TWE Essays 35/292 35 In short, I do not believe that television has destroyed or even harmed interpersonal communication among most people. Most people realize that television is merely a temporary diversion and do not use it to replace interpersonal communication. I believe that the damage attributed to television is greatly exaggerated and that such damage is most likely attributable to other more powerful social factors. (Essay ID: 339 . Sample essay provided by Erin Billy of www.TestMagic.com) Topic: 8 When asked about what has been brought by television , different people have different answers. There is some people who don't like TV saying that television has destroyed communications among friends and family. however other people take a negative attitude on this issue. In my opinion, I disagree with the above statement . The reasons are given below. Television is only one instrument for people to relax. There is many ways of amusement for people to select after the working time nowadays. You can select to meet your friends, to accompany your parents or to take part in some sports activities. Watching TV at home is simply one way to live. It is too narrowly to regard TV as one main reason to damage relationship among friends and family just because some people has spent a lot of time on it . Another reason that I disagree with the above statement is that TV can provide some additional topics for communication among friends and family. Talking about the news, the soap drama or soccer game watching on the TV last night is also good communication ways to increase your affections with your friends and your family. Also sometimes, skipping one TV program could probably make you lose voices among your friends. Last but not least, watching TV is one good medicine to cure the loneliness when your friends and parents can not accompany with you. I would not forget the warm which was brought by TV when along outside the hometown. I can't deny that some people has ignored friends and family when they are addicted into watching TV. However, everything has it's two sides. All the factors mentioned above determined me to draw the conclusion that it is not reasonable to say television has destroyed communications among friends and family. (Essay ID: 234. This is a 5 point essay) Topic: 8 Some people believe that television has destroyed communication among friends and family. I think this is an exaggeration. In my opinion, whether or not television hurts communication depends on what type of program is being viewed. More importantly, it depends on the type of viewer. There are empty programs and educational programs. Empty programs do not challenge people. They have just enough storyline to keep them from switching channels. There are also passive and active viewers. A passive viewer will just watch television without thinking about what he or she is seeing. The combination of an empty program and a passive viewer makes communication unlikely. Passive viewers just continue to watch, actually enjoying the fact that they don't have to think. They won't break away to talk about programming with friends and family. Even with better programming, passive viewers still won't think or communicate much. They'll probably even TWE Essays 36/292 36 prefer the empty programs because the better programming is too much work. On the other hand, active viewers watching educational programming always want to share what they see with friends and family. "Educational" doesn't necessarily mean documentaries on PBS. They could be dramas with realistic relationships or action shows with clever plotlines. When active viewers watch programs, they have ideas and talk about them with others. Good programming inspires them to change their thinking and their lives. Unlike passive viewers, they don't want to watch more and more without thinking. In short, television may destroy communication among passive viewers. Those viewers probably don't want to communicate with friends and family much anyway. For active viewers who already enjoy communicating, television is actually helpful! (Essay ID: 82 ) Topic: 9 I grew up in a small town and then moved to a big city, so I have experienced the good and bad sides of both. I never thought that I would like living in a big city, but I was wrong. After ten years of living in one, I can't imagine ever living in a small town again. Small towns and big cities both have some problems in terms of transportation. In a small town, you have to own a car to ensure a comfortable living. You can't get around without one because there isn't any kind of public transportation. Big cities generally have heavy traffic and expensive parking, but there you have a choice of taking public transportation. It's not free, but it's often cheaper than driving when you consider gas and time. Especially if you don't have a car, you're better off in the city. I love the excitement of big cities. Small towns have a slow pace. Large cities mean you have to adapt to a variety of situations, like finding a new route to work or trying a new restaurant. I enjoy that challenge very much. Another pan of the excitement of city living is the variety of cultural activities available. There is a wide assortment of theatre, music and dance performances available in big cities. These things are rare in small ones. The final thing I like about large cities is the diversity of the people. The United States is made up of people of different races, religions, abilities, and interests. However, you seldom find such a variety of people in a smaller town. I think that living in an area where everyone was just like me would quickly become boring. Of course, security is a concern, and that's one area where small towns are superior to big cities. Still, I would rather be a bit more cautious and live in a large city than to feel secure but bored. (Essay ID: 83 ) Topic: 9 Where should we live? Some may choose to live in big cities, while other like the natural and quiet surroundings in countryside. As far as I am concerned, I would like to live in a big city because living in a big city has more advantages than living in countryside. To begin with, the city is the symbol of human civilization and there are a many facilities for living, recreation and health care. Therefore, living there is more convenient than living in countryside. For example, we can find a plenty of malls around our neighborhood, where we can TWE Essays 37/292 37 buy everyday necessities at a low price. Furthermore, people concern more about their health and safety than other things in their lives. In big cities, medical facilities and emergency services are easily accessible than in countryside. Big cities also have convenient transportation and utility systems. They also offer faster Internet connections. These all make our life easier in big cities. In addition, we can take part in a variety of events in big cities. Human