *inish school( h- is this) and how can the problem be sol.ed? School %rop!Outs, Problems and Solutions Toda!" although most students in the EA( complete school" a large number still drop out because of famil!" social and wor$ pressures. This problem requires serious action from both indi iduals and the go ernment.

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5ost students who do not complete school do so because of famil! problems. Kirls" especiall!" want to get married and start a famil!. /ome parents are not interested in education and do not support their children in stud!ing. /ocial problems are also a contributing factor. (ducation is compulsor! but" despite this" some people do not ta$e it seriousl!. 3urthermore" ,obs are a ailable e en if students do not ha e a good education. The third reason is wor$ pressure. /ome families are poor and need their children to wor$ in order to increase the income. All these problems will create !oung people who do not ha e an! s$ills and who will not be able to impro e their li es for the famil! and the countr!. There are se eral things that can be done about these problems. 9arents should be encouraged to send their children to school. /chools with bab!-minding facilities should be opened speciall! for married students. The go ernment needs to stress the importance of education and e en offer financial support to students to continue. This will encourage students to sta! at school rather than start wor$ing. In conclusion" there are se eral things that the go ernment can do to allow more people to finish school. -owe er" a number of societ! attitudes also ha e to change if the countr!4s !oung people are to achie e their full potential. 25L words '8( %oes a uni.ersit- education lead to success in li*e? It is er! difficult to answer the claim that a person needs a uni ersit! education to be successful in life because success in life means different things to different people. This essa! starts b! defining three different ideas of success. 3ollowing this" it loo$s at which t!pes of success are dependent on a uni ersit! education. /uccess in life can be achie ed in different wa!s. 5an! magazines and tele ision programmes tell us that success means ha ing a lot of mone!" ha ing a fulfilling career" and being powerful. In contrast" most religious and spiritual organizations claim that success means finding spiritual happiness and being at peace with Kod and with !ourself. Another idea of success focuses on relationships - being surrounded b! people who lo e !ou and care about !ou" spending time with famil! and friends. A uni ersit! education can help !ou achie e some t!pes of success" but it ma$es little or no difference to whether or not !ou are successful in other areas of life. Endoubtedl!" a uni ersit! education is essential if !ou want to ha e a career in a profession such as law" engineering" teaching" or medicine. -owe er" !ou do not need a uni ersit! degree to become a wealth! and powerful mo ie star" sports star or businessperson. In fact" a uni ersit! education does not generall! enable !ou to achie e spiritual happiness" or to ha e successful relationships with famil! and friends. sIn conclusion" there are man! different t!pes of success. A uni ersit! education ma! help !ou to achie e professional success in some careers. -owe er" it will not help !ou to achie e success in other areas of !our life such as !our spiritual life or !our relationships. 2<5 words Author un$nown" edited slightl! 16

':( Education, Losin$ its @alue Toda!" it seems to be uni ersall! accepted that increased education is a good thing. Thousands of colleges and millions of students spend ast amounts of time and mone! chasing pieces of paper. 6ut what is the alue of these qualifications0 This essa! will discuss whether education has been de alued. /upporters of education %usuall! teachers or educators" or those who ha e an interest in stopping people thin$ing for themsel es& sa! that increased le els of education will open doors for students. @ertificates" diplomas" and degrees are held up as a status s!mbol" a passport to a pri ate club of mone! and power. -owe er" the trul! powerful are not those who ha e ta$en degrees" but people who ha e stood bac$ and loo$ed at what is reall! important in life. The! ha e seen opportunit! and followed dreams. These people are found in e er! part of societ!. Mi$e man! brilliant people" (instein was a wea$ student at math. Mi$e man! successful businessmen" 6ill Kates ne er completed college. Mi$e man! in enti e and creati e people" (dison ne er went to school. The greatest religious teachers do not ha e letters after their name" but ha e loo$ed into their hearts for meaning. /imilarl!" the world4s political leaders do not ha e master4s degrees or doctorates. These are the people who shaped our centur!" and the! are too bus! with real life to spend time in the paper chase. /tudents in college are being sold an illusion. The! are made to belie e that selfunderstanding and societ! appro al will come with the acquisition of a piece of paper. Instead of thin$ing for themsel es" and finding their own personalit! and strengths" the! are fitted li$e square pegs into round holes. The role of education is to prepare masses of people to operate at low le els of abilit! in a er! limited and restricted range of acti ities. /ome of these acti ities are more challenging than perhaps the assembl! lines of the past" but still the ultimate purpose is equall! uninteresting. 5ore worr!ingl!" despite the increased le el of education" people are still not genuinel! e.pected to thin$ for themsel es. In fact" the longer !ears of schooling ma$e the ,ob of brainwashing e en easier. There is still a role for stud!" research" and education. -owe er" we need to e.amine our emphasis on education for the sa$e of a piece of paper" and to learn the real meaning and re olutionar! challenge of $nowledge. ';( Education, Still In.aluableA In the past" degrees were er! unusual in m! famil!. I remember the da! m! uncle graduated. +e had a huge part!" and for man! !ears m! mother called him Bthe geniusB and listened to his opinion. Toda!" in comparison fi e of m! brothers and sisters ha e degrees" and two are stud!ing for their masters#. -owe er" some people thin$ that this increased access to education is de aluing degrees. In this essa!" I will loo$ at some of the arguments for and against the increased emphasis on degrees in our societ!.

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9eople ha e se eral arguments against the need for degrees. The! sa! that ha ing so man! graduates de alues a degree. 9eople lose respect for the degree holder. It is also claimed that education has become a rat race. Kraduates ha e to compete for ,obs e en after !ears of stud!ing. Another point is that stud!ing for such a long time leads to learners becoming infle.ible. The! $now a lot about one narrow sub,ect" but are unable to appl! their s$ills. (mplo!ers prefer more fle.ible and adaptable wor$ers. -owe er" I feel strongl! that this mo e to ha ing more qualifications is a positi e de elopment. In the past education was onl! for the rich and powerful. 'ow it is a ailable to e er!one" and this will ha e man! ad antages for the countr! and the indi idual. 3irst of all" it is impossible to be o ereducated. The more people are educated" the better the world will be" because people will be able to discuss and e.change ideas. A further point is that people with degrees ha e man! more opportunities. The! can ta$e a wider ariet! of ,obs and do what the! en,o! doing" instead of being forced to ta$e a ,ob the! disli$e. 3inall!" a highl! educated wor$force is good for the econom! of the countr!. It attracts foreign in estment. In conclusion" although there are undoubtedl! some problems with increased le els of education" I feel strongl! that the countr! can onl! progress if all its people are educated to the ma.imum of their abilit!. 338 words +<( It is o*ten said that the sub4ects tau$ht in schools are too academic in orientation and that it would be more use*ul *or children to learn about practical matters such as home mana$ement) wor# and interpersonal s#ills( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree? A criticism often heard these da!s is that the sub,ects taught in schools tend to be too academic" and contribute little to preparing a !oung person for the real-life tas$s he or she will ha e to perform after graduation. The! sa! that academic sub,ects are rooted in the past" and are not useful for sol ing modern problems. I disagree with this point of iew for three reasons. 5! first reason is that it is the dut! of parents" not teachers" to prepare their children to deal with the practical affairs of life. The home" not the classroom" is the ideal place to learn about home management and interpersonal s$ills. As for wor$ abilities and attitudes" the! are best learned Con the ,obD and under the super ision of an e.perienced older wor$er. 5! second reason is that academic sub,ects ha e withstood the test of time. The! represent the accumulated wisdom of our ancestors down through the ages" and" far from being impractical" the! equip us with the $nowledge and confidence to ma$e sound ,udgements about an! problems which ma! crop up. In addition" academic sub,ects are good for training us in mental discipline" while practical sub,ects are wea$ in this regard. 5! third reason is based on the sa!ing C5an does not li e b! bread alone.D /choolda!s de oted solel! to instruction in down-to-earth practical matters would be dull indeedN Messons in the best literature of the world" and the epoch-ma$ing scientific and geographical disco eries of the past enrich our li es and ma$e us feel that we are part of

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the great famil! of man$ind. All in all" the teaching of academic sub,ects in schools is entirel! appropriate. It is m! firml! held iew that practical sub,ects ha e no place in the classroom. 2n the contrar!" the curriculum should be more academicN +'( It has been said) B&ot e.er- thin$ that is learned is contained in boo#s(C Compare and contrast #nowled$e $ained *rom e0perience with #nowled$e $ained *rom boo#s( In -our opinion) which source is more important? h-? C(.perience is the best teacherD is an old clichI" but I agree with it. The most important" and sometimes the hardest" lessons we learn in life come from our participation in situations. 7ou can4 learn e er!thing from a boo$. 2f course" learning from boo$s in a formal educational setting is also aluable. It4s in schools that we learn the information we need to function in our societ!. +e learn how to spea$ and write and understand mathematical equations. This is all information that we need to li e in our communities and earn a li ing. 'e ertheless" I thin$ that the most important lessons can4t be taught1 the! ha e to be e.perienced. 'o one can teach us how to get along with others or how to ha e selfrespect. As we grow from children into teenagers" no one can teach us how to deal with peer pressure. As we lea e adolescence behind and enter adult life" no one can teach us how to fall in lo e and get married. This shouldn4t stop us from loo$ing for guidelines along the wa!. Teachers and parents are aluable sources of ad ice when we4re !oung. As we enter into new stages in our li es" the ad ice we recei e from them is er! helpful because the! ha e alread! bad similar e.periences. 6ut e.periencing our own triumphs and disasters is reall! the onl! wa! to learn how to deal with life. %252 words&

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T=E E&@IDO&ME&T E &ATUDAL SOUDCE

++( &owada-s en.ironmental problems are too bi$ to be mana$ed b- indi.idual persons or indi.idual countries( In other words) it is an international problem( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree? An essential problem of the 21st centur! is world pollution. @urrentl! the en ironment is so much contaminated that urgent measures should be ta$en. The single indi idual cannot be blamed for the world pollution" howe er e er! person should ta$e care of his or her habitat. In addition" it is ital that en ironmental issues should be treated internationall!. Matel!" man! presentations" conferences and international summits are held regarding waste treatment" rec!cling" soil and water contamination. 3or sure ,oint efforts and consolidation can onl! help in the mutual war towards the en ironmental disaster" which is going on. 3or instance" go ernments should offer support to companies and organizations" in ol ed in manufacturing" industr! or agriculture in order to find en ironment friendl! approaches. These could be special law regulations" rec!cling programs" helping courses in order to implement I/2 certificates and man! more. -owe er" the influence of indi iduals o er en ironment should not be ignored. If we do not confess that our planet is our home" we will ne er be able to ta$e adequatel! care of it. +e ha e to contribute e er! da! to the preser ation of nature and en ironment. 3or e.ample" alwa!s remember to sa e energ! b! switching off lamps" computers and e er!thing that we do not use. 2ur ne.t obligation is to separate waste and throw bul$ onl! in the designated areas. ?ri ing ehicles can also be en ironment friendl!. 3or e.ample" we ha e to a oid accelerating the engines too rapidl! or using the air condition in the countr!" where it will be better to sa e energ! and simpl! open the windows. To sum up" en ironmental problems should be handled b! local and international authorities also. ( er! single person should ta$e care of en ironment and moreo er we ha e to bring up our children to be conscious citizens of a clean and preser ed planet. This is a very good essay, +and ,- candidate. The structure o$ essay and sentences is correct as #ell as the spelling and punctuation. .ood /ob!

+/( &owada-s we are producin$ more and more rubbish( h- do -ou thin# this is happenin$? hat can $o.ernments do to help reduce the amount o* rubbish produced? I thin$ it is true that in almost e er! countr! toda! each household and famil! produces a large amount of waste e er! wee$. 5ost of this rubbish comes from the pac$aging from the things we bu!" such as processed food. 6ut e en if we bu! fresh food without pac$aging" we still produce rubbish from the plastic bags used e er!where to carr! shopping home. The reason wh! we ha e so much pac$aging is that we consume so much more on a

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dail! basis than families did in the past. @on enience is also er! important in modern life" so we bu! pac$aging or canned food that can be transported from long distances and stored untill we need it" first in the supermar$et" and then at home. -owe er" I thin$ the amount of waste produce is also a result of our tendenc! to use something once and throw it awa!. +e forget that e en the cheapest plastic bag has used up aluable resources and energ! to produce. +e also forget that it is a source of pollution and difficult to dispose of. I thin$" therefore" that go ernments need to raise this awareness in the general public. @hildren can be educated about en ironmental issues at school" but adults need to ta$e action. Ko ernments can encourage such action b! putting ta.es on pac$aging" such as plastic bags" b! pro iding rec!cling ser ices and b! thing households and shops that do not attempt to rec!cle their waste. +ith the political will" such measures could reall! reduce the amount of rubbish we produce. @ertainl! nobod! wants to see our resources used up and our planet poisoned b! waste. %2<= words&

+1( Scientists and the news media are presentin$ e.er more e.idence o* climate chan$e( 9o.ernmnets cannot be e0pected to sol.e this problem( It is the responsibilit- o* indi.iduals to chan$e their li*est-le to pre.ent *urther dama$e( hat are -our .iews? *ecentl! scientists worried about climate change ha e urged go ernments to introduce measures to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are seen as its main cause. /imoultaneouslt!" politicians and en ironmentalists ha e urged indi iduals to ma$e changes to their lifest!le. I shall argue that go ernments and indi iduals should ta$e ,oin responsibilit! for this problem. 3irstl!" industr! accounts for a large proportion of the greenhouse gas emissions" and this can onl! be controlled b! go ernment action. 5easures could be ta$en to discourage pollution" such as limiting or ta.ing the use of fossil fuels. Alternati el!" subsidies could be offered to industries to clean up their production processes. If these ideas were adopted" I belie e that businesses would regard pollution as a financial issue. /econdl!" onl! discussion between go ernments can ensure that solutions are successful. The O!oto agreement" for e.ample" tried to reach global agreement on how to address the problem. +ithout such co-operating" it seems to me that efforts to reduce fuel consumption are unli$el! to be effecti e. -owe er" national and international policies will onl! secceed if indi iduals also change their lifest!le. 3or e.ample" people could thin$ more carefull! about how the! use energ! in their homes. 6! using less electricit!" installing energ!-efficient light bulbs and electrical appliances" or in esting in solar panels" indi iduals can ma$e a real difference. In addition" I thin$ indi idual attitudes to transport need to change. Instead of ma$ing short

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tips b! car" people could choose to wal$" c!cle" or ta$e a bus. /ince cars are a ma,or source of the problem" changing our beha iour in this area would ha e a ma,or impact. In conclusion" I would maintain that onl! a combination of international agreement" national policies" and changes in indi idual beha iour will succeed in pre enting further damage to the en ironment. %281 words&

+2( Man- parts o* the world are losin$ important natural resources) such as *orests) animals) or clean water( Choose one resource that is disappearin$ and e0plain wh- it needs to be sa.ed( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our opinion( As human#s population is dramaticall! rising e er! !ear" people#s requirements are increasing too. +e need more food" more fresh water" more places to li e. As a result of this man! parts of the world are losing essential and sometimes irreplaceable resources" such as forest" animals" or fresh water. In this essa! I will focus on the threat of disappearing man! wild animals. The reason wh! I thin$ that animals should be preser ed is that all li ing creatures on this planet are connected with each other. /o" the disappearance of onl! one species can cause dramatic changes in the planet and e en death of man! other li ing creatures. 3or e.ample" the disappearance of bats will cause the huge increasing of insect population and this will reflect on all animals and plants. Another e.ample is that if the population of bats increases" the population of insects will decrease significantl!" and this will cause the disappearance of man! plants because insects are the main pollinators. /o" I thin$ it is er! important to preser e all species on our planet and li e in harmon! with our en ironment. Another important reason wh! I thin$ that animals should be sa ed is that I" personall!" do not want m! child to learn about different animals from boo$s and not be able to see them ali e. I thin$ it is shameful for human$ind to e.plain our children that we are the reason wh! those animals disappeared. In conclusion" I would li$e to sa! that the issue about losing important natural resources is topical and open for debate nowada!s. I belie e that together people can ma$e a difference. 3rom m! point of iew" the first problem we should find a solution for is human#s o erpopulation. As I mentioned abo e people#s demands are growing and this means we consume more and more natural resources. The second question" which is on the list of most important issues" is pollution including the air pollution" water pollution" etc. %325 words&

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+7( The risin$ le.els o* con$estion and air pollution *ound in most o* the worldFs cities can be attributed directl- to the rapidl- increasin$ number o* pri.ate cars in use( In order to re.erse this decline in the "ualit- o* li*e in cities) attempts must be made to encoura$e people to use their cars less and public transport more( %iscuss possible wa-s to encoura$e the use o* public transport( An!one who li es in a cit! is aware of the increasing number of cars on the road and the $inds of problems this createsA traffic ,ams" air pollution and longer commuting periods. As economies grow and access to cars spreads to increasing numbers of people" this trend is li$el! to worsen. The solution" it would seem" is for go ernrnment to encourage the use of public transport in urban areas" thus decreasing dependence on the car. 2ne wa! to stimulate public transport use is to ma$e pri ate car use more e.pensi e and incon enient. The introduction of tolls along urban motorwa!s has been successfull! emplo!ed in man! cities. 2ther such measures are high-priced permits for par$ing in urban areas and the restriction of par$ing to a limited number of cars. 3aced with high costs or no place to par$" commuters would perhaps be more willing to abandon their cars in fa our of buses or trains. There are also less punishing wa!s of spurring public transport use. The construction of free carpar$s at suburban train stations has pro en successful in quite a number of countries. This allows commuters to dri e part of the wa!" but ta$e public transport into the central" most congested" urban areas. Indeed" ma$ing public transport more comfortable and con enient should wor$ to attract more commuters and decrease traffic congestion. 9ublic transport that is con enient and comfortable retains its passengers" much li$e an! business that satisfies its customers. The more commuters committed to ta$ing public transport" the less congestion on cit! streets. +8(The earth is bein$ *illed with waste material such as plastic ba$s and other rubbish( Is this reall- happenin$? hat are some solutions to this problem? 2 er the past few decades" the increasing amount of industrial wastes and household garbage has become a ma,or problem in man! countries. 9eople ha e questioned what caused this problem and what can be done to impro e the situation. In m! opinion" two of the most critical causes of this waste material problem are the increased consumption and a shortage of space for landfill. To begin with" modern lifest!le has contributed greatl! to the increasing amount of waste and garbage we produce e er!da!. In other words" we ha e turned into a materialistic and mass-consumption societ! where we use more and throw awa! more than e er before. 5oreo er" countries are running out of space to store garbage and waste material. In fact" securing land for waste disposal raises contro ersies in man! countries. To sol e this intractable problem" e er! citizen needs to participate in producing less garbage. 3or e.ample" we can bring our own personal shopping bags instead of using plastic bags pro ided b! stores and shops. 6esides" the go ernment can enforce stricter laws on companies to use biodegradable pac$aging or use rec!cled material. Indeed" this 23

alone can eliminate much of the waste which is sent to at land fills. @ompanies can also contribute b! de eloping new raw material which is rec!clable and will ultimatel! lead to less garbage. 2ne good e.ample of this is that tire companies de elop new tires for cars which are not made of rubber but of new biodegradable material. As discussed abo e" indi iduals" business and the go ernment can share the responsibilit! to reduce the amount of waste material and to sa e the earth. I hope that in the future our offspring will be better off with the well-preser ed en ironment. %2G2 words&

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SCIE&CE E TEC=&OLO9Y
+:( ith all the troubles in the world toda-) mone- spent on space e0ploration is a complete waste( The mone- could be better spent on other thin$s( 'ations after nations" e er!da!" e er! !ear" celebrate their achie ements in space e.ploration . -owe er" it is now time to question how meaningful these blasts are. This essa! aims to e.plain wh! it is questionable. 3irst" until all urgent and important matters in this globe ha e been sol ed" mone! bumped on space e.ploration is of no meaning. It is not a common sense at all to in est million dollars researching and producing foods for astronauts %for space e.ploration purpose&" while e er!da! thousands of people are star ing. 3urthermore" the disco er! of outer space onl! ser es a minor group of people if the ma,orit! are e en not welleducated. Those in rural areas or third-world nations do no e en $now how to pre ent common threatening diseases li$e AI?/ and lung cancer. Then" some ma! argue that the purpose of space e.ploration are to disco er new lands" new energ! resources or to deter potential threat to globe. 'e ertheless" is it effecti e to do so while other alternati es are a ailable0 Mands on earth are no !et effecti el! used. 'ew energ! resources %e.g. solar and nuclear energ!& ha e not !et been widel!-used. Threats of plagues ha e not !et been deterred. All these 0not- !ets0 need mone!. That is wh! costl! space disco er! programs are a waste of mone!. In the nutshell" people should onl! in est in space e.ploration pro iding that %& earl!mentioned urgent and important matters ha e been sol ed. Also" purposes of space e.ploration campaign should be studied carefull! and other alternati es should be considered before mone! is wasted. This is a very good essay, #ell done.

+;( Some sa- that the internet is ma#in$ the world smaller b- brin$in$ people to$ether( To what e0tent do to -ou a$ree that the internet is ma#in$ it easier *or people to communicate with one another( A global illage" that is certainl! what the world feels li$e nowada!s. +ith the help of the world wide web" !ou can reach out and get to $now people !ou might ne er meet in person. Articles can be coauthored" business deals can be finalized" degrees can be earned and at times e en medical ad ice can be gi en0and all of this is ,ust a clic$ awa!. (lectronic mail" instant messages" web cameras and microphones1 all these gadgets and programs ma$e the presence of the other the person more real. +ho $nows1 with the help of isual realit! !ou might e en get a 3-? image of the spea$erN I belie e that the internet is one the best in entions of the last centur!" !ou can hardl! get to miss an!one and nobod! is reall! out of reach. 7ou will get to $eep the channels patent with !our friends" and will be able to do !our wor$ from !our bedroom in !our pa,amasN

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-owe er" the internet can also be a ma,or source of harassment. /pammers and hac$ers can in ade !our pri ac! and get personal;confidential information" which otherwise the! will ne er get access to. 7ou are ne er out of an!bod!4s reach" unless !ou ma$e a conscious decision of not chec$ing !our email" there can be alwa!s more wor$ waiting for !ou in !our inbo. and !ou might ne er ha e a moment for !ourself. +orse" if !ou were a wor$aholic" !ou might ne er e.perience that stress-free acation e er again in !our life0 simpl!" because !ou ha e !our mobile wor$place with !ou. As a romantic" I will alwa!s loo$ forward to getting an occasional letter in the snail mail. A personal letter" where I can sense the mood of the writer b! the slants in his;her handwriting and get to $now him;her better. 6ut as a t!pe A personalit! person" the internet gi es me all what I dream of in communication0speed" reliabilit!" and con enience of time and place. I can certainl! tolerate its shortcomings an! da!" as long as it $eeps me close to m! lo ed ones. This is a great essay, at least band , and maybe even 0. 1t is longer than re2uired ( 3& #ords instead o$ %"&) #hich means that it took you more time to #rite and less time to check your #ork. /<( Internet when used as a source o* in*ormation) has more drawbac#s than ad.anta$es( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree with this statement? /ome people belie e that internet access creates problems. There are se eral possible reasons wh! it can happen. 3irst" some data ma! be un erifiable. 3or e.ample" e er!time the! search for a data" there would be lots of choices that would appear on the screen. The! would not be sure if the data the! are reading has accurate information. /ome sources ha e e en outdated informations. /econd" some sites ma! be unreliable. 3or instance" people sign up on one site that sells goods using online purchases. The goods would be paid for b! credit card but the purchaser would not recei e an!thing. And finall!" not e er!thing is a ailable through the net. +hen m! friend had tried to research for some pictures of 1Gth centur! paintings" he did not find an! results. Then he was told b! his teacher that it would onl! be a ailable in the librar!. 2thers belie e that internet is er! useful and these are the ,ustifications. 3irst" it is hard to get data" that is a ailable in the net b! other means. 3or e.ample" if director! information could not gi e me the accurate address and contact number of the place I want to isit" I normall! chec$ that information from the Internet. In ,ust one clic$" I would get all the details of that certain compan!. /econd" research becomes more comprehensi e. 3or instance" I do not ha e to bu! lots of reading materials to complete m! research. 5ost of the needed information can be found if I ha e Internet access. And finall!" data is easil! compared and contrasted. I remember" m! cousin researched the stud! about o erweight children a decade ago and at present. -e was able to finish his research in ,ust one da!" as compared to wee$ if he would not use the Internet. In conclusion" let me reiterate that the Internet pla!s a big role in our life" because it ma$es data retrie al and comparison easier.

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1t?s a good essay, the arguments are clear, the language and the grammar are also good. 4tructure needs to be improved little bit ' make paragraphs smaller, re'divide so there #ould be " paragraphs instead o$ 3. 1n case it is argument essay ? give your opinion in the conclusion only. 1n case o$ opinion essay ? give your opinion in the introduction /'( Some people sa- that the Internet is ma#in$ the world smaller b- brin$in$ people to$ether( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree that the internet is ma#in$ it easier *or people to communicate with one another? In toda! world P due to the ad ancement of technolog! new in entions are coming into e.istence. It is a certaint! that 0necessit! is a mother of in ention0. P Internet is ,ust li$e a wonder bo." which contains e er! t!pe of information. 6esides it has also pro ed as a er! important tool to connect people with each other. In toda!0s modernized era nobod! has sufficient time to write letters to their lo ed ones. 5oreo er it also ta$es longer to send or recei e an! information. 6ut through an internet it is an easiest wa! to send massages to our lo ed ones. (ither it can be in the form of an e- mail or b! te.t messages from internet to cell phones. +e can send and recei e messages straight wa!. In other hand toda!0s !outh generation mostl! prefer to do chatting on %& internet. Through this chatting we can write messages and straight wa! can get their repl!. 5oreo er oice chatting is going to be er! popular da!-b!-da!. As it is a realit! that ad antages and disad antages are li$e both sides of a coin" which usuall! runs parallel. /o li$e other things internet also ha e some downsides" li$e people are facing some health problems for e.ample" poor e!e-sight" bac$ ache" migrane. Toda!0s teenagers usuall! prefer to spend their time on internet rather than to participating in other ph!sical acti ities" so that0s wh! the! are going to be wea$er in their ph!sical health. To conclude" I would li$e to sa! that internet is one of the most modernized and most successful tools" not onl! for communication" e en to get most rele ant information regarding e er! field in a er! short period of time. This is a great essay, #ell done! 5emember ?the 1nternet? is a proper noun, currently, there is only one. 6ay attention to your punctuation ' many commas are missing a$ter linking #ords. 7ther#ise, the essay is #ell argued and set out.

/+( e ha.e been li.in$ in the nuelear a$e now *or o.er hal* a centur-( Since the *irst atomic bombs were de.eloped) nuclear technolo$- has pro.ided $o.ernments with the abilit- to totall- destro- the planet( Yet the technolo$- has been put to positi.e use as an ener$- source and in certain areas o* medicine( To what e0tent is nuclear technolo$- a dan$er to li*e on Earth? hat are the bene*its and ris#s associated with its use?

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These da!s" man! people are afraid of nuclear technolog! because of the dangers associated with its use. In m! opinion" although it is true that nuclear weapons pose the greatest threat to life" the use of nuclear technolog! for peaceful purposes also carries some serious ris$s. 'uclear power stations pro ide an important source of cheap power for man! industrialised nations and some de eloping countries. -owe er" there is alwa!s the danger of radiation lea$ing from these plants. ( en though safet! precautions are ta$en" there ha e been numerous disasters such as the e.plosion of a nuclear plant in *ussia not long ago. 'uclear technolog! is e en used to help cure some diseases such as cancer. *adiation can be applied to the bod! to burn awa! cancerous cells. This is" howe er" a dangerous procedure" and the application of radiation is almost alwa!s painful and not alwa!s successful. The most worr!ing aspect of nuclear technolog!" though" is its use for militar! purposes. (nough atomic bombs ha e alread! been built to completel! destro! the planet" and the real danger is that one da! some countr! will start a war with these weapons. Too man! countries now ha e the technolog! required to ma$e such bombs" and there is currentl! much debate about how to control the situation. In conclusion" nuclear technolog! certainl! has positi e uses" but is" nonetheless" dangerous. -owe er" it would ha e been better if it had ne er been used to create nuclear weapons. If life on (arth is to continue. //( FTelecommutin$F re*ers to wor#ers doin$ their 4obs *rom home *or part o* each wee# and communicatin$ with their o**ice usin$ computer technolo$-( Telecommutin$ is $rowin$ in man- countries and is e0pected to be common *or most o**ice wor#ers in the comin$ decades( =ow do -ou thin# societ- will be a**ected b- the $rowth o* telecommutin$? The spread of telecommuting is sure to ha e far-reaching effects on societ!. 6! itself" telecommuting refers to offiice wor$ers spending much of their time wor$ing from home and using electronic technologies to communicate with their emplo!ers. The broader implications of telecommuting" howe er" ma! in ol e changes to corporate structure" wor$ers# lifest!les and e en urban planning. The most ob ious changes ma! be apparent in the Qnormal# offices of companies" go ernments and other organisations. If e en half the wor$ing wee$ is spent telecommuting from home" then we would initiall! e.pect man! empt! des$s in the offiice. As offices grow smaller" wor$ers coming in for the da! would be e.pected to share des$s with their absent colleagues. This" in turn" ma! affect the social atmosphere of an organisation" howe er" as less social contact with one#s colleagues could harm morale and lo!alt!. 3or the indi idual office wor$er" telecommuting would mean spending more time at home. 3or a parent with !oung children" this ma! be a blessing. 5oreo er" man! telecommuters would be able to wor$ the hours the! wishedA ha ing a nap in the afternrnoon" for e.ample" but wor$ing some hours in the e ening. 2ne substantial benefit for all telecommuting wor$ers is that there will be no need to tra el to wor$" allowing more free time.

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The structure of urban life is also li$el! to be affected b! telecommuting. +e would e.pect to see fewer cars on the road during pea$ hours and" e entuall!" a smaller concentration of offiices in cities# central business districts. In short" people will ha e less reason to tra el to cit! centres from outl!ing areas. As more people wor$ and li e in the same location" shops and cultural e ents will li$el! relocate themsel es out of the cit! centre. In sum" telecommuting will ser e not onl! to change the wa! we wor$ but also the wa! we li e.

/1( Telecommutin$, will it chan$e the world? Telecommuting will ha e ma,or effects in the worlds of wor$ and famil! life. -owe er" its biggest effect will be in the area of indi idual freedom" responsibilit!" and time management. +or$ and wor$places will alter dramaticall!. 2ffices ma! become smaller" as fewer des$s are needed. There will be greater need for high-bandwidth connections to lin$ the office and the home" and e en homes to other homes" as other emplo!ees and super isors also begin wor$ing at home. -ours spent commuting" traffic ,ams" and fights for par$ing should diminish" as wor$ers ma$e fewer ,ourne!s or wor$ staggered hours. 3amil! life will also change. +or$ers" both husbands and wi es" can arrange their wor$ around famil! commitments such as ta$ing children to school" coo$ing" leisure acti ities" etc. -owe er" households will also ha e to set aside areas for wor$ - particularl! if both spouses are telecommuting. -owe er" although the ideas of more time at home and less time tra eling are attracti e" there are some drawbac$s to telecommuting. 9eople ma! feel unable to escape their wor$" and ma! e en wor$ longer or more unsocial hours. The qualit! of wor$ ma! suffer because of the reduced face-to-face interaction with other emplo!ees. There ma! be dela!s if other wor$ers are not immediatel! a ailable. Telecommuters ma! feel isolated or unmoti ated" or insecure about decisions. A ma,or change will be in the wa! people thin$ about wor$ as a place or an institution. Instead" the! will focus on the tas$ or product. +or$ers ma! feel less lo!al to a compan! and more inclined to change ,obs or wor$ parttime or on contract. In conclusion" the effects are difficult to predict because the! depend on the e.tent to which telecommuting becomes popular. -owe er" telecommuting could be the start of a ma,or societal shift" possibl! as big as the Industrial *e olution which created our present ideas of wor$. %3=5 words&

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/2( ith the increasin$ popularit- o* computers and calculators) student literac- is decreasin$ dramaticall-( hat are the positi.e and ne$ati.e e**ects the pro$ress o* science and technolo$- has brou$ht about? It has been widel! noted that" with the growing use of computers and calculators both in the classroom and in the home" the le el of literac! and mathematical abilit! of students is dropping. This raises serious doubts about the alue of the progress of science and technolog!. -ere I will discuss the pros and cons of this question. 3irst of all" ad ances in science and technolog! ha e certainl! brought about man! benefits for man$ind. The! ha e made our li es more comfortable and healthier. In addition" the! ha e eased the burden of wor$ for most people and pro ided them with more leisure opportunities" while at the same time increasing producti it! dramaticall!. 'e ertheless" it cannot be denied that technolog! has some negati e side-effects. As mentioned abo e" with computers which chec$ spelling" grammar and calculation for them" students ha e little incenti e to learn how to do these things for themsel es. Also" the a ailabilit! of T) programs and ideos encourages an unhealth!" sedentar! lifest!le. Another aspect of this issue is that technolog! ma! be good or bad" depending on how we use it. 3or instance" d!namite ma! be used to ma$e road construction easier" or it ma! be used to $ill people. Again" nuclear reactors can suppl! huge amounts of cheap electricit!" but if the! are carelessl! handled the! can cause de astating pollution. +e can conclude that the progress of science and technolog! has both positi e and negati e effects. +hat we must do is to ma$e sure that the positi e ones are encouraged and the negati e ones are eliminated as far as possible. Among other things" this means that students are warned not to let computers and calculators do all their wor$ for them.

