Full time university students spend most of the time studying.

They should be
doing other activities too. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Full time study in university is a great experience in life but in parallel to that
students become inactive in other activities such as working for their pocket money, sports,
participating in debates and socialization. People differ in their opinion if students
must engagedin other things or stay concentrated on their studies only. The discussion will
be presented below, followed by my opinion.

Some people say that mere studying does not product an overallyouth for a country. This
way, students only earn theoretical knowledge -- not practical. For instance, students can
be intelligent during their studies but at the same time when they come in the market to
work n, they fail and cannot develop their confidence and work as brilliantly as they were in
university. Hence, the best approach for them need to be engaged here and there for
practical experience.

On the other hand, others believe that building a better career is the foremost thing in
today’s world. So, they are targeted to their studies and gain as much knowledge as they
can. Furthermore, if they are diverted from their studies, they will not be able
to make their target.

In my point of view, there must be blending of full time education and extra activities. It
refreshes students’ minds and provides more energy to concentrate on it. Moreover, by this
way, they will learn how to be mingled with other people in the society.

To summarize, it can be said that it is important to concentrate on study but on the other
hand there must be something to keep themactive and relaxed being involved in games,
music, work and other extra activities.

Every year an increasing number of students choose to go to another country for

their higher education. Do you think the benefits of this development outweigh the
problems associated with it?

The past twenty years have seen a dramatic change of the number of students who go
abroad to begin college in China. In this essay, I will explore the advantages and
disadvantages of this trend.

On the one hand, both students and their country can benefit from this trend. First, students
can choose more suitable educationmethods for themselves because there are more options.
The courseand teaching methods are quite different from China. According to foreign
experts, the higher education in China is really not good as that of those developing
countries, especially in contrast with Europian or US. Secondly, people can improve their
foreign language, but, they can contact with others when they are in a foreign country, and
they will quickly master the foreign language. Thirdly, it helps to promote the mutual
understanding between their mother land and their destination countries. These students
exchange information with the locals. Students can get better understanding of
the destinationcountries. People in their home country will get more vivid information about
other countries through these messages. Similarly, the locals also can get more clear
recognition about other countries.

On the other hand, there are disadvantages too. Firstly, it costs people a lot of money to
begin college in foreign countries. Many families have to take out all their savings to support
their children to go abroad. Secondly, some students cannot stand the big difference of the
new environment, they maybe quit their study and come back home.

To conclude, given the undisputable fact that to begin college in foreign countries helps
students with their studies and promotes the mutual understanding between countries, even
if there are some drawbacks, I think the benefits outweigh the problems.

The best way to reduce the number of traffic accidents is to raise age limit for the
younger drivers and to lower age limit for the aged ones. Do you agree?

With the rapid increase in the number of vehicles on the road together with hush and rush
lifestyles of drivers today, traffic accidents seem to be escalating in our society. Age of
drivers contribute partly to number of traffic accidents but surely not as the main factor.
Those who agree with the statement would view young drivers assuming under 18 years old
and older drivers to be reckless and therefore would be more prone to traffic accidents on
the road. Lack of experience, forgetfulness, carelessness and poor fitness condition may be
reasons for limiting age of drivers.

On the other hand, I would think that age is only a small determinant and we need to look at
more effective measure such as reducing number of vehicles on the road through car pool,
implementing more stringent regulations on alcohol drink driving and possibly to revise on
the standard of driving test for young and old drivers on the road. Many drivers who are
stuck in traffic jams also have busy lifestyles and therefore tend to become very stressed or
distracted on the road. Thus I would think the government may have to look ways to
improve road infrastructure and traffic jams to deter or reduce accidents on the road.

To sum up, age is only one of the many contributors for accidents but I do not agree that by
lowering age for the elderly and raising age limit for the younger drivers is the best method.
As mentioned in my third paragraph, we need to look at other more effective measures
which deal with the underlying problems in the society which lead to traffic accidents.

Dieting can change a person’s life for the better or ruins one’s health completely.
What’s your opinion?

Dieting seems to be part of our life in this modern society, especially for those who are
health conscious. Different people choose different type of dieting methods, trying to achieve
what they believe to be good for either their health or physical appearance. In general, most
of the people who diet are focusing on controlling their weight.

In our urban society, most of the working class person does not have the opportunity to
consume a healthy meal. Their daily meals consist of fast food which contains large amounts
of fat and salt. The most significant prove of this unhealthy lifestyle is the weight gain
especially among those middle age working professionals.

Therefore, most of these young and energetic people have to control their diet in order to
stay in shape either for their appearance or health. The most common and proper method of
maintaining one’s weight is eating less oily food, preferably more green vegetables, fruits
and avoid alcohol.

