距离2018年1月27日
1. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A zoo has no useful purpose. Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer.
Have you ever seen a real bear or a monkey? If you did, it was probably at a zoo. Zoos are big outdoor spaces in which different animal species are kept, so that people can look, learn and admire them. A lot of people think that zoos have no use, or provide no purpose. I strongly disagree with this affirmation because I believe zoos provide social interaction, education, and develop qualities such as animal respect and understanding.
When people visit the zoo, they normally do it in a group, with their families, or as a part of a school group activity. In the zoo they interact with each other and are able to relax and look at the animals, play with some of them, comment on their appearance and behavior, and laugh at their funny customs. Nowadays families do not spend as much time together as they used to a couple of decades ago. The zoo is a great reason for spending time with the family, it is a great activity that can be enjoyed every family member, from kids to grandparents.
Animals, the different species, their habitats and behaviors are a subject of study at schools and universities. We can learn a lot from books and lectures, but there is an even better way to learn, that is visuals and personal experience. If you visit the zoo, you get to watch the animals, their customs, what they eat and how they eat it, as well as which characteristics the different species have. In the zoo you can see an animal and their different variations, the male and the female or the baby and the adult. It offers a great opportunity to observe their reactions to different situations, such as weather, specie and genre interaction, defense behavior, or protection of their babies. Moreover, it will also help identify which animals could be dangerous. Visiting the zoo would help the students understand what they learn at school.
Finally, a visit to the zoo will help increasing someone’s respect and appreciation for animals. It is a lot easier to appreciate something after you have seen it, and learned from it. This is especially true for people living in the city, where the only animals they normally interact with are pets like cats and dogs. In the present there is a lack of respect for animals. Being able to see the animals in real life and learning facts about them would help by making people aware of the importance of animals and the respect they deserve.
The reason why most people oppose to zoos is that in some of them the animals are not very well taken care of and they do not have good and clean facilities. This is mostly true but does not relate to the purpose of zoos. It would be great if every zoo kept the animals in perfect conditions, but regardless of the condition, zoos are very useful.
2. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? At universities and colleges, sports and social activities are just as important as classes and libraries and should receive equal financial support. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
A lot of people want to acquire more knowledge to improve themselves in university or college, then they can have specific skills to find a good job, and also some people said studying is an only way to change your life. So, we can understand how the knowledge is so important. But, I think we can’t just learn knowledge in university or college, because the sports and social activities are also important. I agree that sports and social activities are as important as class and libraries and should receive equal financial support, because those are helping students to build health, team works, and social skills.
First of all, doing exercise is good for our body and get healthier. The university and college can’t just support the financial to classes and libraries. The education does not just help students to acquire knowledge from textbooks, especially in university and college. The education is helping students to develop great on every ways. Follow this point, university and college also need to focus on student’s health, we don’t want students to get sick easily and just acquire knowledge.
The social activity is also important to a university or college student, because after the university and college, the graduated students need to find a job, and usually, there are a lot of meetings and teamwork in a company or with other companies. So, the social activity helps students to develop their teamwork skill. For example, when I was in student association in university, we have a lot of meeting to plan events, because we can’t do a big event just by one person that is impossible. We have to separate jobs to everyone and finish it on the time. So that was help me to understand the teamwork is every important.
Additionally, the social skill is helping a person to develop his social network. Graduated from university or college, the social skill is more important than knowledge from textbooks in the future, because we will meet a lot of different people. So we need to know how to have a conversation with other unfamiliar people.
In conclusion, I think the sports and social activities are as important as classes and libraries and should receive the same support.
3. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Patience is usually not a good thing; we should take actions at once. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
Patience is either a good strategy of waiting and hoping, or a bad one of losing time and opportunities. Under different circumstances, more often than not we should wait and hope in order to achieve, but sometimes it is better for us to act immediately before “golden” opportunities are lost forever. At best, patience is wisdom; and at worst, it is laziness in the absence of courage.
Being a great capacity associated with wisdom, patience usually is a good strategy. Since most great achievements require time, patience may be regarded as a form of wisdom that is essential to successfully managing many things, big and small. Generally speaking, that wisdom is summed up in two words: wait and hope. Like famers, for instance, we need to learn that we cannot work together efficiently with other people and society cannot function at all in civil order. To paraphrase the wisdom of an old Chinese saying: “lack of patience in small matters can create havoc in great ones.”