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T=E ME%IA
/7( Compare the ad.anta$es and disad.anta$es o* three o* the *ollowin$ as media *or communicatin$ in*ormation( State which -ou consider to be the most e**ecti.e(
Comics

) boo#s ) radio ) tele.ision ) *ilm ) theatre

In our dail! life" we alwa!s communicate information through the media" such as tele ision" radio" film" These media ha e different ad antages and disad antages for us. 'ow" I am going to compare the ad antages and disad antages of boo$s" tele ision and film. 6oo$s bring us different $nowledge. It bases on what 6oo$ we read. A famous @hinese traditional erse which described boo$s is a treasure. +e can find a golden house in there. 5oreo er" when we want to read it" we can find it easil!" such as boo$store" librar!. +e can also learn a lot of words from boo$s. And it can impro e our reading and writing s$ills. -owe er" boo$s alwa!s are not attracti e for children or !oungster. It is because boo$s are quite boring. A lot of words and less pictures inside the boo$s" compare to tele ision" tele ision has pictures and sound" we don#t ha e to read a lot of words in tele ision. 6ut some artist in tele ision programme or film" bring a bad image to us. Then some children or !oungers will imitate their beha iour. /ome film also bring a wrong message to us" 3or e.ample" the! are alwa!s smo$ing in films. It seems that smo$ing is good and smart. It caused man! !oungers imitate them smo$ing. In conclusion" boo$ds" tele ision and film ha e man! ad antages and disad antages. I cannot write all in here. And we ha e choose the media carefull!. %231 words&

/8( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? Tele.ision has destro-ed communication amon$ *riends and *amil-( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our opinion( The in ention of tele ision is undoubtedl! one of human$ind#s greatest in entions. It is a wa! of communication among people of one countr! and different countries and nations. 9eople watch T) to find out about the latest news" weather" sports" etc. It is a great wa! to learn new and e.tend one#s range of interests. /cientists sa! that children spend the same amount of hours in front of T) as the! do in school. I thin$ that this can be said about man! grown people too. Also" tele ision is a great means of eliminating stress and tension. 2ne can rela. and lea e one#s troubles behind l!ing on one#s fa orite sofa and watching a comed!. -owe er" some people belie e that tele ision has destro!ed communication among friends and famil!. 9ersonall!" I do not agree with this statement. A couple centuries ago people spent their time gambling" reading" gossiping or pla!ing chess. I do not thin$ that tele ision is a 31

cause of destro!ed communication among famil! members and friends. 3irst of all" if members of a famil! ha e common interests and the! want to ma$e each other happ! the! will alwa!s find man! wa!s to spend their time together and be close. 2therwise" if people a oid each other and the! do not ha e an!thing to share with each other the! will find tele ision a great wa! to escape from this miserable e.istence. I belie e that man! people chose famil! and their friends o er some soap operas or a mo ie. /econd of all" I thin$ that tele ision can be a great resource of sub,ects to discuss. 5an! people watch different educational programs to find out more about their en ironment" nature" wild life animals" economic situations" etc. /o" when the! gather with their friends the! discuss important issues and arque with each other in loo$ing for the truth. 5! husband and I often watch the news channel to $eep abreast of the latest news. After that we alwa!s discuss some issues we concerned about. Also" we li$e to watch a T) show Bthe funniest animalsB. +e li$e this program because it ma$es us laugh. I can not imagine how these programs can pre ent our communication and be harmful to our relations. To summarize" I would li$e to add that if people want to communicate with each other the! will find a wa! to do it. 2therwise" if tele ision were not e.istent" people would find other escapes and reasons not to be with each other such as drugs" gambling" etc. %H13 words&

/:( &ews editors decide what to broadcast on tele.ision and what to print in newspapers( hat *actors do -ou thin# in*luence these decisions? %o we become used to bad news? ould it he better i* more $ood news was reported? It has often been said that. Kood news is bad news. because it does not sell newspapers. A radio station that once decided to present onl! good news soon found that it had gone out of business for lac$ of listeners. 6ad news on the other hand is so common that in order to cope with it" we often simpl! ignore it. +e ha e become immune to bad news and the newspapers and radio stations are aware of this. +hile newspapers and T) stations ma! aim to report world e ents accuratel!" be the! natural or human disasters" political e ents or the horrors of war" it is also true that their main ob,ecti e is to sell newspapers and attract listeners and iewers to their stations. 3or this reason T) and radio stations attempt to reflect the fla our of their station b! pro iding news broadcasts tailor-made to suit their listeners. preferences. 9rogrammes specialising in pop music or T) soap operas focus more on local news" home issues and up-to-date traffic reports. The more serious stations and newspapers li$e to pro ide .so called. ob,ecti e news reports with editorial comment aimed at anal!sing the situation. If it is true" then" that newspapers and T) stations are tailoring their news to their readers. and iewers. requirements" how can the! possibl! be reporting real world e ents in an honest and ob,ecti e light0 5an! radio and T) stations do" in fact" report items of good news but the! no longer call this news. The! refer to these as human interest stories and

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pac$age them in programmes specialising" for instance" in consumer affairs or local issues. Kood news now comes to us in the form of documentaries the fight against children.s cancer or AI?/" or the latest de elopments in the fight to sa e the planet from en ironmental pollution. --------------------Sample +, 'ews editors decide what to broadcast on tele ision and what to print in newspapers. There are two factors that influence their decisions. The first is the $ind of customers the! tend on. 6ecause each $ind of readers and watchers has its own features. 3or e.ample" if !our customers are almost teenagers" !ou ha e to concentrate on something attracting them such as stories" photographs about singer stars" film stars" funn! tales" and !oung fashion. It will be er! sill! if !ou tr! to pro ide teenagers with economic" politic news. 2n the contrar!" besiness men and politicians ma! ne er read news about Rames 6lunt or Oeira Onightle!. Therefore" what influence news editors4 decisions the most is the taste of their customers. The second is the hot" the attraction of news. +ho will reads or watchs !our news if it was one !ear" one month ago e en last wee$0 The answer is nobod! absolutel!. In the energetic and competiti e world nowada!s" people alwa!s as$ for reall! new news. /o that to satisf! customers" there is a pressure on all editors to find continuall! what has alread! happened not onl! !esterda! but e en an hour ago. 2r else" the! will lose their customers. 'one of editors wants that bad future. 2n tele ision or in newspaper" we seem to become used to bad news. It is a little of difficult for us to meet a piece of good news. +e can4t den! that bad things occur on the earth da! b! da!. -owe er" news editors tr! to gain more and more customer" which means more and more mone!" b! bad news. 6ecause bad news ma$es us curious. +e want to $now wh! it is bad" what it is about" whether it influences us or not. As a result" we will bu! newspapers or watch tele ision to find out. And the happiest people are" of course" news editors. I thin$ it would be better if more good news was reported. 6ad news ma$es us worr! and sad. +hereas good news ma$es us happ!. -ow much bad news is" there should be the same amount of good news. /o" we can gi e something bad a lot of thought while still be ,o!ful with good news. An! inequalities between good news and bad news should be a oided. That is the best solution. 'ow" we can4t li e without news. Thereb!" the role of news editors is er! important. +e should support them. And what the! ha e to do is tr! their best to pro ide us useful news" both good and bad. 4ome o$ your sentences are too short ' they #ould look better /oined together. 7verall, a very good essay ? to me it looks like +and , candidate.

33

/;( Man- people belie.e that tele.ision pro$rams are o* no .alue *or children( %o -ou a$ree? h- or wh- not? Pro.ide reasons and e0amples to support -our response( Tele isual media has become a per asi e force in the li es of families around the world toda!. 7et" a central question remains regarding whether watching tele ision is harmful or beneficial for children. An anal!sis of this question re eals that tele ision programs present three ma,or concerns in the case of children" including depictions of iolence" the use of profane language" and the representation of poor moral role models. Tele ision programs that portra! iolence are a paramount concern for parents nowada!s. *ecent research has shown that children ma! commit acts of iolence because the! wish to emulate the beha ior that the! see on tele ision. This is especiall! true when iolent acts are committed b! well-$nown action Cheroes.D In addition" tele ision programs show cartoon figures" as well as actors" committing iolent acts. Esing comic situations to depict iolent themes causes further problems with the wa! in which !oung people iew iolence. Tele ision programs that contain profane or disrespectful language also worr! parents with !oung children. 6ecause censorship laws ha e rela.ed o er the past few decades" it has become er! common for tele ision programs of each and e er! $ind to show characters e.pressing impolite" rude" and insulting utterances to one another. 6earing resemblance to the case of portra!als of iolence" children unfortunatel! often tr! to imitate these actions the! watch on their tele ision screens. 3inall!" some parents are upset about the moral beha ior depicted on tele ision. As the! struggle to teach their children moral and ethical alues" parents might despair about the lac$ of morals and ethics represented in some of the so-called role models on tele ision. 3or instance" certain characters not onl! ha e no remorse for their immoral actions" but also frequentl! go unpunished b! larger societ!. 6ecause of these factors" man! parents belie e that tele ision programs send their !outh the wrong $inds of messages. The emulation of this poor beha ior b! their children is something the! wish to a oid at all costs" and the! ha e accordingl! decided to ban tele ision in their households for these reasons. 1<( Tele.ision has had a si$ni*icant in*luence on the culture o* man- societies( To what e0tent would -ou sa- that tele.ision has positi.el- or ne$ati.el- a**ected the cultural de.elopment o* -our societ-? It has been around fort! !ears since tele ision was first introduced into Australian households and people toda! still ha e mi.ed iews on whether it has a positi e or a negati e influence on the societ!. 5an! people belie e that tele ision damages culture. It promotes the stronger cultures of countries such as 6ritain and 'orth America and wea$ens the cultures of less wealth! countries. This is because the stronger" wealthier countries are able to assert their own culture b! producing more programs that are shown widel! around the world. These 34

programs then influence people" particularl! !oung people" in the countries where the! are shown. Also" because tele ision networ$s need to attract large audiences to secure their financial sur i al" the! must produce programs which are interesting to a broad range of people. In Australia this range is er! broad because we are a multicultural societ! and people of all ages li$e to watch tele ision. To interest all these different people" most tele ision programs are short in length" full of action and e.citement" do not require much intelligence or $nowledge to understand" and follow uni ersal themes common to all cultures" such as lo e and crime. Tele ision programs which concentrate on or de elop themes pertinent to one particular culture are not so successful because the! interest a smaller audience. 'e ertheless we much ac$nowledge that tele ision does ha e some positi e effects on the cultures within a societ! as well. 9eople who do not li e within their own culture can" in a limited wa!" access it through the multicultural station on the tele ision. 3or e.ample" Aboriginal children who ha e grown up in white families" or migrants and international students li ing in Australia" can watch programs from their own culture on the tele ision. In conclusion" I hold the iew that tele ision promotes and strengthens those cultures that are wealth! and influential while it wea$ens the cultures that are alread! in a wea$ened position. 1'( The mass media) includin$ tele.ision) radio and newspapers) ha.e $reat in*luence in shapin$ peopleFs ideas( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? The mass media ha e a powerful influence in shaping our li es. +e ha e come to depend on them for information and entertainment" and in doing so we let them affect important aspects of our li es. The undeniable usefulness of the media in almost instantl! pro iding information about e ents around the world is largel! ta$en for granted. 6ut in our dependence on the media we ha e allowed them to mould our notions and opinions of e ents" places and people. Though few of us probabl! thin$ about it" our conceptions of" sa!" our elected officials spring from tele ision images and newspaper stories. 5ost of us will ne er meet prime ministers or presidents" but an!one who is regularl! e.posed to the media will ha e an opinion of them. +hen it is time to cast our ote" we will ma$e our decision based on how the media portra! the candidates. +e are similarl! swa!ed b! co erage of wars. The media" representing the alues of their owners" societies and go ernments" tend to report wars with a bias1 which is the #good# side and which the #bad# is determined for us b! reporters" editors and commentators" and sure enough the public begins to form opinions that reflect the co erage the! see" hear and read in the ma,or media. The media are also influential in the wa! the! facilitate the spread of culture and lifest!le. The so-called #global !outh culture#" in which one finds !oung people around the world displa!ing a common interest in music" clothing st!les and films" is an e.ample of the media#s enormous swa! in this regard. A popular figure such as 5ichael Rac$son would ne er be so well $nown were it not for the media#s e.tensi e reach into e er! societ! on the globe.

35

Thus I would argue that the mass media#s influence is certainl! great. Indeed" with technological ad ancements such as the Internet bringing e en more forms of electronic media to our homes and wor$places" it is li$el! the media#s influence will grow e en stronger.

36

A%@EDTISEME&T A&% CUSTOMED

1+( Ad.ertisin$ is all around us) it is an una.oidable part o* e.er-one?s li*e( Some people sa- that ad.ertisin$ is a positi.e part o* our li.es while others sa- it is ne$ati.e( %iscuss both .iews and $i.e -our own opinion( 9i.e reasons *or -our answer and include an- rele.ant e0amples *rom -our own #nowled$e or e0perience( You should write at least +2< words( 5an! people wonder about ad ertisement. /ome people thin$ that it has negati e impact in our life. -owe er" others said it has been pla!ing as positi e effect in this world. This is not an eas! essa! to be answered" but I will loo$ at this issue. +h! ad ertisement has been pla!ing a negati e effect in our life 0 2f @ourse for se eral reasonsA firstl!" it moti ates the ps!chological point in e er! bod! especiall! women. The! will run to bu! this ad ertised product especiall! if it4s from cosmetic roof" ,ust to show their beaut! to men" which will leads to more offender and raped cases. /econdl!" !ou can sit comfortabl! with !our famil! and suddenl! the telephone is ringing" nothing important" rather than one of the companies tr! to con ince !ou to bu! one of their products. It is a real intrusi e e.ample of ad ertisement. Mastl!" sometimes !ou do not ha e the financial abilit! to bu! something" but with these new methods of ad ertisement" !ou will run to bu! it" which will affect !our budget. 2n the other hand" there are some good things. /uch as" it compares the prices of the most of companies which benefit the consumer. 6eside" it reall! opens our ision to see more products which we do not $nowit unless T) and *adio show these things. In addition to" it cut down our dail! routine to see new faces and $now more language with dail! update for their method of ad ertisement. In conclusion" as we can see there are man! aspects to this essa!. I feel that there is no benefit at all from ad ertisement" it pla!s on minds of people bu! more thing that the! do not need it at all.

1/( hen people need to complain about a product or poor ser.ice) some pre*er to complain in writin$ and others pre*er to complain in person( hich wa- do -ou pre*er? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( It is rather difficult for me to answer the question how I prefer to complainA in writing or in person because sometimes I ,ust do not ha e a choice. 3or e.ample" if I order a product using the Internet from another state or e en countr!" I will more li$el! ha e the opportunit! to spea$ to a representati e of a compan! in person. /o" in some cases I choose to spea$ in person and in others I prefer to complain in writing. -owe er" I belie e that e er! option has its ad antages. 3rom the one side" complaining in writing brings man! benefits. 3irst of all" one does not ha e to spend his precious time dri ing" waiting for his turn and tal$ing with a representati e. -e can ,ust send mail or e-mail and get all e.planation he needs. /econd

37

of all" I thin$ it is the best wa! to a oid an unpleasant con ersation. 9ersonall!" I do not li$e to complain about an!thing especiall!" in person. 3inall!" sometimes it is impossible to ha e a face-to-face con ersation because a compan! which pro ided a poor product or ser ice is too far awa!. 3rom the other side" complaining in person has some benefits too. 3irst" this t!pe of complaining pro ides an immediate feedbac$. /o" if I ha e some complains about compan!#s products I will recei e all information and e.planation right awa!. -owe er" sending a compan! a letter and getting a feedbac$ can ta$e more then a month. /econd" face-to-face con ersation is often more effecti e. 9eople tal$ to each other" see each other facial gestures and bod! mo ements" which can tell a lot about a person. In addition to these practical benefits" in the case if one can not recei e creditable e.planation from one representati e he alwa!s can require to tal$ to another person. 3or instance" m! husband recentl! had some e.tra withdraws from his account b! his ban$ and he was not aware of it. /o" he went to the ban$ and e.plained to the ban$#s representati e the situation and the! together found the solution and that mone! was gi en bac$ to m! husband#s account. I thin$" in this case face-to-face con ersation is the best wa! to complain and get feedbac$ fast. In conclusion" I thin$ that if I ha e to complain about a product or poor ser ice I will do it in person. -owe er" if face-to-face con ersation is impossible I thin$ I ha e nothing left but to send a letter or write an e-mail there. %H=8 words&

11( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? Ad.ertisin$ can tell -ou a lot about a countr-( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( ( er! countr! has its own culture and traditions. There is no doubt that an ad ertising campaign conducted in *ussia will not ha e the same affect here in the Enited /tates. Met us ta$e for e.ample ad ertisement of food and restaurants. A huge amount of fast food stands suggest their ser ices for brea$fast" lunch" dinner and supper here in -ouston. The competition is er! strong. ( er! wee$ !ou get in !our mailbo. an en elope with different t!pes of discounts in e.change for isiting them or ordering pizza. +atching T) !ou are also from time to time in ited to isit a restaurant in order to taste some delicious food. It is not because it is eas! to ma$e mone! coo$ing but because the demand for such ser ice is high. 3irst of all" people li$e to go out sometimes to ha e dinner with friends. /econd of all" it is often impossible to dri e home for lunch. It can be time consuming. As for *ussia" it is a great tradition to ha e dinner at home with the famil! and go to the restaurant for big holida!s. Additionall! fast food is not popular in *ussia. /o !ou will see ad ertisements of !ogurts" coffee" dair! products and ,uice instead of restaurants and fast food stands. In conclusion I would li$e to add that in order to succeed in ad ertising campaign

38

especiall! on the international mar$et compan! must $now traditions" language and histor! of the countr!. %238 words& 12( Some people sa- that ad.ertisin$ encoura$es us to bu- thin$s we reall- do not need( Others sa- that ad.ertisements tell us about new products that ma- impro.e our li.es( hich .iewpoint do -ou a$ree with? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( I thin$ that e er!one can di ide all ad ertising products and ser ices into useless ones and useful ones. It is li$e loo$ing through an information des$ when !ou pa! attention to those messages that interest !ou. Ta$e me for e.ample. I do not li$e ,ewelr!. It does not mean I do not ha e it at all" I ha e a couple of ine.pensi e rings as gifts from m! parents. I ,ust thin$" people pa! too much attention to this stuff. I belie e it is the result of mass ad ertising. ( er! da! when I am watching T)" listening to the radio or reading the paper I notice man! ads about getting an e.pensi e ring" chain" nec$lace or ear-rings. 3rom m! point of iew these $inds of ad ertising contaminate people#s minds. In this case !ou are encouraged to bu! things !ou do not reall! need. The! ma$e !ou belie e !ou need such products in order to succeed or be happ!. 3rom the other side" I thin$ that ad ertisements of the new detergents with up-to-date formulas to help !ou maintain !our cloth in perfect conditions" the new cars with some e.tra futures that ma$e !our tra eling more comfortable and sports goods that ma$e !our life healthier ma! help !ou to impro e !our life. *ecentl! m! husband and I saw an ad on the Internet about a er! interesting and ine.pensi e ocation to Rapan for a wee$. Is not it awesome0 +e li$e tra eling. /o now we are planning to find out more about it and" ma! be" ma$e reser ations. I belie e that without ad ertisements we would be unaware about plent! of oppotunities that ma! ma$e !our life happier" easier and less stressful. 5! point is that e er! person has his own scale of alues. /o if he is egetarian he will consider an ad about meat products useless for him. %3=5 words& 17( Some people sa- that ad.ertisin$ encoura$es us to bu- thin$s that we reall- do not need( Others sa- that ad.ertisements tell us about new products that maimpro.e our li.es( hich .iewpoint do -ou a$ree with? The purpose of ad ertising is to tell the consumer about an! new product or ser ice or an! new promotion on the e.isting product and ser ice. +e need it so we can ma$e good decisions when we go shopping. Ad ertising tells us when new and impro ed products become a ailable and lets us $now which ones ha e the best price. Through ad ertising we learn about new products. 3or e.ample" man! grocer! stores now sell prepac$aged lunches. These are er! con enient for bus! parents. The! can gi e these lunches to their children to ta$e to school. 6us! parents don4t ha e time to loo$ at 39

e er! item on the store shelf" so without ad ertising the! might not $now about such a con enient new product. ( en products we are familiar with ma! be impro ed" and ad ertising lets us $now about this. 5ost people use cell phones" but new t!pes of cell phone ser ice become a ailable all the time. There are different plans that gi e !ou more hours to tal$ on the phone" !ou can send te.t messages and photos" and ne.t wee$ probabl! some e en newer t!pe of ser ice will be a ailable. 6! watching ad ertisements on T) it is eas! to find out about new impro ements to all $inds of products. Ad ertisements $eep us informed about prices. 9rices change all the time" but e er!one can loo$ at the ads in the newspaper and see what the latest prices are. Ad ertisements also inform us about sales. In fact" some people bu! the newspaper onl! in order to chec$ the prices and plan their wee$l! shopping. Ad ertisements impro e our li es b! $eeping us informed about the latest products de elopments and the best prices. Ad ertisements ser e a useful purpose. %2G1 words&

40

C=IL%DE&
18( In some countries children ha.e .er- strict rules o* beha.iour) in other countries the- are allowed to do almost an-thin$ the- want( To what e0tent should children ha.e to *ollow rules? 3reedom pla!s a mandator! role in e er!bod!0s life. +e can see in toda!0s modernized era nobod! li$es to get some restrictions upon them" whether it would be a child or an adult. /ome people thin$ that there should ha e some strict rules of beha iour for children" but I disagree with this statement. +here er it is a realit! that sometimes more restrictions can cause more frustration in children" which leads to man! other mental diseases as well. 5ore er the! can be" beha e li$e a stubborn. /ometimes the! feel themsel es under pressure" which can be a main reason for their poor performance in their field. In some cases children would be crazier to do these things from where we0ll tr! to $eep them awa!. In other words P we ha e to loo$ for other aspects as well" li$e if we usuall! ignore our children0s bad habits" then the! can0t be good human beings in their future life. 5oreo erP if we ne er draw attention upon the children0s main acti ities then the! ma! be acquiring bad compan!. The! can $now regarding the alue of respect for their elders. The! can $now the importance of relationships. The! can $now regarding their cultural alues as well. In a nutshell" I would li$e to sa! that children should be teach regarding the alue of their customs" rituals and respect towards their elders for their future life" but most of the e.tra restriction should be being a oided. It would be better to ma$e them good human beings in their coming future. * good essay, set out well. +ome sentences are too short and could be combined together to create more complex structure. %here are also some repetitions of the same words, that should be avoided. $verall, nicely done.

1:( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? Parents are the best teachers( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( 9arents shape their children from the beginning of their children#s li es. The! teach their children alues. The! share their interests with them. The! de elop close emotional ties with them. 9arents can be er! important teachers in their children#s li es1 howe er" the! are not alwa!s the best teachers. 9arents ma! be too close to their children emotionall!. 3or e.ample" the! ma! limit a child#s freedom in the name of safet!. A teacher ma! organize an educational trip to a big cit!" but a parent ma! thin$ this trip is too dangerous. A school ma! want to ta$e the children camping" but a parent ma! be afraid of the child getting hurt. 41

Another problem is that parents sometimes e.pect their children#s interests to be similar to their own. If the parents lo e science" the! ma! tr! to force their child to lo e science too. 6ut what if the child prefers art0 If the parents en,o! sports" the! ma! e.pect their child to participate on different teams. 6ut what if the child prefers to read0 9arents want to pass on their alues to their children. -owe er" things change. The children of toda! are growing up in a world different from their parents# world. /ometimes parents" especiall! older ones" can#t $eep up with rapid social or technological changes. A student who has friends of different races at school ma! find that his parents ha e narrower iews. A student who lo es computers ma! find that her parents don#t understand or alue the digital re olution. 9arents are important teachers in our li es" but the! aren#t alwa!s the best teachers. 3ortunatel!" we ha e man! teachers in our li es. 2ur parents teach us" our teachers teach us" and we learn from our peers. 6oo$s and newspapers also teach us. All of them are aluable. ------------------Sample + , Throughout m! life" I ha e been luc$! enough to ha e a er! good relationship with m! parents. The! ha e supported me" gi en me necessar! criticism" and taught me a great deal about how to li e m! life. 9arents can be er! important teachers in our li es1 howe er" the! are not alwa!s the best teachers. 9arents ma! be too close to their children emotionall!. /ometimes the! can onl! see their children though the e!es of a protector. 3or e.ample" the! ma! limit a child4s freedom in the name of safet!. A teacher might see a trip to a big cit! as a aluable new e.perience. -owe er" it might seem too dangerous to a parent. Another problem is that parents ma! e.pect their children4s interests to be similar to their own. The! can4t seem to separate from their children in their mind. If the! lo e science" the! ma! tr! to force their child to lo e science too. 6ut what if their child4s true lo e is art" or writing" or car repair0 9arents are usuall! eager to pass on their alue to their children. 6ut should children alwa!s belie e what their parents do0 5a!be different generations need different wa!s of thin$ing. +hen children are !oung" the! belie e that their parents are alwa!s rights. 6ut when the! get older" the! realize there are other iews. /ometimes parents" especiall! older ones" can4t $eep up with rapid social or technolog! changes. A student who has friends of all different races and bac$grounds at school ma! find that her parents don4t reall! understand or alue the digital re olution. /ometimes $ids ha e to find their own wa!s to what the! belie e in. The most important thing to realize is that we all ha e man! teachers in our li es. 2ur parents teach us" our teachers teach us" and our peers teach us. 6oo$s and newspapers and tele ision also teach us. All of them are aluable. %31L words&

42

1;( The number o* o.erwei$ht children in de.eloped countries is increasin$( Some people thin# this is due to problems such as the $rowin$ number o* *ast *ood outlets( Others belie.e that parents are to blame *or not loo#in$ a*ter their childrenFs health( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree with these .iews? There is plent! of e idence to suggest that children are o erweight and the situation is getting worse" according to the medical e.perts. I feel there are a number of reasons for this. /ome people blame the fact that we are surrounded b! shops selling unhealth!" fatt! foods such as chips and fried chic$en" at low prices. This has created a whole generation of adults who ha e ne er coo$ed a meal for themsel es. If there were fewer of these restaurants" then children would not be tempted to bu! ta$e-awa! food. There is another argument that blames the parents for allowing their children to become o erweight. I tend to agree with this iew" because good eating habits begin earl! in life" long before children start to isit fast food outlets. If children are gi en chips and chocolate rather than nourishing food" or are alwa!s allowed to choose what the! eat" the! will go for the sweet and salt! foods e er! time" and this will carr! on throughout their li es. There is a third factor" howe er" which contributes to the situation. @hildren these da!s ta$e er! little e.ercise. The! do not wal$ to school. +hen the! get home" the! sit in front of the tele ision or their computers and pla! ideo games. 'ot onl! is this an unhealth! pastime" it also gi es them time to eat more ,un$ food. +hat the! need is to go outside and pla! acti e games or sport. The two iews discussed pla! an equal role in contributing to the problem" but I thin$ we ha e to encourage !oung people to be more acti e" as well as steering them awa! from fast food outlets and bad eating habits. +e need to ha e a balanced approach. Position, +riter refers to a number of reasons in the introduction" and to the need for a balanced iew in the conclusion. Main ideas, 3irst sentence of the second paragraph1 first and second sentences of the third paragraph1 second sentence of the fourth paragraph. Lin#ers, and" according to" some people" such as" if" then" there is another argument" because" or" there is a third factor" howe er" not onl!" also" the two iews discussed" but" as well as De*erence words, the" this" who" themsel es" these" this iew" the!" their" them Topic .ocabular-, medical e.perts" shops" unhealth!" fatt! foods" chips" coo$ed" ta$eawa! food" chocolate" sweet and salt!" e.ercise" wal$" tele ision" computers" ideo games" unhealth! pastime" ,un$ food" acti e games" sport" fast food outlets Sentence t-pes, A wide range of comple. structures and sentences is used.

43

Len$th, 2GL words 2<( In man- countries toda-) the eatin$ habits and li*est-le o* children are di**erent *rom those o* pre.ious $enerations( Some people sa- this has had a ne$ati.e e**ect on their health( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this opinion? It has recentl! been suggested that the wa! children eat and li e nowada!s has led to a deterioration in their health. I entirel! agree with this iew" and belie e that this alarming situation has come about for se eral reasons. To begin with" there is the worr!ing increase in the amount of processed food that children are eating at home" with little or none of the fresh fruit and egetables that earlier generations ate e er! da!. /econdl!" more and more !oung people are choosing to eat in fast-food restaurants" which ma! be harmless occasionall!" but not e er! da!. +hat the! eat there is e.tremel! high in fat" salt and sugar" all of which can be damaging to their health. There is also a disturbing decline in the amount of e.ercise the! get. /chools ha e become obsessed with e.ams" with the shoc$ing result that some pupils now do no sports at all. To ma$e matters worse" few e en get an! e.ercise on the wa! to and from school" as most of them go in their parents4 cars rather than wal$ or c!cle. 3inall!" children are spending far more time at home" pla!ing computer games" watching T) or surfing the Internet. The! no longer pla! outside with friends or ta$e part in challenging outdoor acti ities. To sum up" although none of these changes could" on its own" ha e caused widespread harm to children4s health" there can be little doubt that all of them together ha e had a de astating effect. This" in m! opinion" can onl! be re ersed b! encouraging children to return to mo e traditional wa!s of eating and li ing. %2L< words& 2'( In man- countries children are en$a$ed in some #ind o* paid wor#( Some people re$ard this as completel- wron$) while others consider it as .aluable wor# e0perience) important *or learnin$ and ta#in$ responsibilit-( hat is -our opinion on this? 'owada!s" man! children in ol ed in different t!pes of ,obs to ha e some $ind of financial assurance for themsel es. -owe er" whether this is good for their de elopment and personalit! is a much debatable issue. I personall! belie e that paid wor$s is harmful for children for se eral reasons. It is said that children learn aluable e.perience in the wor$ place. This ma! be true. -owe er" I would argue that children are mainl! emplo!ed for ,obs that require manual wor$ and are low paid. The recent statistic re eals the common tas$s that children are assigned are washing dishes" cleaning floors or ser ing food in restaurants. 5eanwhile" this $ind of ,obs actuall! do not pro ide children with necessar! and useful s$ills so that the! can appl! in their future carrer. 44

This brings me to the second point. ?efenders of child wor$ argues that it is an effecti e method of learning. The point is children should be able to appl! $nowledge taught to them in a real life wor$ing en ironment. Although this is undoubtedl! true" it also means that children ma! neglect the classroom stud! and e en fail the class. The worst thing is !et to come. The! ma! become so occupied with the benefits ahead of them li$e small salar! and lea e school. 3inall!" supporters said that it helps them to build responsibilit! in the famil!. The! will understand how it is difficult to earn mone! and therefore ha e a compassionate iew with their parents. This is true to a certain e.tent" but ma! ha e a totall! ad erse effect on children. As children can ma$e mone! at an earl! age" the! would feel that it is appropriate to spend on lu.ur! things b! their own mone!" which could be reco ered later. In conclusion" I thin$ that parents should ta$e measures to restrict their child to wor$" otherwise it would ha e a negati e consequences on their futures. This is a great essay, +and ,- candidate. 8y only suggestion is to divide your arguments so that you have % paragraphs covering arguments ?against? and one covering arguments ?$or? or vise versa. 9on?t mix ?$or? and ?against? in one paragraph. 2+( Children should ne.er be educated at home b- their parents( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree? %iscuss the ad.anta$es and disad.anta$es *or -oun$ people who decide to do this( 'obod! can sa! with confidence that children should be taught at home or at an! children#s institutions. There are man! different children and e er! one demand of education suitable onl! for him. 6ut for most of children the best wa! of learning the life is being in the children#s institutions. 'obod! would argue that contacts between children of the same age are er! important for bringing !our child up. /uch a contact is er! important for pla!ing" entertaining and learning li ing with other people. The harmonious li ing with other people" to m! mind" is the first tas$ for an! man. Mac$ of this harmon! sets problems and troubles. The children need space to run and ma$e noise" to ,ump and cr!. ?o !ou or !our neighbours allow these actions for !our child0 If !ou li e in town" it is difficult to find a safe place to pla!. Oindergartens gi e such a possibilit!. The! gi e space" a lot of to!s and constructions for ph!sical e.ercises. /o" if !ou ha e bad li ing conditions" the $indergarten is the best wa! for !ou. 6ut if !ou ha e a large famil! with man! children and enough space" !ou ma! $eep !our child at home. 7ou should be sure that the child feels" dressed and comfortable. -is brothers and sisters gi e him necessar! contacts. It#s noticed long ago that children in big families are much more eas!-tempered and calm. The! are located in more harmonic world than others. /ometimes differences in age put troubles in contacts between children in large families. Then it is better for child to be sent to the $indergarten %school&. 6ut if quarrels don#t last for a long time" e er!thing is all right. In general" quarrels de elop abilit! to cooperate with people. The! de elop a personal initiati e and force setting the balance. In such a wa!

45

the child gets lessons of life. Addl!" the quarrels often ta$e place in $indergartens and schools and we shouldn#t fear it. /ide b! side with quarrels parents often are afraid of colds which happen in $indergartens more frequentl!. 9arents prefer $eeping the child at home. 6ut for a health! child odd cold %if illness occurs" it goes its normal course& can#t ma$e big harm to the child. And if the child is adaptable to the conditions of public places earlier it would be better for him in future. In general" I am a follower of the theor! of $eeping children in adapted places such as good $indergartens. 6ut $eeping children in such a place can#t replace famil! and home. 2nl! together the! ma$e harmonic and beautiful union. %H31 words&

2/( Some people thin# that a sense o* competition in children should be encoura$ed( Others belie.e that children who are tau$h to co!operate rather than compete become more use*ul adults( %iscuss both these .iews and $i.e -our own opinion( 'owada!s" purpose of education being changed in Oorea. There are some 9eople who thin$ that competition in children should be made" also others belie e that children who are taught to co-operate as well as become more usefwl adults. There are ad antages and disad antages for both of the arguments. To begin with" what is good if a sense of competition m children is made0 The! could de elope themsel es more and more as the! learn and stud! a lot to win from the competitbn. To pro e this" in Oorea" it is popular - e en common now - to ha e a tutor who come to student#s house to teach e.tra pieces of stud! with pa!ing a lot of mone!. The! learn faster than what the! learn at school. 3urthermore" during the acations" students stud! abroad to learn (nglish for a month instead of re ise school wor$. If the! ha e e.periments such as stud! abroad" it is one of the greatest plus point to go to the famous well-$nown high-school. 5oreo er" there are four big school e.am and two national e.aminations to test students# le el of studies. Kenerall!" onl! the highest H=S can go to the good quatrt! highschools and colleges. @hildren learn as much as the! can" to wim the competition to obtain good qualit! schools. 2n the other hand" as the! are bus! to enter the schools and stud! indi iduall! with their own tutors" there are problems. The! become selfish. The! become careless and don#t help others alot if it is about studies. There will be no co-operations for them. Then" wh! are there companies for man! people to wor$ in0 (ach of them are cle er" howe er" there are wea$ parts and strong parts for each person. To co-operate is to impro e this part. 9eople tal$ and listen to what others thm$ing of and learn. That could also be a great opportunit! to learn instead of learning alone with one teacher. In conclusion" I strongl! agree with that children should be taught to co-operate rather than compete. 'obod! is perfect. 9eople learn together" wor$ together to de elop each other. Therefore" I want parents and teachers to educate children concentrating on cooperation" not compete and ran$ing them.