However, some have resorted to losing weight by taking their diet to the extreme, not eating
at all for days. Others will make themselves vomit after each meal. Many others will go for
dieting medication and beverages that help them to lose their appetite. These
unhealthy dieting will cause internal damage in the long run.

In my opinion, dieting for better health is more important than solely for looking attractive.
Individuals who wish to control their weight should seek professional advise if they are
unable to reduce their weight after switching over to a healthy diet for a period of time.
Losing weight and losing your health at the same time does not benefit any individual.

In many countries children are engaged in some kind of paid work. Some people
regard this as completely wrong, while others consider it to be a valuable work
experience, which is important for learning and taking responsibility. What is your
opinion on this?

In the Third World, children are usually sent to factories for laborious work. Many people
believe that it is merely exploitation, while others think it is a good opportunity for them
to have life experience. In any case, children have their right to live and study in peaceful
conditions. Therefore, using them as workforce is considered an unacceptable action.

First of all, children are not workers. They have just learned about the vast world and do not
have any experience or concept of working. Since these innocent children are naive and lack
of life experiences, they can be easily cheated and exploited. There are many examples of
this in poor nations. Because using children is cheap and easily to control, many enterprises
hire them and don’t pay them much. Although the government in these countries has tried
its best, this kind of taking advantage of children cannot be eliminated.

Moreover, children do not need such thing as ‘valuable work experience’ that is supposedly
‘important for learning and taking responsibility’. The brief responsibility of children is
learning. They are not old enough to understand what working experiences are.
Nevertheless, they can help parents do chores or housework. This will be a much better way
for them to become more responsible for family. In addition, childhood is one of the most
remarkable memories and must not be taken away by forcing them to work.

In conclusion, since all children are the great concern of parent and society, they should be
allowed to enjoy life and educated rather than encouraging them to work. Hence, one must
ponder what view is actually appropriate for the sake of the children.

You can get up-to-date news from the radio, TV and the Internet. Which kind of
media do you think is the best to get the news?

Nowadays, there are several channels to get news, such as the radio, TV, newspapers and
the Internet. I think the Internet is the best among these. In my essay, I am going to
explain why.

Since its invention, the Internet has been booming as a prospective industry. Not only
because it is a combination of text, audio and video, but also due to its convinience. It has
threatened the domination of spreading news of the traditional media, and, I would say, is
about to take control.

We can find everything we want on the Internet – the latest news, books, songs, movies,
cartoons… whatever. With the radio, we can merely hear. Compared to a newspaper, the
radio and TV can provide the latest information. For instance the breaking news of the
Americans’ attacking Iraq was immediately availalbe online, as well as that the Twin Towers
of New York were destroyed on September 11, 2001. However, we just cannot carry TV
24/7.

The Internet is a convinient way of getting information, as long as your mobile phone is
connected or you possess a laptop. When I am on a vehicle, I usually have my cellphone
connected to the Internet, then browse through whathappend in the past few hours, or log in
MSN to begin a conversation with my friends. Reading a newspaper is also a good way to kill
time, but for me, a youngster, it is not so modern as “surfing online while commuting”.

The traditional media will never disappear, though the Internet has taken a big
advantage in the competition. And definitely, there is still a long way for the Internet to
go. Anyway, the Internet benefits me the most, and I highly appreciate it.

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

Nowadays, technological advances and their rapid and wide applications are having a
significant impact on a nation’s traditional skills and ways of life. Some argue that such
impact is so extraordinary that it would make conventional skills and life stylesobsolete.
However, I believe they would continue to thrive by providing alternatives to modern ways of
life, and innovative ideas for modern technologies.

First of all, traditional skills and ways of life are becoming an alternative solution to the
problems caused by “mainstreamed” ways of life which are greatly influenced by modern
technologies. For instance, a cozy restaurant where traditional, home-brewed beer is served,
offers another experience to people who are bored with branded beers that have the same
flavor and come out of mass production with new technologies. It is in such a venue where
traditional skills are preserved, people become relaxed and educated. Providing diversity and
thus enriching modern ways of life, such traditional skills and ways of life would continue to
have their place.

Furthermore, conventional skills provide innovative ideas to the development of modern

technologies. For example, sparkled by how the word “Love” is traditionally knitted into a
sweater by some ethnic minority women in some parts of Asia, some business managers
from textile industry have developed some production lines by applying the traditional skills
to Computer-Aided Designs (CAD). The products have boosted the companies’ sales which in
turn have increased their investment in preserving traditional skills for further developing
their technologies.

To conclude, traditional skills and life styles are increasingly becoming a useful alternative to
the homogeneity brought by global applications of modern technologies. However, the
evolution of technologies is a selection process, whereby some would become obsolete, but
there is no doubt that some would thrive when their roles are appreciated.