ĐOÁN ĐỀ 14 &16-12-2017 – VERSION 2

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When a country develops its technology, the traditional skills and ways of life die out. It
is pointless to try to keep them alive. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this
opinion?

In present age society, technology has been playing increasingly significant role in
people’s life. Some people think technology may make traditions die out, and it makes no
sense to keep them alive. But I disagree with this opinion. I will illustrate my view as
follow.

To start with, traditions are the treasure and heritage from our ancestors. Every country
should be proud of his unique cultural identity. What’s more, we can learn much from
traditions such as the thought of our forefathers and the ancient lifestyles. Finally,
traditions can be regarded as a huge resource of tourism attractions for a nation’s
economy.

Further, to some extent, technology can positively contribute to keep traditional skills and
way of life alive. For instance, in some remote areas, people do not have proper
secondary education for children. Thus the children could only be separated from their
parents if there were no convenient transportation. On this condition, provided that they
have the chance to leave the impoverished village, they may never plan to go back,
because it takes too much time and money. As a result for a long-term situation, the new
generation will all migrate to cities, leaving the village deserted. To the contrary,
technology has shortened the gap between the urban and rural areas to maintain some
traditions alive. In addition, the internet and modern refrigeration techniques are being
used to conserve and advertise traditional foods such as Chinese traditional food, Zongzi.

In conclusion, though technology damages traditions, they still can be used positively.
The point is that human beings should find a balance between them, instead of just sitting
doing nothing.

Modern technology is creating one single world culture. To what extent do you agree
or disagree?

In contemporary society, technology has been playing an increasingly signi cant role in
people’s life. Modern technology is rapidly changing the world’s living standards, which
results in creating a single world culture. I believe high-tech have great in uence on
creating a similar culture all over the world.

First of all, the modern means of transportation allows people to move from one place to
another fairly readily, which contributes to the spread of culture as well. An increasing

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number of people are migrating to or working in foreign countries. They bring their
motherland’s culture; meanwhile, they can broadcast the host country’s custom after they
return to their hometown.

In the second place, the Internet and e-mail have changed the way people communicate
with each other. We now have a great opportunity to nd out more about countries and
their history. It is so convenient that we can appreciate a foreign country’s scenery and
traditions just by sitting in front of a computer.

Consequently, the boundaries of their traditions and customs between countries have
faded away. Because of that, now many families are created between people from
different countries, thus traditions fusing and evolving into other ones.

To conclude, modern technology has a great impact on the way people live now. It is
creating a new single world culture where old traditions and distances are no longer of
that much importance.

Life was better when technology was simpler. To what extend do you agree or
disagree?

With the development of human society, technology has been becoming increasingly
vital in people’s life. However, some people think the life was simpler when the
technology was not so developed. As far as I am concerned, these people are misguided.

The first reason is that simplicity was because of a lack of choices. Before large jet planes
came in the 1960’s, for example, air travel was beyond the imagination of most people.
Before electronic modern banking system was invented, people had to spend a lot of time
on math calculations on their work. Moreover, our knowledge of the world around us,
especially foreign countries, was sketchy before the advent of televisions. Modern
technology has brought the world in literature into vivid pictures, videos and even real
life.

It is not always true that modern technology is more complex to use than it was to
perform household chores. Caring for a horse was a far more complex and time-
consuming matter than having a car. Probably, what makes people to long for the old
simpler life is the speed of modern society. But sometimes, this change can be resisted,
when we set ourselves simple priorities and stick to it.

To sum up, technology’s merits can overwhelm its demerits only when people have
learned how to balance between what are really in need and what the technology can
provide.

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There are social, medical and technical problems associated with the use of mobile
phones. What forms do they take? Do you agree that the problems

Mobile phones are frequently in almost all the aspects of our daily lives. However, there
is an opinion that the wide application mobile phone also exerts a negative influence on
the society, an individual’s health and technologic development.

It is undeniable that mobile phones have facilitated our lives in many different ways. For
example, when an emergency occurs, such as a traffic accident or a violent crime, mobile
phones can help the victims to call the police or an ambulance immediate for help. They
also make people work faster and more efficiently, as people can send or read emails via
mobile phones, and communicate quickly and easily with their clients and co-works.

Indeed, it is the case that talking on cell phones in public with high voice disturbs people
around. Moreover, as far as radiation of cell phone is concerned, scientific evidence has
shown that radiation that a working mobile phone produces has the potential to cause
brain cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Apart from the health problems, a range of
technical defects would give rise to a series of dangers. For instance, using mobile phones
on board a plane may affect the navigation system of the aircraft, which will endanger the
lives of the passengers.