being likes to live together and need to interact with each other. In a big city, the population density is high therefore there are always plenty of social activities, sports events and concerts. There are more recreational places in big cities, such as opera houses, movie theatres, clubs, and swimming pools. You will have many kinds of entertainment in big cities, and meet many people. In countryside, however, the life may be dull and quite, and you may only have a few neighbors. Living alone with few activities can easily cause mental diseases. Some may argue that the pollution in cities makes people sick. However, with automobiles and modern highways we can easily take a break to expose to fresh air in countryside and sunshine on the beach. In conclusion, I strongly hold that living in big cities is much better than living in countryside because of the advanced facilities and social activities in cities. Moreover, the autos and highways enable us to enjoy the natural and quiet surroundings in countryside. (Essay ID: 411 ) Topic: 9 In English, there is a well-known fairy story about a poor country boy, Dick Whittington, who goes to London because he believes that the streets of that city are “paved with gold”. The story is a tale of “from rags to riches”. Dick eventually becomes the Lord Mayor of London. Like the hero of that story, I always find wonder and adventure in cities. Cities contain a great assortment of people. Whenever I walk around a shopping precinct at midday on a weekend, I am fascinated by all the different types of people hurrying around the shops. Sometimes, I just sit on a public bench and simply watch the variegated streams of shoppers. Today, in the age of globe-trotting transport and communications, city life is more mixed than it has ever been. Capital cities are not cosmopolitan, and eager to attract foreign trade and currency. There is a contemporary English joke which tells that “you can never find an Englishman in London”. Whether rightly or wrongly, governments and local authorities usually build public amenities in the big cities. Money is invested in transport, libraries, parks and museums. Often, countries will compete with each other for the best “show-case” building. Malaysia has built a skyscraper that is taller than is anything in New York. In large countries, region will compete against region: New York against Chicago, Shanghai against Hong Kong and Beijing. All of this is good for the citizen. The magic of the Dick Whittington story is rekindled in me when I enter a library in a magnificent building. If a person is at university studying art or music, a large city usually offers galleries and public performances. Even as a teenager, I appreciated the worth of living in a city because two or three times a year there was a rock concert by a favorite band. Architecture is the urban landscape. If a person has an appreciation of architecture, a city can be as visually exciting as the Himalayas. A modern metropolis is a mountain range of height, light and solidness. And then there are the old buildings: the quaint, unspoiled side-street or shops and homes from a distant age. If a person lived all of his life in one large city, he would continue to TWE Essays 38/292 38 discover its architectural secrets into his old age. Man is a 'social animal'. He talks, mixes and creates. Cities offer the libraries, universities and cafe bars for him to meet others of his kind. (Essay ID: 489 ) Topic: 10 I fully agree with the claim that there is no correlation between success and luck. Moreover, I understand success to refer to one's ability to achieve the predominant part of his goals in his lifetime, which in turn leads to a correlation between success and income since the accomplishment of such a natural goal as to provide a good future for your loved ones demands the means. What is the simplest and most lawful way to earn enough to consider yourself a successful person? To receive a good education and to find a good job. Both receiving an education and making a career presuppose one's readiness to work hard, and success without hard work is simply not possible for the vast majority of the world's population. The reasons and examples listed below will strengthen my point of view. First of all, considering an education and a career as key factors of success, one will choose to pursue a degree from a college or a university. One wishing to be admitted to the university will have to take several tests. It is doubtful that someone will be so lucky that knowing nothing, he could pass the test with a high score. A low score means failure, and that test taker will not likely be admitted. Therefore, in order to be successful, one should prepare for the tests and work hard, because a good education will provide him with a good job and an opportunity to accomplish some of his goals and dreams. In my lifetime, I have never met a person who could graduate from a college without working hard. Secondly, it is impossible to make a career if one is indolent and lacking knowledge, at least in developed countries. Luck plays no role in achieving this success. Even if someone was unbelievably lucky enough to become a manager not being qualified enough, he will be asked to resign in the near future because of his inability due to lack of knowledge and experience to make right decisions. For instance, I used to work for a very small company owned by a friend. This company was later closed because of bankruptcy. The cause of bankruptcy was wrong strategies and decisions made by the owner. After the failure, he went to a university and worked for another company so that he could obtain experience and become a successful businessman. Nowadays, he considers himself a successful person because he had turned into reality his two biggest dreams of producing consumer goods of high quality and making charitable donations to needy people. In sum, as long as someone understands success as an ability to turn into reality some of his dreams and goals, he will have to work hard because he will need money. And his chances to earn that money will remarkably increase if he could graduate from a college and make a career. All of these things are simply not possible without hard work. Luck has no place in such a scheme of events. (Essay ID: 71 ) Topic: 10 There is a humorous saying in English – “The grass is always greener on the other side of the valley”. The saying is used ironically to point out that there is a temptation in us all to insist that others are more fortunate than we are. This is nowhere more true than on the question of luck and TWE Essays 39/292 39 hard work. When faced with the “bad times”, we often find comfort in the idea that we are special in our degree of misfortune. I feel that such an attitude is negative, and that it can bring only further misfortune. Many famously successful people have begun from small origins. Mao was the son