21 Bài luận tiếng anh

LUYỆN THI ĐẠI HỌC MÔN TIẾNG ANH CÙNG DƯƠNG LÊ HẢI TRIỀU HỌC TIẾNG ANH QUA PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢI ĐỀ CÁC BÀI LUẬN MẪU VÀ PHẦN VIẾT LẠI CÂU THI TN THPT QUỐC GIA 2015 I BÀI LUẬN: (1.5đ) Topic 1: Write a paragraph of about 140 words to tell about your family (Viết đoạn văn khoảng 140 từ kể gia đình bạn) There are four people in my family: my parents, my younger sister and I My dad is forty-nine and my mom is four years younger My younger sister is ten years old My dad works for a local company and my mom is a doctor My younger sister is in grade Both my parents work from 7:30am to 5pm everyday except Saturday and Sunday Sometimes they have to work at night and go away home for a few days Although my parents are very busy with their work, they always try to spend much time for the family My mother is a caring person She always gets up early in the morning to prepare breakfast for everyone My dad is always happy to give a hand with the housework such as cooking meals or cleaning the floor Because I am in grade 12 and I will have taken the national exam by the end of June, my parents let me have a lot of time for my study However, I always try to help my mom and dad with the household chores My main responsibility is taking out the garbage, washing the dishes after meals and helping my younger sister with her study when I have time We are a close-knit family and we always share our feeling, happiness, or sadness with each other I love my family so much Topic 2: Write a letter of request (about 120 words) to ask for the information about the admission requirements to the university you want to apply to (Viết thư yêu cầu khoảng 120 từ hỏi thông tin thủ tục đăng kí vào trường đại học bạn muốn nộp đơn) Quang La street, Hoanh Bo district, Quang Ninh Dear Sir/ Madam, I have read the advertisement of your university in our local paper, and I am very much impressed by its reputation, especially the Department of Accountant I will have finished my secondary education by the end of May and taken the national exam and I am very interested in an undergraduate course in your university Would you please let me know the admission requirements to it and will you send me the information about the course: tuition fee, its details and accommodation as well? I would be happy to supply further information about myself if necessary I look forward to hearing from you soon Yours faithfully, Nguyen Van A Topic 3: Write a paragraph (120 words) about measures to protect endangered species (Viết đoạn văn khoảng 120 từ biện pháp để bảo vệ loài bị lâm nguy) Nowadays, a lot of species in the world are in danger of extinction Therefore, we should take some measures to protect them from becoming extinct First, we should organize different activities such as international seminars or forums to raise people’s awareness of the need to protect rare and endangered animals Second, we should raise sufficient funds for projects to save endangered animals Third, we should stop everyone from damaging and polluting the habitats for endangered animals Next, we should provide people who live in or near endangered animals’ habitats have poor living conditions with suitable jobs to improve their lives Furthermore, we should build more wildlife habitat reserves for endangered animals to live in Finally, we shoud enact laws asking some countries to protect endangered animals and ban people to exploit and sell fashionable wildflife products Topic 4: In about 140 words, write a paragraph about the kind of job you would like to after you finish your education (Trong khoảng 140 từ, viết đoạn văn công việc bạn muốn làm sau học xong ) Having a job nowadays is very important to everyone By the end of this month, I will have left my high school, so I also would like to choose a suitable job for myself.Unlike other students, I live in a poor village in the remote and mountainous area where there is always the lack of everything such as schools, teachers, electricity and water, the living conditions are low and children not go to school regularly Now I am a student and I am going to leave my school to attend a university, so I hope to make my home village more developed and bring knowledge to the children Besides, I love teaching and I love children and want to give comfort and care to them Therefore, I would like to work as a teacher Working as a teacher would be a fascinating and challenging job because I would have a chance to bring education to difficult places with poor children and living conditions That’s the reason why I have applied to Hanoi National University of Education to meet my dream Topic 5: Your school organizes a competition for students to write about "The world in which I would like to live in the year 2020." Write an essay about this topic (Trường bạn tổ chức thi cho học sinh viết “Thế giới bạn muốn sống vào năm 2020” Viết tiểu luận chủ đề này) My ideal world would be a peaceful one There are no wars or conflicts between nations People won't have to live under the threat of terrorism but all live together in harmony Everyone has a job to and there is a good healthy standard of living for all I would also wish to live in a clean healthy environment with less noise and less pollution There are more and larger parks where children can play and wildlife can be protected But my main desire is to see people less materialistic, less selfish, less violent and more loving than they are now Topic 6: In about 140 words, write a report