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%3L5 words& 21( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? Classmates are a more important in*luence than parents on a child3s success in school( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( I can not completel! agree with the statement that classmates are a more important influence than parents on a child#s success in school. In this essa! I will first focus on the reasons wh! I agree with this statement and then list a few points wh! from m! opinion in some cases is not true. 3rom the one side" classmates ha e a significant influence on child#s beha ior and his or her success in school. 3irst of all" children spend much time at school. @lassmates ha e man! things in common such as age" interests" homewor$ and classes after all. /o" the! discuss their impressions about a new teacher" sol e problems together" learn their homewor$" gain new $nowledge and e.perience and e en ma$e their own disco eries. /haring all these ma$es them closer. /ome of them become friends and the! spend afterschool time together. In addition friends tend to cop! each other#s habits and manners. 3or instance" m! little sister became friends with the girl who did not ha e good grades at school at that time. It does not mean she could not ha e better grades1 she ,ust had man! friends who did not care about their grades. /o" when the! started to spend their time together and share their interests" girl#s grades impro ed. The! did their homewor$ together" shared their dreams and e.citing moments. 3rom this point I must agree that classmates can change child4s attitude towards school. 3rom the other side" parents ha e a great influence on children# success in school too. 3or e.ample if parents show an interest in their child#s progress and tal$ to him or her about the importance of learning I thin$ their child will listen to them and do his or her best. 9ersonall!" I belie e that relationships between parents and a child pla! an essential role in child#s success in school. If these relationships are close and wholehearted I am sure that parents should not be afraid of bad influence from the outside. %32G words&

22( It is better *or children to $row up in the countr-side than in a bi$ cit-( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to de.elop -our essa-( /ome people belie e that it is better for children to grow up in the countr!side than in a big cit!. -owe er" other people thin$ that a big cit! gi es more opportunities and it is good for the long run. 9ersonall!" for se eral reasons I thin$ that it is better for children#s health to grow up in the countr!. 3irst of all" it is er! important for a child to grow up in a health! en ironment. @hildren need fresh air" not polluted b! the huge amount of cars and factories of the modern cit!. In the countr! the! can spend more time e.ercising and wal$ing with their friends. 47

/cientists sa! that now children spend the same amount of time watching T) as the! do at school. 9robabl!" the possibilit! to ,oin their friends for a pla! will change this proportion. Another important aspect of this is that parents will ha e more time to spend with their children as a result of eliminating traffic ,ams and decreasing dri ing time as a whole. 3rom the other side" children ha e some ad antages li ing in a big cit!. 3or e.ample" the! ha e more opportunities to choose from what the! want to do. The! can choose to attend ballet school" school of art" g!mnastics" etc. 3or the long run" it is good for them. The! will be better prepared for a li e in a Breal worldB and the! will ha e more chances to ma$e a good career and succeed. 5oreo er" a big cit! usuall! has man! entertaining centers with mo ie theatres and pla! stations. +hen I was a child I li$ed to go to the mo ie theatre with m! parents to watch a premiere. 2ne more reason to choose a big cit! for a child is that a cit! pro ides better li e conditions and ser ices such as medical" dental" etc. 5! friend li ed in the countr! for a while and one time he and his famil! had to dri e a couple of hours to the nearest medical center when his child got a hea ! cough. To summarize" I agree with those people who want to raise their children in a cit!. The plent! of opportunities offered b! a cit! helps children to find what the! reall! li$e and be the best at it. 5oreo er" despite the air pollution" children get a better medical ser ice that is good for their health. %38H words&

27( Some people thin# that children should be$in their *ormal education at a .erearl- a$e and should spend most o* their time on school studies( Others belie.e that -oun$ children should spend most o* their time pla-in$( Compare these two .iews( hich .iew do -ou a$ree with? h-? 9eople learn through their entire li es. @uriosit! was alwa!s the basic characteristic of a human being. +e alwa!s want to brea$ limits and learn more. At this point some people thin$ that children should begin their formal education at a er! earl! age and spend most of their time on school studies. This will help them to succeed in the future. -owe er" for se eral reasons" which I will e.plain bellow" I thin$ that children should not stud! at a er! earl! age. 2f cause" children who begin to stud! at a er! earl! age ha e more chances to succeed in the future. The! gain more $nowledge and e.perience which are priceless and aluable. In addition" stud!ing more now the! will gi e them the opportunit! to perfect their $nowledge in the future and become better professionals. -owe er" I thin$ that e er! child must ha e his or her childhood. @hildren should learn through pla!ing and communication with their friends and parents. I thin$ that such basic qualities as $indness" self-confidence and ,ust a good sense of humor can not be gained from stud!ing. @hildren should more time spend with their famil!" pla!ing and learning with their parents. Imagine that a child instead of pla!ing with his friends does his homewor$ and feel e.hausted and tired. Another important aspect of this is that children

48

at their earl! ages need more e.ercise because at this age the de elopment of their bod! is a er! essential aspect. @hildren first of all must be health!. To sum up" I thin$ that children should ha e their careless childhood with no responsibilities. 5oreo er" I am sure that pla!ing helps them de elop not onl! their bones and muscles but their abilit! to ma$e decisions" anal!ze things" ma$e conclusions" which is er! good for their future. %28L words&

28( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? Children should be$in learnin$ a *orei$n lan$ua$e as soon as the- start school( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our opinion( Manguage is the best means of communication. In the modern globalization era it is not enough to be able to spea$ one language to communicate with the outside world. I strongl! support the idea that children should begin learning a foreign language as soon as the! start school. The! faster become familiar with a strange language" impro e their hearing abilit! to understand new words as time goes b! and learn new words. In the following paragraphs I will list some reasons to support m! position. 3irst of all" if one wants to see outcome soon" one must start sooner. /o" the earl! children begin to learn new language the better will be the result. /cientists sa! that a child does not confuse two different languages but learns them more effecti el!. /econd of all" adults are often afraid to ma$e mista$es when the! are spea$ing in a new language. This fear is one of the biggest barriers for a person in his efforts to spea$ freel!. 2therwise" children do not afraid of ma$ing grammatical mista$es because basicall! the! ,ust repeat words and sentences in the wa! the! hear them. Also" children ha e a better chance to get rid of an accent. The! faster get used to the right pronunciation and better feel the melod! of a language. To sum up" I thin$ that it is er! essential for children to begin learning a foreign language in their earl! ages. It is brings man! benefits such as great pronunciation. Also" it helps a child de elop and gain more $nowledge which is good for a long run. %2LH words& 2:( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? atchin$ tele.ision is bad *or children( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our opinion( /ome parents belie e that watching tele ision is bad for their children. /o" the! tr! to restrict their children from watching T). -owe er" other parents thin$ that there is nothing bad in watching T). 9ersonall!" I thin$ that watching T) brings children onl! benefits unless the! spend in front of T) set less then a couple of hours dail!. 3or the following reasons" which I will mention bellow" I belie e that tele ision pla!s an essential role in child#s de elopment.

49

3irst of all" tele ision helps a child to e.tent his or her range of interests. @hildren can find out man! new things and ma$e man! e.iting disco eries for themsel es. In addition to these practical benefits tele ision impro es children#s ocabular!" their memor! and gi es them the opportunit! to gain more $nowledge. I thin$ it is er! essential for a child. 2f cause" someone can sa! that there are plent! of different recourses of information such as boo$s and teachers. 6ut" I thin$" in our modern world children must learn faster and use all contemporar! technolog! in order to succeed. /econd of all" watching cogniti e programs helps children to learn more about wild life" our en ironment and about the importance of preser ing our forest and wild animals that li e there. /cientists sa! that a child should not watch T) more then H= minutes successi el!. 3or e.ample" m! mother alwa!s made us ha e a brea$ after watching T) more then half an hour and let our e!es rest for se eral minutes before turning on the T) again. I thin$ it is the best solution. To sum up" I belie e that tele ision gi es children and all people the opportunit! to learn what can not be learn from boo$s. Tele ision and mo ies in particular allow people to feel the realit! and see what the! will most li$el! not be able to see in their li es. 9ersonall!" when I was a child I li$ed to watch cogniti e programs about wild animals. Enfortunatel!" m! famil! had onl! one T)" but these programs were the onl! ones we all wanted to watch. /o" we gathered in our li ing room and watched them in complete silence and I alwa!s remember those moments with a smile on m! face. %3L< words& 2;( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? Parents or other adult relati.es should ma#e important decisions *or their 5'2 to ': -ear!old6 teena$e children( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our opinion( 9arents are in most cases our first teachers and friends. 3rom m! e er!da! e.perience I ha e to agree with the statement that important decisions should be made b! our parents or adult relati es. In the following paragraphs I will gi e m! reasons to support this statement. 3irst of all" teenage children ha e the tendenc! to li e in their own fantasies. The! do not clearl! understand the rules of a real life. +hen I was 1G !ears old I thought that the world was perfect and e er!thing seemed to be simple. Teenagers are basicall! ine.perienced1 the! aspire for independence and tr! to ma$e their first steps towards freedom. I thin$ that it is li$e starting to wal$ when a bab! needs its parents for support. An independent life is a big and significant part in a person#s life. /o" m! point is that it is er! important to ma$e this step right. /econd of all" I thin$ that parents ha e right to interfere in their children#s li es. The! need to $now what $ind of friends their children ha e and how children spend their spare time. 3or e.ample I had an eighteen !ears old friend who got reall! angr! with his parents when the! prohibited him to be friends with a !oung man. /omehow his parents found out that that !oung man was occasionall! ta$ing drugs. That man was dead in a !ear because of drug abuse. After that accident m! friend than$ed his parents for that interference.

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3inall!" I thin$ teenage children should be more open-minded with their parents. It will help them to ma$e the right choice and a oid man! mista$es. To sum up" I belie e that !oung people should trust their parents because the! wish their children onl! the best. 7<( It is better *or children to $row up in the countr-side than in a bi$ cit-( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to de.elop -our essa-( /ome people belie e that it is better for children to grow up in the countr!side than in a big cit!. -owe er" other people thin$ that a big cit! gi es more opportunities and it is good for the long run. 9ersonall!" for se eral reasons I thin$ that it is better for children#s health to grow up in the countr!. 3irst of all" it is er! important for a child to grow up in a health! en ironment. @hildren need fresh air" not polluted b! the huge amount of cars and factories of the modern cit!. In the countr! the! can spend more time e.ercising and wal$ing with their friends. /cientists sa! that now children spend the same amount of time watching T) as the! do at school. 9robabl!" the possibilit! to ,oin their friends for a pla! will change this proportion. Another important aspect of this is that parents will ha e more time to spend with their children as a result of eliminating traffic ,ams and decreasing dri ing time as a whole. 3rom the other side" children ha e some ad antages li ing in a big cit!. 3or e.ample" the! ha e more opportunities to choose from what the! want to do. The! can choose to attend ballet school" school of art" g!mnastics" etc. 3or the long run" it is good for them. The! will be better prepared for a li e in a Breal worldB and the! will ha e more chances to ma$e a good career and succeed. 5oreo er" a big cit! usuall! has man! entertaining centers with mo ie theatres and pla! stations. +hen I was a child I li$ed to go to the mo ie theatre with m! parents to watch a premiere. 2ne more reason to choose a big cit! for a child is that a cit! pro ides better li e conditions and ser ices such as medical" dental" etc. 5! friend li ed in the countr! for a while and one time he and his famil! had to dri e a couple of hours to the nearest medical center when his child got a hea ! cough. To summarize" I agree with those people who want to raise their children in a cit!. The plent! of opportunities offered b! a cit! helps children to find what the! reall! li$e and be the best at it. 5oreo er" despite the air pollution" children get a better medical ser ice that is good for their health. 7'( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? Children should be re"uired to help with household tas#s as soon as the- are able to do so( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( The issue about whether children should help with household tas$s as soon as the! are able to do so is open for debate. /ome people sa! that children should de ote more time for pla!ing with their friends" watching T) and stud!ing. -owe er" other people belie e that children should help their parents with household tas$s. 9ersonall!" for se eral 51

reasons" which I will e.plain bellow" I adhere to the latter point of iew. 3irst of all" I thin$ that e er! child should ha e his or her own responsibilities. +hen I was a child m! parents taught me how to ma$e brea$fast in the morning. /o" I wo$e up" went to the $itchen and prepared a couple of toasts for brea$fast. It was eas! and I en,o!ed doing it because I li$ed the wa! m! parents than$ed me and I felt that the! were proud of me. Also" m! mom alwa!s wanted me to $now how to coo$" clean and iron m! cloth. Than$s to the learning" nowada!s" when m! maid can not come to m! house I handle all household tas$s m!self. /econd of all" performing household tas$s teaches children to alue the ,ob of people who did it. +hen I was a child I did not imagine that cleaning house could be so time and energ! consuming. /o" when I began to do some of the household tas$s b! m!self I began to respect the ,ob of others and tr!ed to collect all m! to!s after m! pla!ing with them. 3inall!" doing household tas$s teaches children to arrange their time. In addition to those practical benefits" help from children allows parents to ha e more spare time for their personal li es and for the children. A famil! can ha e more time to spend with each other tal$ing" watching mo ies or ,ust en,o!ing the beautiful moments. To sum up" I thin$ that children should help their parents with household tas$s. ?oing household tas$s helps them to grow into independent" self-confident" and attenti e persons who respect their parents. %33H words& 7+(ChildrenFs li.es these da-s are "uite di**erent *rom our $enerationFs( %escribe what are the bi$$est chan$es in -oun$er $eneration and e0plain some *actors o* this phenomenon( 2 er the past few decades" the world has significantl! changed. 'owada!s" man! ha e begun to wonder what the reasons behind TUforV these changes are. Two ma,or factors contributing to this phenomenon are ad ances in media and change famil! d!namics TUorganizationV. 3irst" ad ances in media" such as the Internet and T)" ha e meant that children spend a large portion of their leisure time in front of a screen. @onsequentl!" the! are not getting proper amounts of e.ercise" which results in an increase in the number of children who are o erweight and obese. In addition" fast food restaurants ha e become increasingl! popular" which has also contributed to children#s health problems 5oreo er" another leading force of this trend is changes in the famil! unit. @ompared with a half centur! ago" nuclear families ha e become wa! more common in modern societ!. 9eople tend to ha e onl! one child" which has caused personalit! disorders such as depression" loneliness" and selfishness. This is mainl! because parents with one child ha e tendenc! to put all their focus and mone! into their onl! son or daughter. /tudies ha e indicated that o er L5S of children who are brought up without siblings show selfcentered beha ior find it difficult cooperating with their peers. In summar!" there are man! factors that ha e caused children to li e er! differentl! from

52

the generation before them. There are high hopes that parents e.ercise%s& wisdom in treating their children. %2<= words& 7/( It is widel- belie.ed that children o* di**erent le.els o* intelli$ence should be tau$ht to$ether) while others thin# that more intelli$ent children should be tau$ht separatel-( %iscuss and present -our own opinion( In past educational institutions" children ha e been taught together based on age regardless of intellectual abilit! displa!ed at school. Alternati el!" a large proportion of the population belie es there should be a strong mo e towards the separation of children of different intellectual capabilities in current educational institutions. 3rom m! own educational perspecti e" I honestl! belie e that !ounger students possessing higher intelligence le els than their peers ought to be separated into alternati e le els based on their gift" for a number of reasons. Admittedl!" although !oung learners ha e the chance to learn a lot from associating with classmates their own age" it is widel! belie ed that such a process isn4t considered to be ital for a health! educational upbringing. The argument for intellectual separation holds some strong ad antages. 3irstl!" b! allocating students to classes based on le els of intelligence" high achie ers ha e the opportunit! to e.cel in a wa! that the! couldn4t in a normal class. 2wing to the fact that the! can be placed into an unrestricted educational en ironment" students can e.cel with intellectual freedom. /econdl!" there is a strong argument in regards to inhibiting a child4s intellectual growth b! restricting them from mo ing abo e their peers if their mental capabilit! permits. +h! should we limit the intelligence of our future generation0 3or instance" man! of toda!4s highl! successful artists and entrepreneurs in the world ha e come from an unrestricted educational bac$ground and ha e been allowed to e.plore their mind and careers to the fullest e.tent. In conclusion" although I belie e an educational en ironment for !oung learners should promote equal opportunit!" I honestl! thin$ that creating a more liberal en ironment which enhances the learning capabilities of intellectuall!-gifted children will not onl! benefit indi idual4s careers but future societ! as a whole. %2GG words& 71( Some people belie.e that childrens leisure acti.ities must be educational) otherwise the- are a complete waste o* time( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree? Toda!" education has become a priorit! for man! parents see$ing to secure a good future for their children in this rapidl! changing world. The! belie e that if their children appl! themsel es and wor$ hard at school" then the! will increase their opportunities for going to higher education and e entuall! getting a good ,ob. 2f course the! are right" and as access to the best education and best ,obs is becoming more competiti e" then it is true that children ha e to ma$e the best of their stud! time when the! are !oung. -owe er" the parents who do not allow their children sufficient free time for leisure acti ities outside school hours" are misguided. /uch acti ities are far from being a waste 53

of time for the children simpl! because the! are not academic. It is important to remember that children need to de elop s$ills other than intellectual ones" and the best wa! to do this is through acti ities such as sports" games and pla!ing with other $ids. If the! cannot pla! ma$e-belie e games" how can the! de elop their imagination0 -ow can the! learn ph!sical co-ordination or learn important social lessons about winning and losing if the! do not practise an! sports0 5an! children form strong" personal relationships with the friends the! pla! with" and without the opportunit! to do this" the! could grow up emotionall! immature or unformed. 3inall!" I thin$ it is also important to remember that children need to rela. as well as wor$. If e er!thing the! do must ha e some educational or academic rele ance" then the! will soon get tired of stud!ing altogether" which is the last thing parents would want. 72( Ph-sical Punishment *or Children ? There ha e been big changes in the attitudes of most parents o er the last few !ears. )er! few parents would agree with using force regularl! as a wa! of dealing with discipline problems in their children. 9h!sical punishment is banned in schools in most countries" and in man! countries" there are mo es to ban all corporal punishment of children e en in the home. -owe er" man! parents still belie e that the! ha e a right to use some ph!sical punishment to deal with certain misbeha iors at certain ages. This essa! will as$ if some ph!sical punishment is acceptable toda!" and will as$ how parents can $now what the limits are. It is eas! to find reasons to allow some ph!sical punishment. 2ne issue is that man! parents find it er! difficult to abandon ph!sical punishment completel!. 9arents argue that this was the wa! the! were brought up themsel es and that it didn4t do an! harm to them. The! belie e that for the child4s sa$e that the! ha e the right to discipline the child in an! wa! the! see fit" including using corporal punishment. A second point is that corporal punishment can be quic$ and effecti eA there is not much point reasoning with a screaming child in the supermar$et. 3inall!" most parents are reasonable and fair" and er! er! few would e er consider hurting their children b! using unnecessar! ph!sical force. There are se eral reasons howe er wh! we should stop using ph!sical punishment e en in the home. 2ne point is that most parents are not trained to deal with misbeha ing children. The! do not ha e enough resources or choices to handle the situation. As a result" the! immediatel! react b! smac$ing or hitting the child" e en if there are other solutions to the problem. Another point is that unless people are challenged or forced to change their beliefs the! ma! $eep following negati e habits. An e.ample is seatbelt use now most people wear seat belts without thin$ing" whereas !ears ago the idea of using safet! belts was strange to most people. In the same wa!" banning ph!sical punishment in the home will allow people to change their habits and brea$ a c!cle of iolence. -owe er" the most ob ious reason for banning all ph!sical punishment of children is to pre ent child abuse. If all parents are allowed to hit their children in the name of discipline" some parents will go too far and will inflict se ere emotional and ph!sical damage on their children. It ma! onl! be a smll minorit! of parents" but we need to protect all our children. In conclusion" parents ha e to change some of their beliefs and ideas about how children should be raised. It is possible to a oid the use of ph!sical force in the home" and doing so will help us mo e closer to dream of remo ing iolence from our societ!. %,-,. /uch

54

too long. 0ou only have one hour. But there is no penalty in I12%+ for writing over &34 words in %ask & 5 if you can do it.6 77( Should parents use corporal punishment to discipline children? 1ffective when used wisely 5an! parents use ph!sical punishment to discipline their children. 2thers prefer to use different methods to reward good beha ior or punish misbeha ior. This essa! will loo$ at some of the arguments for and against ph!sical punishment of children. It is often claimed that ph!sical punishment will damage children in later life. 2pponents of corporal punishment claim that the children will grow up to become delinquents or e en beat their wi es. -owe er" man! happil! married adults toda! were slapped when the! were !ounger but ha e ne er hit their spouses. Another point often made is that ph!sical punishment teaches children that !ou can use force to ma$e others do what !ou want. In fact children brought up well soon learn that force b! itself is nothing - it must be associated with right. 3inall!" some people sa! that punishing a child b! smac$ing him will damage the relationship between the child and the parents. This is clearl! wrong. @hildren who understand the reasons for rules will be happier than children who are not gi en clear guidelines. There are definitel! concerns about ph!sical punishment. /ome parents lose control and can in,ure children - e en brea$ing bones or causing bruises. 2thers can use iolence e.cessi el! or as the onl! method of discipline. In this case" the child will be hurt" fearful and an.ious and will not learn to distinguish right from wrong. The biggest problem with ph!sical iolence is when it is not appropriate to the age of the child. It can be er! effecti e to quic$l! smac$ a two-!ear-old who is screaming. -owe er" it is not effecti e to beat a 1L-!ear-old who is late for school once again. In conclusion" ph!sical punishment can be a useful method of discipline. -owe er it should be the last choice for parents. If we want to build a world with less iolence we must begin at home" and we must teach our children to be responsible. %31< words& 78( Should children be educated at home or in school? *re parents really helping their children by teaching them at home7 In most countries in the world" go ernments require children to attend schools in which trained teachers are responsible for educating the children using an appro ed curriculum. -owe er a significant number of parents belie e that it is much better for their children to be educated at home b! the people who $now them and their needs best. This essa! will e.amine the question of home schooling and discuss which the best option for the child is An increasing number of parents are deciding that home schooling is the best option for their children. The! are unhapp! with the qualit! or depth of education offered in the schools" or ha e other reasons wh! the! feel that traditional schools are not suitable for their children. 2ne reason is social factors. 9arents worr! that their children will suffer from bull!ing or will be forced into antisocial beha ior b! peer pressure. The! belie e that 55

the good beha ior the! ha e taught the child will be lost in school. Another reason is concern o er the qualit! of schooling a ailable. /chools frequentl! ha e large classes. The! are often under-funded" and staffed b! teachers without sufficient $nowledge of their sub,ects. /ub,ects such as the famil!4s religion or language ma! not e en be a ailable in the school. 2ther parents ma! disagree with the aims of the school curriculum" preferring for academic" social or cultural reasons to $eep their children separate. 3inall!" some children with special needs ma! need particular parental care. -owe er" there are man! arguments in fa or of sending children to con entional schools. The first is that the children will be e.posed to other children. These children ma! represent either a cross-section of societ! or a narrow group" but in either case the children will interact with each other and de elop social s$ills. A second point is that the children will learn to function outside the famil!. The! will not be dependent on their parents for their educational" emotional and social needs. A third point is that the children will find it easier to integrate when the! finish school" as the! e entuall! will" when the! start wor$ or college. 2 erall" while man! parents wor$ hard to teach their children at home" con entional schools are still the right choice for most children. /chools are not perfect" but the! seem to be a pro en wa! of preparing our children for the real world. %382 words& 7:( %o children learn more "uic#l- than adults? /mall children seem to learn er! quic$l!" while adults sometimes appear to lose the abilit! to pic$ up new sub,ect such as languages" music" games" or computer programs. In this essa!" I will discuss whether children or adults ma$e the best learners. It is undoubtedl! true that children seem to learn er! quic$l!. In ,ust a few !ears" the! can learn how to pla! a musical instrument" spea$ one or e en two new languages" and deal with man! sub,ects at school. The! e en ha e time for sports and hobbies" and become e.perts in their fa orite pastimes. -owe er" how much of this is social pressure and how much is genetic0 I am con inced that while children#s brains ha e a natural abilit! to absorb new information as part of their de elopmental growth" much of their achie ement is because of social pressure. /chools force them to ta$e man! sub,ects. 9arents force them to practice new sports or to learn music. ( en their pla!mates force them to become better at computer games or to read -arr! 9otter no els faster. In summar!" children ma! en,o! learning" but their en ironment also is a big moti ating factor. Adults on the other hand are supposed to be poor learners. -owe er" I disagree with people who sa! that adults cannot learn quic$l!. Adults ha e man! s$ills that compensate for the decline in the abilit! of the brain to grasp and remember new material. The! can organize their learning b! setting times for reading or practice. The! can build on s$ills and e.periences the! $now alread!. Adults usuall! cannot learn to do ballet or to pla! the iolin" but e en despite these ph!sical challenges" their moti ation can often be higher than a child#s. Enfortunatel!" societ! does not encourage man! adults to learn. 9eople are bus! with families and wor$" and some adults ma! feel that further learning is pointless" since the! ha e alread! achie ed man! goals at wor$ or in their personal life. In conclusion" I feel that we cannot generalize about children or adults being better learners. It depends on the situation and the moti ation of the person" and the le el of enthusiasm he or she has for learning. %3L= words&

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7;( Children who are brou$ht up in the *amil- that do not ha.e a lot o* mone- are better prepared to deal with problems when the- become adults than children who are brou$ht up b- wealth- parent( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? Ki es reasons for !our answer and include an! rele ant e.amples from !our own $nowledge or e.perience. 2 er the past few decades" along with growing interest in child education" people#s attention to the famil! en ironment where a child is brought up has also significantl! increased. /ome people ha e begun to feel that a child who has grown up in a poor famil! tend to be better prepared to deal with problems. In m! opinion" howe er" famil! en ironment alone does not much influence a child#s abilit! to sol e problems. A child who was born into a poor famil! would ha e had more situations where the! had to sol e a problem or ma$e a decision on their own. This is because in most unfortunate families" both parents are usuall! wor$ing and children are put into situations where the! ha e to ta$e care of themsel es. 6! contrast" due to their wealth" rich children can e.perience and learn things that unfortunate children cannot. 3or e.ample" the! usuall! go to the best schools and recei e a higher education there" which prepares them better for sol ing problems in their life. -owe er" few would disagree with the fact that each indi idual is different. That is" problem sol ing s$ills come more from life e.perience. That is" the more a person e.periences in life" the more the! can use these e.periences to ad,ust" to adapt and to sol e problems the! encounter. 9ersonalit! also can be a factor in dealing with problems. A person who is optimistic" outgoing" confident and open-minded can loo$ at and sol e problems more effecti el!. As discussed abo e" nature and nurture ha e an equal influence on a child#s abilit! to face challenges. 9arents should spare no effort to figure out how the! can help their children to be independent. I hope that in the future the ne.t generation will grow up as mature citizens. %281 words&

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YOU&9 PEOPLE
8<( A lot o* people belie.e that the amount o* .iolence shown on T@ and in the cinema a**ects the actions o* our -oun$ people and there*ore increases the amount o* .iolence in our societ- toda-( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? hat can be done to reduce .iolence in our societ- toda-? The question of whether the amount of iolence on T) and cinema has affected !oung people in our societ! is something which cannot be quantified or pro ed. 5! opinion is though that the answer is C!es" it hasD. T) and cinema toda! do show a large amount of iolence and" although we tr! and shield our !oung people from seeing too much" the! still get to watch it. At the age of eighteen in m! countr! the! can see e er!thing an!wa!. )iolence on the streets has increased. That has been pro ed. The connection between T)>s and the cinema>s obsession with iolence and toda!>s street iolence cannot be pro ed but it is logical that the two are connected. 7oung people imitate what the! see and it is logical that the! see glamour in what the! do when the! commit iolence. -ow can we lessen iolence0 *educing the amount of iolence on T) and in the cinema would certainl! be a good start. 6eing more igilant about what age children are when the! see iolence in these media" and raising the age limits would also help. Another good idea would be to channel the iolence of !oung people. I don>t thin$ that national ser ice should be re-established in this countr! but" if people are con icted of iolence and sent to prison" then wh! not gi e them the option of ser ing in the arm!. Their iolence will be controlled and the! will be sub,ected to discipline so that the! will be better able to control themsel es when the! lea e. Thus I agree with the statement that cinema and T) iolence affects the !oung people in our societ!. There are some things that can be done to better the situation but I doubt whether an!thing will be done. %28H words&

8'( Action mo.ies with spectacular car chases are .er- popular with -oun$ people( it is o*ten said that these sorts o* mo.ies lead to an increase in car accidents amon$ -oun$ dri.ers as the- tr- to cop- what the- ha.e seen in the *ilms( %o -ou a$ree that such mo.ies increase the amount o* bad dri.in$? hat can be done to encoura$e -oun$ people to dri.e more sa*el-? 5o ies tend to ha e a er! large influence on !oung people who are influenced both b! what the! see and hear. 6ecause this is the case" it is true that car chases in action mo ies tend to lead to an increase in the number of car accidents among !oung dri ers because the! tr! to cop! what the! ha e seen in the films. The! dri e too fast and ta$e unnecessar! ris$s and the difficult! is that most !oung people lac$ the s$ills and e.perience to do this.

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There are a ariet! of wa!s in which !oung people can be encouraged to practise safer dri ing habits. 3irstl!" the Ko ernment should launch a safe dri ing campaign to con e! the fact that dri ing safel! is not uncool. In effect" it should be cool to sta! ali e and health!N /econdl!" e er! mo ie should ma$e it clear that dangerous car chases are underta$en onl! in strict safet! conditions with e.perienced dri ers" and often special mo ie-ma$ing tric$s are used to enhance the action. Thirdl!" !oung people should be forced to ta$e safe dri ing courses e er! !ear for the first fi e !ears that the! ha e their dri er#s licence. In this wa!" the! are forced to perfect their dri ing s$ills or their licence will be ta$en awa!. 3inall!" as part of this course" !oung dri ers should go to hospitals and witness the effects of poor or dangerous dri ing on other people. +hen the! see hospitalised people whose li es ha e been destro!ed due to stupid ris$-ta$ing" the! will surel! change their minds about whether it is cool to cop! action heroes and dri e fast. 2LH words

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OL% PEOPLE
8+( In ?ritain) when someone $ets old the- o*ten $o to li.e in a home with other old people where there are nurses to loo# a*ter them( Sometimes the $o.ernment has to pa- *or this care( ho should be responsible *or our old people? 5an! old people in 6ritain" after a lifetime of hard wor$ and the toil of bringing up children" are put into homes for the elderl! b! their families. There" the! are loo$ed after b! professional nurses" and this is sometimes at the e.pense of the go ernment. -owe er" this situation has raised contro ers! about whether we e.tend to our elders the care and respect the! deser e. The critics of this s!stem sa! that it is the dut! of the famil! to loo$ after its senior members in the !ears when the! are no longer able to wor$. The! point out that in retirement homes old people tend to feel useless and unwanted b! their famil! members" who seldom come to see them. In addition" there is e idence that !ounger people benefit from the e.perience and wisdom of older people who li e with them on a dail! basis. 2n the other had" those who support the s!stem sa! that retired parents can be a burden to !oung families. 'ot onl! is it e.pensi e to support old people who ha e little or no income" but the fact that old people are often ill and need a great deal of loo$ing after can be too much for their bus! children. In m! opinion" neither side is completel! right. 2ld people in good health and with enough finances to support themsel es can be a great help to their children. 3or instance" the! can loo$ after their grandchildren while children are out at wor$. 2n the other had" sic$ and penniless old people are better off being loo$ed after in retirement homes at go ernment e.pense.

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SOCIAL
8/( Some people thin# that human needs *or *armland) housin$) and industr- are more important than sa.in$ land *or endan$ered animals( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this point o* .iew? h- or wh- not? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( As human population is significantl! rising e er! !ear" people#s requirements are increasing too. +e need more food" more machines" more place to li e. As a result of this people need more land to satisf! their requirements. +e culti ate and irrigate more and more land to plant egetables" build new buildings" airports" roads" etc. I thin$ sometimes we forget that we are not alone on this planet. I ha e to disagree with those people who thin$ that human needs are more important than sa ing land for endangered animals. I base m! opinion on the following points. 3irst of all" as I alread! mentioned" we are not alone on this planet. A few centuries ago we were the part of wild nature. I thin$ we need to remember this fact and respect all creatures around us. /econd of all" I belie e that we all need to thin$ of the problem of o erpopulation. The human population is dramaticall! increasing and we ha e to do something about it. 3rom m! opinion" e er! famil! should ha e no more than two children. It will help to stop the growth of population" decrease human needs for farmland" housing and industr!. In conclusion" I thin$ it is a er! topical question nowada!s. 5! point is that all people should answer this question and find the solution. %21G words& 81( Trade and tra.el would be a lot easier with a sin$le) $lobal currenc- that we all use( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? ould a sin$le currenc- cause anproblems? It is clear to me that the idea of a single global currenc! is an e.cellent ideal to wor$ towards. There can be no doubt that trade and tra el would be astl! easier. 2n the other hand I belie e that it would cause problems toda!. The benefits of a single currenc! can be seen with the use in (urope of the (uro. +hene er !ou are tra elling between countries using the (uro" the problems of currenc! changing and e.change rates are histor!. /imilarl! business between countries using the (uros is so much easier1 no more worr!ing about e.change rate ris$ and pricing. ( er!one>s mone! is the same. The same thing is true with the E/ dollar. 5ost countries do not use the E/ dollar but it is accepted in man! places. There are man! countries that !ou can tra el to and ,ust ta$e E/ dollars to use. At present though a global currenc! would be impossible. 3irstl! most countries would not accept the idea. /econdl! all countries are in different economic states. /ome are economicall! er! strong and some are in a state of collapse with inflation ruining the econom!. /uch countries could not be brought into a world currenc! as it would cause

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massi e financial instabilit! worldwide. /o it is clear that a global currenc! would indeed cause some serious problems. /o" in conclusion I see a global currenc! as a future ideal but it will not happen in m! lifetime. It would ma$e trade and tra el much easier but the problems it would cause nowada!s would be insurmountable. %258 words&

82( All education) primar-) secondar- and *urther education) should be *ree to all people and paid *or b- the $o.ernment( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? ?ifferent countries ha e different education s!stems. I don>t $now all the education s!stems in the world but all the ones I do $now about ha e free school education at primar! and secondar! le el. I certainl! agree with the statement that this should be the case. I belie e uni ersit! education is different. 'o matter what standard of income someone has or what societ! someone comes from" e er!one should ha e the opportunit! to ha e a good standard of education. This is not alwa!s what happens but it is what should happen. 9ri ate schools can be a ailable for those who want and can afford it but the free schools should alwa!s be there. This is certainl! one of the best attributes of western democrac! and all countries it seems stri e to attain situation although some ha e problems due to the economic and political situations in their countries. Ko ernments should ma$e sure that all their citizens ha e access to a good standard of free education at primar! and secondar! le el. 3urther education is different. In an ideal world this should be free but go ernments ha e a lot of demands on their mone!. I thin$ that students should ha e to pa!" ma!be not all" but at least a contribution towards their tuition fees. The! will be able to earn it bac$ once the! ha e graduated. The EO has this s!stem whereas in the E/ students ha e to pa! all their high tuition fees which can run into the tens of thousands of dollars o er a full course. I am not sure if I agree with this but it certainl! would ma$e sure that students ma$e the best of efforts to pass or all their mone! would be wasted. Therefore I conclude that primar! and secondar! education should be freel! a ailable for all if possible but that further education should not necessaril! be wholl! free. %3=8 words&

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87( BAlthou$h abuse o* the s-stem are ine.itable) social wel*are pa-ments are essential to protect the ri$hts citiGens ha.e to a $uaranteed minimum income in a democratic societ-> %iscuss( /ocial welfare is an essential element of an ad anced societ!. Kood s!stems are alwa!s abused" but that does not mean the! are fault!. In m! opinion" the two main reasons wh! welfare pa!ments are necessar! are as followsA 3irst of all" critics forget that there are man! forms of welfare besides pa!ments to the unemplo!ed. Their negati e opinions harm those who are not capable of earning a wage" such as single-parent mothers" the disabled" and the sic$. 5oreo er" the unemplo!ed ha e the right to an income" too. The! are not alwa!s at fault for not ha ing a ,ob" and in most cases the ta. the! ha e paid in the past entitles them to assistance. The second reason is that crime increases when people ha e no means of support. The desperatel! poor ine itabl! turn to crime" which is not onl! dangerous but costl!. 9olicing the streets is more e.pensi e than pro iding welfare. A policeman#s wage is four or fi e times higher than a BdoleB pa!ment. @ertain members of societ! belie e that people should loo$ after themsel es. The! point out that welfare increases dependenc! on others and destro!s dignit!. This ma! be true" but in the case of the unemplo!ed" the relief pa!ments are usuall! temporar!. It is surel! the fault of the go ernment if there are long-term unemplo!ed. +elfare critics also belie e that it is the responsibilit! of a ictim#s famil! to pro ide financial assistance. -owe er" it is too e.pensi e to pro ide complete help for a se erel! disabled person. To conclude" it is ital to understand the need for welfare in a modern democratic societ!. +ithout welfare pa!ments the poor are destined to become poorer. The first dut! of a go ernment is to pro ide a financial safet! net for all disad antaged persons" and that includes those without wor$.