To conclude, we should not overlook the negative influence the cell phones produce,
because the downsides far exceed the merits.

Many people are optimistic about the 21st century and see it as an opportunity to make
positive changes to the world. To what extent do you agree or disagree with their
optimism? What changes would you like to be made in the new century?

People’s optimism about the 21st century can be understood by the upsurge in the interest
in science and technology around the world. This upbeat attitude is further supported by
the proliferation of novel inventions and state-of-the-art technologies that have emerged
in recent years. While the world’s continued advance in various domains (e.g science) is
noteworthy, this advance does not come without its problems.

Much of the world’s achievement in the 21st century or in the 20th century has been
made at the cost of environment and the poorest people and countries. The automobile
industry has developed rapidly, but the side-effect of this development is the degrading
environment, which is characterized by increased greenhouse emissions and abnormal
climates. The growing demand for commodities has prompted the world’s factories to
increase output incessantly, accelerating the consumption of energy and other resources.
Leading countries have advocated globalization and promoted this as a way of achieving

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countries’ shared prosperity, but the truth is that the gap between rich and poor countries
is widening, rather than narrowing.

In view of the downside of the world’s seemingly positive changes, the question remains:
what changes can be made in the new century? Without any doubt, how to maintain the
current momentum without causing further damage to the environment should be the
issue on top agenda. Scientists and inventors should update the environmental impact of
their inventions before commercializing them and introducing them to the public.
Meanwhile, leading countries for their own benefits should not manipulate globalization.
Policies and regulations should be re-rated and adjusted to make sure that developing
countries can benefit from countries’ closer ties in trade, politics and social issues.

Measured against world standards, changes can be a complex topic that encompasses
many issues but two urgent issues that require immediate actions are the environment and
globalization. A world that fails to address these two issues can by no means be deemed
as perfect.

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. ” - US movie actor & director John
Wayne. Why is it important for individuals and countries to think about the future
rather than focusing on the present?

Tomorrow is another day. Although living in the current society keeps us away from the
shadows of the past, it is more important for individuals and countries to think about the
future than focusing on the present. Three episodes from history serve as compelling
examples of this fact.

Where there is future, there is hope. Even after the Supreme Court struck down
segregation in 1954, human-rights offenses were both law and custom in much of
America. Before Martin Luther King and his movement, a tired and respectable Negro
seamstress like Rosa Parks could be thrown into jail and fined simply because she refused
to give up her seat on an Alabama bus so a white man can sit down. A six-year- old black
girl like Emmett Till could be hunted down and murdered by a Mississippi gang simply
because he wanted to go to the same school as white children. For hundreds of years,
African Americans had been tired of the that America claimed to be the leader of the
‘free world’ without inviting smirks of segregation upon the land of itself. Martin Luther
King, however, had not lost his hope; his belief in nonviolence never swerved. From the
time he assumed leadership of the Montgomery bus boycott, he foretold a future America
where children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their
character. Subsequent mass demonstrations culminated in the March on Washington in
which he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. On that day, he saw tomorrow;

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upon danger, he saw hope. That is why he succeeded.

The fact that the future deserves more attention than the present also stands true for a
country. During the Great Depression, ideologues in America believed that the economic
downturn had imposed the country a either choice: if you abandon laissez- faire you are
condemned to a total betrayal of capitalism and democracy. Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
however, stood rmly in America’s ability to regain control over its future. His New Deal
swiftly introduced measures for social protection, regulation and control. His actions
succeeded in protecting the nation from major economic crisis for nearly 80 years.

Had the prejudice of hundreds of years disbelieved Martin Luther King of a free world,
he would die in vain. Had the failure of capitalism blinded America from looking
forward, no changes would be made to better its administration. All in all, the future
always weighs heavier than the present.

Many countries use fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) as the main source of energy.
However, in some countries the use of the alternative sources of energy (wind energy
and solar energy) is encouraged.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this
development?

It is noticed that traffic congestion and environmental contamination has long been a
problem of great concern and complaint in numerous metropolis around the globe. This
essay aims to prove that multiplying the expenditure of fuels is not the best way to
resolve these thorny problems and then present my personal recommendations.

Indeed, the private cars will be greatly diminished if the cost of the fuel keeps on soaring,
as a result, it could purify the air, minimize noise contamination and the release of
exhausts, however, as this strategy would also burden those depending on public
transport economically, Virtually, there are still a great many other options available to
relieve the pressure of traf c jam and safeguard our environment.