Nevertheless, patience has its limits; being taken too far, it goes beyond laziness to become cowardice. Hence, it is not always realistic to believe that all good things in the world come to us just because we wait long enough, refusing to know what on earth we are hoping for. Indeed, patience must be founded on realistic hope and it is not a virtue, provided that it is not out of necessity. That is to say, patience may become a bad strategy if it is passive which means that not taking right action in the right place at the right moment. Ironically, patience ought to be understood as the quality of being active, or a form of action, which demands courage and force so that time is not hopelessly lost. Far from being lazy and cowardly, we should not hesitate imprudently and wait passively but should rather take quick action in the right direction now rather than later, considering that “time and tide” shall wait for no lazy people.
Accordingly, the wise policy is to seek patience and action in equal amounts. Patience alone without wisdom does not lead to great achievements, whereas hasty actions are seldom wise and often doomed. We may believe that laziness along with cowardice is a bad strategy, and we should also know that the wisdom of patience is doing something else in the meantime and not waiting foolishly like cowards.
4. Agree or disagree: the government, instead of individuals, should cover Internet fees. The Internet is as important as other service such as building roads so that the government should make Internet access to all the citizens at no cost.
Despite the huge impact of the Internet, as a convenient tool for educational, vocational and recreational purposes, offering free Internet access should be viewed as a short-sighted, ill- considered proposal. For both personal and commercial concerns, Internet with no charges will inevitably bring about unexpected fallout. Therefore, I hold my point that under no circumstances should the government provide free Internet access for the public.
First, for the users of Internet, free of charge means declination of quality. So limited is the total bandwidth of Internet access, that more computers and phones connected to the Internet means slower speed for each individual user. Now, as Internet could be available only after payment, those unwilling to spend money on the Internet leaves fairly enough bandwidth for the registered users. However, were Internet free of charge for citizens, almost everyone, whether with urgent or irrelevant aims, would have connected to the Internet for 24 hours 7 days. Then, without doubt, so many citizens watching online videos, downloading large-scale software or chatting via video cam with more than 10 friends, the Internet must be slower than those using a primitive 14.4k modem. So, for the rights to access fast enough Internet, government should never make it free.
Second, for the businesses providing Internet access, free Internet services will ruin their future. As Internet becomes an essential part for people's life, many companies working on offering fast, stable Internet access become strong business tycoons. For instance, Vodafone, one of the largest Internet service providers, has established 14 branches in different countries and recruited over 1.4 million employees. However, when free Internet service emerged, what would probably happen to these fast-growing businesses? Internet users, finding ways to download music or send voice mails without any charge, will soon abandon these Internet companies to send bills to them every month. Then, not only such business would go bankruptcy, all the staff would thus become unemployed, which could be a huge economic and social disaster for government.
In conclusion, both considering the privileges for Internet users and the destiny of Internet service providers, I strongly believe that government should never try to make Internet access free.
5. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is easier for parents to raise children today than it was 50 years ago.
Raising children is definitely one of the most challenging things in the world. From the time babies are born, parents have the responsibility to properly feed and educate them. Considering every aspect of raising children, I firmly believe that it is much easier for parents to take care of children nowadays than 50 years ago.
First, compared with parents 50 years ago, parents nowadays have relatively easy access to information about how to raise a child. 50 years ago, books about raising a child are scarce and computers can only be found in government offices and big companies. However, as technology and book industry develops quickly, we can buy books, magazines and scan websites that provide comprehensive, practical and expert child health and parenting information and activities covering children of different ages. For example, my neighbor just gave birth to a baby and she did not know how to do baby massage. I searched on the internet and found tips about performing baby massage. Some articles even well-illustrated and are equipped with videos, which are more vivid and explicit than words. My neighbor quickly learned how to massage her baby.
Second, children are vulnerable to various diseases. In the past, many diseases were incurable and even mild diseases like the Vitamin deficiency may cause sufferings. However, in the 21st century many diseases die out because of the advances in modern medicine. Besides, the environment nowadays is hygienic, which means that children are less likely to be attacked by infectious diseases.
Last but not least, with the development of economy, parents nowadays are more likely to raise children with both strong body and strong mind. In the past, children can hardly fill their bellies, let alone go to school to receive education. Now, things have changed completely. The living standards are much higher than that of 50 years ago, which means that parents now can not only supply their children with sufficient and nutritious food to eat, but also have abilities to provide them mental food. For example, my grandparents told me that many babies born in the 1960s were starve to death because of food scarcity. Although parents were working very hard, they still could not earn enough money to buy daily necessities.