88( The world is e0periencin$ a dramatic increase in population) This is causin$ problems not onl- *or poor) unde.eloped countries) but also *or industrialised and de.elopin$ nations( %escribe some o* the problems that o.erpopulation causes) and su$$est at least one possible solution( In most countries of the world the population is increasing alarmingl!. This is especiall! true in poor" unde eloped countries. 2 erpopulation causes a considerable number of problems. In poor countries it is difficult to pro ide enough food to feed e en the present number of people. In addition" education to limit the number of children per famil! is not alwa!s 63

successful. 9oorer countries usuall! ha e a lot of unemplo!ment too" and an increase in population simpl! ma$es the situation worse. The en ironment also suffers when there are too man! people li ing on the land. In rich" industrialised and de eloping countries it is er! difficult for go ernments to pro ide effecti e public ser ices in o ercrowded cities. 5oreo er" there is usuall! a great deal more crime" which is often due to high rates of unemplo!ment. 3urther large increases in population onl! cause more o ercrowding" unemplo!ment and crime. There are two main solutions to the o erpopulation problem. 3irstl!" e er! woman who is pregnant" but who does not want to gi e birth" should be allowed b! law to ha e an abortion. /econdl!" go ernments must educate people to limit the size of the famil!. In @hina" couples are penalised financiall! if the! ha e more than one child. This ma! seem cruel" but the Bone-child polic!B is beginning to ha e an effect in the world#s most populous nation. ( entuall!" similar policies might also be necessar! in other crowded nations such as India" for e.ample. To sum up" if the population e.plosion continues" man! more people will die of star ation in poor countries" and life in the cities" e en in affluent nations" will become increasingl! difficult. 8:( The position o* women in societ- has chan$ed mar#edl- in the last twent-ears( Man- o* the problems -oun$ people now e0perience) such as 4u.enile delin"uenc-) arise *rom the *act that man- married women now wor# and are not at home to care *or their children( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this opinion? It is certainl! true that the position of women in societ! has undergone a dramatic change in the past twent! !ears but I do not feel that this is a direct cause of the indisputable increase in ,u enile-related problems during this period. It is now accepted that !oung women should find wor$ on lea ing school1 indeed to rel! totall! on their parents# financial support is no longer an option in man! families. Mi$ewise" once the! get married" the ma,orit! of women continue wor$ing since the financial pressures of setting up a house and establishing a reasonable standard of li ing often require two incomes. Twent! !ears ago it was common for women to gi e up wor$ once the! had children and de ote their time to caring for their children. This is no longer the general rule and the pro ision of professionall!-run child care facilities and da! nurseries ha e remo ed much of the responsibilit! for child rearing that used to fall to mothers. -owe er" these facilities come at a cost and often require two salaries coming into a famil! to be afforded. I do not belie e that the increase in the number of wor$ing mothers has resulted in children being brought up less well than pre iousl!. Indeed it could be argued that b! gi ing mothers the opportunit! to wor$ and earn e.tra mone! children can be better pro ided for than pre iousl!. There is more mone! for lu.uries and holida!s and a more secure famil! life is possible. 2f course there are limits as to the amount of time that ideall! should be spent awa! from home and the ideal scenario would be for one of the parents %often the wife& to ha e a part-time ,ob and thus be a ailable for their children

64

before and after school. It is important to establish the correct balance between famil! life and wor$ing life.

8;( Causes and E**ects b! Rulie +allace" A?5@

or#sheet, The Dain*orest

*ainforest destruction is now recognized as one of the greatest en ironmental tragedies of all time. 6! wh! are the rainforests disappearing so quic$l! 0

In 1G==" there were 2.8 billion hectares of tropical forest worldwide. There are 1.5 billion hectares of tropical forest remaining. Almost L5S of @entral America has been cleared to create pastureland for grazing cattle *ainforest land cleared for pasture or farming degrades quic$l! and is usuall! abandoned. At least H2 million acres of tropical forest are lost each !ear" appro.imatel! 1== acres;minute. 6etween 18L=-188=" HH5 million hectares of tropical forest were cleared.

+e lose 5= species e er! da! - 2 species per hour - due to tropical deforestation.

:<(

h- is *ast!*ood so popular in the UAE? societ-?

hat are some o* the implications *or

Hast!*ood and the UAE Past, In the past people in the EA( used to eat health!" freshl! prepared food with their families in the home. Present, Toda! howe er" man! people" particularl! !oung people" prefer to eat fast food such as hamburgers" fried chic$en" shawarma" or pizza. TOPIC SE&TE&CE, There are man! reasons wh! this change has occurred" but fast-food also has some serious effects on indi iduals and societ!. Causes Topic Sentence, There are man! reasons for the popularit! of fast food. Cause ', 2ne of the main reasons is the change in lifest!le. E0ample 'a, 5an! people in the EA( are wor$ing long hours" shifts" or e.tended school da!s. The! don4t ha e time to find ingredients or prepare good food. E0ample 'b, +omen are now starting to wor$ in the (mirates" and this can result in less time being a ailable for preparing famil! meals. Cause +, Another cause is the huge number of !oung" affluent people in the EA(. E0ample +, The rapid de elopment of the countr! has meant that !oung people" who comprise o er <5S of the population" ha e mone! to spend. Cause /, A third reason is ad ertising. E0ample /, The EA( is a er! modern" free-mar$et countr!" with all forms of media such as the Internet and satellite tele ision" and people li$e to tr! new products and different $inds of fast food. 65

E**ects Topic Sentence, -owe er" this change in diet can ha e some serious effects. E**ect ', 2ne effect is on health. E0ample ', 5an! indi iduals in the EA( are becoming obese. These people will be less producti e and ha e conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. E**ect +, Another result of fast food is the loss of the famil! tradition of eating together. E0ample +, @hildren and adults rarel! eat together now" and thus get less opportunit! to tal$. E**ect /, A further effect is economic. E0ample /a, Although fast food is not er! e.pensi e" it is more e.pensi e than coo$ing properl! for !ourself. E0ample /b, 5an! of the fast-food companies are franchisees of foreign corporations" so profits lea e the countr!. Conclusion, Summar-, In conclusion" fast food" although it is con enient and a tast! addition to a diet" can ha e serious health and social effects. Huture statement, 9eople should learn to choose fast food carefull! and remember the pleasure of eating good food in good compan!.

:'( ithout capital punishment 5the death penalt-6 our li.es are less secure and crimes o* .iolence increase( Capital punishment in essential to control .iolence in societ-( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this opinion? 6efore tal$ing about the essential role of death penalt!" !ou ha e to thin$ about the meaning" and the purpose" of an! $ind of punishment. If !ou consider that the purpose is to pre ent the guilt! from being nast! again" !ou can be seduced b! an argumentation in fa our of the suppression of capital punishment. 6ut !ou ha e to thin$ about another aspect of the problemA a punishment is also useful to impress people" to ma$e them fear the law. In fact" let#s ta$e the e.ample of a !oung misfit" which has grown in a iolent atmosphere" influenced b! older delinquents" etc ... -e li es in the streets" he#s got no aim but to sur i e. This is the $ind of person who could possibl! $ill someone for mone!" or e en for fun ... +h! would he fear prison0 Mife would be easier for him there. In addition" in man! cases" when !ou beha e normall!" !ou can benefit from penalt! reductions. This !oung misfit needs to be impressed" he needs to $now that the law is a frontier. +hen !ou cross it" !ou can lose !our life. That is wh! capital punishment helps $eeping a distance between robber! and murder. If !ou abolish it" !ou suppress the difference between these two t!pes of crime" which are completel! different. 6ut there is also a limit to defineA e en if death penalt! is una oidable" it would be a crime to appl! it to inadequate cases. If there is no premeditation or past facts which can ,ustif! such a punishment" it is far too strict to appl! death penalt!. That is wh! the lawma$ers ha e to establish precisel! the conte.t in which capital punishment car be pronounced. That is the price to pa! to limit iolence without using e.cessi e iolence. @apital punishment is alwa!s associated with ignorance and intolerance. In fact" we must ac$nowledge that some people disagree with this $ind of penalt! but others are totall! in fa our. 9ortugal was the first (uropean countr! to end this $ind of penalt!. /ince the 18th centur!" tolerance and respect for life are important alues. 5oreo er" we can affirm that all the (urope remains under the same codes. 5a!be because of a religious iew point" life respect is a t!pical alue in the 2ld @atholic world.

66

Those who are in fa our of capital punishment are particularl! in radical countries. It is not surprising to watch some barbarian beha iours in Islamic countries li$e public stoning to death. The population is in ited to participate on the trial and in the final sentence - deathitself. -owe er" this is not ,ust an image of third world countries. Actuall!" E/A is where this $ind of punishment has its higher rates. The state of Te.as" in particular" is at the top" supporting this measure against crime" especiall! those related with serial $illers and those in ol ing children. In a societ! dominated b! fear and go ernment control" it is foreseen that this penalt! will continue into a future ne.t. 5a!be this is not a clear question. As we can see there are se eral alues here and of course cultural beha iours. The roots of the question are religious" cultural" ethical and e en geographical. The world is di ided and the law s!stems show those di isions. The solutions" howe er can lead us to other questions concerning re enge and ,ustice. It will be better to $ill a person because of his crimes0 @an we admit that life sentence could be a much better sentence0 In fact" rehabilitation is the right wa! especiall! with an accurate ps!chological e aluation first. /ome people are lost fore er" and in m! opinion some murderers and other per erted people will suffer more in ,ail. In this sense" capital punishment is a soft release. This is a very good essay, you should do #ell in the Task % Writing Test.

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HAMILY
:+( In some countries) marria$es are arran$ed b- the parents but in other cases) people choose their own marria$e partner( %iscuss both s-stems( The idea that a marriage should be arranged b! the parents of the couple" or b! other members-of the famil!" is quite acceptable to some societies" !et completel! out of the question for others. It all depends on !our cultural e.pectations. In so-called western societies" it is er! unusual for marriages to be arranged. 5ost !oung people would not welcome the idea that their parents ha e the right to choose their partner for life. The! feel that arranged marriages den! them their fundamental right to choose" e en if the! ma$e a bad decision. -owe er" if we are honest about it" we might ac$nowledge that some parents organise their children#s li es in such a wa! that the! are li$el! to meet and marr! partners the parents appro e oW It could be said that this is" to some e.tent" similar to an arranged marriage. It is alwa!s better when families support the relationship and welcome the grandchildren. 9eople for whom arranged marriages are the cultural norm often argue that the li$elihood of the marriage lasting is greater when it is set up in this manner. 9arents can be assured that their children are ,oining a famil! of similar standing and cultural bac$ground" and this" in the long run" ma$es for a more stable societ! if !our parents# marriage was arranged" and has wor$ed well" then wh! should !ou question the custom0 The important thing to ensure is that people are ne er forced into a marriage which will ma$e them unhapp! or lead to an unequal relationship where one partner is e.ploited b! the other. This applies in all societies and situations. %2L8 words& :/( Man- people belie.e that women ma#e better parents than men and that this is wh- the- ha.e the $reater role in raisin$ children in most societies( Others claim that men are 4ust as $ood as women at parentin$( rite an essa- e0presin$ -our point o* .iew( The iew that women are better parents than men has shown itself to be true throughout histor!. This is not to sa! that men are not of importance in child- rearing indeed" the! are most necessar! if children are to appreciate full! the roles of both se.es. 6ut women ha e pro en themsel es superior parents as a result of their conditioning" their less aggressi e natures and their generall! better communication s$ills. 3rom the time the! are little girls" females learn about nurturing. 3irst with dolls and later perhaps with !ounger brothers and sisters" girls are gi en the role of carer. Kirls see their mothers in the same roles and so it is natural that the! identif! this as a female acti it!. 6o!s" in contrast" learn competiti e roles far remo ed from what it means to nurture. +hile bo!s ma! dream of ad entures" girls# conditioning means the! tend to see the

68

future in terms of raising families. Kirls also appear to be less aggressi e than bo!s. In adulthood" it is men" not women" who pro e to be the aggressors in crime and in war. 2b iousl!" in raising children" a more patient" gentle manner is preferable to a more aggressi e one. Although there certainl! e.ist gentle men and aggressi e women" b! and large" females are less li$el! to resort to iolence in attempting to sol e problems. 3inall!" women tend to be better communicators than men. This is shown is intelligence tests" where females" on a erage" do better in erbal communication than males. 2f course" communication is of utmost importance in rearing children" as children tend to learn from and adopt the communication st!les of their parents. Thus" while it is all er! well to suggest a greater role for men in raising children" let us not forget that women are generall! better suited to the parenting role. :1( It is $enerall- ac#nowled$ed that *amilies are now not as close as the- used to be( 9i.e possible reasons and -our recommendations( There is much discussion nowada!s as to whether or not the relation-ship between famil! members is as close as before. ?i erse contributing factors can be identified. In the following" I would li$e to present m! point of iew. Kreat changes ha e ta$en place in famil! life along with the de elopment of societ!. 2ne of them is that the once-e.tended famil! tends to become smaller and smaller. 5an! children ha e to lea e their parents at an earl! age to stud! or wor$ elsewhere. As time passes" children become emotionall! estranged from their parents. @ompared with the past" social competition is becoming increasingl! fierce. 9eople are urged to concentrate their efforts upon wor$" so that the! can achie e success" or at least a good standard of li ing. As a result" the! can4t afford to spend their leisure hours with their families. The importance of bonds of $inship is graduall! fading from their minds. In addition" the a ailabilit! of arious $inds of recreational facilities also di erts people from en,o!ing chats with the members of their families. Their free time is mostl! occupied b! watching T)" surfing the Internet or pla!ing ideo games. The! come to lose interest in communicating with the other members of their families. In iew of such alienation within families" urgent steps must be ta$en" in m! opinion. 3or members of families who li e awa! from one another" regular contact on the phone can bring them the care that the! need. 3amil! reunions on holida!s or other important occasions can ma$e a difference as well. 3or those li ing together" it is a good idea to ta$e some time off wor$ or recreation periods to spend more time with each other. In the final anal!sis" a close famil! relationship can surel! be maintained as long as we realize the significant role it pla!s in our li es and attach importance to it. :2( >Hatherhood ou$ht to be emphasised as much as motherhood( The idea that women are solel- responsible *or decidin$ whether or not to ha.e babies leads on to the idea that the- are also responsible *or brin$in$ the children up(> To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree? 69

belie e that child-rearing should be the responsibilit! of both parents and that" whilst the roles within that partnership ma! be different" the! are ne ertheless equal in importance. In some societies" it has been made easier o er the !ears for single parents to raise children on their own. -owe er" this does not mean that the traditional famil!" with both parents pro iding emotional support and role-models for their children" is not the most satisfactor! wa! of bringing up children. 2f crucial importance" in m! opinion" is how we define #responsible for bringing the children up#. At its simplest" it could mean gi ing the financial support necessar! to pro ide a home" food and clothes and ma$ing sure the child is safe and recei es an adequate education. This would be the basic definition. There is" howe er" another possible wa! of defining that part of the quotation. That would sa! it is not ,ust the fathers responsibilit! to pro ide the basics for his children" while his wife in ol es herself in the e er!da! acti it! of bringing them up. *ather" he should share those dail! duties" spend as much time as his ,ob allows with his children" pla! with them" read to them" help directl! with their education" participate er! full! in their li es and encourage them to share his. It is this second" fuller" concept of #fatherhood# that I am in fa our of" although I also realise how difficult it is to achie e sometimes. The economic and emplo!ment situation in man! countries means that ,obs are getting more" not less" stressful" requiring long hours and perhaps long ,ourne!s to wor$ as well. Therefore it ma! remain for man! a desirable ideal rather than an achie able realit!.

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CULTUDE
:7( Some people thin# that it is important to ha.e a sin$le lan$ua$e as an international o**icial lan$ua$e( Others thin# that it will ma#e it di**icult to identi*countries and cause a loss o* culture( hat are -our opinions on this? +ith the ad ent of globalization" a common language to facilitate trade and communication seems ine itable. /ome oppose the de elopment of a single language on the grounds that it ma! lead to cultural erosion and a loss of local linguistic $nowledge. 7et" I am of the opinion that it is possible to use an official international language and still retain one4s own language and culture. 3irstl!" man! countries alread! use an official language or languages. 3or e.ample" in India there are two official languagesA -indi and (nglish. In a countr! such as India where there are innumerable languages spo$en" there is a need for official languages to ensure communication between different sections of the population and the different states. In @hina" where different dialects are spo$en" 5andarin" the official language" enables people from different pro inces to comprehend each other. /econdl!" in an age of rampant globalization there is no doubt that an international language is ine itabilit!. -ow is an African businessman going to conduct business in @hina when there are such differences between languages0 In this sense" not onl! is an international language ine itable" but also a necessit! for trade" commerce and economic e.pansion in the 21st centur!. The critics opposing the adoption of an international official language argue that it would lead to a loss of cultural identit!. -owe er" the use of an international official language doesn4t mean that local languages will die out. 3or e.ample" (nglish alread! functions as a $ind of unofficial international language but this doesn4t mean that people solel! con erse in (nglish or the! neglect their own language. (nglish is used in specific conte.ts %trade" business" etc& and nati e languages are used for e er!da! instruction. In brief" as the world becomes smaller the need for an official international language seems una oidable. (nglish has alread! assumed this role although its status is unofficial. In m! iew" the use of either an official or unofficial international language is necessar! to facilitate communication in a time of rapid globalization. %33= words&

:8( %escribe a custom *rom -our countr- that -ou would li#e people *rom other countries to adopt( E0plain -our choice) usin$ speci*ic reasons and e0amples( In our modern stressful world we often forget about our customs and traditions. -owe er" I thin$ that people should $eep their traditions because the! help to remember our forefathers and alue the beautiful moments we ha e in our li es.

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In m! countr! we ha e a great custom called B5aslenicaB. It is a holida!" which is celebrated at the end of the winter. 5an! people gather on the biggest square of the cit! and see of the winter. The! sa! to the winter good-b!e and as$ the spring to change the winter. The! celebrate the beginning of the life when e er!thing starts to grow. 9eople at this holida! ba$e panca$es and treat each other with them. Also" man! people gathered on the square pla! different games. 3or e.ample" the most well-$nown game Bpulling a ropeB subsists in that two teams pull a rope. The winner is the team" witch has a longer rope. 2ther people draw on the ic! pole. 9eople ha e fun at this holida! e en if the! ,ust obser e those games and do not participate. In conclusion" I am sure that B5aslenicaB would benefit man! countries all o er the world. 9eople ha e the opportunit! to rela." lea e their troubles and worries behind and ha e fun. Also" this holida! helps people to find out more about each other" communicate and meet new people. In addition to those practical benefits" B5aslenicaB helps people to slow down their life pace and en,o! the present moments that are irreplaceable and beautiful. %2HG words& ::( hen people mo.e to another countr-) some o* them decide to *ollow the customs o* the new countr-( Others pre*er to #eep their own customs( Compare these two choices( hich one do -ou pre*er? Support -our answer with speci*ic details( 9eople ma! choose to $eep their old traditions from their nati e countr! or to accept new ones. Oeeping the old customs will help one to o ercome the cultural shoc$ and the change of the en ironment. 3rom the other side" accepting the new traditions will help one to adapt and ma$e new friends with residents. In this essa! I will gi e different reasons wh! people decide to follow the customs of the new countr! or to $eep their own customs. If one is from the countr! with strong and old traditions" I thin$ it will be rather difficult for him to adapt to the new customs and moreo er to re,ect his own. That is wh! some people from the same countr! tr! to li e together and to create their own communit! where the old traditions are $ept. The! can not brea$ the customs that were created b! their ancestors. 3or e.ample" some nations are restricted in certain $inds of food b! their traditions. /o" the! do not go to the restaurants unless their traditional food is ser ed there. /ome nations according to their customs ha e to wear certain t!pes of cloth because their religion tells them to do so. 3rom the other side" if one is from the countr! with traditions similar to ones of the new countr! it will be eas! for him to adopt and to follow the customs of the new place. -e will not feel much difference. 9robabl!" the most difficult part of his relocation will be to accustom to the new climate. I thin$ that people of the new countr! are friendlier when the! see that foreigner follows their customs. I belief that traditions of e er! countr! deser e respect" especiall!" when one li es there. In summar!" I thin$ that e er! countr! has its own beaut! and if one wants to find out more about it he will lo e it. %313 words&

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:;( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? Modern technolo$- is creatin$ a sin$le world culture( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our opinion( 5an" through the ages" has undergone man! changes from the time when he depicted a herd of mammoths on the walls of the ca e to these da!s when he can chart with someone on the other side of the globe. 5odern technolog! is rapidl! changing the world#s li ing standards that results in creating a single world culture. 'ew technologies including Internet" tele ision" electronic media" means of transportation" etc has a great impact on creating a similar culture all around the globe. 6ellow I will list m! reasons to support m! opinion. 3irst of all" Internet and e-mail ha e changed the wa! people communicate to each other. Internet brought man! benefits. It is a new means of communication" a fast access to information and news. 9eople communicate with each other" share their ideas" happiness and difficulties. +e ha e a great opportunit! to find out more about countries and their histor!. /econd of all" the modern means of transportation allows people to mo e from one place to another er! quic$l!. A few centuries ago it was impossible to imagine wa$ing up in one countr! and falling asleep in another. 3inall!" as a result of all mentioned abo e the boundaries between countries" their traditions and customs are erased. 5an! people migrate during their li es. /ome of them are loo$ing for a better place to li e" others want to get new e.perience and $nowledge or ,ust pleasure. /o" man! families are created between people from different countries. Traditions fuse and e ol e into other ones or ,ust anish. To sup up" modern technolog! has a great impact on the wa! people li e now. It is creating a new single world culture where traditions and distances are no longer of that importance. %2GL words&

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%DU9
;<( Some businesses now sa- that no one can smo#e ci$arettes in an- o* their o**ices( Some $o.ernments ha.e banned smo#in$ in all public places( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree? 9i.e reasons( 5ost of the firms" organization and companies as well as Ko ernment ma$e restrictions to smo$e in wor$ places and public amenities respecti el!. It has become fashionable in the world toda! to blame smo$ing. -owe er" although I feel that smo$ing can be harmful" but I don4t thin$ it should be forbidden completel!. I would also argue that people should ha e the right whether the! smo$e or not. Met me deal with the three positi e sides of smo$ing. 3irstl!" smo$ing certainl! helps man! people to rela.. 3or some" it e en impro es concentration. If someone is upset owing to debt or the! ha e e.am" li$e to smo$e to reduce the pressure or tension. 5ost of the people li$e to smo$e when the! are rela.ing with friends. /econdl!" go ernments throughout the world ma$e huge profits from ta.es on cigarettes. The income obtained from ta.es pro ide funds which are used for building school" hospital and public places such as par$s" gardens" sports ground and foot paths. Thirdl!" tobacco industr! also emplo!s tens of thousands of people all o er the world" particularl! in poorer countries li$e Ximbabwe or India. +ithout cigarettes" these people would ha e no ,obs. ?espite these positi e effects there are lots of negati e effects of smo$ing too. Initiall!" smo$ing has been pro en to be too dangerous for health. As one cigarette contain more then H=== chemical substances" therefore" it causes for man! in,urious diseases li$e heart attac$s" asthma" bronchitis" lung cancer and cough. According to the current report" in 6ritain about 3"5== people are $illed each !ear in road accidents and 12="=== are $illed b! smo$ing. 3urthermore" smo$ing costs go ernment millions of dollars because of the large number of people who need treatment in hospitals for smo$ing-related problems. 5oreo er" there is also concern toda! about passi e smo$ing. *ecent research shows that non-smo$ers can suffer health problems if the! spend long period of time among people who do smo$e. In EO children whose parents are smo$e are three times as li$el! to start smo$ing themsel es P. In short" I thin$ the world would be a better place without cigarettes. -owe er" the decision as to whether P smo$e or not should be for each indi idual to ma$e. I suggest people should not smo$e in a room or place where there are non smo$ers but surel! the! should be free to smo$e elsewhere. This a very good essay, you have made your arguments #ell and set the paragraphs out as re2uired. :o#ever, take care #ith your use o$ de$initive statements e.g. Without cigarettes, these people #ould have no /obs. 8aybe they #ould gain employment in another industry, #e cannot be sure. 7ver all, #ell done!

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;'( Should the same laws which prohibit the sale and consumption o* heroin be applied to tobacco?

*ecentl!" a hostile debate arouse when a few well reputable health organizations suggested the application of a similar act of heroin selling and usage prohibition P. In this assa!" I will anal!se wh! the adoption of such a law could be a brea$through in our !oungsters safet!" according to m! ision. 3irstl! " tobacco does not differ much from heroin when it comes to the later addicti e effect. 'icotin " the acti e ingredient in tobacco" e.erts its effect b! acting directl! on smo$er4s brain cells. 'umerous e.periments carried out b! scientist on animals" specaill! rats" pro ed that this to.ic chemical does lead b! time to dependenc!" ,ust similar to the effect e.perienced with herion. /econdl!" restriction on cigerattes selling will surel! show an instant decline in tobacco smo$ing. D -a ing an eas! access to cigarettes puts a tremendous pressure" speciall! on teenagers"to resist such a temptationD ?r.-isham " head of 9sch!colog! department at Ale.andria 5edical college " states firml!. CKi ing the new generation the sense that the se erit! of smo$ing is equi ilant to other lethal drugs usage woulod be a life sa ing step"the! will than$ us for%& as the! get older.D he continues. To recapitulate" appl!ing of a futuristic law as the suggested one will definetl! ha e a positi e impact "not onl! on !oung people4s health but on our societ! as a whole. Well done! This is a very good essay but take care o$ your spelling.

;+( People in all modern societies use dru$s) but toda-Fs -outh are e0pertimentin$ with both le$al and ille$al dru$s) and at an increasin$l- earl- a$e( Some sociolo$ists claim that parents and other members o* societ- o*ten set a bad e0ample( %iscuss the causes and some e**ects o* widespread dru$ use b- -oun$ people in modern da- societ-( Ma#e an- recommendations -ou *eel are necessar- to help *i$ht -outh dru$ abuse( 7outh drug abuse is a serious problem nowada!s in man! cultures. 'ot onl! is illegal drug use on the rise" but children as !oung as 1= !ears old are e.perimenting with alcohol and tobacco. The reasons for this beha iour are unclear" but certain sociologists blame the e.amples set b! their elders. 9arents who drin$ and smo$e to e.cess are" in effect" telling their children that it is acceptable to abuse their bodies with drugs. @onsequentl!" children ma! ha e a similar iew towards illegal drugs" e en if their parents are against their use. In addition" drug use shown on tele ision and in films can onl! confuse children who are also taught at school that drug abuse is wrong. The pressure on !oung people to perform well at school in order to compete for ,obs is a possible cause of the problem. 5an! belie e the! cannot li e up to their parents#

75

e.pectations" and feel a sense of hopelessness. Also" the widespread a ailabilit! of drugs means teenagers are faced with the temptation to e.periment. ?rugs are used as a means of e.pressing dissatisfaction with the pressures the! face in societ!. The effects of drug abuse are well $nown. 5an! !oung people#s talents are wasted" and addiction to hard drugs can cost a user his or her life. 3urthermore" those who drin$ and dri e ma! be in ol ed in fatal road accidents. The cost to societ! is great" and enormous amounts of mone! are spent on con icting drug dealers and on education programmes. To conclude" I recommend that the onl! sensible wa! to sol e this problem is to educate !oung people about the dangers of drug use" and to ta$e steps to reduce the pressure of competition placed upon them.

;/( %ru$ abuse is becomin$ a problem in our societ-( and what are some solutions?

hat are the causes o* this

?rug abuse is rife in man! countries. 6illions of dollars are spent internationall! pre enting drug use" treating addicts" and fighting drug-related crime. Although drugs threaten man! societies" their effects can also be combated successfull!. This essa! loo$s at some of the effects of drug use on societ!" and suggests some solutions to the problem. ?rug abuse causes multiple problems for countries and communities. The medical and ps!chological effects are er! ob ious. Addicts cannot function as normal members of societ!. The! neglect or abuse their families" and e entuall! require e.pensi e treatment or hospitalization. The second effect is on crime. -uge police resources are needed to fight smuggling and dealing. @riminal gangs and mafia underworlds de elop with the mone! from drugs. -owe er" the menace of drugs can be fought. (ducation is the first battle. @hildren need to be told at home and in school about drugs. 9eople need to be aware of the effects so that the! can ma$e a oid this problem. A second approach is to increase police manpower and powers to stop dealers and to enforce the law. -owe er the main target should be the user. 3amilies and counselors need to tal$ to children and people at ris$. 9arents need to loo$ at their children and help them to Robs are needed to gi e people a role in societ!. In conclusion" although the problem of drugs ma! seem impossible to eliminate" there are concrete steps that can be ta$en to wea$en the hold of drugs on societ!. The danger from drugs is too great to ignore. 25L words ;1( Should Smo#in$ be ?anned? It has become fashionable in the world toda! to condemn smo$ing. -owe er" although I feel that smo$ing can be harmful" I do not thin$ it should be banned completel!.

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Met me deal first with the positi e side of smo$ing. 3irst" smo$ing undoubtedl! helps man! people to rela.. 3or some" it e en impro es concentration. 5an! people li$e to smo$e before e.ams or when the! are rela.ing with friends. A further point is that go ernments throughout the world ma$e huge profits from le !ing ta.es on cigarettes. This pro ides funds which are used for building schools" hospitals and other public amenities. The tobacco industr! also emplo!s tens of thousands of people throughout the world" particularl! in poorer countries li$e Ximbabwe or India. +ithout cigarettes" these people would ha e no ,obs. I would also argue that people should ha e the right to choose whether the! smo$e or not. 9eople should not smo$e in a room where there are non-smo$ers but surel! the! should be free to smo$e elsewhere. The arguments against smo$ing are well $nown. /mo$ing has been shown to be dangerous to health. -eart disease" bronchitis and lung cancer ha e all been lin$ed. A further issue is that smo$ing costs go ernments millions of pounds because of the large number of people who need treatment in hospitals for smo$ing related problems. There is also concern toda! about passi e smo$ing. *ecent research has shown that non-smo$ers can suffer health problems if the! spend long periods of time among people who do smo$e. In general" I thin$ the world would be a better place without cigarettes. -owe er" the decision as to whether to smo$e or not should be for each indi idual to ma$e.

77

=EALT=
;2( Smo#ers can cause themsel.es serious health problems( The choice to smo#e is made *reel- and with #nowled$e o* dan$ers( Smo#ers should there*ore e0pect to pa- more *or medical treatment than non! smo#ers( ( er!one has the choice of being a smo$er or not. The people who choose to smo$e do so $nowing there is a ris$ of causing harmful damage to themsel es. -owe er" I do not entirel! agree that these people should ha e to pa! more to recei e all the medical treatment the! need. I thin$ there are man! situations in which a medical problem has nothing to do with whether a person smo$es or not. In these cases" where an illness has no relation to smo$ing" then I belie e that smo$ers should not be required to pa! more than other people for their medical treatment. 5ost car accidents" for e.ample" ha e no connection with smo$ing" and the people who are in,ured ought to ha e the same medical help" regardless of the cost. And what about the common flu - it does not seem ,ustifiable to me that a smo$er should ha e to pa! more to see a doctor for an illness we can all contract. 2n the other hand" I agree that a smo$er should pa! more than a non-smo$er for the necessar! treatment of an! condition which has been caused b! smo$ing. The principle that people should ta$e responsibilit! for their own actions is a good one. @onsequentl!" if a person chooses to smo$e $nowing that this habit can cause serious health problems" then there is no reason wh! the communit! or an insurance compan! should ha e to pa! for medical treatment for an illness which could ha e been a oided. In man! countries" cigarette pac$ets ha e a clear warning that smo$ing can cause health problems and so no smo$er can claim not to $now the danger. Mung cancer is sometimes a fatal disease and the treatment is both length! and e.pensi e" and it is unfair for the smo$er to e.pect the hospital or the communit! to carr! the cost. In fact" it could also be argued that those who smo$e in public should be as$ed to pa! e.tra because of the illness caused to passi e smo$ers. In conclusion" I feel that smo$ers should pa! more in cases related to smo$ing" but for an! other illness the! should pa! the same as an!one else.