The automobile industry, in many countries all over the world, has developed the
technology to help reduce energy needs and to decrease pollution. Efforts have already
been made in research and development of fuel-cell-driven and power-driven vehicles
aiming to mitigate the pollution induced by transportation. Meanwhile, talking those car
manufacturers and city-dwellers into adopting this new technology would be a more
effective strategy for optimizing air quality, especially in big cities.

However, there many others will use still more private cars even though the cars they
drive are eco-friendly, which impose much pressure on public transportation. In this
sense, mass transit is a very effective method for moving large numbers of people quickly
with few vehicles and reduced air pollution. Efforts should be made to provide those

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desires to take public transport with the warmest and most considerate service.
Meanwhile, the fare should not be a luxury not matter which vehicle one might take.

Overall, in attempt to resolve environmental and traffic problems, cleaner fuels and
popularization of public transport have indispensable roles to play, increasing the cost of
fuels might be a tentative method yet definitely not the best one.

Many people think it is very important to protect the environment but they make no
effort to do it themselves. Why is the case? What actions can be done to encourage
individuals to protect the environment?

Environmental deterioration has become one of the most severe threats to the survival of
mankind. Despite intense media coverage over environment protection, few people
actually take any practical actions to protect the environment.

One of the underlying factors leading to this phenomenon may involve the misconception
that individual actions cannot contribute to environmental conservation. Owing to lack of
professional knowledge, ordinary people are incapable of coping with serious
environmental issues, such as landslide and soil erosion. As a result, it is often argued
that government intervention and international cooperation should be the solution.
People’s increasing material pursuit also discourages them from playing their own parts
in environment protection. Driven by material comfort, people nowadays tend to use
short-lived and environment-damaging products, such as disposable lunchboxes and
chopsticks. For convenient commutes and more efficient mobility, numerous people
choose to purchase private cars with high discharge volume.

In order to encourage more practical individual efforts towards environment protection,

various approaches should be adopted. First of all, more environment campaigns should
be launched to instill in the public the conception that individual actions are an
indispensable part in the problem-solving process. For example, one can classify
household garbage to facilitate waste recycling and reduce car use to cut down the
emission of waste gas. Moreover, heavy taxation can be imposed on energy-wasting and
disposable products, in order to discourage people from using them. Meanwhile, the
government should subsidize environmentally friendly products to make them cheaper
and more widely used.

To sum up, environment contamination, if not solved properly, may pose a huge threat to
the development of human society. Every citizen should shoulder their own share of
responsibility to protect the environment. (279 Words)

Many people say that we have developed into a “throw-away society”, because we
cannot fully dispose of. To want degree do you agree with this opinion and what

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measures can you recommend reducing this problem?

It is true that the ever increasing waste produced from human activities is taking
a heavy toll on the environment. In my opinion, the increasingly high
consumption of goods and the contaminate industrial productions are two main
factors contributing to this trend.

Nowadays, the rate at which daily necessities such as food, clothes and papers
are consumed is dramatically rising due to the population boom. With people
eating and using more, the amount of rubbish coming from the packaging of
various commodities is exceeding the degrading capacity of our environment.
What makes the situation worse is our tendency to use something once and
throw it away. A typical example would be the one-off plastic bags with which
consumers convey groceries from market to their home. The unrestricted use of
these has resulted in the prevalence of plastic rubbish that cannot be
thoroughly degraded.

Moreover, the intense industrial activities around the world are introducing
more refuse to the environment. For instance, the poisonous metals such as
lead and rotted steels deriving from the mass production of electrical devices
and automobiles contribute largely to this problem. Additionally, most
manufacturing methods utilized in production lines are not economic and clean.
The poor availability of advanced recycling technology in industries leads to that
recyclable materials such as plastic, concrete and ceramic are being randomly
dumped all over the world. As it takes considerable long time for these to be
digested by bacteria, the trend that industrial wastes are accumulating at an
accelerating rate is difficult to stop.

In conclusion, a throw-away society is the result of the soaring amount of goods

we need every day and the insufficiently regulated industrial activities. If proper
measures are not taken promptly, this trend is likely to cause more serious
problems to the environment and people’s lives.

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Some people think it is acceptable to use animal for the benefits of humans.
Other people think it is wrong to exploit animals for human purposes. Discuss
both views and give your own opinion.

In modern society, laboratory test on animals is a common way of ensuring the safety of
a new medicine or medical procedure and most people have formed this conception that it
is acceptable that animals are tested on for medical purpose. However, whether it is legal
is different from whether it is ethical, especially when we see it not from our human
perspective.