of a (modestly prosperous) peasant; the explorer Captain Cook was so poor that, as a child, he had to work by day and study by night; many of the affluent Americans of today are the children of the poor immigrants of yesterday. Beethoven, it should be remembered, became deaf before the end of his career. There are many, many more people who have also made genuine, though Jess spectacular, successes against the odds. Within his own terms, a person who is born into poverty in India is a great success if he manages to own a house in later life. Poverty cannot be reduced by merely complaining and blaming others: no matter how guilty other people are, each individual must reach out to success for himself. Indeed, some economists believe that the world operates by what they call “the rule of the jungle”. They believe that in economics a person a1ways attempts to gain profit from his neighbor: that given the chance the poor man would quickly make himself rich by trading to his own advantage. Also, it is presumptuous to judge another according to his or her apparent fortune. No man can ever truly understand the sufferings of his neighbor. A man who appears comfortably rich may have suffered elsewhere in his life - through the death of a loved one, for example. Retired businessmen have often worked long hours in their youth. Surely, it must be wiser to respect achievement than to deny that anyone has achieved good in the world. To rely on notions of luck - to believe that life is a kind of lottery - is an attempt to escape reality. Paradoxically, the only time a person can claim that luck is more important than work is when he reflects on his own success. Because of that modesty, the great man then becomes even greater. (Essay ID: 486 ) Topic: 11 In my point of view,sports activities are as important as ,if not more important than,good libraries.So it is wise for universities to give the same amount of money to their students' sports activities as they give their university libraries.There are numerous clear reasons and i would explore some important ones here. First,good health is the prerequiste for future success.Universities are not only the place for students to expand their minds, but also a place for student to build their body.A good health is very essential for study and future success.In our university,there are several middle-aged teachers and researchers suffer from diseases,some even died when they were atill at the acme of their academic achievements.This is a great loss for their families and our university. Second,through sports activities,student can benefit both physically and mentally.Anyone who has played in a football game knows that the cooperation and competition are important for success.They are two basic traits for those who want to succeed,and student who can combine them harmoniously have better chance of success in the future. Third,investment in sports activities can save money in the long run.In China, all of students medical expenses are patronized by government anf this is a heavy burden.If the students health imporved,a lot of money can be saved every year.With these money,universities can build more classrooms,laboratories and libraries. TWE Essays 40/292 40 Of course, good libraries are also important for universities.A good library with its large collection of books is the pride and symbol of a prominent university.Boht libraries and sports activities are indispenable for unicersity,so it is wise for unicversities give the same amount of money to their student activities as they give to their libraries. (Essay ID: 464 ) Topic: 11 I disagree strongly with the idea that the same amount of money should go to university sports activities as to university libraries. Although playing sports is a wonderful way to learn about teamwork, strategy and reaching your goals, it should not be the principal focus of a university education. Students need the most up-to-date library facilities available to get the best education. Many of those facilities are very expensive to buy and maintain. These include computerized programs and access to Internet research databases that students can use to find information all around the world. If a university is only offering its students resources of a decade ago, it's depriving those students of a tremendous amount of information. Even the book and magazine budget of universities has gone up tremendously in the last decade. More is being published on every subject, and every university wants to have this information available to its students. It also costs money for universities to keep their libraries open. Students need to have access to all the libraries' research tools as much of the time as possible. Because students are young and can stay up all night studying, many universities are starting to leave their libraries open all night during exam periods. This costs money, because the staff has to be paid extra to be there. It also costs money to run the building (electricity, heat) during that time. Students at universities are only going to benefit from their education if they can get to all the tools they need to learn. Sports are secondary to the resources that students need from university libraries. For this reason, libraries should always be better funded than sports activities. (Essay ID: 90 ) Topic: 11 Both libraries and sports activities are welcome in the universities. Students could study in the libraries to build up their knowledge. They could get the information that they cannot get in the class. But knowledge is not all for the students. They are willing to have sports frequently. Anyone cannot go on his study without a healthy body. Unfortunately, if we have limited resources to put on the construction and operation of libraries or sport activites, how could we make a decision? I disagree with the statement that universities should give the same amount of money to sports activities as libraries. The librarie is necessary part of a university. We cannot imagine a university without any library. Student would like to find books in the library to facilitate their study. The time in the class is very limited. So they could get more academic information in the library. On the other hand, students could enjoy sports outside the campus. Many people just like running, which doesn't need any investment. . like living in a big city, but I was wrong. After ten years of living in one, I can't imagine ever living in a small town again. Small towns and big cities both have some problems in terms. faster Internet connections. These all make our life easier in big cities. In addition, we can take part in a variety of events in big cities. Human being likes to live together and need to interact. a break to expose to fresh air in countryside and sunshine on the beach. In conclusion, I strongly hold that living in big cities is much better than living in countryside because of the advanced