;7( Should parents be obli$ed to immunise their children a$ainst childhood diseases? Or do indi.iduals ha.e the ri$ht to choose not to immunise their children? /ome people argue that the state does not ha e the right to ma$e parents immunise their children. -owe er" I feel the question is not whether the! should immunise but whether" as members of societ!" the! ha e the right not to. 9re entati e medicine has pro ed to be the most effecti e wa! of reducing the incidence of fatal childhood diseases. As a result of the widespread practice of immunising !oung children in our societ!" man! li es ha e been sa ed and the diseases ha e been reduced to almost zero. 78

In pre ious centuries children died from ordinar! illnesses such as influenza and tuberculosis and because few people had immunit!" the diseases spread easil!. ?iseases such as d!senter! were the result of poor h!giene but these ha e long been eradicated since the arri al of good sanitation and clean water. 'obod! would suggest that we should re erse this good practice now because d!senter! has been wiped out. /erious diseases such as polio and smallpo. ha e also been eradicated through national immunisation programmes. In consequence" children not immunised are far less at ris$ in this disease-free societ! than the! would otherwise be. 9arents choosing not to immunise are rel!ing on the fact that the diseases ha e alread! been eradicated. If the number of parents choosing not to immunise increased" there would be a similar increase in the ris$ of the diseases returning. Immunisation is not an issue li$e seatbelts which affects onl! the indi idual. A decision not to immunise will ha e widespread repercussions for the whole of societ! and for this reason" I do not belie e that indi iduals ha e the right to stand aside. In m! opinion immunisation should be obligator!. I The issue of whether we should force parents to immunise their children against common diseases is" in m! opinion" a social rather than a medical question. /ince we are free to choose what we e.pose our bodies to in the wa! of food" drin$" or religion for that matter" wh! should the question of medical #treatment# be an! different0 5edical researchers and go ernments are primaril! interested in o erall statistics and trends and in mone!-sa ing schemes which fail to ta$e into consideration the indi idual#s concerns and rights. +hile immunisation against diseases such as tetanus and whooping cough ma! be effecti e" little information is released about the harmful effects of accinations which can sometimes result in stunted growth or e en death. The bod! is designed to resist disease and to create its own natural immunit! through contact with that disease. /o when children are gi en artificial immunit!" we create a ulnerable societ! which is entirel! dependent on immunisation. In the e ent that mass immunisation programmes were to cease" the societ! as a whole would be more at ris$ than e er before. In addition there is the issue of the rights of the indi idual. As members of a societ!" wh! should we be obliged to sub,ect our children to this potentiall! harmful practice0 /ome people ma! also be against immunisation on religious grounds and their needs must also be considered. 3or these reasons I feel strongl! that immunisation programmes should not be obligator! and that the indi idual should ha e the right to choose whether or not to participate. ;8( >Pre.ention is better than cure(> Out o* a countr-Fs health bud$et) a lar$e proportion should be di.erted *rom treatment to spendin$ on health education and pre.entati.e measures( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? 2f course it goes without sa!ing that pre ention is better than cure. That is wh!" in recent !ears" there has been a growing bod! of opinion in fa our of putting more resources into

79

health education and pre enti e measures. The argument is that ignorance of" for e.ample" basic h!giene or the dangers of an unhealth! diet or lifest!le needs to be combatted b! special nationwide publicit! campaigns" as well as longer-term health education. 2b iousl!"there is a strong human argument for catching an! medical condition as earl! as possible. There is also an economic argument for doing so. /tatistics demonstrate the cost-effecti eness of treating a condition in the earl! stages" rather than dela!ing until more e.pensi e and prolonged treatment is necessar!. Then there are social or economic costs" perhaps in terms of loss of earnings for the famil! concerned or unemplo!ed benefit paid b! the state. /o far so good" but the difficulties start when we tr! to define what the #proportion# of the budget should be" particularl! if the funds will be #di erted from treatment#. ?ecisions on e.actl! how much of the total health budget should be spent in this wa! are not a matter for the non-specialist" but should be made on the basis of an accepted health ser ice model. This is the point at which real problems occur - the formulation of the model. -ow do we accuratel! measure which health education campaigns are effecti e in both medical and financial terms0 -ow do we agree about the medical efficac! of arious screening programmes" for e.ample" when the medical establishment itself does not agree0 A er! rigorous process of e aluation is called for" so that we can ma$e informed decisions.

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HODEI9& LA&9UADE
;:( Stud-in$ the En$lish lan$ua$e in an En$lish!spea#in$ countr- is the best but not the onl- wa- to learn lan$ua$e( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? /tud!ing a language in a countr! where it is widel! spo$en has man! ad antages. It is" therefore" a good idea to stud! (nglish in a countr! such as 6ritain. -owe er" I belie e it is not the onl! wa! to learn the language. In the first place" most students in non-(nglish-spea$ing countries learn (nglish at secondar! school" and sometimes at uni ersit! nowada!s. Although their spo$en (nglish is not usuall! of a er! high standard" their $nowledge of grammar is often quite ad anced. This is certainl! useful when students come to an (nglish-spea$ing countr! to perfect the language. /econdl!" stud!ing the basics of (nglish at secondar! school is less stressful than learning the language while o erseas. This is because students li ing at home do not ha e to worr! about problems such as finding accommodation" pa!ing for their stud! and li ing costs" and tr!ing to sur i e in a foreign countr! where da! to da! li ing causes much stress. -owe er" there are ob ious ad antages of learning (nglish in 6ritain. ( er! da! there are opportunities to practise listening to and spea$ing with 6ritish people. Also" students can e.perience the culture firsthand" which is a great help when tr!ing to understand the language. This is especiall! true if the! choose to li e with a 6ritish famil!" as e.change students for e.ample. 3urthermore" if students attend a language school full-time" the teachers will be nati e spea$ers. In this case" not onl! will students# spea$ing and listening s$ills impro e" but attention can be gi en to de eloping reading and writing s$ills as well. In general" e en though it is preferable to stud! (nglish in an (nglish-spea$ing countr!" a reasonable le el of (nglish can be achie ed in one#s own countr!" if a student is gifted and dedicated to stud!. ;;( Learnin$ a *orei$n lan$ua$e o**ers an insi$ht into how people *rom other cultures thin# and see the world( The teachin$ o* a *orei$n lan$ua$e should be compulsor- at all primar- schools( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this .iew? 'lear statement followed by a question based on the premise.6 Manguage is lin$ed to the identit! of a nation" and spea$ers of a common language share man! things" but does this gi e go ernments the right to restrict the wa! a language is used or taught0 8'oncession mode to the 9"or9 case, but followed by the *gainst point of view. *n example is given which comments on the likely effectiveness of such a policy.6 It can be argued that a nation maintains its culture through its language" and so there is a need to restrict the use of foreign words and changes in pronunciation. -owe er" in realit!

81

this approach is fruitless" because language is a li ing thing and it is impossible to stop it from changing. This polic! has been tried in some countries" but it ne er wor$s. 9eople" especiall! !oung people" will use the language that the! hear around them" and which separates them from others1 stopping the use of certain words will onl! ma$e them appear more attracti e. 8:uts the case *gainst governments preventing spelling reform, but concedes it may be useful.6 As for spelling" we all $now that the (nglish s!stem is irregular and" I belie e" it would benefit from simplification so that children and other learners do not waste time learning to read and write. 2n the other hand" some people ma! feel" perhaps rightl!" that it is important to $eep the original spelling of words as a lin$ with the past and this iew is also held b! spea$ers of languages which do not use the *oman alphabet. 8:uts both sides of the argument about which language to use in schools.6 +hile it is important for people who spea$ a minorit! language to be able to learn and use that language" it is practical for education to be in a common language. This creates national pride and lin$s people within the societ!. *ealisticall!" schools are the best place for this to start. 81nds with a clear statement.6 Eltimatel!" there is a role for go ernments to pla! in the area of language planning" particularl! in education" but at no time should go ernments impose regulations which restrict people#s linguistic freedom. '<<( Millions o* people e.er- -ear mo.e to En$lish!spea#in$ countries such as Australia) ?ritain or America) in order to stud- at school) colle$e or uni.ersit-( h- do so man- people want to stud- in En$lish? h- is En$lish such an important international lan$ua$e? I am not surprise when I read in the newspapers that man! people mo e to (nglish spea$ing countries. I am an engineer in a process control since ten !ears and I understand the necessit! of (nglish language. 3or e.ample" when I read technical (nglish specifications" when I meet Rapanese Industrials to build together some electronic materials or when I go on holida!s in Ital! where the best wa! %for me& to communicate is to spea$ (nglish. Therefore" toda!" it#s necessar! to learn (nglish and the best wa! is to stud! in (nglish as soon as possible when we are at school but also when we ha e a ,ob. It#s so Important to communicate with foreigners" because of wor$. 3or e.ampleA to seafoods in E/A" to build electronic cards with the Rapanese" to obtain a certification with 3?A %American organization& in order to sell some pharmaceutical products. In fact" ,t#s Important for e er!bod!" the wor$ers" the isitors" the scientists" etc ... These are the main reason which e.plain wh! so man! people go to (nglish spea$ing countries %the best wa! to learn& and wh! (nglish is such an Important International language %the communication between man! the people o er the world&. ;omment: This is an answer written b! a candidate who achie ed a ?and 7 score. -ere is the e.aminer#s commentA

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This response is underlength and is mar$ed down because of this. 2nl! a few rele ant ideas are presented and these are used rather repetiti el! and are insufficientl! de eloped or supported. -owe er" the writing communicates fluentl! and a satisfactor! range of structures and ocabular! are used.

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ET=ICAL ISSUES
'<'( ?- punishin$ murderers with the death penalt-) societ- is also $uilt o* committin$ murder( There*ore) li*e in prison is a better punishment *or murderers( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? 5A9DEE6 B?o as I sa!" not as I do.B This is what societ! tells us when it punishes murderers with the death penalt!. /ociet! tells us that murder is wrong" and in our legal s!stem" murder is against the law. 7et we still see our societ! $ill murderers" and thus we are committing murder oursel es. 3or this reason" the death penalt! should end" and instead murderers should be punished with life in prison. /ociet! needs to show a positi e model of how our li es should be and how people should act. +e should alwa!s stri e to impro e our situation" to be at peace and in harmon! with others. -owe er" when we $ill murderers" we are not wor$ing to impro e our societ!. Instead" we are stooping to the criminals# le el. It ma$es me thin$ about the re enge that came when pla!ing games with m! brothers. +hen we were $ids;children" m! brother would ta$e m! to!s" so I would hit him and ta$e m! to!s bac$. Then he would hit me harder and ta$e the to!s again. Thin$ing of the death penalt!" I imagine a murderer $ills someone. /ociet! ta$es re enge b! $illing the murderer. This lea es behind the murderer#s famil! and friends" who ha e tremendous anger inside of them" which the! ma! release onto societ!. The c!cle of $illing goes on and on. /ociet! should not condemn people who are ta$ing the same action that societ! is ta$ing. /ociet! tells us not to $ill" and !et societ! $ills when it e.ercises the death penalt!. 6ecause of this contradiction" we should end the death penalt! and instead punish murderers b! sentencing them to life in prison. %2<3 words&

'<+( Should animals be used in testin$ new dru$s and procedures? ( er! !ear" millions of animals undergo painful suffering or death as a result of scientific research into the effects of drugs" food additi es" cosmetics and other chemical products. +hile most people thin$ animal testing is necessar!" others are upset b! what the! see as needless suffering. This essa! loo$s at some of the positi e and negati e aspects of animal testing. 5an! medical treatments and procedures ha e been de eloped from e.periments on animals. /ince animals share man! features with humans" scientists use animals to test the safet! and effecti eness of newl! de eloped drugs before pilot testing on small groups of patients. 5edical teams practice new operating techniques such as transplants on animals. +ithout animal testing" man! procedures or new drugs would be e.tremel! unsafe. -owe er" man! people are concerned that animals are suffering unnecessaril! and 84

cruell!. The! do not belie e that e er! new drug needs to be tested on animals" especiall! with the huge database of $nowledge and modern computer models. The! also are worried that man! animal tests are ineffecti e" pointing out that an! drugs ha e had to be withdrawn from the mar$et despite e.tensi e testing. The! particularl! feel that animal testing should not be used for non-essential products such as cosmetics" shampoos" soaps" and cleaning products. 3urthermore" some campaigners would li$e to see certain tests replaced and more humane methods used. +e need to ma$e sure that the millions of animals who are used for testing new products are treated with the minimum of suffering. Although some animal testing ma! be una oidable at present" treating our fellow creatures as mercifull! as possible will demonstrate our humanit!. Animal Testin$ , -es ( er! da!" thousands of people are sa ed from painful diseases and death b! powerful medical drugs and treatments. This incredible gift of medicine would not be possible without animal testing. ?espite these o erwhelming benefits" howe er" some people are calling for animal testing to be banned because of alleged cruelt!. This essa! will e.amine arguments for and against animal testing. Those against the use of animal testing claim that it is inhumane to use animals in e.periments. I disagree completel!. It would be much more inhumane to test new drugs on children or adults. ( en if it were possible" it would also ta$e much longer to see potential effects" because of the length of time we li e compared to laborator! animals such as rats or rabbits. 2pponents of animal testing also claim that the results are not applicable to humans. This ma! be partl! true. /ome drugs ha e had to be withdrawn" despite testing. -owe er" we simpl! do not ha e alternati e methods of testing. @omputer models are not ad anced enough" and testing on plants is much less applicable to humans than tests on animals such as mon$e!s. Entil we ha e a better s!stem" we must use animal testing. A further point often raised against animal testing is that it is cruel. /ome of the tests certainl! seem painful" but the great ma,orit! of people on this planet eat meat or wear leather without an! guilt. +here is their s!mpath! for animals0 3urthermore" animals clearl! do not feel the same wa! as humans" and scientists are careful to minimize stress in the animals" since this would damage their research. I agree that we need to ma$e sure that animals who are used for testing new products ha e the minimum of suffering. -owe er" I am con inced that animal testing is necessar!" and that it will continue to benefit humans in new and wonderful wa!s. Animal Testin$ , no *dvantages of *nimal %esting in /edical ;esearch 5edical research in ol ing animals has dramaticall! impro ed the health of the human race. +ithout animal testing" the cure for polio would not e.ist and diabetics would suffer or die from their disease. ?espite these benefits" some people belie e that animals should be not be used for testing medical techniques and drugs. This essa! will outline the ad antages of animal testing. Animal testing allows scientists to test and create new drugs. Animals such as mon$e!s or rabbits ha e similar ph!sical processes to humans. This allows scientists to test the

85

effects of certain drugs. If a drug produces ad erse effects in animals it is probabl! unfit for human use. Animal testing is cheap. There is a large suppl! of animals for medical research. Animals are easil! bred" and maintained safel! in controlled labs. The costs of testing in humans would be e.tremel! high. 5an! people argue that animal testing is cruel. In some cases this is true. -owe er it would be much more cruel to test new drugs on people or children" or to let people die because there was not enough information about a drug. 3urthermore" legislation in most countries sets standards for animal treatment" and laboratories ha e guidelines to pre ent cruelt!. 2pponents of animal research also sa! that information from animals does not appl! to humans. The! point to certain commercial drugs which ha e been withdrawn because of side-effects in humans +hile it is true that animal s!stems differ from human s!stems" there are enough similarities to appl! information from animals to humans. Animal rights campaigners claim that we don4t need new tests because we alread! ha e ast amounts of information. -owe er" man! new deadl! infections appear e er! !ear and new treatments and drugs are needed to combat these deadl! plagues. Animal testing is needed in the world we li e in. 2ur responsibilit! is to manage the animals in our care and balance their suffering against the good that comes from them. 321 words

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?UIL%I&9
'</( It has recentl- been announced that a new mo.ie theater ma- be built in -our nei$hborhood( %o -ou support or oppose this plan? h-? Use speci*ic reasons and details to support -our answer( I li e in a small communit!. 3rom m! e er!da! e.perience and obser ation I can sa! that the idea about building a new theatre in m! neighborhood has some ad antages as well as disad antages. In this essa! I will first focus on the reasons wh! I support this idea and then mo e on to anal!zing wh! I oppose it. 3irst of all" I li$e mo ies and m! husband and I sometimes go to the mo ie theatre to watch premieres. Enfortunatel!" it is time-consuming for us. +e ha e to dri e about 5= minutes to the nearest mo ies theatre. /o" the idea of ha ing a mo ie theatre in our neighborhood seems er! attracti e. It would sa e us an hour ,ust to get there and another hour to get bac$ home. Another important aspect of it is that in this case we will be able to get to the mo ie theatre b! foot. I must to confess that we alwa!s ha e par$ing troubles in the par$ing space near the mo ie theatre. /econd of all" new mo ie theatre is a er! good place for students who want to earn some mone!. 5! husband and I li e near a student communit!" so I thin$ it would be a great news for them. In addition to this practical benefit students will be able to watch all mo ies free of charge. I suppose it is a great wa! to sa e some mone!. 3inall!" there are usuall! man! restaurants and entertaining centers around a mo ie theatre. There people can ha e dinner or pla! game machines. In contrast" I thin$ that the building of a new mo ie theatre will destro! the silence and beaut! of out communit!. /uch entertaining centers are often nois!. 5oreo er" traffic ,ams will probabl! be the result of it. In conclusion" I thin$ that if the question was about building a new mo ie theatre in the ne.t neighborhood I would completel! agree. %31L words&

'<1( A compan- has announced that it wishes to build a lar$e *actor- near -our communit-( %iscuss the ad.anta$es and disad.anta$es o* this new in*luence on -our communit-( %o -ou support or oppose the *actor-? E0plain -our position( I am from /aint-9etersburg" *ussia. I belie e that building a large factor! near m! communit! has ad antages as well as disad antages. In the following paragraphs I will list basic benefits and losses that will be brought b! a new factor!.

87

3or se eral reasons" I thin$ that a new factor! will not be a good addition to m! neighborhood. 3irst of all" factories often bring pollution. The! are prone to contaminating the local air and water. /econd of all" factories ma$e noise. Another important aspect of building a new factor! near b! is that it will ma$e the local traffic hea !. As a result of this" the amount of traffic congestions will increase" as well as contamination of the air. /o" all these ob iousl! will not ma$e one#s life happier and healthier in m! communit!. 3rom the other side" I belie e that a new factor! will bring some ad antages to m! communit!. 3irst of all" it will bring new ,ob opportunities. 5an! specialists will be required to wor$ there. /econd of all" I thin$ man! local communit! facilities will ha e to be reno ated to obtain reliable suppl! of water and electricit!. /o" some old pipes ma! be changed. Another important benefit of this is that the local roads in order to manage the increasing traffic will be rebuilt and widened. -owe er" I do not thin$ that listed abo e benefits are worth all these troubles including water contamination and the constant pollution of air. 3rom m! point of iew all factories must be built far from the people communities because the! can be reall! harmful for people#s health. %2LL words& Sample +, 'ew factories often bring man! good things to a communit!" such as ,obs and increased prosperit!. -owe er" in m! opinion" the benefits of ha ing a factor! are outweighed b! the ris$s. That is wh! I oppose the plan to build a factor! near m! communit!. I belie e that this cit! would be harmed b! a large factor!. In particular" a factor! would destro! the qualit! of the air and water in town. 3actories bring smog and pollution. In the long run" the en ironment will be hurt and people4s health will be affected. -a ing a factor! is not worth that rise. 2f course" more ,obs will be created b! the factor!. 2ur population will grow. To accommodate more wor$ers" more homes and stores will be needed. ?o we reall! want this much growth" so fast0 If our town is going in growth" I would prefer slow growth with good planning. I don4t want to see rows of cheapl! constructed townhouses. 2ur qualit! of life must be considered. I belie e that this growth will change our cit! too much. I lo e m! hometown because it is a safe" small town. It is also eas! to tra el here. If we must e.pand to hold new citizens" the small-town feel will be gone. I mould miss that greatl!. A factor! would be helpful in some wa!s. -owe er" I feel that the dangers are greater than the benefits. I cannot support a plan to build a factor! here" and hope that others feel the same wa!. %251 words&

88

'<2( The $o.ernment has announced that it plans to build a new uni.ersit-( Some people thin# that -our communit- would be a $ood place to locate the uni.ersit-( Compare the ad.anta$es and disad.anta$es o* establishin$ a new uni.ersit- in -our communit-( Use speci*ic details in -our discussion( I thin$ it is a great idea to build a new uni ersit! in m! communit!. -owe er" I thin$ it is a contro ersial question whether the building of a new uni ersit! will bring onl! benefits to our communit!. In this essa! I will anal!ze ad antages and disad antages of this issue and present m! iew in fa or of establishing a new uni ersit! in m! communit!. 3rom the one side" establishing a new uni ersit! in m! communit! brings man! benefits. 3irst of all" a new construction means more ,ob opportunities. I thin$ it would be good for m! communit! because man! people ha e to spend much time dri ing to their wor$ da! in and da! out because the! could not find a ,ob in our neighborhood. /econd of all" a new uni ersit! is a good chance to meet new people and I li$e this opportunit!. 5an! students will li e in our communit!. 3inall!" if a new uni ersit! is built in m! communit! there is a big chance that I will be willing to enroll in it. I thin$ it is great because it is not far from m! place and I do not ha e to mo e to another part of the cit!. Another important aspect of this is that people from m! communit! will ha e a chance to use new libraries and facilities of a new uni ersit!. 3or e.ample some people can ta$e courses and classes there. 3rom the other side" building a new uni ersit! can bring some disad antages. A new construction means noise" traffic ,ams and different $inds of pollution. In addition to these disad antages" man! !oung people in our communit! can cause more noise especiall! in the e enings. To sum up" I thin$ that I would support the decision of the go ernment of establishing a new uni ersit! in m! communit! despite a few disad antages that could follow this construction. I belie e that a new uni ersit! will increase a chance of man! !oung people to get a higher education" gain more $nowledge and e.perience" which will help them to succeed in toda!4s world. %3H1 words&

'<7( Should a cit- tr- to preser.e its old) historic buildin$s or destro- them and replace them with modern buildin$s? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our opinion( /ome people thin$ that old" historic buildings are no need for the cit! and the! should be destro!ed and replaced with modern ones. -owe er" other people belie e that historic buildings must be preser ed in order to $now and remember our past. 3or se eral reasons that I will mention bellow I agree with those people who want to preser e old" historical buildings. 89

3irst of all" b! preser ing historical buildings we pass our histor! to our future generations. I thin$ that out children should $now their histor!" learn from it and respect it. 9eople need to $now their traditions and customs" which are priceless and irreplaceable. 2ur histor! is our $nowledge and power. 3rom m! opinion we need to preser e and restore historical buildings. 6! destro!ing them we show our disrespect to our forefathers and their traditions. /econd of all" b! preser ing historical buildings a cit! can attract man! tra elers. +elcoming tourists a cit! can get man! benefits including mone!" which can be spent on preser ing historical buildings as well as on impro ing roads and facilities. Also" man! tourists mean a lot of new business opportunities. Another important aspect of this is that businessmen will be willing to build new recreational centers" hotels" mo ie theaters" shopping centers to ma$e a cit! more attracti e for tra elers. In addition to those practical benefits" man! people will ha e the opportunit! to get a ,ob. All this is good for the econom! of the cit!. To sum up" I belie e that preser ing old" historical buildings can bring onl! benefits to a cit! and all human$ind. %258 words&

'<8( In the past) buildin$s o*ten re*lected the culture o* a societ- but toda- all modern buildin$s loo# ali#e and cities throu$hout the world are becomin$ more and more similar( hat do -ou thin# is the reason *or this) and is it a $ood thin# or a bad thin#? @it! has its architectural character" but the similarities between cities are more ob ious these da!s than in the past. In m! opinion" one reason for this is the high price of land. In most large cities" land is scarce and consequentl! it is er! aluable. This has led to the construction of tall buildings which occup! onl! a small area of land while pro iding lots of floor space where people can li e or wor$. 6uildings of this t!pe are made of concrete and steel and can be built comparati el! quic$l! using prefabricated materials. The! do not use local materials" such as stone" timber or bric$" which used to gi e cities their indi idual character. In consequence man! cities. now loo$ er! much the same and !ou might not $now whether !ou were in 6risbane" 6ang$o$ or 6erlin when !ou are on the street. +hile I realise that we cannot stand in the wa! of progress" I belie e that cities should tr! to $eep some indi idualit!. 3or e.ample" in 9aris it is prohibited to build er! tall buildings in the centre of the cit!" as this would spoil the o erall appearance of the s$!line. 2ther cities ha e chosen to design unique buildings to ensure the! loo$ different. The twin towers in Ouala Mumpur or the 2pera -ouse in /!dne! are e.amples of this approach" and I agree with this $ind of initiati e. All in all" although it is regrettable that modern cities loo$ similar" I tend to feel that this is

90

una oidable. -owe er" it can be argued that" e en if the buildings are similar" cities will maintain their own character as a result of cultural di ersit!" the terrain and the climate" which ultimatel! determine how people li e. '<:( In man- ma4or cities o* the world) -ou will *ind lar$e public buildin$s) both new and old( %iscuss the ad.anta$es and disad.anta$es o* such buildin$s( =ow important is it *or a countr- to construct impressi.e public buildin$s when houses are want is reall- re"uired? 8Introduction< mention that public buildings exist in all cities and towns, large and small, e.g. post office, court pause, places of worship, theatre6 A public building is a building that belongs in some wa! o the state. The number of public buildings in an! town or illage will depend on the size of that communit! and its needs. 3or e.ample" !ou will usuall! find a town hall of some sort" a school and a place of worship at he least. In anger communities there will be a police station" law courts" a librar! and ma!be a theatre funded b! he state. 8:ros< city pride, beautiful to look at, useful/necessary buildings, create a city centre.6 The desire to build impressi e buildings is not new. The ancient cities of the 5iddle (ast and /outh America were designed with large public buildings to impress isitors and enemies and gi e a sense of pride. In modern times" outstanding public buildings still. create a great sense of local and national pride. The! are what gi es a cit! its character and the! form asocial centre" a place where people li$e to meet. 8'ons< waste of public money, intimidating, nationalistic. =ive opinion on whether they stop us from building houses or whether they can be compatible.6 -owe er" some people argue that go ernments ha e constructed unnecessar!" and sometimes ugl!" buildings simpl! to ma$e themsel es feel important. I tend to feel that such buildings ma! be a waste of public mone! but I am not sure we can claim that the! pre ent houses from being built" because these go ernments ha e often ensured that adequate housing was also a ailable. -ouses and public buildings can e.ist side b! side. 8'onclusion 5 sum up the two parts to the answer. 2eave the reader thinking.6 The answer lies in finding ape right balance. +e want o feel pride in our town" but we also want our citizens to ha e comfortable homes. It is hard to please e er!one. '<;( In the past) buildin$s o*ten re*lected the culture o* a societ- but toda- all modern buildin$s loo# ali#e and cities throu$hout the world are becomin$ more and more similar( cit! has its architectural character" but the similarities between cities are more ob ious these da!s than in the past. In m! opinion" one reason for this is the high price of land. In most large cities" land is scarce and consequentl! it is er! aluable. This has led to the construction of tall buildings which occup! onl! a small area of land while pro iding lots of floor space where people can li e or wor$. 6uildings of this t!pe are made of concrete and steel and can be built comparati el! quic$l! using prefabricated materials. The! do not use local materials" such as stone" timber or bric$" which used to gi e cities their indi idual character. In consequence man! cities. now loo$ er! much the same and !ou 91

might not $now whether !ou were in 6risbane" 6ang$o$ or 6erlin when !ou are on the street. +hile I realise that we cannot stand in the wa! of progress" I belie e that cities should tr! to $eep some indi idualit!. 3or e.ample" in 9aris it is prohibited to build er! tall buildings in the centre of the cit!" as this would spoil the o erall appearance of the s$!line. 2ther cities ha e chosen to design unique buildings to ensure the! loo$ different. The twin towers in Ouala Mumpur or the 2pera -ouse in /!dne! are e.amples of this approach" and I agree with this $ind of initiati e. All in all" although it is regrettable that modern cities loo$ similar" I tend to feel that this is una oidable. -owe er" it can be argued that" e en if the buildings are similar" cities will maintain their own character as a result of cultural di ersit!" the terrain and the climate" which ultimatel! determine how people li e.

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LIHESTYLE
''<( Some people en4o- chan$e) and the- loo# *orward to new e0periences( Others li#e their li.es to sta- the same) and the- do not chan$e their usual habits( Compare these two approaches to li*e( hich approach do -ou pre*er? E0plain wh-( /ome people li$e to li e in the same house" ha e the same ,ob and habits all their li es. -owe er" others aspire to changes and new e.perience. 9ersonall!" for the se eral reasons" which I will e.plain bellow" I prefer the first approach to life. 3irst of all" changes in one#s life bring man! benefits. 2ne tries new things" gains new $nowledge and e.perience. I thin$ it is great because without changes life becomes boring. I alwa!s tr! to ma$e changes in m! life. 5oreo er" when I feel that m! life is boring I do not feel well about it. I feel li$e I spent those da!s for nothing. I did not do an!thing e.iting" I learnt nothing interesting and I ,ust waisted m! time. /econd of all" people need changes. 3urthermore" we need obstacles to o ercome and reach our goals. I belie e that changes ma$e us stronger" more persistent" more selfconfident" and more patient. Also" I feel that all people who succeeded in life li$e changes and new e.perience because it is impossible to be the best at some field without perfecting the present $nowledge and gain new e.perience. 9eople catch e er! opportunit! to learn more and change their life for the best. 3rom the other side" people who li$e their li es to sta! the same are er! permanent. The! ha e the same ,ob all their life" the same habits" the same wee$-ends and e en the same !ears in !ears out. I thin$ it is boring. +hat will the! tell their children about their li es0 +hat $ind of contribution will the! ma$e for the societ!0 I thin$ such people are ,ust afraid of changes. I thin$ curiosit! and aspiration to the new e.perience are two of the main reasons of human e olution. 9eople alwa!s wanted to brea$ limits and gain more $nowledge and e.perience. /o" people who en,o! change are the engine of human de elopment. %31H words& '''( Some people pre*er to eat at *ood stands or restaurants( Other people pre*er to prepare and eat *ood at home( hich do -ou pre*er? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( 5an" through the ages" has undergone an! changes from the time when he had to haunt for food to these da!s when he has to bu! it. /ome people prefer to bu! fresh egetables" meat and fruits and prepare food at home. -owe er" other people prefer to s$ip that step with coo$ing and ha e dinner at a restaurant. I thin$ that both of these choices ha e some ad antages and disad antages. 6ellow I will gi e some reasons to support m! answer. 9ersonall!" I do not li$e fast food. /o" m! choice is alwa!s between a restaurant and m! home. 3irst of all" I would li$e to sa! that coo$ing is a great tradition. It helps people to rela." reflect on some pleasant moments while peeling or cutting the egetables. It is a means of eliminating one#s stress and tension. /econd of all" sometimes I do not want to ha e something too complicated for m! dinner. I ,ust want to ha e light food li$e a salad 93

and a glass of mil$. /o" one of the reasons wh! I li$e to eat at home is because I can ha e what I want at this moment. 2ne greater thing about eating at home is that I can sit in front of the T) and watch an interesting program or a mo ie. 3inall!" ha ing dinner at home allows a famil! communicates with each other" be closer and share some good and bad moments that happened earlier that da!. 6esides" eating at home is a great wa! to sa e some mone!. As for restaurants" I see some positi e aspects about eating there too. 3irst of all" I sometimes get tired from peeling" cutting" washing" fr!ing" etc. It does not mean I do it a lot. /ometimes I ,ust use the microwa e and a preprocessed food that I bought earlier. I want to ha e something more delicious than I ha e in m! refrigerator" something that is time-consuming to prepare at home. /o" for me it is a good reason to go to a restaurant. There one ma! meet old friends or ,ust has a great time listening to music and tasting some delicious meats. Also" restaurants are a good place to celebrate something. 2ne does not ha e to prepare food for all friends who are coming" wash dish" put in order all that mess after the part!" etc. In conclusion" I thin$ that it does not important where one has one#s dinner. +hat important is that it must be full and nutritious. ''+( Hashion trends are di**icult to *ollow these da-s and it3s widel- belie.ed that the- primaril- e0ist 4ust to sell clothes( Some people belie.e that we shouldn3t *ollow them and that we should dress in what we li#e and *eel com*ortable in( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this opinion?( It4s widel! belie ed in toda!4s materialistic world that the latest inno ati e fashion trends hold great significance. 2n the other hand" such trends are belie ed to be set onl! in the pursuit of profits for large designer companies. It seems that in recent times" people are now changing their minds in regards to wearing clothes for comfort and as a personal choice. 9ersonall! I agree that we should pa! more attention to indi idualit! and comfort in the wa! we dress. 3irstl!" fashion designs e.ist as a form of creati e artistic e.pression of the designer. Although this ma! be true" undoubtedl! such designs ta$e awa! indi idualit! once a trend is set in place. 6! this I mean that there is nothing unique about wearing what e er!bod! else does. 5ore specificall!" if e er!one sports the latest colour and design in summer s$irts" do we not loo$ the same0 /econdl!" It is possible that fashion trends can loo$ e.tremel! st!lish to the general public. -owe er" it can be argued that the main purpose of wearing clothes is for more functional reasons. This is primaril! due to the fact that clothes were traditionall! worn to protect people from climatic conditions. 3or instance" clothes are still worn basicall! to $eep people warm and dr! in winter and cool in summer. 3inall!" fashion certainl! gi es us a sense of confidence and pride in our appearance. +hile this is certainl! a good point" it also means that following such changeable trends pro es to be e.pensi e. 3or e.ample" purchasing e er! latest season4s fashion item will of course blow the budget of man! !oung people. In conclusion" there are arious arguments to support the dismissal of fashion trends" consisting of not conforming" comfort and price" which I strongl! agree with. 94

%28= words& ''/( &owada-s) *ood has become easier to prepare( =as this chan$e impro.ed the wa- people li.e? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( The twentieth centur! has brought with it man! ad ances. +ith those ad ances" human li es ha e changed dramaticall!. In some wa!s life is worse" but mostl! it is better. @hanges in food preparation methods" for e.ample" ha e impro ed our li es greatl!. The con enience of preparing food toda! is amazing. ( en sto es ha e gotten too slow for us. 5icrowa e coo$ing is much easier. +e can press a few buttons and a meal is completel! coo$ed in ,ust a short time. 9eople used to spend hours preparing an o encoo$ed meal" and now the! can use that time for other" better things. 9lus" there are all $inds of portable" prepac$aged foods we can bu!. -eat them in the office microwa e" and lunch at wor$ is quic$ and eas!. 3ood preparation toda! allows for more ariet!. +ith refrigerators and freezers" we can preser e a lot of different foods in our homes. /ince technolog! ma$es coo$ing so much faster" people are willing to ma$e se eral dishes for e en a small meal. 9arents are more li$el! to let children be pic$!" now that the! can easil! heat them up some prepac$aged macaroni and cheese on the side. 'eedless to sa!" adults li ing in the same house ma! ha e er! different eating habits as well. If the! don4t want to coo$ a lot of different dishes" it4s common now to eat out at restaurants se eral times a wee$. -ealthful eating is also easier than e er now. +hen people coo$" the! use new fat substitutes and coo$ing spra!s to cut fat and calories. This reduces the ris$ of heart disease and high cholesterol. Additionall!" we can bu! fruits and egetable fresh" frozen or canned. The! are eas! to prepare" so man! of us eat more of those nutritious items dail!. A hundred !ears ago" !ou couldn4t imagine the process of ta$ing some frozen fruit and ice from the freezer" adding some low-fat !ogurt from a plastic cup and some ,uice from a can in the refrigerator" and whipping up a low-fat smoothie in the blenderN 2ur lifest!le is fast" but people still li$e good food. +hat new food preparation technolog! has gi en us is more choices. Toda!" we can prepare food that is more con enient" healthier" and of greater ariet! than e er before in histor!.