From the above analysis, I believe that abundant information, coupled with advanced modern medicine and prosperous economy, make it easier for parents nowadays to bring up children.
6. Which way do you think is the best way for a student to make new friends?
-joining a sports team;
-participating in community activities;
-traveling
Friendship is one of the greatest things in life. Good friends bring a special meaning to us. That’s why people constantly look forward to making new friends. Different people find their friends from different activities and situations such as traveling, taking part in community activities. For me, the best way to cultivate friendship is joining a sport team. My writing will thoroughly look into some typical reasons for this.
First and foremost, what I put as my priority is a same interest. The fact is that people joining a sport team always have something they are both passionate about. They do not need to worry about lack of topics to talk. The games they are involved will bring them endless discussions. For instance, my younger brother is an introvert. When he was in high school, he did not become friends with anyone. He often kept quiet and felt difficult to communicate with people. However, when he entered university, he joined the football club. One day, I was so surprised he brought home a group of friends in his club. They were very active and kept talking about the last football match they saw in television. My brother was so passionate when he talked about football, the famous soccer he admires, which team would get the champion. Without doubt, sports are likely to make people close together and shorten all the distance between them.
In the second place, time that members in a team spend with each other is undoubtedly of paramount importance. It cannot be denied that there are many activities in a sport team that members do together. These activities can be practicing, taking part in competitions, shopping to buy sport facilities, cleaning courts… For example, last semester, I joined a badminton club in my university to prepare for the university badminton tournament. I had a lot of activities with the members in our club. We practiced two hours every day for a month before the competition. After practicing hours, we went to the cafeteria in campus to have drinks and chat with each other. It was fun. I had many good memories with people in this club. With no doubt, by joining a sport team or club, people stand a golden chance to have great time with friends.
Last but not least, trust holds no less an important role. Obviously, trust is essential to any friendship. It is even more important between teammates in a sport team. In a sport team, people are encouraged to trust each other. Players need to help their teammates and let their teammates help them. A person should always be sure that he or she always has friends after his or her back. Beyond any doubt, a sport boosts trust between friends and encourages them to become wonderful friends.
All in all, a same interest, good time and trust are convincing reasons I hold the strong belief in advantage of taking part in a sport team to make friends. I strongly recommend everyone to have an appropriate decision when choosing an activity to join to meet new friends.
7. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Drivers should pay a certain amount of fee to be permitted to drive out in traffic in peak traffic hours.
According to a recent statistic on the Internet, the number of cars in traffic busy time is so large and undoubtedly has the tendency of increasing. In order to solve this, some people insist on making drivers pay a certain amount of fees so that they can be permitted to drive out in traffic busy time. However, others believe that there is hardly any necessity to charge. From my perspective, I completely agree with the former idea.
The first reason I want to put forward is that charging money can definitely make the transportation flexible and convenience. For example, if the drivers should pay a certain amount of fees for being permitted to drive out in traffic busy time, there will be fewer cars in this period and the transportation could be convenient. What is more, the more convenient the traffic is, the more time people could save. People could have more time to do other things rather than waiting for the traffic. Therefore, it is necessary to make drivers pay a certain amount of fees considering the convenience of the traffic.
The second reason I want to put forward is that cars contributed to the aggravating environmental conflicts and influence the individual’s life. A nationwide investigation conducted by experts demonstrates that car exhaust contains compounds like carbon monoxide dioxide that threatens the public health as well as the environment. The lost of lives and property will be countless and that is really a tremendous disaster. Thus, in order to avoid this phenomenon, we could make the drivers pay fees to limit the number of cars in the traffic rush hours.
Although I admit that there may be a couple of disadvantages to charging drivers, I feel that the advantages are more obvious. It could contribute to the transportation and the environment. Besides, the additional fees charged could be used to improve the fundamental facilities. For example, more complicated and scientific road system could be designed and established to allow cars pass through more quickly. It will benefit people in the long run.
In conclusion, charging people a certain amount of fee to drive out in traffic peak hours could help to ease traffic pressure and lead to less exhaust. Its benefits outweigh its disadvantages.
8. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Students do not respect teachers as much as they did in the past.
In recent history, one of the greatest advances of society has been the development of universal education. While education has become more important to society, I do not believe the social status of a teacher has advanced as much. I do not believe that people today respect teachers as much as they did in the past.
