Teacher: Lê Xuân Hồ PARAGRAPH WRITING QUESTION: Why do we say computers always play an important part of our life? Write a paragraph of about 150 words, using explanations and examples to support your answer Brainstorming: (This stage can be skipped) - play games, watch movies, listen to music - learn English/languages, - do calculations, type letters/documents, design buildings, draw pictures, edit photos/ videos - search for any information, prepare lessons / lectures Making an outline: The computer plays an essential role: It appears in every part of our daily life + At work: It helps us: - do calculations - type and store documents - design buildings, do stock transactions - operate high-tech plants and machines + In education: We can: - learn languages, search for information - prepare lessons or lectures + For entertainment: We can relax by playing games, watching movies or listening to music It goes without saying that the computer is very important in our life Writing a paragraph: EXAMPLE PARAGRAPH: [1] In our modern time, the computer appears in every part of our daily life [2] It plays an essential role at work, in education as well as in entertainment [3] First of all, at work, the computer helps us, in just a few hours or even seconds, type documents and do calculations, which may take a normal brain a life time to finish Besides, with computers people can do businesses like stock transactions or design buildings, operate high-tech plants and run machines efficiently [4] Then, in education, with a computer connected to the Internet we can search almost any sort of information we need for our study or learn languages more effectively [5] [Also, teachers or lecturers can make their lessons or lectures more lively and interesting with programs such as Powerpoint or other types of slide-show] [6] Lastly, for entertainment, after working hard we can get relaxed by playing some computer games or listening to our favorite type of music with the computer When we want to see a movie, staying at home, we can search for it on the Internet just in the matter of minutes, without having to go to the theater or anywhere to buy video tapes or CDs [7] It goes without saying that the computer plays a key role in every part of our daily life, from businesses to education or entertainment [8] Without it, everything in life would slow down and life would no doubt be much more dull Lê Xuân Hồ Notes: PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE: [1]: Intro/Lead-in (Before the Topic sentence) or Bridge (after the topic sentence) [2]: Topic sentence [3], [4], [5] and [6]: Supporting ideas [5] can be left out to make the paragraph a little shorter to meet the word-limit [7]: Conclusion (No connective is used here as a kind of flexibility) [8]: Going further PREPOSITIONS, CONJUNCTIONS AND TRANSITIONS: + Because, since, as, Now that, on account of, due to, thanks to + Although, though, even though, in spite of, despite, in spite of the fact that + However, but, yet, therefore, so, Nonetheless, Nevertheless, On the other hand, On the contrary, By/In contrast + First, firstly, second, secondly, last, lastly, Last but not least + Next, Then, Also, In addition, In addition to …, Besides, Beside…, Furthermore, Moreover, Another…, other… + In sum, In brief, In a nutshell, In one word, In short, In conclusion