''1( &owada-s *ood has become easier to prepare( =as this chan$e impro.ed the wa- people li.e? 3ood is a basic part of life" so it follows that impro ed methods of food preparation ha e made our li es better. 'owada!s we can prepare meals much faster than we could in the past. +e can also en,o! a greater ariet! of food and eat more healthfull!" all because of modern methods of food preparation. 5icrowa e o ens ha e made it possible to prepare delicious food quic$l!. 9eople these da!s rarel! ha e time to shop and prepare meals the old-fashioned wa!. +e li e er! fast li es. +e are bus! wor$ing" caring for our families tra elling" pla!ing sports" and man! other things. 6ecause of microwa e o ens" we ha e time to en,o! a good meal with our famil! and then pla! soccer" go to a mo ie" stud!" or do an!thing else we want to 95

afterwards. 5odern methods of preser ing food ha e made it possible to en,o! a wide ariet! of food. 6ecause of refrigerators" freezers" canning" and freeze-dr!ing" we can eat fruits and egetables that come from far awa! places. +e can prepare a meal one da! and sa e the lefto ers in the refrigerator or freezer to eat at another time. +e can $eep different $inds of food in the refrigerator or on the shelf. Its eas! to alwa!s ha e food a ailable and to be able to eat completel! different meals e er! da!. -ealthful eating is easier now than it e er was. 6ecause of modern transportation methods" fresh fruits and egetables are a ailable all !ear round. 5odern $itchen appliances ma$e it eas! to prepare fruits and egetables fro coo$ing. 6read machines ma$e it possible to en,o! healthful" home-ba$ed bread whene er we li$e. +e can eat fresh and healthful food e er!da! because modern methods ha e made preparation eas!. 2ur lifest!le is fast" but people still li$e good food. 'ew food preparation methods ha e gi en us is more choices. Toda! we can prepare food that is more con enient healthier" and of greater ariet! than e er before in histor!.

Some people pre*er to spend their li.es doin$ the same thin$s and a.oidin$ chan$e( Others) howe.er) thin# that chan$e is alwa-s a $ood thin$( %iscuss both these .iews and $i.e -our own opinion( 2 er the last half centur! the pace of change in the life of human beings has increased be!ond our wildest e.pectations. This has been dri en b! technological and scientific brea$throughs that are changing the whole wa! we iew the world on an almost dail! basis. This means that change is not alwa!s a personal option" but an inescapable fact of life" and we need to constantl! adapt to $eep pace with it. Those people who belie e the! ha e achie ed some securit! b! doing the same" familiar things are li ing in denial. ( en when people belie e the! are resisting change themsel es" the! cannot stop the world around them from changing. /ooner or later the! will find that the familiar ,obs no longer e.ist" or that the Fsafe4 patterns of beha iour are no longer appropriate. -owe er" reaching the conclusion that change is ine itable is not the same as assuming that Fchange is alwa!s for the better4. Enfortunatel!" it is not alwa!s the case that new things are promoted because the! ha e good impacts for the ma,orit! of people. A lot of inno ations are made with the aim of ma$ing mone! for a few. This is because it is the rich and powerful people in our societ! who are able to impose changes %such as in wor$ing conditions or propert! de elopments& that are in their own interests. In conclusion" I would sa! that change can be stimulating and energising for indi iduals when the! pursue it themsel es" but that all change" including that which is imposed on people" does not necessaril! ha e good outcomes.

96

SPODT
''2( Popular e.ents li#e the *ootball orld Cup and other international sportin$ occasions are essential in easin$ international tensions and releasin$ patriotic emotions in a sa*e wa-( ( er! four !ears" the whole world stops to watch international sporting e ents such as the 2l!mpics and the 3ootball +orld @up in which athletes show their best performance to ma$e their countr! proud of them. These sporting occasions ha e pro ed to be helpful in easing international tensions in difficult times when powerful leaders were tr!ing to control the world#s econom! and other go ernments were fighting o er land. The 2l!mpic Kames are one of the best e.amples which pro e how sporting e ents can bring nations together" at least temporaril!. 3rom ancient -istor!" when Kree$s and *omans would interrupt battles to participate in the games" to the more recent international disputes" when athletes from 9alestine and Israel would forget their differences" compete pacificall! and e en embrace each other after an e ent. 5oreo er" these popular e ents ha e called the world#s attention to the terrible consequences of wars1 thus some leaders ha e tried to accept agreements to end their dispute and li e peacefull!. /imilarl!" international sporting e ents show benefits in some de eloping countries which li e in a dail! internal ci il war. 3or e.ample" 6razil has a high rate of unemplo!ment" lac$ of education" hunger" crime" po ert! and corruption which leads to an immense embarrassment of being 6razilian and a low self-esteem. -owe er" when the 3ootball +orld @up starts" the 6razilian squad" which is considered the best team in the world" pro o$es an amazing feeling of pride in their countr!. 5ost people seem to forget all their problems and e en the criminal acti it! decreases. The! paint roads with the national colors" use wear the 6razilian team shirt and bu! national flags. 5oreo er" the competition brings families and neighbors together and e en ri al gangs watch the games and celebrate peacefull!. In conclusion" popular sporting e ents pla! an important role in decreasing international tensions and liberating patriotic feelings as -istor! has shown. This is a great essay, the ideas, language, structure o$ paragraphs and sentences, grammar sho# high level o$ English. 1n my opinion it is +and 0. <eep up the good #ork. ''2( Should dan$erous sports be banned? YesA 5illions of people pla! sport e er! da!" and" ine itabl!" some suffer in,ur! or pain. 5ost pla!ers and spectators accept this ris$. -owe er" some people would li$e to see dangerous sports such as bo.ing banned. This essa! will e.amine some of the reasons for banning certain sports. /ome sports are nothing but an e.cuse for iolence. 6o.ing is a perfect e.ample. The last thing an increasingl! iolent world needs is more iolence on our tele ision. The sight of two men %or e en women& bleeding" with faces ripped open" tr!ing to obliterate each other

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is barbaric. 2ther sports" such as American football or rugb!" are also barel!-concealed iolence. /ome people argue that the pla!ers can choose to participate. -owe er this is not alwa!s the case. 5an! bo.ers" for e.ample" come from disad antaged bac$grounds. The! are lured b! mone! or b! social or peer pressure and then cannot escape. ( en in richer social groups" schools force unwilling students to pla! aggressi e team sports" claiming that pla!ing will impro e the students# character %or the school#s reputation&" but in fact increasing the ris$ of in,ur!. ( en where people can choose" the! sometimes need to be protected against themsel es. 5ost people appro e of go ernments# efforts to reduce smo$ing. In the same wa!" go ernments need to act if there are unacceptabl! high le els of in,uries in sports such as football" di ing" mountaineering" or motor-racing. I accept that all sports in ol e challenge and ris$. -owe er iolence and aggression should not be permitted in the name of sport. Ko ernments and indi iduals must act to limit brutalit! and iolence" so that children and adults can en,o! and benefit from sport. 2<2 words ''7( Sa.e our SportsA Toda!" man! sports are becoming increasingl! regulated. 6o.ing" rugb!" soccer" and other games are being targeted b! sports bodies and medical organizations in an effort to impro e safet! standards and to reduce in,uries. -owe er" for some people" this is not enough" and the! would rather see some dangerous sports banned completel!. In this essa!" I will e.amine some arguments against banning dangerous sports. /ports" competition" and games seem to be natural to humans. 7oung children learn their own limits and strengths through pla! with others" but the! also learn aluable social lessons about what acceptable beha ior and the rights of others. /port therefore is not ,ust a ph!sical phenomenon" but a mental and social one. @hallenging sport pro ides a health!" largel! safe" ph!sical outlet for aggression. There is er! little e idence to show that people who ta$e part in dangerous sports become iolent as a result. In fact it is more li$el! that apart from the man! friendships created in pla!ing" sport acts as a safet! al e for a societ! b! reducing stress. 5oreo er" sport teaches and requires discipline" training" and respect for the rules - aluable lessons in an! societ!. Almost all sports in ol e some ris$. 7oung rugb! pla!ers are paral!sed e er! !ear in scrums. /cuba-di ing accidents can lead to brain damage or death. ( en golf or ,ogging can lead to pain or in,ur!. +ithout some elements of ris$ or challenge" sport becomes meaningless. A marathon runner tr!ing to impro e his time" bas$etball pla!ers fiercel! battling an opposing team" or a s$!-di ing team def!ing gra it! - all are tr!ing to push themsel es to their ma.imum. There is therefore no sport without danger. There is also the issue of freedom. +ithout a wide range of sports" man! people would feel trapped or limited. 9eople should be free to participate in acti ities with others as long as it does not affect the safet! of non-participants.

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There also should be limits to the power of go ernments to ban sports. If one sport is banned because of alleged danger" then what sport would be ne.t0 6o.ing is the most common target of opponents of dangerous sports. 6ut if bo.ing is banned" would motor racing follow" then rugb!" wrestling" or weightlifting0 3urthermore" man! sports would go underground" leading to increased in,ur! and illegal gambling. 'obod! denies that regulation is needed. 5edical bodies ha e introduced safet! rules in bo.ing" in soccer" and these safet! regulations ha e been welcomed b! pla!ers. 6ut the role of go ernment should be reduced. In conclusion" our societ! would be healthier if more people too$ part in sports of all $inds. +e should continue to tr! to pre ent accidents and in,uries. -owe er" we should also ensure that sports are challenging" e.citing" and" abo e all" fun. %H5H words&

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SCIE&TIHIC DESEADC=
''8( hat disco.er- in the last '<< -ears has been most bene*icial *or people in -our countr-? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our choice( I am from *ussia. 3rom m! opinion the most beneficial disco er! for people in our countr! has been the disco er! of the outer space. *ussia is the first countr! that launched a spacecraft with a man on the board into the space. This e ent was a big step towards the new disco eries and brought man! benefits not onl! for people in m! countr!. 6ellow I will gi e m! reasons to support m! answer. 3irst of all" all human$ind made a huge step towards the m!ster! of our creation. /cientists had the opportunit! to do the new research and e.periments. 5an! new disco eries were made on the boards of the spacecrafts in the outer space. 9eople from all o er the world watched these e ents. 5an! boo$s with real colorful photos were written about the beginning of the space e.ploration. 'owada!s we ha e a big station called B5irB in the outer space created on the base of collaboration E/A and *ussia. 5an! people wor$ there doing amazing e.periments. /econd of all" the world became BsmallerB. 9eople learnt how to e.change information er! quic$l! b! use of satellites. Tele ision is broad-casted all o er the world b! use of satellites. -ere in -ouston I can watch *ussian programs. 9eople got the opportunit! to e.change news er! quic$l!. To sum up" I belie e that space e.ploration will bring much more benefits in the future and someda! we will learn what is be!ond our current gala.!. %2H= words&

'':( The +'st centur- has be$un( hat chan$es do -ou thin# this new centur- will brin$? Use e0amples and details in -our answer( 5an" through the ages" has undergone man! changes from the time when he depicted a herd of mammoths on the walls of his ca e to these da!s when he can create beautiful pictures and e en ma$e coffee b! use of computer technologies without lea ing his fa orite chair. The 2=th centur! made huge steps in de eloping computer technologies and reached man! goals that made our life much easier. +hat should we e.pect in the 21st centur!0 3irst of all" I thin$ that the pace of our life will speed upA we will mo e faster from one place to another" from one continent to another using high speed ,et airplanes. /econd of all" I belie e that we will be able to do man! things that ta$e much time now without lea ing our house. @omputers will be e er!where including out clothes. 5an! people will ha e chips and mini computers inserted in their heads to hold huge amount of information and ha e a quic$ access to it.

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6ut what will be the most amazing thing in the 21st centur! is the flights to the outer space and 5ars that will be a ailable to all people. /cientists sa! that 5ars has man! things similar to the (arth#s. 5oreo er" the! sa! that with the help of modern technolog! people can artificiall! create conditions that will allow people to li e there on the constant basis. To sum up" I am sure that man! amazing changes will be brought b! the 21st centur!. 3urthermore" I thin$ that with the help of the contemporar! technologies people can do man! things that were e en difficult to imagine a centur! ago. /o" nowada!s it is rather difficult and e en impossible to imagine all changes that will happen in the ne.t decades. %28= words&

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'';( It has been more than /< -ears since man *irst landed on the moon( Some people thin# that space research is a waste o* mone-( %iscuss( 3or o er fift! !ears" a number of nations ha e been in ol ed in the e.ploration of outer space. This research has been er! costl!" of course. -as this mone! been well-spent or wasted0 /ome people belie e that all or most space research should be eliminated because of its incredible e.pense" not onl! in terms of mone!" but also in terms of scientific and human resources. These people point out the fact that it cost billions of dollars to send astronauts to the moon" but all the! brought bac$ were some worthless roc$s. These people sa! that the mone! and effort now being wasted in outer space could be spent for homeless people" impro ing the education s!stem" sa ing the en ironment" and finding cures for diseases. -owe er" other people belie e that space research has pro ided man! benefits to man$ind. The! point out that hundreds of useful products" from personal computers to heart pacema$ers to freeze-dried foods" are the direct or indirect results of space research. The! sa! that weather and communication satellites" which are also products of space programs" ha e benefited people all o er the globe. In addition to these practical benefits" supporters of the space program point to the scientific $nowledge that has been acquired about the sun" the moon" the planets and e en our own earth as a result of space research. I agree with those people who support space research and want it to continue. /pace research" as shown" has alread! brought man! benefits to humanit!. 9erhaps it will bring e en more benefits in the future" ones that we can not e en imagine now. 5oreo er" ,ust as indi idual people need challenges to ma$e their li es more interesting" I belie e the human race itself needs a challenge" and I thin$ that the peaceful e.ploration of outer space pro ides ,ust such a challenge.

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TDA@EL
'+<( Accordin$ to those in the tra.el business) the nature o* the a.era$e Fholida-F is chan$in$( Dather than see#in$ a rela0in$ brea# in a *ar!awa- place) people now want e0itement on their holida-s and are #een to participate in unusual and challen$in$ acti.ities( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree? -olida!s are important because the! pro ide a brea$ from our normal dail! routine and from the world of wor$. Traditionall!" holida!s ha e been seen as a time for rela.ation and as an opportunit! to isit another countr! in order to find out about its geograph! and customs. 'owada!s" howe er" it seems that other t!pes of holida! are becoming popular. /ome people want their holida! to be a $ind of ad enture" and find this more e.citing than going to the beach or isiting museums. 2n an ad enture holida!" !ou ma! sta! in quite basic accommodation" rather than a lu.urious hotel. Acti ities ma! in ol e things such as bush wal$ing or c!cling" or ma! form part of an aid pro,ect designed to help communities in remote areas. -olida!s such as these are popular with people of all ages and can often help to promote tourism in rural en ironments. The increasing popularit! of dangerous sports has also boosted the number of ad enture holida!s1 for e.ample" water sports" mountain climbing or paragliding. These holida!s are more popular with the !ounger generation" as the! can be both ph!sicall! and mentall! demanding. 9articipants are often see$ing the sort of thrills that the! cannot get in ordinar! life. There is now greater awareness of the damaging effects of mass tourism and this ma! be one reason for the changing nature of holida!s. This can onl! be a good thing. 6ut perhaps people are also disco ering that it is ,ust as refreshing to ta$e an acti e holida!" as it is to lie on a beach - though that is still a question of personal preference. %2LL words&

'+'( You ha.e the opportunit- to .isit a *orei$n countr- *or two wee#s( hich countr- would -ou li#e to .isit? Use speci*ic reasons and details to e0plain -our choice( I am a person who li$es to tra el. I thin$ tra eling is a great opportunit! to meet new people" gain more $nowledge and e.perience" and learn new customs and traditions. I did not tra el a lot !et" but I am sure I will ha e a chance to do it. /o" if I had the opportunit! to isit a foreign countr! I would isit (g!pt. I thin$ it is a great and er! interesting countr! with mar ellous histor!. In the following paragraphs I will gi e some reasons to support m! choice. 3irst of all" I alwa!s dreamed to isit (g!pt p!ramids. 5! aunt isited (g!pt a few !ears ago. /he was er! e.cited after that trip and said that she would return there one more time at an! cost. /he said that (g!pt had impressed her er! much with its glorious p!ramids and ancient buildings. /econd of all" I thin$ that in that countr! one can touch

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histor!" feel the hard breath of wor$ers building a p!ramid under the parching sun" and see the chain of camels wal$ing in the desert with the huge trun$s full of presents for @leopatra on their humps. 3inall!" I want to see a real dessert and ride the camel. All m! friends who rode the camel sa! that it is an unforgettable e.perience. I belie e that I will ha e a chance to isit this beautiful countr! someda!. Enfortunatel!" now I ha e plent! of plans and things to do" so" I am afraid that I will not be able to tra el for the ne.t two !ears. I want to finish m! education and then find a ,ob" and these things ha e higher priorit! then tra eling. 5! husband wants to isit this countr! too and we made an agreement to ma$e our trip to (g!pt on our fi e !ears anni ersar! which is in two !ears. In conclusion" I want to add that after m! trip to (g!pt I will definitel! isit Australia. This countr! is the second one on m! list the most wanted to see. %338 words&

'++( &owada-s) international tourism is the bi$$est industr- in the world( Un*ortunatel-) international tourism creates tension rather than understandin$ between people *rom di**erent cultures( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this opinion? The growth of tourism and the numbers of people tra elling to other countries for their acations has led to debate as to whether this is beneficial. I belie e that there are man! problems which arise out of the tourist industr!" and will e.amine these in detail. 5an! people argue that tra el broadens the mind. -owe er" this statement does not full! hold water. I would argue that spending a few wee$s in another countr! is not long enough to gain a proper understanding of an alien culture. A foreigner isiting 6ritain might be met with the traditional 6ritish reser e" and mista$enl! conclude that the 6ritish are unfriendl!. 3urthermore" some people are unwilling to open their minds. A +estern tra eller to an Arab countr! is unli$el! to consider that the eiling of women is acceptable. 6eing a tourist in a foreign countr! brings with it problems that can lead to disli$e of the nati e people. 3irstl!" a foreigner is ulnerable" and is often ripped off b! locals. /econdl!" the language barrier can lead to misunderstandings. Thirdl!" tourists are often hassled to bu! goods" which can ruin a holida!. +hen I went to 6ali" people tried to sell me something e er! fi e minutes" and this totall! spoilt m! sunbathing. Mocal people also often end up disli$ing foreigners. )isitors ma! mista$enl! act contrar! to local norms" or the! ma! ,ust be plain offensi e" as man! drun$en 6ritish holida!ma$ers must seem to the /panish. Klobal tourism can lead to hostilit! from the nati e people" who ma! feel their traditional wa! of life is under threat. Additionall!" the relati e wealth of the foreign isitors can cause en ! and resentment. In conclusion" I would sa! that I largel! agree with the argument that global tourism creates misunderstanding between people from different cultures" and that the differences are often a cause for conflict rather than celebration.

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JO?
'+/( Some people pre*er to wor# *or a lar$e compan-( Others pre*er to wor# *or a small compan-( hich would -ou pre*er? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our choice( The issue whether wor$ing for a large compan! is better than wor$ing for a small compan! is a contro ersial one. 3rom m! e er!da! e.perience and obser ation I thin$ that e er! option has its ad antages and disad antages. I base m! opinion on the following points. 3rom the one side wor$ing for a large compan! brings man! benefits. 3irst of all" one has better medical insurance" higher salar!. 2ften emplo!ees of a large compan! ha e less responsibilit!. 5oreo er" the! feel more secure because their compan! has more clients and this means better chance to sur i e on the modern mar$et. -owe er" one wor$ing for a large compan! has less chance to be promoted because one#s manager does not want to lose his or her ,ob unless she or he is promoted too. Also" from m! obser ation" managers of a large compan! do not pa! much attention to one#s solutions and suggestions. 3rom the other side wor$ing for a small compan! has man! ad antages too. 3irstl!" one has better chance to be promoted. /econdl!" one can tal$ to the owner of the compan! about an! impro ements that can be done in order to get more profit. Another important aspect of wor$ing for a small compan! is the opportunities to find out more about how compan! wor$s. As a result of this one can gain more e.perience and get better recommendations. -owe er" this also has some disad antages. 3or instance" one can get less salar!" worse medical benefits" etc. To sum up" I thin$ that e er! person chooses for himself what he or she wants. If one wants better career and more responsibilities then a small compan! is better choice. 2therwise" wor$ing for a large compan! ma! be a good option too. %2GL words& '+1( e all wor# or will wor# in our 4obs with man- di**erent #inds o* people( In -our opinion) what are some important characteristics o* a co!wor#er 5someone -ou wor# closel- with6? Use reasons and speci*ic e0amples to e0plain wh- these characteristics are important( A large number of people spend most of their time at wor$. 2ur life is di ided into three equal partsA G hours - sleep" G hours - wor$" G hours - famil! time. /o" in the most cases" one#s co-wor$er pla!s an important role in one#s life. 3rom m! opinion" the essential characteristics of a co-wor$er are the following. 3irst of all" a person who wor$s closel! with me must li$e his ,ob. I thin$ it is er! important for a person to feel satisfaction with his ,ob. 5! husband is a software de eloper. -e is fond of his ,ob and people en,o! wor$ing with him because the! see how man! energ! he puts into his ,ob. /econd of all" m! co-wor$er must be persistent and ne er gi e up. I li$e when people who 105

came across a problem tr! to sol e it" find a good decision instead of loo$ing for another person to hand it o er. Another important aspect of this is that a good wor$er should alwa!s as$ himself B+hat can be impro ed0B and suggests new solutions. In addition" he must be a good team pla!er. In the modern world good communication s$ills and the abilit! to wor$ in a team are among the common position requirements. 9ersonall!" I thin$ it is great to help each other" share new ideas" de elop new solutions" etc. It helps to create a team spirit and impro e labor producti it!. 3inall!" m! co-wor$er must be punctual. -e or she should finish the ,ob on time I thin$ that It is unacceptable to ma$e the rest of a team wait while a person finishes his or her ,ob. Also" m! Bideal co-wor$erB should alwa!s be read! to offer his or her help and be supporti e. To summarize" I thin$ if a co-wor$er possesses all of these qualities mentioned abo e he can ma$e wor$ with him reall! en,o!able and producti e. %31H words&

'+2( hat are some important "ualities o* a $ood super.isor 5boss6? Use speci*ic details and e0amples to e0plain wh- these "ualities are important( 5an! people ha e to wor$ under somebod!#s super ision. In most cases an emplo!ee does not choose his or her boss" unless a super isor is elected. In the following paragraphs I will list the most important qualities of m! Bideal bossB. 3irst of all" he must be impartial. I belie e that it is er! important to ma$e a technical decision" thin$ about somebod!#s promotion" etc. impartiall!. 3or instance" m! friend is a super isor on a dair! mill. It is his famil!#s business so a lot of his relati es wor$ there. 6ut he ne er promotes someone because he or she is his famil!. I thin$ it is a good qualit! for a boss. /econd of all" m! Bideal bossB must be honest" patient and attenti e. -e should pa! attention to people#s feelings" encourage them b! increasing their salar!" listen to their suggestions about impro ing labor conditions and producti it!. 3or instance" if he does not satisfied with the result he should understand the origin of the problem and e.plain people how to fi. it. In addition" he must $now how to sol e conflicts that can arise between emplo!ees. Another important qualit! of a boss is the abilit! to choose the right decisions and to learn on somebod!#s mista$es. 3inall!" I thin$ a good boss must alue his or her emplo!ees because the profit directl! depends on the people who wor$ there. In conclusion" I thin$ a good boss should be able to ma$e his people en,o! the wor$ the! are doing and encourage their diligence. %252 words&

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'+7( ?usinesses should hire emplo-ees *or their entire li.es( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( I would ha e to completel! disagree with the statement abo e. In the following paragraphs I will outline the basic concepts of m! position. 3irst of all" I will least the ma,or disad antages for emplo!ers. 2n the toda!#s mar$et a compan! must be er! fle.ible in order to compete with other firms. /o" imagine the situation when a compan! can not fire its emplo!ees to sta! on the mar$et. It will lead to loosing not onl! a profit" but the clients" mar$et share and competiti e abilit!. 'ow" imagine the situation when a compan! is growing fast" e er!thing is good and the ne.t few !ears are going to be e.cellent. /o" emplo!ers need more people to e.tend the production. -owe er" nobod! can tell what will happen in a few !ears. In this case" emplo!ers will be afraid to hire new people and e.tend their business because the! will not be able to fire them if something goes wrong. Another important aspect of this is that a compan! can not ha e the best emplo!ees. It can not hire the better one without dismissing another emplo!ee. +hat $ind of disad antages will ha e an emplo!ee in e.change for this $ind of ,ob securit!0 3irst of all" it will be er! difficult to find a ,ob if one is not the best" because an emplo!er does not want to spend mone! on one#s education. 6esides" emplo!er will not ha e a chance to fire one if he does not do his ,ob well. /econd of all" emplo!ees with this $ind of securit! tend not to perfect themsel es because after the! are hired the! can not lose their ,ob. In conclusion" I would li$e to add that this statement has some positi e aspects too such as constanc!" a strong spirit of the compan!" etc. This s!stem ta$es place in Rapan and some companies succeeded in it. 6ut I thin$ that the reason of it subsists in the Rapanese traditions" the particular cultural features" habits and customs. -owe er" on toda!#s mar$et here in the Enited /tates a compan! can not afford to hire emplo!ees for their entire life. %3H8 words& '+8( Some people li#e to do onl- what the- alread- do well( Other people pre*er to tr- new thin$s and ta#e ris#s( hich do -ou pre*er? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our choice( 3orm m! e er!da! e.perience and obser ation I thin$ that all people who succeeded in life had to wor$ hard and gain more $nowledge and e.perience in order to reach their goals. 3rom the other hand" people who all their life do things the! alread! do well and do not impro e their $nowledge do not mo e forward. I base m! statement on the following points. 3irst of all" people who want to succeed must constantl! impro e their $nowledge and gain more e.perience. 5oreo er" the! must be the best at their profession. /o" the! need to tr! new things" ta$e ris$s sometimes and wor$ hard. /econd of all" it is impossible to li e without tr!ing new things. Imagine one wants to learn how to dri e. -e will ne er be able to do it without learning new things such as dri ing 107

rules. 9ersonall!" I thin$ that it is er! interesting to learn new" to gain more e.perience" to ma$e new goals and reach them. Mife is too short to sta! on one place. 9eople need changes because the! ma$e our li es more beautiful and e.iting. +e find out new things" learn new things and dream to $now other things. 9eople need challenges because while o ercoming obstacles we ma$e new disco eries" become stronger" perfect oursel es and mo e forward. To sum up" I belie e that people#s aspiration for learning new things is the main reason the wa! we li e now. 9eople ma$e man! disco eries and in entions that ma$e our li es easier" happier and longer. %2H8 words& '+:( Companies should encoura$e emplo-ees who wor# in a hi$h position to lea.e at the a$e o* 22 in order to $i.e opportunities to the new $eneration( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this opinion? I totall! disagree with the idea of high-le el emplo!ees lea ing at the age of 55 to ma$e room for the upcoming generation. +hile it is true that the energ! le el and fresh ideas of !outh can re,u enate a compan!" the stead! hand of e.perience can still best guide a compan! in most cases. In (nglish there is a sa!ing" C7ou can4t teach an old dog new tric$s.D In the fast-paced world of business" bolstered b! e en faster hi-tech inno ations" a !ounger more pliant mind would seem to be able to adapt with greater fle.ibilit!" while such an en ironment might boggle an older more set-in-its-wa!s mind. Ta$e" for e.ample" 5icrosoft4s 6ill Kates" whose energ! and brilliant insights as a !outh helped him to pioneer new territor! in the computer software world and establish a digital empire. 'ow as a more mature @(2" this $ing of the CcomputerD mountain is constantl! on the erge of being $noc$ed down b! upcoming digeratti entrepreneurs. -owe er" it is now the e.perience he has accumulated as an older man which $eeps him on top. /o" combining the igour and inno ation of !ounger wor$ers with the e.perience of older wor$ers would seem to be the winning hand in the world of business. The assertion is to gi e opportunities to the !ounger generation. If e er!one retires at 55" there will be smaller pool of e.perience at the compan!. /o" who will show them the ropes of the trade0 It would be as if we lopped off the last few chapters of a te.tboo$. 2n this point the argument would seem to be built on false presumptions. And thin$ of all the other problems retirement at 55 would create. +ith life e.pectanc! in man! ad anced nations at <=-plus !ears" how would the state along with pri ate enterprises be able to support their retirement pensions0 The economic repercussions of such an idea could be great. 6esides" the +estern form of capitalism is built on competition and merit and not seniorit! according to age" and democrac! is built on equalit! for all regardless of one4s age" so the argument clearl! goes against these two pillars of +estern societ!.

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Kranted" m! counter-arguments are perhaps as simplistic as the original assertion itself" but without qualif!ing the assertion with greater supporting e idence or bac$ground information" both sides can be argued. 'e ertheless" e en after thoroughl! considering the argument" I belie e I would still adhere to m! iewpoint that the assertion lac$s merit for the aforementioned reasons. 6esides" when I am 55 I do not fanc! the idea of being put out to pasture. I thin$ I will still be full of italit! and ha e a desire to wor$" so I hope m! wor$place will iew me as a treasure house of aluable e.perience to pass along to the ne.t generation and $eep me on until I am at least L5 if not older. %H<G words&

'+;( In some countries the a.era$e wor#er is obli$ed to retire at the a$e o* 2<) while in others people can wor# until the- are 72 or 8<( Meanwhile) we see some politicians en4o-in$ power well into their ei$hties( Clearl-) there is little a$reement on an appropriate retirement a$e( Until what a$e do -ou thin# people should be encoura$ed to remain in paid emplo-ment? 5andator! retirement age aries from societ! to societ!" perhaps a reflection of economics" population pressures or simpl! alue s!stems. Indeed" retirement at 5= can probabl! be as easil! ,ustified as that at <=. It is m! belief" howe er" that the longer an able person is allowed to wor$" the better for both the indi idual wor$er and the emplo!er. @hronological age is not alwa!s a true indicator of abilit!. +hile some L5Y !ear-olds ma! not perform as well as the! did in their past" man! wor$ers at this age do ,ust as well or better than the! used to. 9eople#s suitabilit! for a position should be a reflection of their performance in the ,ob" rather than the number of wrin$les or gre! hairs the! ha e. (mplo!ers concerned about the increasing age of their emplo!ees need onl! obser e their wor$ records. Those doing poorl! ma! be as$ed to retire" but those as !et unaffected b! age should sta! on. Indeed" it would appear economical for an organisation to retain its older emplo!ees when possible rather than spend time and mone! on training new wor$ers. *emaining in one#s ,ob for as long as one is able ma$es sense as life e.pectancies increase around the world. As people li e longer" the! are longer able to contribute to societ! in the form of meaningful wor$. 6ut the! are also in need of income for a longer period" so a mandator! retirement age of 55 for someone who is statisticall! li$el! to li e to << becomes increasingl! difficult to ,ustif!. At a time when populations are ageing" go ernments are less able to pro ide for their senior citizens" so b! $eeping able wor$ers in paid emplo!ment for as long as is practicable" public e.penditures are less strained. Thus" wor$ers who can still demonstrate their capacit! to carr! out their wor$ should not be as$ed to retire simpl! because the! ha e reached a certain age. /ocieties that insist on earl! retirement ma! do well to loo$ again at their policies.

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'/<(

hen should people be made to retire? 22? 72? Should there be a compulsorretirement a$e?

5an! old people wor$ well into their <=s and G=s" running families" countries or corporations. 2ther people" howe er" despite being fit and highl! talented" are forced to retire in their or e en earlier because of compan! or national regulations. This essa! will e.amine whether people should be allowed to continue wor$ing for as long as the! want or whether the! should be encouraged to retire at a particular stage. There are se eral arguments for allowing older people to continue wor$ing as long as the! are able. 3irst of all" older emplo!ees ha e an immense amount of $nowledge and e.perience which can be lost to a business or organization if the! are made to retire. A second point is that older emplo!ees are often e.tremel! lo!al emplo!ees and are more willing to implement compan! policies than !ounger less committed staff. -owe er" a more important point is regarding the attitudes in societ! to old people. To force someone to resign or retire at L= or L5 indicates that the societ! does not alue the input of these people and that effecti el! their useful life is o er. Allowing older people to wor$ indefinitel! howe er is not alwa!s a good polic!. Age alone is no guarantee of abilit!. 5an! !ounger emplo!ees ha e more e.perience or s$ills than older staff" who ma! ha e been stuc$ in one area or unit for most of their wor$ing li es. -a ing compulsor! retirement allows new ideas in an organization. In addition" without age limits" howe er arbitrar!" man! people would continue to wor$ purel! because the! did not ha e an! other plans or roles. A third point of iew is that older people should be rewarded b! societ! for their life4s labor b! being gi en generous pensions and the freedom to en,o! their leisure. +ith man! !oung people unemplo!ed or frustrated in low-le el positions" there are often calls to compulsoril! retire older wor$ers. -owe er" this can affect the older indi idual4s freedom - and right - to wor$ and can depri e societ! of aluable e.perience and insights. I feel that gi ing wor$ers more fle.ibilit! and choice o er their retirement age will benefit societ! and the indi idual.