Obviously people who support this practice put more value on human life than animals’
and they believe that animals should be sacrificed for the benefits of human races. To
maximize the health and safety of mankind, animal test is the best way to get the accurate
and reliable data for a particular medicine or procedure because animals have similar
biological characters and structures. Conducting experiments on animals before
launching a new therapy is also a responsible practice to patients who deserve every
respect to their life.

However, it is equally reasonable to say that animals have their intrinsic right to life. In
other words, animals and humans have totally the same rights to live on the earth and
therefore no one should take the life of the other for any purpose. Animal protectors also
raise the evidence that laboratory rats have nerve system which means that they can feel
pain. That is why many opponents of animal testation suggest computer simulation,
hoping to replace the cruel way of experimentation with machine.

To summarize this essay, while I believe animals should be respected under every
circumstance, I have to admit that there is no better way than medical testation on
animals to secure patients against potential dangerous effects. Reconciliation is hard to
achieve, but suggestion can be to control the number of animals tested on in laboratory
and reduce the pain that they may endure during the experiments.

Wild animals are of no importance in the twenty-first century. Some people think that
preventing these wild animals from dying out is a waste of resource. To what extent do
you agree or disagree with this?

Biological diversity has never been so threatened as it is today as a result of the process
of human civilization. The various forms of pressure created by human activity have
destroyed natural balance, led to the deterioration of natural habitats, genetic erosion and
the rarity, even disappearance, of a number of plant and animal species.

As the pace of civilization accelerates, more people, taking more space, needing to use

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more natural resources, engaging in ever-growing consumption, impose severe
deterioration on the habitat of animals. An increasing number of people come to realize
that the disappearance of animals will result in serious threat to the equilibrium of
ecosystem. Simply put, the extinction of hawks, a rat-eating bird seen in many regions,
will result in the rapid propagation of rats. And rats, further, will destroy the prairies and
threaten the other animals like gazelles, zebras and others, who live on grass and green
lands. The coexistence of animals and human beings creates perfect harmony and brings
about the vividness to our planet.

It is hard to imagine what our world would be like without animals. Sociologists also
point out that the disappearance of animals can cause social and economic problems.
Animal trade, as a supporting sector to the world economy, was very active before.
However, the situation is beyond control since animal trade is very profitable and
alluring. Many species cannot escape the adversity of being killed.

Certainly, our diet cannot be without meat. There are living stocks, which can provide us
with sufficient and nutritious product. Therefore, we need not to resort to wild animals,
especially the endangered ones. To protect animals is to protect our living environment.
Every individual should join efforts to keep the diversity of animals.

Many people think that countries have a moral obligation to help each other, while
other argue that the aid money is misspent by the governments that receive it, so the
international aid should not be given to the poor countries in the world. Discuss the
two views of international aid and give your opinion.

With the process of economic globalization, many countries and regions have
strengthened cooperation and liaison in the fields of industry, agriculture, trade and
finance. In order to dedicate to the mutual development, many developed countries spare
no effort to help the poor countries by means of technological, medical and nancial aid,
which, to my mind, is quite essential to the development of the world.

Firstly, aids from developed countries optimize people’s living standard and eradicate
poverty in the poor countries. Due to the backwardness of science and technology, people
in some undeveloped countries and regions such as Africa, Latin America and Asia suffer
a great deal from poverty, hunger and the scarce of water. International aids from
developed countries have improved their living environment and helped them with the
development of agriculture, industry and economy.

Secondly, international aids give good medical care and help promote hygienic condition
in the poor countries. Malaria, cholera and smallpox were once severe threats to people’s
health. With the help of the World Health Organization and some developed countries,
these diseases have been eliminated soon and the residents in the infected areas survived

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these deadly diseases, which would have devoured millions of lives without international
aid.

Finally, aids to the undeveloped countries in turn benefit the donators. Due to the
limitation of natural and human resources, the production cost rises sharply in the
developed countries. With a view to reducing cost, many countries transferred their
assembly lines and production bases to the developing countries, which not only solves
the problem of low rate of employment in the developing countries but also make full use
of the local resources.

Nevertheless, some countries are showing great concern about the expense of their aid
aroused by bureaucracy and corruption of some governments. Therefore, the
governments should take effective measures to utilize international aids reasonably and
prevent abuse. Only with the help of international aids, can our world develop more
quickly and prosperously.

Individuals and countries fail to help every person who needs help in the world, so we
should only be concerned about our own communities and countries. To what extent
do you agree or disagree?