on the book you have read recently (Trong khoảng 140 từ, viết thông báo sách bạn đọc gần đây) I recently read The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford, a book about three animal friends who travel across the Canadian wilderness looking for their owners It is a fascinating story that describes some of the incredible things animals can When a Canadian family goes to England for a long trip, they leave their three pets with a friend who lives 300 miles away Though well treated by the friend, the pets miss their family One day, they also leave the friend’s house unnoticed and begin the long journey to find their owners The central theme of the book, a problem the animals must resolve, is how to survive in the wilderness in order to arrive home They never could have completed the journey alone, but they take care of one another, and all the three make it and are reunited with their owners.Each animal has a distinct personality, but they care for one another almost as if they were a family The most impressive of them is the old dog The journey was the most difficult for him, but amazingly he found the strength to make it The author did not try to turn the animals into people, speaking and acting like humans Instead, she was faithful to her characters as animals and showed us their journey through animal eyes That made the book interesting and unbelievable I would like to recommend to anyone who likes animals I think that anyone who has ever had a pet or wanted one would enjoy it Topic 7: Write a paragraph about one of the football matches you like best (Viết đoạn văn trận bóng bạn thích nhất) To celebrate the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union's Foundation Day, our School's Sports Club recently played a friendly football match with Hanoi School's Football Team The match was held on February 28th, at 4:00 pm at My Dinh stadium.It was a nice day In the first half, our team played pretty well They tried to keep the ball away from the goal and as near to our rival's as possible By a combination of passing and dribbling, the opponents gave a shot into our goal Fortunately, our goalie could catch the ball All the stands seemed to be exploded with merry and exciting shouts And all the schoolboys and girls jumped up and down cheering In the second half, both teams played beautifully and skilfully and tried to score the goal, but no-one succeeded Finally it was a draw.When the game was over, all of us were happy to have a fair game I think all the schools in the area should hold such a friendly game to tie up and promote the friendship and solidarity together Topic 8: Write about your hobby (Viết sở thích bạn) Of all the interesting hobbies, I like reading books most because of the following reasons Firstly, reading books helps me to widen my knowledge about the world For example, science books provide me with a lot of information of every field of our life Besides, enjoying books gives me the chance to become more patient Especially, my ability to express words fluently is better and better Therefore, I will be confident of communicating with others In short, reading books is my main hobby and I will make best use of its advantages to have a happy lifestyle Topic 9: Do you agree witth the idea that marriage should be based on love or not and why? (Bạn có đồng ý với ý kiến hôn nhân nên dựa tảng tình yêu hay không, sao?) Some people say that marriage should be based on love However, I partly agree with the idea because of the following reasons Firstly, there is no denial that love makes people happy in life and build a warm family Nevertheless, forgiveness and sacrifice contribute to true love in order, too Moreover, future home's finance also affects the family happiness For example, your child can't study at school without money, you even have no wonderful moment when both of wife and husband have little money to spend and so on In conclusion, marriage should be built on love and serious attitude of two sides who accept specific characters each other and fulfill the gap's spouses Topic 10: Write about the kind of book you like best (Viết thể loại sách mà bạn thích nhất) Of all the interesting books, I like comic book best for some following reasons To begin with, Comic books help me a relax after studying hard For example, one of them is Doremon story, which tells many funny short stories about main characters, Doremon and Nobita Furthemore, the author of that comic creats so many amusing situations among characters that I can't help laughing It's actually a hard-to-put-down book Another good point of it I want to mention about is creative imagination I mean children need to have imaginative mindset, which helps them be more active in life In conclusion, comic book is worth reading after hard work It is nice for everyone Topic 11: Write a paragraph about the advantages and disadvantages of using Facebook? (Viết đoạn văn thuận lợi bất lợi sử dụng mạng xã hội Facebook) Facebook, being one of the most famous social networking sites comes with its own pros and cons I will try to show some of the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook It is clear that Facebook has helped a lot to cut down the physical boundaries, and it has its benefits for personal or for business purposes.Facebook, with 900 million active users, holds a great number of advantages You can use it for your personal growth, professional growth or you can use it to find a job for you As I mentioned above there are many advantages