'/'( Some people insist that senior wor#ers 72 or o.er should retire but others belie.e that the- should continue wor#in$( hat is -ou opinion? 2 er the past few decades TIn the pastV" there ha e been man! ad ances in medical technolog!. 6ecause of this" senior citizens are healthier and more acti e than before and ma! choose to wor$ be!ond the age of L5. 'owada!s" howe er" there has been a growing debate as to whether or not these people should retire in order to create ,obs for the !ounger generation. ?espite the ad antages of earl! retirement" I strongl! belie e that it is better for senior wor$ers to continue wor$ing as long as the! are ph!sicall! and mentall! capable. Those who belie e that senior wor$ers need to retire for !ounger generation base their case on the following arguments. 3irst" the unemplo!ment rate" especiall! for college graduates" has ne er been so high so it is toda!. This is largel! due to the slow econom!. Therefore" firing some elderl! wor$ers who are well-paid would allow those unemplo!ed !oung people to ha e good opportunities to get a ,ob. In addition" replacing older wor$ers 110

with !oung people would bring greater benefits to companies TUemplo!ersV. This is because !oungsters are better at adapting themsel es to fast changing information based societ!. The! are generall! better at computers and spea$ing foreign languages than their older counterparts. 'e ertheless" people should not ignore the fact that senior citizens ha e been pla!ing ital roles both at home and at wor$ for their entire li es. To begin with" a !oung person#s need for a ,ob is no more important than an older person#s. 6oth ha e a responsibilit! to support their families. /adl!" few seniors can afford earl! retirement. 6esides" senior wor$ers pro ide the wisdom and e.perience that !oung emplo!ees cannot offer. There is strong TUacuteV possibilit! of situations arising that require the $nowledge of s$illed senior emplo!ees. In summar!" the ad antages of $eeping seasoned wor$ers far outweigh its disad antages. There are high hopes that emplo!ers e.ercise wisdom TUcautionV in dealing with this issue. '/+( International entertainers) includin$ sports personalities) o*ten $et paid millions o* dollars in one -ear( In -our .iew) with widespread p.ert- in the world) are these hu$e earnin$s 4usti*ied? The salaries of man! singers" dancers and sports people ha e increased out of all proportion in recent !ears" while in places li$e /udan people are star ing to death. I do not belei e that an!one should be able to earn such enormous salaries whan so man! people in the world are li ing in po ert!. 2ne af the factors which should affect what a person can earn ought to be the benefit of person#s wor$ to societ!. It is unreasonable for a famous singer to be able to earn far more from an e ening#s entertainment than" for instance" a medical scientist who de elops a new drug which produces a treatment for a common disease. The pop star certainl! has a alue in societ!" but the alue in no wa! e.ceeds" or e en matches" the alue gained from a successful medication. /econdl!. wor$ done should be paid according to the amount of effort and s$ill that goes into it. 'obod! would den! that a famous person wor$s hard and is s$illful" !et such people do not wor$ an! harder than thousand of other wor$ers who ha e no claim to fame. 7et mar$et force are such that these superstarts can obtain millions of dolor while other un$nown people sometimes earn less than the! need to sur i e. 3inall!" it should be possible for go ernments to wor$ together to ensure that the amount of mone! in circulation should be more more equall! and fairl! distributed. This seems onl! fair gi en that there are so man! suffering. To conclude" it is clear that world po ert! is a serious problem and !et the problem could be eased if go ernments and compenies ga e more thought to pa!ing salaries on a more equitable basis and if the! started to contribute more mone! to those in need. '//( Man- people thin# that nowada-s people are bein$ sub4ected to more and more pressure in their wor#) and thus are ha.in$ less and less time to rela0( hat is -our opinion?

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In modern societ!" especiall! in big cities" undoubtedl! hard wor$ has become a er! important feature of ordinar! people4s e er!da! life. It seems that man! people are under the impression that their wor$ is becoming more pressing and urgent" and thus the! sacrifice more and more leisure time. In the first place" with the rapid de elopment of science and technolog!" wor$ toda! is more demanding than it used to be. 3or e.ample" college graduates nowada!s ha e to master (nglish" computer science and dri ing s$ills before the! can find decent ,obs. 9eople ha e to spend more time acquiring new techniques and s$ills. And their spare time tends to be full! occupied" not with leisure pursuit" but with wor$-related pursuits. In the second place" competition is becoming more intense. 5an! people feel an.ious that the! ma! be Claid-offD if the! can4t wor$ as hard as others. And the! also feel at a disad antage before new graduates. Therefore" it is understandable that people $eep themsel es in ol ed in intensel! hard wor$ in order to preser e their positions. In m! opinion" the worst aspect of this phenomenon is that the huge pressure of wor$ will graduall! affect people4s mental health. (.cessi el! hard wor$ means that people can ne er get rid of the fatigue of their wor$" e en in their leisure time. This means that the! can not en,o! a normal life. In a word" in modern societ! o erwor$ is stealing our leisure time. howe er" I belie e this problem will be settled e entuall! with the de elopment of science and technolog!. '/1( People ha.e di**erent 4ob e0pectations *or 4obs( Some people pre*er to do the same 4ob *or the same compan-) whereas others pre*er to chan$e 4obs *re"uentl-( rite about the ad.anta$es and disad.anta$es o* each .iewpoint? In the modern wor$place there is no longer the attitude that Fa ,ob is for life4. 'owada!s" man! people ta$e the option to change ,obs" while others prefer not to. In m! essa!" I will e.plore the good and bad points of the abo e attitudes. 2ne of the main benefits of sta!ing in one ,ob is securit!. @hanging emplo!er often means a period of instabilit!" where one ma! ha e to thin$ about mo ing house" or temporaril! losing a stead! source of income. /ta!ing in one ,ob means these problems are a oided. Another benefit of not changing occupation is that one is able to gain a lot of e.perience and e.pertise in his specific profession" thus enhancing ,ob securit!. 2ne4s compan! ma! recognize their lo!alt! and reward their ser ice. 2n the other hand" those who often change ,obs ma! be seen as unreliable" lac$ing in e.perience and emplo!ers might be reluctant to hire and in est training in them. -owe er" there are arguments in fa our of changing ,ob frequentl!. 2ne is that a wor$er impro es his emplo!abilit!. +or$ing in se eral different ,obs often means that the indi idual has more s$ills. /uch people are seen as more d!namic and ersatile. Another benefit of changing ,obs frequentl! is that one ne er gets stuc$ in a rut. 3rom m! own e.perience" I got bored when I spent too long in a ,ob. 3ollowing this" the qualit! of m! wor$ would suffer. I also belie e that emplo!ers generall! don4t tend to greatl! reward lo!alt! or commitment. Increased wages and promotion are often easier to attain b! changing ,obs. 112

2 erall" it can be said that the disad antages of changing ,obs are the ad antages of sta!ing put" and ice ersa... In m! opinion" I feel that changing ,obs e er! once in a while is of more benefit.

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9O@ED&ME&T
'/2( Hamilies who do not send their children to $o.ernment!*inanced schools should not be re"uired to pa- ta0es that support uni.ersal education( 5A9DEE6 3amilies who do not send their children to go ernment-financed school should not be required to pa! ta.es that support uni ersal education. +hen families send their children to non-public %that is" parochial and pri ate& schools" the! must pa! tuition and other school e.penses. /pending additional mone! to pa! ta.es creates an e en greater financial hardship for these families. The! must ma$e sacrifices" tr!ing to ha e enough mone! to pa! for school in addition to other bills. 3or e.ample" m! friend Amalia is a single mother with an eight-!ear-old son" Andrew. 6ecause the! sur i e solel! on her income" mone! is tight. Amalia wor$s at least 1= hours of o ertime each wee$ to co er Andrew#s school e.penses. This gi es Amalia and Andrew less time to spend together" and she is alwa!s so tired that she is impatient with him when the! do ha e famil! time. @learl!" this e.tra e.pense is an unfair burden for hard-wor$ing parents li$e Amalia. +hile some people ma! consider parochial or pri ate school to be a lu.ur!" for man! families it is essential because their communit!#s public schools fail to meet their children#s needs. Enfortunatel!" due to shrin$ing budgets" man! schools lac$ wellqualified" e.perienced educators. @hildren ma! be taught b! someone who is not a certified teacher or who $nows little about the sub,ect matter. /ome problems are e en more serious. 3or e.ample" the public high school in m! old neighborhood;neighbourhood had serious safet! problems" due to students bringing guns" drugs" and alcohol to school. After a gang-related shooting occurred at the high school" m! parents felt that the! had no choice but to enroll me in a parochial school that was $nown for being er! safe. Enfortunatel!" e en when families prefer public schools" sometimes the! can#t send their children to one. These families are burdened not onl! for pa!ing e.penses at another school" but also b! being forced to pa! ta.es to support a public school that the! do not use. %323 words& '/7( Hamilies who do not send their children to $o.ernment!*inanced schools should not be re"uired to pa- ta0es that support uni.ersal education( 5%ISA9DEE6 3amilies who do not send their children to public school should be required to pa! ta.es that support public education. ( er! child in m! countr! is required to attend school and e er! child is welcome to enroll at his;her local public school. /ome families choose to send their children to other schools" and it is their prerogati e to do so. -owe er" the public schools are used b! the ma,orit! of our children and must remain open for e er!one. 3or e.ample" m! uncle sent his two children to a pri ate academ! for primar! school. Then he lost a huge amount of mone! through some poor in estments and he could no longer afford the pri ate school#s

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tuition. The children easil! transferred to their local public school and li$ed it e en more than their academ!. The public schools supported their famil! when the! had no mone! to educate their children. 6ecause the public schools educate so man! citizens" e er!one in m! countr!-whether a parent or not-should pa! ta.es to support our educational s!stem. +e all benefit from the education that students recei e in public school. 2ur future doctors" fire fighters" and teacherspeople whom we rel! on e er!da!-are educated in local public schools. +hen a person is in trouble" it#s reassuring to $now that those who will help !ou-such as fire fighters-$now what the!#re doing because the! recei ed good training in school and later. 9ro iding an e.cellent education in the public school s!stem is ital to the strength of our communit! and our countr!. 2ur go ernment must offer the best education a ailable" but it can onl! do so with the financial assistance of all its citizens. Therefore" e er!one-including families who do not send their children to public school-should support public education b! pa!ing ta.es. %28= words&

'/8( Some people sa- the $o.ernment should not put mone- into buildin$ theatres and sports stadiumsK the- should spend more mone- on medical care and education( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this opinion? +hat would the world be li$e without /ha$espeare or the 2l!mpics0 +hile medical care and education are perhaps the highest causes to which mone! can be contributed" the arts and athletics are in some wa!s ,ust as aluable. /o" to as$ the go ernment to not e.tend support to these two areas could be ,ust as detrimental to the welfare of societ! as the lac$ of sufficient health care and education. The *omans belie ed in Cmens sana in corpore sanoD. In short" that there is indeed a correlation between a health! bod! and health! mind. +hen we are health!" we feel better and so are more li$el! to be producti e academicall!. 9lus" the practice of sports can also teach us the er! same discipline we need for our studies. +h! e en a bris$ wal$ or watching an e.citing athletic match can refresh the mind for greater wor$. 5oreo er" sports can ser e to create healthier bodies" which in turn would ser e as a form of Cpre enti e medicineD thereb! cutting down on medical costs. In the same ein" the arts are $nown to induce a sense of well-being in performers and audience ali$e" reducing mental problems and their associated ph!sical manifestations and again" medical costs. As such" building theatres and stadiums" which spur interest in the arts and sports respecti el!" actuall! would be practicall! identical to spending mone! on medical care and educationN 'ow I realize the question specificall! addresses the building of theatres and sports stadiums b! go ernment. /ome people would contend athletics and the arts can still be en,o!ed and practiced without such constructions. I would hazard that these buildings stand as the altars to the sports and arts worlds" inspiring would-be athletes and performers. +ithout such enues where would sports spectators and music aficionados be able to en,o! these e ents0 'ow some other people would also sa! business could support their construction" but we $now the a arice of business could er! li$el!

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,eopardize the loft! spirit of athletics and the arts ,ust as well. Therefore" allowing go ernment to retain some sa! in the matter on behalf of the people would" I belie e" be in the best interest of the people. In short" as long as the go ernment does no go o erboard in its e.penditures for these buildings and uses such enues for the benefit of all" then" as mentioned abo e" people will benefit in terms of both medical care and education as well. This is not to sa! the go ernment should neglect medical care and education" but rather to thin$ of this not as an either-or choice but as a win-win situation for all. %H3H words&

'/:( The costs o* medical health care are increasin$ all the time( 9o.ernments are *indin$ it di**icult to balance the health care bud$et( Should citiGens be totall- responsible *or their own health costs and ta#e out pri.ate health insurance) or is it better to ha.e a comprehensi.e health care s-stem which pro.ides *ree health ser.ices *or all? %iscuss( A much debated issue these da!s is whether citizens should ta$e out pri ate health insurance or not. The cost of pro iding free medical care for both the wealth! and the poor is far too great for an! go ernment" and most people agree that if !ou can pa! for insurance" !ou should. In this essa!" I will argue that all who can afford it should be insured" but free medical care must be made a ailable for those too poor to do so. The most important reason for encouraging people to ta$e out pri ate health insurance is the cost to the go ernment of health care. 3ree health co er for people who are able to pa! for it is a waste of public mone!. 2f course" people will onl! pa! health insurance premiums if the! $now that the! are getting good alue for their mone!. If the! get sic$" the! should pa! er! little or nothing at all. In addition" the pri atel! insured are entitled to special benefits such as ha ing the choice of their own doctors" and being able to a oid long waiting lists for hospital beds.

2n the other hand" those who reall! cannot afford to pa! pri ate insurance premiums" which are often er! high" are still entitled as citizens to the best medical care a ailable Z the! cannot be e.pected to pa! their own medical bills. -owe er" if the! are wor$ing" the! should still pa! a percentage of their wage %sa! 1 to 2S& as a ta. which pa!s towards the cost of pro iding BfreeB medical ser ices. In conclusion" most people should pri atel! insure their health" but it is unreasonable to suppose that all citizens can afford it. Therefore" a safet! net in the form of a basic free health care s!stem must e.ist for the er! poor and the unemplo!ed. %3== words&

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'/;( All education) primar-) secondar- and *urther education) should be *ree to all people and paid *or b- the $o.ernment( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? ?ifferent countries ha e different education s!stems. I don>t $now all the education s!stems in the world but all the ones I do $now about ha e free school education at primar! and secondar! le el. I certainl! agree with the statement that this should be the case. I belie e uni ersit! education is different. 'o matter what standard of income someone has or what societ! someone comes from" e er!one should ha e the opportunit! to ha e a good standard of education. This is not alwa!s what happens but it is what should happen. 9ri ate schools can be a ailable for those who want and can afford it but the free schools should alwa!s be there. This is certainl! one of the best attributes of western democrac! and all countries it seems stri e to attain situation although some ha e problems due to the economic and political situations in their countries. Ko ernments should ma$e sure that all their citizens ha e access to a good standard of free education at primar! and secondar! le el. 3urther education is different. In an ideal world this should be free but go ernments ha e a lot of demands on their mone!. I thin$ that students should ha e to pa!" ma!be not all" but at least a contribution towards their tuition fees. The! will be able to earn it bac$ once the! ha e graduated. The EO has this s!stem whereas in the E/ students ha e to pa! all their high tuition fees which can run into the tens of thousands of dollars o er a full course. I am not sure if I agree with this but it certainl! would ma$e sure that students ma$e the best of efforts to pass or all their mone! would be wasted. Therefore I conclude that primar! and secondar! education should be freel! a ailable for all if possible but that further education should not necessaril! be wholl! free. %3=8 words&

'1<( Most writers o* *iction do not earn enou$h mone- to li.e *rom their writin$( %o -ou thin# the $o.ernment should $i.e them *inancial assistance to help encoura$e $ood literature? There are some conditions under which a no elist could reasonabl! e.pect some go ernment suport. In general terms" if the writer has alread! pro ed that he or she can write well" and if the stories produced are stimulating and interesting" then I consider that some financial help might be gi en. Manguage qualit! is difficult to define" but if the writing shows" for e.ample" good grammar" a wide ocabular!" and elegance and imagination" then I can see a alid reason for assisting an author to spend some time free from mone! problems. /uch a writing needs to be encouraged. the entertainment alue of a boo$ would be also a factor in deciding whether to pro ide assistance to an author. 3urther consideration would include social and educational alues e.pressed in the author#s wor$. -owe er" if the ideas were sociall! irresponsible" or if the stories contain unnecessar! iolence or pornograph! for its own sa$e" then I would not want to see the author 117

sponsored to write stories which do not benefit societ!. 2ther e.ceptions are the man! writers of good boo$s who do not require financial help. 6oo$s which pro ed to be e.tremel! popular" such as the -arr! 9otter stories" clearl! need no subsid! at all because the authors ha e become rich through their writing. )iews on what good qualit! writing means will ar! widel!" and so if an! author is to be gi en mone! for writing" then the decision would ha e to be made b! a committee or panel of ,udge. An indi idual opinion would certainl! cause disagreement among the reading public.

'1'( The costs o* medical health care are increasin$ all the time( 9o.ernments are *indin$ it di**icult to balance the health care bud$et( Should citiGens be totall- responsible *or their own health costs and ta#e out pri.ate health insurance) or is it better to ha.e a comprehensi.e health care s-stem which pro.ides *ree health ser.ices *or all? %iscuss( A much debated issue these da!s is whether citizens should ta$e out pri ate health insurance or not. The cost of pro iding free medical care for both the wealth! and the poor is far too great for an! go ernment" and most people agree that if !ou can pa! for insurance" !ou should. In this essa!" I will argue that all who can afford it should be insured" but free medical care must be made a ailable for those too poor to do so. The most important reason for encouraging people to ta$e out pri ate health insurance is the cost to the go ernment of health care. 3ree health co er for people who are able to pa! for it is a waste of public mone!. 2f course" people will onl! pa! health insurance premiums if the! $now that the! are getting good alue for their mone!. If the! get sic$" the! should pa! er! little or nothing at all. In addition" the pri atel! insured are entitled to special benefits such as ha ing the choice of their own doctors" and being able to a oid long waiting lists for hospital beds. 2n the other hand" those who reall! cannot afford to pa! pri ate insurance premiums" which are often er! high" are still entitled as citizens to the best medical care a ailable Z the! cannot be e.pected to pa! their own medical bills. -owe er" if the! are wor$ing" the! should still pa! a percentage of their wage %sa! 1 to 2S& as a ta. which pa!s towards the cost of pro iding BfreeB medical ser ices. In conclusion" most people should pri atel! insure their health" but it is unreasonable to suppose that all citizens can afford it. Therefore" a safet! net in the form of a basic free health care s!stem must e.ist for the er! poor and the unemplo!ed. %3== words&

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'1+( Should $o.ernments spend mone- on art) when the- ha.e so man- other important issues and concerns? *rt is a basic human need. =overnments have a responsibility to spend money on art for their citi#ens. 8+horter version< &>4 words6 5an! people#s li es are richer because of art - music" paintings" calligraph!" pictures" sculpture" poems and dance. =owe.er" some people feel that go ernments should be spending mone! on housing" medical care" or defence" instead of on art. This essa- will discuss whether go ernments should or should not spend mone! on the arts. There are se.eral reasons wh- go ernments should not finance artists. Hirst o* all" artists should ha e to follow the same rules as the rest of the mar$et. If there is a demand for their music or sculpture" then the! will be rich. Secondl-" politicians generall! do not ha e good taste. The! will waste public mone! on popular art or on their own preferences. ?ut the main reason wh- $o.ernments should minimiGe spendin$ on the art world is that there are more important areas li$e housing" roads" hospitals" and factories which need the mone! first. =owe.er) it would be wron$ to sa- that go ernments should not spend an! mone! at all on art. ( er!bod! needs some beaut! in their life" but not e er!one can afford a 9icasso or a piece of music. Ko ernments should pro ide mone! for museums or concert halls for e er!one. Another point is that art allows people to e.press themsel es and this is good for societ!" culture and thought. Thirdl-" artists can be good for the econom! b! producing music" films" and attracting tourists. All in all" go ernments should prioritize their spending carefull!" but the! should also allocate some of their budget for art. It is part of their dut! to societ! and to future generations. 251 words Sample + , Throughout the ages" man has tried to create beaut! through painting" music" sculpture and other artistic e.pression. It seems to be a basic need of humans to surround themsel es with art. -owe er some people feel that go ernment mone! spent on art is wasted" particularl! when there are so man! other demands on it. This essa! will e.amine the conflict between those who sa! art is important and those who feel it is a waste of mone!. It can be wrong for go ernments to spend large sums of mone! on art. Too often" go ernments spend unwisel!. The! spend mone! on art not because a picture is good or a museum is needed" but for political reasons. @ities end up with huge statues or empt! e.pensi e buildings that are used onl! b! a few people or the elite. Another point is that the artwor$s are often chosen to represent social or political rather than artistic ideas. The cit! gets !et another statue of the leader or an ugl! monument to national aspirations. A third point is that go ernments often respond to fashions" and tastes in art can change 119

er! rapidl!. +ithout careful ad ice an e.pensi e collection of worthless paintings or tasteless productions can be the result. -owe er" it would be wrong to sa! that go ernments should not spend an! mone! at all on art. 9ainters" musicians" and composers cannot sur i e without financial support. *ich people or large companies do finance art" but then it is often inaccessible to ordinar! people. Ko ernments ha e a dut! to ma$e this art a ailable to e er!one. -owe er" the most important reason wh! go ernments should support the arts is because an appreciation of art is one of the things that ma$es life worthwhile. -umans do not need ,ust shelter and food. @reati e people ha e alwa!s tried to loo$ at things in a new wa! and to ma$e the world a better place through painting" music" poetr!" calligraph!" sculpture" dance" and numerous other forms of e.pression. +hile art ma! not ma$e us immortal" it does ma$e the world a richer place for future generations. In conclusion" although people do need to be pro ided with the necessities of life" such as housing and medical care" go ernments also ha e a dut! to pro ide their citizens with something more. The! should ma$e sure that the! pass on beaut!" ideas and e.pression to the ne.t generation and ma$e art a ailable to all instead of being the possession of onl! the few. I firml! belie e that spending mone! on art is a ital part of a go ernment#s responsibilit!" and I am confident that m! countr! will be able to contribute its share to the richness of the world#s art and creati it!. %HH< words& '1/( In the *i$ht a$ainst crime) police *orces and $o.ernments are increasin$lusin$ securit- cameras in public places( Some people are opposed to this) sa-in$ that it in.ades our pri.ac-( hat do -ou thin#? /ecurit! cameras ha e become ubiquitous in man! countries. +hereas before the! appeared onl! in ban$s and at high-securit! areas" the! are now entering public places such as malls" streets" stadiums and transport. 5an! people feel this affects their pri ac!. This essa! will e.amine whether the ad antages of these cameras outweigh their negati e impact. /ur eillance cameras ha e se eral benefits. An ob ious benefit is that the police can catch criminals in the act" thus reducing crime. This will ma$e the streets safer for ordinar! people. A more important point is that criminals" particularl! !oung offenders or pett! criminals will be deterred. The! will not be tempted to carr! out crimes" and thus societ! will be a lot safer. @ameras are also cost-effecti e and unobtrusi e. Authorities do not need to spend large amounts of mone! on police. -owe er" securit! cameras are far from being a perfect solution. The biggest ob,ection concerns pri ac!. 5an! people feel that the! should be free to tra el or mo e around a shop" mall" street or countr! without being photographed or recorded. The! feel that being watched constantl! is li$e being in a ,ail" and that ordinar! people are losing their freedom because of these de ices. Another point is that although the police sa! that onl! criminals ha e something to fear from the cameras" man! people do not trust go ernments with too much information. @orrupt authorities could use information in the wrong wa! or twist it to ictimize some groups. Thirdl!" cameras and computers can ma$e mista$es. In conclusion" although there are definite ad antages to using sur eillance de ices such as cameras" we need to balance the need for securit! with respect for the indi idual#s

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pri ac! and freedom. If we do not trust the members of societ!" a situation li$e Keorge 2rwell#s B18GHB could be the result. 28< words 1HH. /ome go ernments sa! how man! children a famil! can hare in their countr!. The! ma! control the number of children someone has through ta.es. It is sometimes necessar! and right for a go ernment to control the population in this wa!. ?o !ou agree or disagree0 It is certainl! er! understandable that some go ernments should start loo$ing at wa!s of limiting their populations to a sustainable figure. In the past" populations were partl! regulated b! frequent war and widespread disease" but in recent !ears the effects of those factors ha e been diminished. @ountries can be faced with a population that is growing much faster than she nation#s food resources or emplo!ment opportunities and whose members can be condemned to po ert! b! the need to feed e.tra mouths. The! identif! population control as a#means to raising li ing standards. 6ut how should it be achie ed0 @learl!" this whole area is a er! delicate personal and cultural issue. 5an! people feel that this is not a matter for the state. The! feel this is one area of life where the! ha e the right to ma$e decisions for themsel es. 3or that reason" it would seem that the best. approach would be to wor$ b! persuasion rather than compulsion This could be done b! a process of education that points out the wa! a smaller famil! can mean an impro ed qualit! of life for the famil! members" as well as less strain on the countr!#s perhaps er! limited" resources. This is the preferred wa!. 2f course if this docs not succeed within a reasonable time scale" it ma! be necessar! to consider other measures. such as ta. incenti es or childbenefit pa!ments for small families onl!. These are midwa! between persuasion and compulsion. /o. !es. it is sometimes necessar!" but go ernments should tr! er! hard to persuade first. The! should also remember that this is a er! delicate area indeed" and that social engineering can create as man! problems as it sol es0

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COMPUTED
'12( Usin$ a computer e.er- da- can ha.e more ne$ati.e than positi.e e**ects on -our children( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree? I tend to agree that !oung children can be negati el! affected b! too much time spent on the computer e er! da!. This is partl! because sitting in front of a screen for too long can be damaging to both the e!es and the ph!sical posture of a !oung child" regardless of what the! are using the computer for. -owe er" the main concern is about the t!pe of computer acti ities that attract children. These are often electronic games that tend to be er! intense and rather iolent. The pla!er is usuall! the Fhero4 of the game and too much e.posure can encourage children to be self-centred and insensiti e to others. ( en when children use a computer for other purposes" such as getting information or emailing friends" it is no substitute for human interaction. /pending time with other children and sharing non irtual e.periences is an important part of a child#s de elopment that cannot be pro ided b! a computer. In spite of this" the ob ious benefits of computer s$ills for !oung children cannot be denied. Their adult world will be changing constantl! in terms of technolog! and the Internet is the $e! to all the $nowledge and information a ailable in the world toda!. Therefore it is important that children learn at an earl! age to use the equipment enthusiasticall! and with confidence as the! will need these s$ills throughout their studies and wor$ing li es. I thin$ the main point is to ma$e sure that !oung children do not o eruse computers. 9arents must ensure that their children learn to en,o! other $inds of acti it! and not simpl! sit at home" learning to li e in a irtual world. %2<3 words& '17( Some people belie.e that computers are more a hindrance than a help in toda-Fs world( Others *eel that the- are such indispensable tools that the- would not be able to li.e or wor# without them(

In what wa-s are computers a hindrance? hat is -our opinion?

The ad anced Q5ind machines# so called Qthe @omputers# are no doubt the best products of latest technolog!. 2ne cannot imagine the ad ancement of life and /ciences without these machines. 6ut li$e other achie ements1 the! ha e their own good and bad effects as seen with e.perience and passage of time. In m! opinion the! are good if used for educational and beneficial uses for health and li ing etc. 6asicall! twentieth centur! had been famous for its latest @omputer techniques and their 122

application on our li es. ?atas shown on @omputers help us to assess how much education is conducted through this media. The assessment wa!s as well as e.aminations are impro ed. 5oreo er personal s$ills of reading and writing are far more impro ed through @omputers. 5oreo er /cience and technolog! progressed immensel! with computers. *esearchers li$e cloning and transplants are onl! possible with modern computerized s$ills. Kood question comes to ones mind ... where will this @omputer would ta$e us ne.t00 @ertainl! no one $nowsN +e might e.plore new planners. 5a! be we will bu! houses on 5oon" 5ars or Rupitor. 2r we might loose our own identit!. 2ne cannot forget the end of 2=== millennium when e er!bod! was in chaos to thin$ what will happen if the computers crash0 The aeroplanes were going to crash and the trains would colloid. That /how we are forced to thin$ that one should not be dependent on these machine after all we are humans. +e are here to command computers not them to order us. %2H8 words&

'18( As the world becomes technolo$icall- ad.anced) computers are replacin$ more and more 4obs( %escribe some 4ob positions that ma- be lost because o* computers) and discuss at least one problem that ma- result( +hen computers first made their wa! into the business sector" e er!one belie ed that the! would ma$e people#s ,obs easier. +hat was not e.pected was that computers would eliminate ,obs. 6esides contributing to unemplo!ment" these automated wor$ers often e.hibit inadequate ,ob performance. A number of ,obs ha e been lost as a direct result of new computer technolog!. Tic$et agents in arious transportation facilities" from subwa!;underground stations to airports are irtuall! none.istent these da!s. 6an$ tellers ha e been greatl! reduced due to automated ban$ machines. In addition" man! call centers;centres that ha e help lines are almost entirel! computerized;computerised. A few !ears ago I wor$ed as a helper in our local librar!. Toda! this position does not e.ist" because si. new computers ha e been installed. The number of positions lost to computers grows e.ponentiall!" and unemplo!ment continues to get worse. +hile a computer ma! easil! achie e the main tas$s of these ,obs" most computers fall short when customers ha e a unique request or problem. A pre-paid tic$et booth does not ha e insight about the entertainment district and cannot offer friendl! directions to a tourist. /imilarl!" an automated ban$ machine cannot pro ide assistance and reassurance to a customer who has ,ust had his credit card stolen. And" more often than not" automated telephone operators cannot answer the one question that we ha e" and we end up waiting on the line to spea$ with someone an!wa!. ( er! time I go into the librar! where I wor$ed I notice elderl! people who don#t $now how to use the computers and can#t find an!one to help. In the future" I belie e a new business trend will e ol e. As computers eliminate ,obs" new positions will ha e to be in ented. 5ore and more people will go into business for

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themsel es" and hopefull! put the personal touch bac$ into business. I belie e that the human wor$force will demonstrate that it is more aluable than computers. %315 words&

'1:(Some people sa- that computers ha.e made li*e easier and more con.enient( Other people sa- that computers ha.e made li*e more comple0 and stress*ul( hat is -our opinion? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( /ome people sa! that the in ention of computers is one of the greatest human$ind#s in entions. -owe er" other people thin$ that computers ma$e their life more stressful. I agree with those people who thin$ that computers brought man! benefits and pla! a er! important role in our modern life. 3irst of all" e er! compan! nowada!s uses a computer to store its data and ma$e different $inds of operations. It is er! difficult to imagine life without computers. A compan! would ha e to store millions of papers and documents. 5oreo er" a customer would ha e to wait hours to chec$ his balance or get a piece of information about his transactions at his ban$" while an emplo!ee was loo$ing trough those papers. Another important aspect of this is that people are able to t!pe all their information" ma$e corrections" print or send documents using computers. It ma$es life much easier. 2ne can spend the rest of the time watching T) with his famil! or wor$ing on something new. +e use computers e er! da! sometimes e en not $nowing it. +hen we go to a store and use our credit cards man! computers process our information and perform transactions. +hen we need to get some cash we use mone! access machines that are computerized too. /econd of all" computers pro ided a great means of communication - the Internet. I thin$ it is the easiest and cheapest wa! to get in touch with relati es" friends" business colleagues" etc. 'owada!s the world becomes smaller and smaller. +hen I was a little girl" I could not imagine that it would be possible to communicate with people from all around the world in so eas! wa!. A person can get latest news" become friends with someone from another countr!" find his old friends" as$ for a piece of ad ice" etc. 3inall!" in addition to these practical benefits people can shop without lea ing their house. The! ,ust use an Internet access" a computer and their cards to ma$e a pa!ment. It is $ind of difficult to imagine that a few !ears ago people had to spend their time in lines bu!ing tic$ets. 'ow" a person can choose a destination" compan!" date and time and get tic$ets deli ered to his door. I thin$ it is amazing. To sum up" I belie e that computers made our li es easier. The! change our attitude towards life. I thin$ with the in ention of computers people became closer and friendlier. %H=H words& '1;( e are becomin$ increasin$l- dependent on computers( The- are used in businesses) hospitals) crime detection and e.en to *l- planes(

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hat thin$s will the- be used *or in the *uture? Is this dependence on computers a $ood thin$ or should we he more auspicious o* their bene*its? @omputers are a relati el! new in ention. The first computers were built fift! !ears ago and it is onl! in the last thirt! or so !ears that their influence has affected our e er!da! life. 9ersonal computers were introduced as recentl! as the earl! eighties. In this short time the! ha e made a tremendous impact on our li es. +e are now so dependent on computers that it is hard to imagine what things would be li$e toda! without them. 7ou ha e onl! got to go into a ban$ when their main computer is bro$en to appreciate the chaos that would occur if computers were suddenl! remo ed world-wide. In the future computers will be used to create bigger and e en more sophisticated computers. The prospects for this are quite alarming. The! will be so comple. that no indi idual could hope to understand how the! wor$. The! will bring a lot of benefits but the! will also increase the potential for unimaginable chaos. The! will" for e.ample" be able to fl! planes and the! will be able to co ordinate the mo ements of se eral planes in the icinit! of an airport. 9ro iding all the computers are wor$ing correctl! nothing can go wrong. If one small program fails disaster. There is a certain ine itabilit! that technolog! will progress and become increasingl! comple.. +e should" howe er" ensure that we are still in a position where we are able to control technolog!. It will be all too eas! to suddenl! disco er that technolog! is controlling us. 6! then it might be too late I belie e that it is er! important to be suspicious of the benefits that computers will bring and to ma$e sure that we ne er become totall! dependent on a completel! technological world. --------Sample + , In the last two decades c!bernetics ha e e.perienced a ma,or brea$through .This led to the utilization of computers at nearl! all parts of our dail! life" from personal computers to complicated surger! performing. /urel! the upta$e of this technolog! facilitates a lot of difficult tas$s but is this e.cessi e dependance ripping the warmth of our li es0 In this essa!" I will outline how the a ailabilit! of computers affects our li es. 5ost of the dail! tas$s an indi idual e.periences are time and effort consuming. These two fundemental qualities could be tremendousl! sa ed b! the use of computers. The a erage period required to prepare a decent meal for a middle-class famil! is around an hour to and hour and a half when using traditional methods. This time could be literall! reduced to half if computerized deci esare used instead. 5oreo er" a bus! businessman is enabled to easil! close a profitable deal ,ust with a touch on this highl! programmed laptop while en,o!ing his famil! acation and not ha ing to e.ert an e.tra effort of tra eling long distances ,ust to sign a deal. 2n the other hand" new generations are growing remar$abl! dependent on these modern utilities" which ma$e them handicapped when it comes to preparing a cup of tea. Inaddition" ps!chologists suggest that one of the main reasons for sucidal rate increase is recent electric in entions. This is due to that humans b! nature sta! emotionall! health! through socializing" but due to the importance of modern technolog! to maintain a

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financiall! satisf!ing standard of life the! graduall! isulate themsel es. As time passes b! each of these indi iduals gets stuc$ in a icious circle of loneliness that e entuall! leads to suicidal attempts speciall! among !oungsters. In conclusion" similar to e er! other in ention computers has its benefits and drawbac$s" I personall! thin$ it all depends upon how we use the gi en tools . 5oderation is the $e! here to $eep the balance and allow us to li e in harmon!. .ood essay, nice vocabulary, a little too long ( 3& #ords instead o$ %"&), a $e# grammatical mistakes. The topic is not $ully covered (#hat about the =things #ill they be used $or in $uture> part?). '2<( As computers are bein$ used more and more in education) there will be soon no role *or teachers in the classroom( There ha e been immense ad ances in technolog! in most aspects of people#s li es" especiall! in the field of education. 'owada!s" an increasing number of students rel! on computers to research for information and to produce a perfect paper for school purposes. 2thers ha e decided to lea e the original wa! of learning to get $nowledge through online schools. These changes in the learning process ha e brought a special concern regarding the possible decrease of importance of teachers in the classroom. /ome people belie e the role of teachers started to fade because computers ha e been helping some students to progress in their studies quic$er than when compared with an original classroom. 3or e.ample" in the same classroom" students ha e different intellectual capacities" thus some would be tied to a slow ad ance in their studies because of others4 incapacit! of understanding. In this wa!" pupils could progress in their acquisition of $nowledge at their own pace using computers instead of learning from teachers. -owe er" the presence of a teacher is essential for students because the human contact influences them in positi e wa!s. 3irstl!" students realize that the! are not dealing with a machine but with a human being who deser es attention and respect. The! also learn the importance of stud!ing in group and respect other students" which helps them to impro e their social s$ills. 5oreo er" teachers are required in the learning process because the! ac$nowledge some student#s deficiencies and help them to sol e their problems b! repeating the same e.planation" gi ing e.tra e.ercises or e en suggesting a pri ate tutor. -ence" students can ha e a bigger chance not to fail in a sub,ect. In conclusion" the role for teachers in the learning process is still er! important and it will continue to be in the future because no machine can replace the human interaction and its consequences. This is a great essay. *ooks like +and 0 to me. ?o improvements are necessary, <eep up the good /ob! '2'( e are becomin$ increasin$l- dependent on computers( The- are used in businesses) hospitals) crime detection and e.en to *l- planes(

126

hat thin$s will the- be used *or in the *uture? Is this dependence on computers a $ood thin$ or should we he more auspicious o* their bene*its? @omputers are a relati el! new in ention. The first computers were built fift! !ears ago and it is onl! in the last thirt! or so !ears that their influence has affected our e er!da! life. 9ersonal computers were introduced as recentl! as the earl! eighties. In this short time the! ha e made a tremendous impact on our li es. +e are now so dependent on computers that it is hard to imagine what things would be li$e toda! without them. 7ou ha e onl! got to go into a ban$ when their main computer is bro$en to appreciate the chaos that would occur if computers were suddenl! remo ed world-wide. In the future computers will be used to create bigger and e en more sophisticated computers. The prospects for this are quite alarming. The! will be so comple. that no indi idual could hope to understand how the! wor$. The! will bring a lot of benefits but the! will also increase the potential for unimaginable chaos. The! will" for e.ample" be able to fl! planes and the! will be able to co ordinate the mo ements of se eral planes in the icinit! of an airport. 9ro iding all the computers are wor$ing correctl! nothing can go wrong. If one small program fails disaster. There is a certain ine itabilit! that technolog! will progress and become increasingl! comple.. +e should" howe er" ensure that we are still in a position where we are able to control technolog!. It will be all too eas! to suddenl! disco er that technolog! is controlling us. 6! then it might be too late I belie e that it is er! important to be suspicious of the benefits that computers will bring and to ma$e sure that we ne er become totall! dependent on a completel! technological world. Sample +, Toda! computers are used almost e er!where" it is impossible to imagine our life without 9@s" Internet" hand phones and other computer de ices. It is reasonable that people loo$ to the future of computers. In what field will be computers used for and what role will human has in this world in future0 6esides" computers ma$e our life easier" we can easil! get information about an! product we plan to bu! or place we plan to isit o er a second using personal computer and Internet. /cientists predict that in the nearest future it will be possible to smell a new perfume using Internet and watch 3? scenes at home li$e we do in the theater. According to forecasts of -* agencies machines will replace ,ob of cashiers" ci il and militar! pilots. /ome corporations in Rapan alread! selling housewife-robots" which help old people to $eep their home clean. ?espite the fact that computers help us" the! ma$e us dependent. Apparentl!" people spend more time behind monitors that e er before. And some of them feel a need for more time to be spent with people in li e contact. In addition" fall out of one of the important modules of specific computer can entail serious consequences. /uffice to mention computer problem" occurred in the end of 188=s" problem concerned with coming !ear 2=== %72O& and catastrophes that were predicted. 3ortunatel! imminent disasters did not happen. -owe er" it is difficult to imagine what could be if all the predictions had occurred. +e li e in technological era" computers penetrated e er!where with all benefits the! pro ide and all dangers the! hide. -owe er we are satisfied with them and sometimes we

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e en than$ them because the! help us in communicating" stud!ing" doing business" entertaining and sa ing li es in critical situations.