Today, it is not unusual that countries join relief efforts in another country, mostly one
plagued by natural disasters. At times, international aid expands to cover a broad range of
areas, such as infrastructure and public service of recipient countries. Critics, however,
question these practices by arguing that international aid, despite the tremendous effort
made by donor countries, is not likely to bene t every individual in the world. In my
opinion, this argument is ill conceived.

International aid is very often delivered to boost the development of a country in the long
run, so whether it yields immediate bene ts for every citizen is not a matter of importance.
A classic example to illustrate this is the money spent by some international
organizations on a country’s infrastructure, namely, communications, transport and
power supplies. While this kind of investment is not aimed at individual citizens, it is the
precondition for a country’s long-term prosperity.

Besides, the world is increasingly interconnected, so the plight of one country can evolve
and eventually affect the rest of the world. In simple terms, any attempt to contain a
problem that spreads in one country is meanwhile an effective self-rescue technique. In
2008, IMF injected enormous liquidity in some Eastern European countries in an effort to
prevent their central banks from collapsing. The stability of these countries helped avoid
further turmoil of the world’s nancial industry and led to the world’s a faster-than-
expected recovery from the economic crisis. In this globalised world, there is no ground
for working in isolation and keeping blind to other countries’ issues.

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Helping other countries in troubled times also reveals human kindness. Humans have
traditions of helping those vulnerable to natural disasters, epidemics and poverty. This is
a universally treasured value. Countries that promise to support less developed members
of the global community are sometimes motivated by this moral principle. They would
not discontinue this cause simply because there is a long queue for aid while aid is scarce.

Beyond any doubt, any person who has these facts in mind would agree that countries
should help each other, not only because this is essential to the advance of the world’s
well-being but also because it is an expression of humans’ philanthropic disposition.

With the fast pace of globalization, the whole world has become a global village with
combination of different cultures. What are the reasons for losing a variety of
languages and cultures? Think of some solution to alleviate the problem.

The progression of globalization is inevitable and undeniable. It has been widely noted
that many of the world’s languages and cultures are dying out. To seek the solution, we
should take a closer look at the causes rst.

Most important of all is the objective reason. The essence of globalization is

commercialization and centralization. It is convenient in communication that some
prevalent languages and cultures have its predominance, which makes superior of the
senior and inferiority of the junior. That leads to deterioration of some minors. These
languages and cultures will be overlooked and devalued until they completely die out.

As concave and convex sides of a nutshell, it has subjective reason. With the burgeoning
of some VIPs, many migrants have swarmed into the dreamlands due to economic drive
and stimulation, meanwhile engaged in local culture perspective and discarding their
native languages and cultures as a ‘betrayal’.

Hence this is a problem which must be solved as soon as possible. We should remind the
world of versatility of the minor cultures through popular media such as music, artifacts
or historical heritage, thus renovating the music festivals, artistic activities and museums
constantly. In addition, let more people, especially the young men, use their own
language.

Never tiring, never yielding, never nishing. We make the purpose, to prevent losing
world’s cultural and linguistic diversity. “This way a long, tapering, strip of bark can be
peeled up to the length of the tree, leaving the tree to heal and continue to grow,” says the
United Nations Environment Programme Report.

We have a mixture of people from different culture and ethnic groups in a country.
Why? Is this a positive or negative development? Give reasons for your answer and

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include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

Current nation is no longer composed of single or a few individuals from one race.
Instead, nations are inevitably characterized with various cultural backgrounds and
diverse minority groups. In my view such a new phenomenon is utterly positive to
individuals and society as a whole.

One of the possible leading causes to lead to such a picture is that a vast number of
common average folks continuously come to one country for more employment and
higher education opportunities. Undoubtedly, some nancially advantaged nations have
more comprehensive job vacancies available for more workers and technicians and
advanced educational systems and preeminent professors in the university, which can
offer dream-chasers with more chances to earn decent salary and attain a higher social
status.

Companies and schools can enormously become the bene ciary of such a status quo.
International and local companies could hunt for their potential staff who can share their
distinctly diverse cultural settings with colleagues and meanwhile devote their wisdom to
companies. An American corporation making children clothes, for instance, is renowned
for its amazing sales record annually. Owing to designing team consisting of varying
ethnic groups, this company succeeds in launching tailor-made styles for many
customers.

Besides, university will earn a staggering amount of tuition from newly settled residents.
After all, these residents’ children will continue learning while living in another nation,
with which money schools are capable of renovating previous buildings and adding more
equipment.

Overall, my viewpoint is that nations lled with people coming from different cultures are
fortunate and this should be promoted to an international scale.
Some people think that the best way to reduce crime is to give longer prison
sentences. Others, however, believe there are better alternative ways of reducing
crime.

Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Crime is a serious and growing problem in most societies. Although many people
believe that the best way to tackle this is to place people in prison for longer periods,
others are of the opinion that other measures will be more effective.

There are benefits of giving offenders longer prison sentences. Firstly, spending a long
time in prison provides an opportunity for the prison services to rehabilitate a prisoner.
For example, someone who has committed a serious offence such as assault will need

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a long time in prison in order to be sure they can be re-educated not to re-offend. In
addition to this, longer prison sentences will act as a deterrent for someone who is
thinking of committing a crime.

However, some people argue that leaving people in prison for a long time means that
they will mix with other criminals and so their character will not improve. One alternative
is community service. This gives an offender the opportunity to give something positive
back to society, and so it may improve their character. Also, the government could focus
its resources on the causes of crime, which would lead to less crime in the future.

In my opinion, it is important to look at alternative methods. Many countries have

lengthy prison sentences, but crime has continued to increase throughout the world, so
it is clear that this is not completely effective. That said, long prison sentences should
remain for those who commit serious crimes such as assault or murder, as justice for
the victim and their family should take priority.

To conclude, there are good arguments for and against long sentences, so
governments must continue to research the various methods of crime reduction to
ensure effective policies are in place.

(290 words)

Many people are afraid to leave their homes because of their fear of crime. Some
believe that more action should be taken to prevent crime, but others feel that little can
be done. What is your opinion?

Nowadays, an increasing number of people are scared to leave their homes alone due to
crimes. Some people argue that regardless of what measures have been taken to struggle
against thieves or robberies, the crime rate cannot be lowered substantially, while others
contend that anti-crime action is capable of preventing people’s lives and properties from
being threatened by criminals. Personally, I am in favor of the latter view.

Convincing arguments can be made that taking effective measures brings numerous
merits to the protection of properties. To start with, adopting safeguard procedures in
advance, such as installing safeguard doors, are conducive to deterring potential
criminals. Apart from serving as a facility to prevent homes from being stolen and
robbed, safeguard measures are more likely to play a practical role in indicating criminals
that hosts have taken precautions against crime. Moreover, even if the house is being
invaded by law offenders, the pre-installed equipment, for instance alarm device, can
inform policemen to arrive at the crime scene immediately right after they receive the
noti cation. Lastly,implementing necessary guard action can offer a sense of security to
people when they are out of their apartments. It is obvious that people can be easily
distracted, if they are always anxious about whether their homes are or have suffered

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from illegal invasion.

However, we cannot deny the fact that the existing measures may carry potential
drawbacks. A reason for this is that a large number of security devices are criticized for
their inferior quality and they can be broken through readily. It is remarkable that last
year, over 200 types of safety anti-thief systems were regarded as unqualified by Products
Quality Inspection Bureau of China due to the inferior quality and their sponsor
manufacturers are penalized accordingly.

In summary, I concede that taking action cannot fully guarantee that people’s houses can
escape from being intruded by criminals. Despite that, the advantages created by the
measures far outweigh the adverse impact. Overall, I am convinced that people should
strengthen their awareness of security and in the meantime governments should issue
relevant laws to supervise the quality of security systems.

There is an increasing number of juvenile delinquency. Analyze the possible causes

that give rise to this phenomenon and offer some feasible recommendations.

Never has the rate of crime among the youth in our society been as high as it now is. The
rate of youth crime is increasing at an alarmingly rapid rate, for reasons which are not
easily explained. This essay will attempt to discover some of the crime rate’s contributing
factors as well as explore some possible solutions to help resolve the issue.

One the of most contributing factors of the increase in youth crime could be attributed to
the environment in which the children are raised, that is to say, an environment of
violence and fear. Such an environment often leads to low self-esteem and many other
health concerns, as well as making the children very distrusting and fearful of those
around them.

Still, pornographic or otherwise vulgar forms of media often exert great negative
influence on the youngsters, because the young can, many times, find it rather difficult to
make positive choices about the types of influences in their lives, it is possible for them
to be led astray very quickly and easily.

Last of all, many different products used to commit crimes are very easily and cheaply
available to our youth. In fact, guns are sold in a very large number of stores in some
countries. This fact alone makes it very easy for young people to embark on the criminal
road.

Considering the seriousness of the issue, we have no alternative but to implement some
practical solutions to resolve it. First of all, the government should attach greater

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importance to the problem, while also enact relevant legislations to crack down youth
crime. Meanwhile, much emphasis should be put on strengthening education, for it will
aid us in raising healthier, happier, and more well-behaved young generation. Also,
families must take every step necessary to ensure that their children could grow up in an
environment which is full of affection, safe and free from various kinds of violence. Only
when the government, society and every family join hands in resolving the issue will we
begin to see the rate of youth crime fall down as it should be.