Many years before, scholars were basically celebrities and they were duly given credit for their contributions to the society. Scholars from ancient times like Socrates and Confucius were not only famous for their theories and works, but they also established a permanent place in history by sharing and passing on their ideas to their students. In history, men of knowledge held a special place in society and were honored by their students. Yes today there are still many leading scholars, but how many of these teachers are household names? I don’t even think I can name the most recent Nobel Prize laureates.
To examine the level of respect given to many teachers in the past, we must broaden the definition of what qualifies as a teacher. Previously many occupations in society were based on a strict guild system where people learned their occupation through a strict training system. First you began as an apprentice and then you would become a journeyman. After years of work perfecting your skill you would become a master. The master served as a teacher to the other apprentices and journeymen. A particular degree of respect was paid to the masters of each trade. Nowadays machines have replaced skilled laborers and the role of master teachers is obsolete. To some extent technology has degraded the necessity and therefore the value of a teacher in society.
In today’s society there is also an overarching stigma that degrades the general status of the teaching profession. Many people in society believe that those who cannot be successful in any other profession become teachers. If you love playing the piano but are not accomplished enough to become a concert pianist, then you become a piano teacher. Teaching is also seen as a mediocre career, because the average salary of a teacher is much lower than many other professions. This is not to say that there are not many intelligent and successful teachers. I know many teachers who gave up a better career because they found teaching to be much more rewarding of a career. However, this does not change the opinion of society as a whole towards the teaching profession.
When compared to the elite status many teachers held in history, there is no doubt that teachers today are not as respected as teachers in the past. In today’s society, being a teacher is not considered the most successful or respected career.
9. Do you agree or disagree with the statement: Governments have done enough to educate the people the importance of a balanced lifestyle and healthy eating?
A balanced lifestyle and healthy eating are essential things for a government to develop and advance that they are so deeply relevant for a great nation to be. In my country, I think my government is not doing enough to educate its citizens to keep a balanced lifestyle and to eat healthily.
Firstly, the government emphasizes more on the development of economy than a sound lifestyle. To be more concise, it always makes attempts to boost the growth of economy trying to prove that my country is a great one and people living on this land are happy and content. However, economy progression is not a sound indicator to this regard due to the fact that people are expected to work harder and to sacrifice their spare time in order to fulfill the anticipation of the company and the government. A balanced life means people do not just work for their career or jobs, but also for their pleasures, for their hobbies and for their family. In the society, conversely, people are educated to use all their time to work diligently at the expense of anything in their life. A so unbalanced lifestyle it is that people are under pressure, such as construction workers needing to finish building projects as fast as possible so that they can earn more money; students trying to ace the test so that they can earn more time for their tests by sacrificing the time of exercising and spending time with their friends and family. Hardly do they take a rest to lead a balanced life because they are not educated to do so for a better living.
Secondly, the government tends to ignore the fast development of unhealthy chain store. The food industry has a tremendous influence on the issue of healthy eating. However, it is so powerful that this great empire spends millions of dollars on advertisement, medium, movies or even on schools, for they are sponsors of certain activities in schools. So, most of the people are not educated well enough to on a diet that is beneficial and wholesome to their physical condition. What they are “educated” instead is to eat in a fancy place and get their meals as fast as possible as in chain fast-food restaurants. As we all know that fruits, vegetables and water are essential elements for a healthy eating habit, yet the government seldom educates us to consume those things in our daily life; instead, unhealthy chain stores are taking the hand of the government in educating us what seems right to eat due to the ignorance of the rampant development of ill-nourished food industry.
Admittedly, some people may still think our government has done its role of educating citizens to eat healthy and keep a balanced life. For instance, in the school, students are taught what nutrients are vital to our physical condition and some of the governmental organizations, taking Healthy and Sanitary Department for example. It is holding some activities to teach citizens what to eat to keep in a good shape and live healthily. However, to me, this is not enough. Greasy food and sugary beverages are still sold in the school due to its high profits. Salty food, high carbohydrate diets and fried products are not a rare sight when people go to supermarkets or when they turn on the TV or read the magazines.
In conclusion, even though my government is trying its best to educate people to eat right in some fields, this is not sufficient and not effectual. The government is still trying to focus more on the development of economy and people are still bombarded with the advertisements of the food industry, so people eat by the “trend,” rather than by the “nutrition facts” from food. Hence, I think my government is not educating their people enough concerning a balanced life and a healthy eating concept.
10. Agree or disagree: Most business people are motivated by the desire for money.
When talking about whether most of business people are motivated by money to run companies, you may find it in dense with opinion that agrees with this statement. However, some argue that many business people are actually not motivated by money.