and disadvantages of Facebook, so let’s start with some of the advantages of Facebook For example, Facebook is the most powerful social media and social networking site You can use Facebook to connect with your family, friends, work colleague and to meet new people This is the best way to find your school, college or any other old profile Most of the people who know how to use a computer and internet have a profile on Facebook Moreover, it’s easy to find like-minded people by seeing their interests, and you can easily connect with them using wall updates, private message, poke or text, and video chat However, one of the major concern and disadvantage of the Facebook is to with Facebook privacy In the past, it created many buzz due to sudden changes in Facebook privacy settings but now Facebook has simplified its privacy setting Due to ignorance and lack of understanding of Facebook privacy feature, people make many mistakes Another situation to consider has to with the availability of information too personal, whether in video, pictures or text Therefore, you should never give out too much personal information As throughout the Internet, we should bear in mind the privacy of your personal data, because after they are placed online, you will lose your control Nowadays, people spend too much time on this social networking site Facebook offers many entertainment applications and games which engage users to a great extent Apart from that, Facebook chat and Facebook video chat are another two-time consuming feature If you want to use Facebook for your advantages, use it for specific timelimit in a day Spending too much time on Facebook might make you a Facebook addict, and you might end up wasting too much time on Facebook.In conclusion, using Facebook is good or bad depends on how you use it and control it Everyone should be careful when using Facebook and make it become a good means of communication Topic 12: Write an essay to express you wish to work for an international organization, giving the reasons why you choose the organization (Viết luận thể mong ước làm việc cho tổ chức quốc tế đưa lý bạn chọn tổ chức đó) When I was still a little boy, I read an article about the World Health Organization (WHO), I realized that health is of the most important factor affecting one’s quality of life, and that helping to improve people’s health is a noble profession Since then, I have harbored the dream to work for the Organization for a number of reasons as following.First, working for the World Health Organization (WHO) gives me opportunities to live abroad, to use English at work, and to have high salary I am an active and dynamic person so I think it will be an interesting life to have chance to travel far and wide to meet different people of different personalities and nationalities.Second, I will be able to further my biology knowledge by doing numerous medical researches I can also understand more about life mechanism, the reactions of the bodies to the changes of the surroundings Of course, working for the World Health Organization (WHO) will offer me occasions to meet, to have talks with well-known people worldwide.As far as I can say, taking care of other people’s health is always a respectful job Working as an official of the World Health Organization (WHO) helps me to be more aware of the value of life Looking after the ones who struggle to survive will give me strength and hope, help me think more optimistically and more positive things.Living is sacrificing I for long have considered this proverb as one of my life approaches I will try my best to realize my dream some day in the future Topic 13: Write a letter of request to UCAS to ask for information about the admission requirements to the university (Viết thư yêu cầu tới UCAS để hỏi thông tin thủ tục đăng kí vào trường đại học) 57 Le Thanh Tong St Ha Long City Quang Ninh March 15th, 2015 Dear Sir/Madam, I’ve read a lot about tertiary study in the UK and very impressed by the reputation of many famous universities there I am writing now to apply for the course and to ask for the admission requirements to the university Now, I am in the last year of the high school and will finish secondary education in months I am very much interested in an undergraduate course in economics in Birmingham University At school I have learnt English for years now, and my English is good enough to communicate with English speaking residents Moreover, I am rather good at natural science subjects, and I am also very much interested in social activities My family income is absolutely good enough to pay for my life and study abroad, too I have good health and am willing to live on my own What my family and I want to know now is the detailed admission requirements to the university and the degrees I will be granted after finishing the course Could you please send me some information about the admission requirements, tuitions fees, accommodation and details of the course? I am ready to supply any information about myself if necessary I look forward to hearing from you soon Yours faithfully, Nguyen Van A Topic 14: Write an essay to discuss the benefits of doing exercise (Viết luận bàn lợi ích việc tập thể dục) Health is considered to be the most valuable thing one possesses Improving health is always a prior task in one’s daily routine And the simplest, cheapest, but the most effective way to better one’s health is doing regular exercise.One advantage of doing exercise is to reduce stress People who exercise are