Nowadays, it is more convenient and easier for people to travel to other countries. Is
this a positive or negative development? Give reasons for your answer and include any
relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

It is believed that the travelling rate of people today is higher than ever. The following essay will
discuss some of the factors which affect the situation and several advantages of the activity for the
traveller.

There are various reasons why the travelling activities have increased significantly in the past recent
years. Firstly, a lot of people travel intensively due to the existence of the low-cost airlines. It is a fact
that budget airline companies such as Air Asia or Tiger Air are providing an affordable and economic
ticket, therefore, people from a different range of income could purchase it. Secondly, many
companies have increased their export and import activities due to the globalisation. As a result,
their employees have to do excessive business trips to other regions or other continents. Thirdly, as
business competition gets tougher each day, the stress level of the workers has risen.
Consequently, the number of people who travel for leisure activities has grown rapidly in the past
few years.

It is undeniable that travelling activities bring a lot of benefits for the travellers themselves. As people
travel to another country, they would have the chance to learn a new culture. For example, many
westerners have visited China, since they were attracted to see the unique culture of the ancient
China civilisation such as the Great Wall of China or the Terracotta Army. Travelling also helps
people in releasing their stress. It is obvious that people who live in big cities are stressed with their
tight schedule and by taking some trips to the countryside; it will help them in loosen the tense.

In conclusion, it is true that travelling activities have increased rapidly in the past recent time, and
people are travelling for various kinds of purposes. Some people are taking the trips for business
activities, while others are for holiday. Travelling is also a positive activity since people could get a
lot of benefits from doing the activity.

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International tourism has become a huge industry in the world. Do the problems of
international travel outweigh its advantages?

Nowadays, an increasing number of people have the capacity and choose to travel
abroad. In the meantime, international tourism triggers tensions in a diverse array of felds
correspondingly.

To begin with, the increase in the use of such traffic means as airplanes, trains, buses, and
the like weakens the fragile equilibrium in an ecosystem. It also ruins the biodiversity in
the ecosystem. Next, tensions in economic development are also conspicuous. The
primitive economic pattern is inevitably vulnerable to the infuences from the tourists who
come from different economic systems. Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan, China is a typical case in
point, where the local economic pattern has been shifting from the agriculture to tourism.

Despite the tensions, international tourism contributes to the understanding between

people from different cultures, religions, races, and political ideas. This is because the
tourism per se is more than appreciating the beautiful, brilliant natural landscapes,
cultural traditions, or interesting customs. It is a kind of contacts. To contact is to
communicate. Communication naturally promotes understandings. For instance, the
Americans who traveled to Tibet tend to understand why Chinese governments insist that
Tibet be a part of the Chinese territory and it should never be separated from the Chinese
sovereignty. In fact, religious understanding serves as another telling example. The
Christians who visit an Islamic attraction are more easily to accept that different religions
should be able to coexist.

To sum up, the international tourism helps people understand each other although it has
caused some tensions.

People aim to achieve the balance between their work and lives, but few people achieve
it. What are the causes of the problems? How to overcome it? )

Few people claim to be able to maintain the work-life harmony due to the competing
pressures at work and demands at home. In this age of modern technology, one of the
consequences of the imbalance is stress, a chronic problem common among working men
and women alike. It is possible that the root of the problem is an undesirable and yet
inevitable confict between career ambition and personal as well as family life.

Some people have begun to think that working gets in the way of living, particularly
when they are struggling for professional achievements. A reduction offoffcial working

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hours does little to relieve the stress that affects one’s life because of one’s ambition for
nancial gains and social recognition. To illustrate, typical workaholics continue working
at home, or telecommuting, in front of a computer screen. Since one hopes to stand out of
the crowd, there is little time left for leisure, pleasure and spiritual development. This
being the case, home is no longer a heavenly place for rest as it used to be. Accordingly,
one may feel out of the work-life equilibrium in the presence of increasingly keen
competition, as if from all directions.

More often than not, there is no clear line between work and family life, home becoming
almost an extension of the workplace. Thus, the greater is the stress of trying to become
successful, the less likely is the work-life balance, considering there is a price to be paid
for taking pride in working, usually at the cost of a variety of family responsibilities and
personal enjoyment. Of course, one can manage the work-life harmony skillfully to some
extent, but not for long. In fact, this situation is so much like a teeter-totter, one end being
work and the other being life. The metaphor refers to a rarely steady state, now moving
from balance and now moving back towards it. That is why many people nd it dif cult to
perform a balancing act between work and life.