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TDAHHIC
'2+( Tra**ic and housin$ problems in ma4or cities could be sol.ed b- mo.in$ lar$e companies and *actories and their emplo-ees to the countr-side( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this opinion? These da!s with increasing urban populations" there are ma,or problems with congestion and not onl! the price" but also a ailabilit! of accommodation in large cities of the world. It seems that one possible solution could be to relocate large companies and factories as well as their respecti e emplo!ees out of these urban areas and into more rural ones. In m! opinion" I strongl! agree that this would ha e a desired effect in ma$ing cities more li able. To begin with" the traffic problem in cities doesn4t onl! e.ist from commuting emplo!ees" but also the general public tra elling around the cit!. +hile this ma! be a fact" if the number of wor$er4s ehicles is reduced on cit! streets" a large percentage of traffic will ob iousl! decline in rush hours. 3or e.ample" pea$ hour traffic is undoubtedl! made up largel! of staff from companies going to and from home. /econdl!" in regards to housing problems" populations will alwa!s continue to grow in cities and therefore inad ertentl! decrease the number of cheap and a ailable apartments. This is certainl! ob ious" howe er" a large proportion of these apartments are occupied b! emplo!ees from large firms and their families. If this wor$force is relocated to housing estates in the countr!" cit! apartment bloc$s will fall in price and certainl! increase in a ailabilit!. In conclusion" b! relocating wor$ers to rural areas to wor$ and reside" hea ! traffic conditions and lac$ of adequate accommodation in cit! centres will ob iousl! change for the better. As far as I4m concerned" I agree that the go ernment should enforce such a law in order to increase our standard of li ing in our hectic cit! life. %2<2 words&

'2/( E.er- da- tra**ic seems to $et worse on our roads( =ow can we reduce the number o* cars on our roads toda-? hat alternati.es can we o**er car dri.ers? The more people that there are in the world" the more cars there are on the road. 9eople are richer too and often families ha e more than one car. It has been pro ed that building more roads does not wor$1 it ,ust encourafes more traffic. /o" what can we do0 9eople li$e their cars and the freedom and independence that cars gi e them. 2ne possibilit! would be to raise car ta.es and fuel ta.es so that people do not want to spend the e.tra mone!. Ta.es on new car sales as well could be increased in order to discourage people from bu!ing. 9erhaps a used car sales ta. could be introduced too. In the same wa! motorwa!s could ha e tolls charged for using them although this ma! ,ust increase congestion on smaller roads as people tr! and a oid the motorwa!s. The go ernment that introduces such ideas will not be popular though and would probabl! lose power. Ko ernments would therefore be unli$el! to set up such new

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measures. I thin$ it would be better to tr! and change people>s attitudes and offer them alternati es. (ducate them more about the pollution and waste that the! are causing. 9ersuade them to car share" use public transport or e en c!cle if the distances are not too long. @ountries such as -olland and ?enmar$ are well $nown for how their citizens are passionate about green issues and how the! use bic!cles when the! can. *educing traffic is a difficult tas$. I don>t thin$ it is possible realisticall! to reduce car numbers but I do thin$ that we can change people>s attitudes and get them to use different wa!s of tra elling. %2<5 words& Sample + , Tra**ic Con$estion in Abu %habi Abu ?habi is a modern cit! but also has a modern problemA traffic ,ams. In the earl! mornings" and again in the e ening" around G pm" the streets are crowded with cars" ta.is" and truc$s. This essa! will e.plain the causes o* gridloc$ in Abu ?habi and discuss the e**ects o* this problem. Abu ?habi4s traffic problems stem *rom se eral causes. The rapid economic growth of the emirate has enabled most residents to bu! their own cars. This has put intense pressure on the road s!stem" which although it is highl! de eloped" has not been able to #eep up with the e.pansion in population. Another cause is the absence of an! ma,or public transport s!stem such as buses or trains. ?ecause o* this" residents rel! on hordes of ta.is" thus adding to the congestion. Yet another contributin$ *actor is the la!out of the island. This limits road construction. The resultin$ gridloc$ has se.eral ad.erse e**ects. Hirst o* all is the frustration and anger felt b! road-users. This can result in tension and accidents" and" ironicall!" emergenc! ehicles ma! not e en be able to reach the scene of such accidents. Another e**ect is the waste of time spent in traffic. This lowers producti it! at wor$ and contributes to reduced time at school and with famil!. There are also additional costs to the cit! in terms of air pollution and unnecessar! fuel consumption. /hopping and dail! errands become more of a chore" and the cit! suffers. @ommuters and road-users will need to cooperate with municipal authorities as the! introduce measures to reduce congestion. -owe er" Abu ?habi has shown its abilit! to rise to challenges in the past" and most residents are confident that the cit! will still be an attracti e place to li e as the problem of traffic is addressed.

130

COU&TDY
'21( Should wealth- nations be re"uired to share their wealth amon$ poorer nations b- pro.idin$ such thin$s as *ood and education? Or is it the responsibilito* the $o.ernments o* poorer nations to loo# a*ter their citiGens themsel.es? I thin$ wealth! nations should be required to share their wealth among poorer nations. 6ut their helping should onl! stop at pro iding such things as food and education because of three following reasons. 3irstl!" citizens of both wealth! nations and poorer nations are human beings. Therefore" we can not loo$ at" hear of" and tal$ about people who lac$ food" education" etc[ without compassion and s!mpath!. /haring wealth among poorer nations is not onl! a good deed but also a tas$ itself. /econdl!" man! nations in Africa and Asia are er! er! poor. 3amine" diseases" crime and illiterac! are $illing their citizens. In the contrar!" a lot of nations in (urope and America are too rich. If there are no actions ta$en" this inequalit! will increase dramaticall!. 9oor countries will become more and more poorer while rich countries will become more and more richer. As a result" poorest countries will be sla es of richest countries. /o" sharing wealth is an useful wa! to pre ent people from that bad future. Thirdl!" although sharing wealth among poorer nations is er! necessar! but this helping should onl! stop at pro iding such things as food" medicine and education. 2r else" poor nations ma! depend on aid. The! won4t ha e enthusiasm to build their countries b! themsel es. 5oreo er" rich nations can ta$e ad antage of sharing wealth to interfere deepl! in poor nations4 go ernments. This can4t be considered humane action and should be pre ented. In m! opinion" sharing wealth among poorer nations has both bad side and good side. +hat we ha e to do is a oiding its bad side and practicing its good side. This is an excellent essay, your arguments are convincing and very #ell presented. There are only a $e# minor mistakes, read and consider the comments. @ery #ell done!

'22( Impro.ements in health) education and trade are essential *or the de.elopment o* poorer nations( =owe.er) the $o.ernments o* richer nations should ta#e more responsibilit- *or helpin$ the poorer nations in such areas( Toda!0s world has been di ided into de eloping and industrialised countrieswhich the main difference between them is the amount of mone! that go ernments appl! in important sectors such as education" health and commerce. 5ost of the poorer nations are buried in debts as a result of their unbalanced finances which are reflect in a failed health care" an unstructured education s!stem and a wea$ international trade. This icious c!cle will continue indefinitel! unless wealthier nations show interest in minimizing the worldwide economic differences" as well as ta$ing more responsibilit! for assisting unfortunate countries.

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5ost of the African countries li e in sub-human conditions because of the e.treme po ert!" uphea al" hunger" disease" unemplo!ment" lac$ of education and both ine.perienced and corrupt administrations. The de astating consequences of the AI?/ epidemic in those countries could impro e if the infected populations recei e free drugs to control the disease" ha e access to health professionals and get information on how to pre ent its spread. 6ut this can onl! be achie ed through international help programs in which leaders of the world0s richest countries donate medicine and also send doctors and nurses to treat and educate those in need. 5oreo er" most of the poor countries rel! on selling agricultural products and raw material to rich nations and bu!ing industrialized products from them resulting in a huge financial deficit. @onsequentl!" the! borrow a significant amount of mone! from the +orld 6an$ to tr! to impro e their bro$en economies" but sometimes the mone! disappears with no significant changes and the! cannot e en pa! the interest to the ban$. *egarding this issue" last !ear the KG" which is comprised of leaders of the eight richest nations" decided to forgi e billions of dollars worth of debt owed b! the world0s poorest nations. In addition" the! de eloped adequate loan programs to financiall! assist those countries. In conclusion" leaders of the industrialised countries pla! an indispensable role in assisting de eloping nations deal with essential areas such as health" education and trade. Also" their aid is the $e! to brea$ing the icious c!cle" which results in po ert! and death. This is an amaGin$ essa-) loo#s li#e ?and : to me) nothin$ to impro.e here( '27( The wealth $ap between 'st world countries and /rd world countries seems to be increasin$( =ow can we reduce this $ap? %o -ou thin# that de.eloped countries ha.e a dut- to assist de.elopin$ countries in e.er- wa-? ( er! da! the rich countries in the world get richer and the poor countries get poorer. @an we reduce this gap0 2f course we can. The question is whether the people in power want to do it0 *educing the wealth gap can be achie ed b! cancelling third world debt" cancelling trade and farming subsidies so that third world countries can compete" getting rid of third world corruption and in esting and building in third world countries using local people and s$ills and allowing them ownership of businesses. There are other things as well. Enfortunatel! there is no profit in business for first world countries to do these things. /ome will do them but most will not. The ordinar! man on the street wants things to be better for poorer countries and the politicians sa! that the! will help but the politicians will in the end do what business tells them to do. 9oliticians also rightl! feel the! ha e a dut! to protect their own countries and $eeping economicall! dominant is part of this dut!. @reating effecti e competition for their own countr!>s businesses is not part of what the! are e.pected to do. This then leads on to whether I belie e that de eloped countries ha e a dut! to help the de eloping countries. 7es" I do. As an indi idual I belie e that we ha e a dut! to assist the poorer countries with their de elopment in all aspects. +e can pro ide teachers and education and doctors on the small scale and on the larger scale the things that I ha e tal$ed about in the pre ious paragraph. @an we do this0 7es. +ill we do this0 /ee the pre ious paragraph again.

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In conclusion !ou can see that I belie e that there is a split between what would happen in a perfect world and what actuall! happens. +e ha e a dut! to reduce the wealth gap between de eloped and de eloping countries and we can do it" but it is unli$el! that this will happen quic$l!. %328 words&

'28( Should rich countries help poorer ones? Or does it onl- help the rich countr- b- #eepin$ the poorer countr- dependent? Toda!" the world is becoming more and more closel! lin$ed. Trade has increased and the mo ement of people between countries is greater than e er before. -owe er" billions of people still li e in po ert!" and in man! places" the gap between rich and poor is widening. This essa! will loo$ at the arguments for and against helping poor countries. There are man! reasons for helping poor countries. 3irst of all" there are humanitarian reasons. Mi$e indi iduals who gi e to charit!" man! countries feel it is their religious" social" or moral dut! to help people in other countries who are suffering from famine" drought" war" or disease. -owe er" man! rich countries also donate mone! for political or diplomatic reasons. The! want to maintain a relationship of dependenc! with the recipient" or simpl! to influence the go ernment and direction of the countr!. A further reason wh! man! countries help poorer ones is for economic reasons. The donors ma! want to control the suppl! of commodities such as oil" water" or wheat. Alternati el!" the richer countr! ma! want to ensure mar$ets for their own products" whether these are planes" computers or shoes. -owe er" aid is not necessaril! the best wa! to help a countr!. 3or one thing" billions of dollars of aid often goes missing" into corrupt go ernments or inefficient administration. A second point is that man! foreign aid pro,ects are unsuitable for the target countr!. 5an! agencies build huge dams or industrial pro,ects that fail after a few !ears or that do not in ol e the local people. 3urthermore" much aid returns to the donor. This can be in the form of e.pensi e specialized equipment and e.perts from the donor countr!. There are man! other wa!s we can help poor countries. 2pening up trade barriers" so that poor countries can sell their goods is one wa!. Another is to remo e subsidies so that imported goods from poorer countries can compete fairl!. A third method is to forgi e debts. 5an! poor countries ha e huge interest repa!ments on old loans. The needs of the poorer countries ma! seem ob ious. -owe er" although our humanit! ma$es us want to help eliminate po ert! and suffering" we must e.amine the real needs of poor countries and implement solutions that will benefit both them and us.

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LEISUDE
'2:( Some people thin# that it is important to use leisure time *or acti.ities that impro.e the mind) such as readin$ and doin$ word puGGles( Other people *eel that it is important to rest the mind durin$ leisure time( It is generall! accepted that we all need leisure time to reco er from the stresses of wor$ and e er!da! life. 9ersonall!" I prefer to be acti e during this time" as I thin$ this suits me better. -owe er" what we do with our leisure time is up to us and no one can sa! that an! particular acti it! is the best. /ome people rela. b! watching mo ies" reading or surfing the internet. 9eople who ha e ph!sicall! demanding ,obs ma! choose these t!pes of acti ities. If !ou are a nurse or builder" !ou ma! feel that !ou don#t want to do a fi e-$ilometre run after wor$" because !ou are alread! ph!sicall! tired. 2ther people do er! sedentar! ,obs. @omputer anal!sts" for e.ample" ma! spend all da! sitting in front of a computer screen. At the end of the wor$ing da!" the! ma! be $een to stretch their limbs and impro e their health b! swimming or going to the g!m. Another factor that influences our choice of leisure pursuit is where we wor$. 9eople who wor$ indoors often prefer outdoor hobbies" whereas for people who wor$ outdoors" the re erse ma! be true. I am a student m!self and this in ol es a lot of sitting in lectures" so I need to get out into the fresh air afterwards. In an! situation" the important thing is that people need to sta! health! b! choosing what is best for them. The onl! wrong wa! to spend free time" in m! iew" is to ha e a sedentar! ,ob and then go home and watch tele ision. '2;( Some people pre*er to plan acti.ities *or their *ree time .er- care*ull-( Others choose not to ma#e an- plans at all *or their *ree time( Compare the bene*its o* plannin$ *ree!time acti.ities with the bene*its o* not ma#in$ plans( hich do -ou pre*er ! plannin$ or not plannin$ *or -our leisure time? Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to e0plain -our choice( 'owada!s people ha e so man! things to do that the! almost alwa!s do not ha e enough time for it. +hen we go to bed we carefull! thin$ and plan our ne.t da! and it continues da! in and da! out. +e wa$e up" recollect our chec$list with things to do and in a few minutes we are alread! in a car on our wa! to the office. 2ften people do not ha e time for themsel es. /o" when people ha e some spare time the! want to use it wisel!. /ome people prefer to plan acti ities for their free time er! carefull!. -owe er" others prefer not to ma$e an! plans. In this essa! I will anal!ze both cases and present m! iew in fa or of planning free-time acti ities. 3rom the one side" not ma$ing an! plans and ,ust letting the time pass b! for some time ha e some benefits. 3irst of all" a person can ,ust rela." en,o! the beautiful moments" spend his or her time with lo ed ones" watch a mo ie" listen to rela.ing music" obser e the flowers in bloom from the window" contemplate about his or her life and ,ust slow 134

down the pace of life. I thin$ it is a er! good wa! to eliminate one#s stress and tension and ,ust lea e all troubles and worries behind. 3rom the other side" careful planning can bring man! benefits too. 3irst of all" one can tra el. -owe er" tra eling requires some planning to be made. 3or e.ample" one most li$el! will need a hotel room. /o" the reser ation should be made beforehand. Also" it is wise to chec$ one#s car to a oid brea$downs and ha e an uninterrupted worr!-free trip. /econd of all" planning one#s acti ities allows to spend one#s free time the wa! he;she li$es. 3or instance" if I want to pla! tennis on incoming wee$-end I will certainl! ma$e a reser ation for a court because in this case I will not be disappointed with the waste of m! time. 9ersonall!" I prefer to ma$e plans for m! free time because it allows me to spend m! acation or wee$-ends the wa! I want it. To sum up" I thin$ careful planning allows people to deri e ma.imum benefits from their free time. -owe er" I must confess sometimes I allow m! self ,ust to sta! at home with m! friends and famil! and not ma$e an! plans. %38H words&

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ECO&OMIC
'7<( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? ?usinesses should do an-thin$ the- can to ma#e a pro*it( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our position( I do not agree with the statement that businesses should do an!thing the! can to ma$e a profit. I state m! opinion on the following points. 3irst of all" e er! compan! must ha e its moral code. It means that a compan! should treat its clients properl! and respect their rights. 2f cause a compan! ma! lose a part of its profit but securit! of its clients must be on the first place. 2therwise" clients will switch to another compan! and ne er be bac$. 3or instance" a few !ears ago BRonson\RonsonB produced a new t!pe of pain$illers. Enfortunatel!" this product was not tested properl!. As a result of this man! people died and recei ed in,ures. The president of the compan! made a crucial decision to call bac$ all pain$illers from all distributors and pa! to all in,ured customers for their treatment. It cost a lot of mone! for the compan! but it sa ed its image and clients. It was a er! difficult decision" but the president of the compan! understood that it would cost him e en more in the future because he would not be able to return clients# respect. Moosing customers means for a compan! loosing its profit. /econd of all" in order to succeed in the modern world companies ha e to compete with each other. 5an! companies lose their profit decreasing prices on their products. The! do not aspire for e.tra profit but for clients# satisfaction. @ompanies do it because the! want their products sold and their customers satisfied. The! offer discounts" free deli er!" free ser ice" free Internet access" good return ser ice" etc. All these are done to ma$e their old customers happ! and attract new clients. To sum up" I thin$ a compan!" which the onl! goal is profit will not succeed nowada!s. 2therwise" companies that respect their clients and want to see them satisfied will ma$e a fortune. %311 words&

136

YOUD OPI&IO& E =O &TO & E COU&TDY

'7'( %iscuss the ad.anta$es and disad.anta$es o* ha.in$ a car( 'owada!s" as roads are becoming more and more crowded" people are considering both the ad antages and disad antages of ha ing a car before the! bu! one. The main ad antage of the car is that it gi es the freedom to tra el when and where !ou want" without being limited to fi.ed routes and timetables. +hat is more" !ou can carr! se eral passengers and as much luggage as !ou li$e" at no e.tra cost. In addition to this" !ou can tra el in comfort in a car" with a seat to !ourself and the possibilit! of comforts such as a music s!stem and air conditioning. 2n the other hand" owning a car is er! e.pensi e. As well as the price of the car" the cost of ta." insurance" petrol and repairs must also be considered before bu!ing. 5oreo er" the increase in traffic means that dri ers are spending more and more time stuc$ in traffic ,ams. 9erhaps the ma,or disad antage of cars in general is the huge damage that the! do to human life and to the en ironment" and all motorists much accept that the! are ma$ing a small contribution to this. To sum up" pro ided !ou ha e access to an efficient public transport s!stem" then bu!ing and running !our own car could be considered an e.pensi e lu.ur!. %213 words&

'7+( Desearch indicates that the characteristics we are born with ha.e much more in*luence on our personalit- and de.elopment than an- e0periences we ma- ha.e in our li*e( hich do -ou consider to be the ma4or in*luence? Toda! the wa! we consider human ps!cholog! and mental de elopment is hea il! influenced b! the genetic sciences. +e now understand the importance of inherited characteristics more than o er before. 7et we are still unable to decide whether an indi idual4s personalit! and de elopment are more influenced b! genetic factors %nature& or b! the en ironment %nurture&. *esearch" relating to identical twins" has highlighted how significant inherited characteristics can be for an indi idual#s life. 6ut whether these characteristics are able to de elop within the personalit! of an indi idual surel! depends on whether the circumstances allow such a de elopment. It seems that the e.periences we ha e in life are so unpredictable and so powerful" that the! can boost or o er-ride other influences" and there seems to be plent! of research findings to confirm this. 5! own iew is that there is no one ma,or influence in a person#s life. Instead" the traits we inherit from our parents and the situation and e.periences that we encounter in life are constantl! interacting. It is the interaction of the two that shapes a person#s personalit! and dictates how that personalit! de elops. If this were not true" we would be able to

137

predict the beha ior and character of a person from the moment the! were born. In conclusion" I do not thin$ that either nature or nurture is the ma,or influence on a person" but that both ha e powerful effects. -ow these factors interact is still un$nown toda! and the! remain largel! unpredictable in a person4s life. %2H8 words&

'7/( %o -ou a$ree or disa$ree with the *ollowin$ statement? A person should ne.er ma#e an important decision alone( Use speci*ic reasons and e0amples to support -our answer( 3rom m! e er!da! e.perience and obser ation I can claim that discussion of an important decision with other people bring man! benefits. In the following paragraphs I will gi e m! reasons to defend this statement. 3irst of all" different people ha e different opinions. In order to ma$e the right choice people should discuss e er! possible decision and its consequences. 5a$ing an important decision alone can bring man! negati e aspects. 3or instance" a person can re eal his selfishness or impatience and the consequences of that decision can affect man! people in the future. I thin$ that a good and wise decision can be born onl! in discussion because people can share their $nowledge and e.periences a loo$ at the problem from different sides and aspects. /econd of all" I thin$ that ma$ing decision alone is unacceptable especiall! for a compan!. Imagine that a chief ma$es the decision about increasing a production line without discussing it with his emplo!ees. In this case a part of compan!#s profit will be spending on e.tended purchase of raw materials. /o" share holders will be left without di idends. This decision ma! lead to getting rid of compan!#s shares and as a result of this declining the alue of a compan! as a whole. To sum up" I thin$ that a person should alwa!s consult his relati es or colleges when ma$ing an important decision to a oid possible mista$es. %23= words&

'71( You ha.e decided to $i.e se.eral hours o* -our time each month to impro.e the communit- where -ou li.e( hat is one thin$ -ou will do to impro.e -our communit-? h-? Use speci*ic reasons and details to e0plain -our choice( I thin$ the question what would I do if I had a chance to impro e m! communit! is difficult. I ha e in m! mind man! things" the impro ement of which will ma$e our communit! better 138

place to li e but the! all require the participation of man! people and" moreo er" the! require in estments" which I can not pro ide. 3or e.ample" m! communit! is quite nois!. +e ha e the huge mall ,ust in front of our communit!" so traffic ,ams are er! common for this place. I thin$ that the construction of a few pass-b! roads will benefit all people who li e here as well as people who dri e b! e er! da!. Enfortunatel!" the question is what I can do for m! communit! gi ing a few hours of m! time e er! month. I thin$ I can not do much" but I still can help someone in m! communit!. 3or e.ample" I can bab!-sit. I $now a couple of families with little children" who can not afford to spend much mone! on the bab!-sitter. 2ne of these families is a single mom with a little girl. Rulia" this is her name" is a waitress in a restaurant. /he is a great person and we became close friends. /o" sometimes I offer her help with her child when she has to wor$ in the e enings. Another famil! has two funn! little twins. 2ne time their parents as$ed me to bab!sit their children because the! had to attend an une.pected presentation. I thin$ this $ind of help brings man! benefits to m! communit!. 3irst of all" people become friendlier. 3or e.ample" those families" which I mentioned abo e" became friends after I introduced them to each other. /econd of all" people get to $now each other and feel more secure in their houses and apartments. 3inall!" I am read! to help those people because I am sure that the! will help me too. 2ne time I lost the $e!s from m! car and Rulia offered me her car for a while. To sum up" I belie e that bab!-sitting is a great wa! to help m! communit! in man! aspects. %353 words&

'72( I* -ou could chan$e one important thin$ about -our hometown) what would -ou chan$e? Use reasons and speci*ic e0amples to support -our answer( If I could change one thing about m! hometown" I thin$ it would be the fact that there4s no sense of communit! here. 9eople don4t feel connected" the! don4t loo$ out for each other" and the! don4t get to $now their neighbors. 9eople come and go a lot here. The! change ,obs frequentl! and mo e on. This means that the! don4t put down roots in the communit!. The! don4t ,oin communit! organizations and the!4re not willing to get in ol ed in tr!ing to impro e the qualit! of life. If someone has a petition to put in a new street light" she has a er! hard time getting a lot of people to sign. The! don4t feel it has an!thing to do with them. The! don4t get in ol ed in impro ing the schools because the! don4t thin$ the qualit! of education is important to their li es. The! don4t see the connection between themsel es and the rest of their communit!. 9eople don4t tr! to support others around them. The! don4t $eep a friendl! e!e on their children" or chec$ in on older fol$s if the! don4t see them for a few da!s. The!4re not aware when people around them ma! be going through a hard time. 3or e.ample" the! ma! not $now if a neighbor loses a lo ed one. There4s not a lot of communit! support for

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indi iduals. 'eighbors don4t get to $now each other. Again" this is because people come and go within a few !ears. /o when neighbors go on acation" no one is $eeping an e!e on their house. 'o one is ma$ing sure nothing suspicious is going on there" li$e lights in the middle of the night. +hen neighbors4 children are cutting across someone4s lawn on their bi$es" there4s no friendl! wa! of casuall! mentioning the problem. 9eople immediatel! act as if it4s a ma,or propert! disagreement. 5! hometown is a nice place to li e in man! wa!s" but it would be much nice if we had that sense of communit!. '77( A *orei$n .isitor has onl- one da- to spend in -our countr-( here should this .isitor $o on that da-? h-? Use speci*ic reasons and details to support -our choice( Tra eling is a good wa! to find out more about different countries with different traditions and customs. /ome tra elers prefer to spend in one countr! ,ust a few da!s or one da! and then lea e for another countr!. This wa! of tra eling allows people to isit more countries in fewer da!s. Enfortunatel!" in this case such tra elers ha e to hurr! in order to isit more places. I am from /aint-9etersburg" *ussia. /o" if a foreign isitor has onl! one da! to spend in m! countr! I thin$ I would ad ice him to isit the B-ermitageB - the most well $nown and amazing museum in *ussia. The B-ermitageB has 3 floors and more then 1== halls. It is reall! amazing to isit that place. 5an! people from all o er the world e er! da! enter its walls. /ome of the rooms de oted to the histor! of other countries. 2thers de oted to the art of a famous painter and the histor! of his life. -owe er" most of the halls conclude man! things such as paintings" ro!al belongings" sculptures from *ussian histor!. /ome people sa! that it is impossible to feel deepl! and see all these amazing historical alues for one isit. I ha e to completel! agree with this statement. +hen I first isited the B-ermitageB I was 1H !ears old. It impressed me so much that I was bac$ ne.t da! to see what I had not been able to see the da! before. The B-ermitageB is an impressi e and beautiful museum. I thin$ it is worth to spend there a whole da! and I belie e that after that a foreign isitor can claim with a proud that he or she saw *ussia. %2G= words&

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@ALUE
'78( Success*ul sports pro*essionals can earn a $reat deal more mone- than people in other important pro*essions( Some people thin# this is *ull- 4usti*ied while others thin# it is un*air( %iscuss both these .iews and $i.e -our own opinion( As a result of constant media attention" sports professionals in m! countr! ha e become stars and celebrities" and those at the top are paid huge salaries. Rust li$e mo ie stars" the! li e e.tra agant lifest!les with huge houses and cars. 5an! people find their rewards unfair" especiall! when comparing these super salaries with those of top surgeons or research scientists" or e en leading politicians who ha e the responsibilit! of go erning the countr!. -owe er" sports salaries are not determined b! considering the contribution to societ! a person ma$es" or the le el of responsibilit! he or she holds. Instead" the! reflect the public popularit! of sport in general and the le el of public support that successful stars can generate. /o the notion of Ffairness4 is not the issue. Those who feel that sports stars4 salaries are ,ustified might argue that the number of professionals with real talent are er! few" and the mone! is a recognition of the s$ills and dedication a person needs to be successful. @ompetition is constant and a pla!er is tested e er! time the! perform in their relati el! short career. The pressure from the media is intense and there is little pri ac! out of the spotlight. /o all of these factors ma! ,ustif! the huge earnings. 9ersonall!" I thin$ that the amount of mone! such sports stars ma$e is more ,ustified than the huge earnings of mo ie stars" but at the same time" it indicates that our societ! places more alue on sport than on more essential professions and achie ements. '7:( It is $enerall- a$reed that societ- bene*its *rom the wor# o* its members( Compare the contributions o* artists to societ- with the contributions o* scientists to societ-( hich t-pe o* contribution do -ou thin# is .alued more b- -our societ-? 9i.e speci*ic reasons to support -our answer( 3rom m! e er!da! e.perience and obser ation I thin$ that artists as well as scientists bring man! benefits to societ!. It is a contro ersial question weather the contributions of artists are more or less then the contributions of scientists to the societ!. 3or se eral reasons" which I will mention bellow" I thin$ that both t!pes are aluable" priceless and irreplaceable for e er! societ!. The contributions of artists to the societ! are er! essential. Art can form person4s spiritual sense" their iews and personalities. 9eople learn histor!" the traditions of their countr! trough the art. +e also watch mo ies that entertain and at the same time e.tend our range of interests. Another important aspect of this is that art is an ancient means of communication. In old times people depicted the herds of mammoths on the walls of their ca es. The! performed different rituals around the fireplace as$ing their gods for health" good har est and weather. 2ur language is a result of people#s need to communicate.

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3rom the other side" the contribution of scientists is could not be e.aggerated. All human$ind is indebted to the scientists because of their wor$ and achie ements. /cientists ma$e our life easier. +e ha e cars and airplanes to mo e fast from one place to another. +e ha e microwa es and a bunch of preprocessed food to ma$e the coo$ing much easier. +e ha e different de ices that simplif! all we do. 3inall!" scientists are ma$ing great achie ements in medicine that ma$e our life longer and happier. 'owada!s people ha e a great opportunit! to do man! things faster b! use of computers. To sup up" I belie e that artists nourish our souls when scientists and technolog! feed our minds. /o" we can not eliminate or underestimate one of them. '7;( People who ha.e ori$inal ideas are o* much $reater .alue to societ- than those who are simpl- able to cop- the ideas o* others well( To what e0tent do -ou a$ree or disa$ree with this statement? I certainl! agree that people who come up with new ideas1 in other words those who #in ent# or #disco er# things are terribl! important to societ! as a whole. -owe er" I also thin$ there is a role in societ! for good imitators. 'o one would den! that $e! indi iduals must be than$ed for pro iding us with certain facilities that we use e er! da!. +here" would we be" for e.ample" without basic items such as the washing machine" the tele ision and" more recentl!" the computer0 These items are now used so regularl! that we tend to ta$e them for granted. In fact" the societ! we li e in toda! has become increasingl! consumer-oriented" and while it ma! be possible to constantl! update and impro e consumer goods" not e er!one where I li e can afford the prices of these inno ations. 3urthermore not e er!one li es in an area that has accessibilit! to the latest models on the mar$et. 3or this reason" there is a alue to be placed on being able to pro ide good copies of e.pensi e items. -a ing said that" certain inno ations ha e a more serious impact on our li es than consumer goods and cannot easil! be replicated. )ital medicines li$e penicillin and accines against dangerous diseases also e.ist because people made continual efforts to de elop them. /cientific ideas such as these enable us to li e longer and escape illness. %225 words& %]men18=3 s^u t_m&

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