The confict of work and life may be the cause of the problem, but the solution must
depend on one’s attitude about money and time. Tackling the problem of the imbalance is
nothing easy because the stress of work is invading home. To be realistic, it makes sense
that people work because they need money to make ends meet at home, and that time for
personal life must sometimes be limited only to uneasy sleep after a hard day.

Nowadays some countries encourage people to buy more and more products, while
others believe it is bad for the society. Discuss both & give your opinion.

In my country, expanding domestic market demand has been a strategy for economic
boom and private consumption is encouraged in various ways. It is common that we are
leading a throw-away lifestyle which refers to the practice of discarding tremendous
disposable products and short lived or obsolete home wares and household appliances
like TVs, fridges and mobile phones in daily life.

The rationale for this strategy is that demand requires production and production creates
GDP (gross domestic production) and employment positions. Further, economic growth
ensures the stability of a society. Accordingly, merchandises need to be replaced as soon
as possible and obviously it is one-off product rather than recycled or durable ones that
are embraced by modern economic systems. One of the most common strategies adopted
to promote the sale is the widespread advertisements for fashionable and latest electronic
gadgets like mobile phones and computers which are made easy to become outdated and
unpopular.

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However, the economic prosperity is at the cost of human future. Over consumption
contributes to a large quantity of wastes, many of which cannot break down and end up
contaminating the earth and the oceans. Over production leads to substantial industrial
waste water and air, causing the global warming and water pollution. On top of the
environmental issues, excessive manufacture drains precious natural resources such as
coal, natural gas and wood, which is sometimes somewhere a trigger for war in the era of
energy crisis.

In general, I do not believe that stimulating private consumption is a policy for

sustainable development, but suggest it be reconsidered even though I admit that it is an
effective approach for short term economic prosperity.

Some people say that the increasing business and cultural contract between countries
has a positive effect; others say it could contribute to a loss of the countries identities.
Do you agree or agree or disagree.

Our world is changing but the questions seem to remain the same; is increased contact

between cultures leading to cultural destruction? Well maybe it is, and, maybe it isn’t.
And maybe that is a good thing, and maybe it isn’t. But what ever is happening we have
to understand that we cannot control it, nor change it, but rather we have to get used to it.

In this modern world, there are so many possibilities; many people can live how they
wish and where they wish. People choose to take up any identity that they want; in China
some westerners embrace Chinese culture, whilst their Chinese neighbors are wearing
Nike and eating at KFC. So it is hard to say if this is cultural loss or not. The world is far
more complex than we try to make out.

And why are we so protective of our culture? Chinese foot-binding, amongst other things,
are cultural artifacts which we would rather forget. Why can't the new things we create
also be valuable? Trying to preserve the old ways when they may be unsuitable for our
future or our survival seems ridiculous. We need to move forward to surviving. Increased
contact with other countries and cultures is part of that movement forward.

But we will create new things if we give people freedom and resources to do so. I say let
people loose, let our culture free; don’t try to hold it back or control it, for surely you will
only kill it. Let's embrace all forms of change; don't worry we can reject them later.

Foreign visitors should pay more than local visitors for cultural and historical

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attractions. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

1. It is sometimes argued that tourists from overseas should be charged more than local
residents to visit important sites and monuments. 2. I completely disagree with this idea.

3. The argument in favour of higher prices for foreign tourists would be that cultural or
historical attractions often depend on state subsidies to keep them going, which means
that the resident population already pays money to these sites through the tax system. 4.
However, I believe this to be a very shortsighted view. 5. Foreign tourists contribute to
the economy of the host country with the money they spend on a wide range of goods and
services, including food, souvenirs, accommodation and travel. 6. The governments and
inhabitants of every country should be happy to subsidise important tourist sites and
encourage people from the rest of the world to visit them.

7. If travellers realised that they would have to pay more to visit historical and cultural
attractions in a particular nation, they would perhaps decide not to go to that country on
holiday. 8. To take the UK as an example, the tourism industry and many related jobs
rely on visitors coming to the country to see places like Windsor Castle or Saint Paul’s
Cathedral. 9. These two sites charge the same price regardless of nationality, and this
helps to promote the nation’s cultural heritage. 10. If overseas tourists stopped coming
due to higher prices, there would be a risk of insuf cient funding for the maintenance of
these important buildings.

11. In conclusion, I believe that every effort should be made to attract tourists from
overseas, and it would be counterproductive to make them pay more than local residents.
(269 words,11 band 9)

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