likely to feel more relaxed, healthier, and of course happier Doing regular exercise helps the body produce happy chemicals that make the exercisers reduce the worries about life and work as well as forget the boredom and unhappiness.Another benefit exercising brings us is that we will feel more energetic to face and overcome our daily difficulties Doing exercise helps us reduce the possibilities of being ill, protects us from some fatal diseases as heart disease, cancers and diabetes Regular exercisers are believed to have healthier, happier and longer lives The other good thing is that doing exercise helps us feel more self-confident We know exactly what we can or what abilities, talents we have We will think positively, confidently, and lead an optimistic life if we practice exercising regularly Controlling our weight effectively is another value Perspiration occurs when we exercise, which helps our bodies get rid of bad things inside Fats are burnt during our practicing exercise, which helps us to keep fit To sum up, doing exercise enables people to have good body-buildings, keep fit and brings exercisers many benefits Sparing time doing exercise will ensure us a longer, healthier and happier life Topic 15: Write a paragraph about a person who has great influence on you (Viết đoạn văn người có ảnh hưởng lớn đến bạn) Everyone has his variety of acquaintances, friends, relatives, teachers, or partners among whom one may have the one that creates greatest ever impression on him For me, I must say that my life would not have been as good as it is today if I did not meet Mr Hung It happened to me when I was a lower secondary student I remember well that I was a very bad boy at that time I always got bad marks for school subjects as well as I got fined daily My teachers got very disappointed, my parents felt ashamed as I was very often mentioned as a bad example at school My classmates found ways to keep away from me I felt so lonely and hopeless Then Mr Hung, my new Maths teacher appeared After having had a talk with me and my parents, he agreed to be my private tutor It was so strange that he did not teach me lessons right away, he made ways to be my friend instead He spared time to get to know my difficulties, helped me to gain me confidence, let me believe in what I could Gradually, I realized what to do, how to He encouraged me when I felt tired, lonely or daunted He gave me belief and strength to stand right on my own feet Finally, I got to know the meaning of life Truthfully, I feel so happy to have a great teacher like Mr Hung Topic 16: In Vietnam, a university diploma seems to guarantee one’s social status What are your points of view about this? (Ở Việt Nam, đại học cho đảm bảo cho địa vị xã hội Quan điểm bạn vấn đề gì?) Why people need to attend colleges or universities? Different people have different answers to this question I believe that the three most common reasons are to prepare for a career, to have new experiences, and to increase their knowledge of themselves and the world around them.Career preparation is becoming more and more important to young people For many, this is the primary reason to go to college They know that the job market is competitive At college, they can learn new skill for careers with a lot of opportunities This means careers, such as information technology, that are expected to need a large workforce in the coming years.Also, students go to colleges and universities to have new experiences This often means having the opportunity to meet people different from those in their hometowns For most students, going to college is the first time they've been away from home by themselves In addition, this is the first time they've bad to make decisions on their own Making these decisions increases their knowledge of themselves.Besides looking for selfknowledge, people also attend a university or college to expand their knowledge in subjects they find interesting For many, this will he their last chance for a long time to learn about something that doesn't relate to their career.I would recommend that people not be so focused on a career They should go to college to have new experiences and learn about themselves and the world they live in Topic 17: Why people want to go on university education? (Tại người muốn tiếp tục học đại học) People study in college or university for many different reasons I think the most important reason is to gain more knowledge and learn more skills Of course, there are also many other reasons that people study in college such as to get more friends, and increase one's self-confidence.These days, most jobs require people who are educated and have good job skills Therefore, the people who want a good job have to study hard and at least graduate with a high education Furthermore, as technology advances all over the world, more and more education is required of people.Some people who study in college or university want to make more friends and increase their interpersonal skills They enjoy their lives in university or college and tend to socialize a lot They can meet more people who have the similar interests with themselves They can go to university after school and make more friends who they trust.The people who graduate from college seem more confident in our community These people are more respected by society Many people want to be respected and to be important by family, friends, their bosses, and others in their lives They find that most of them can confidently talk and their jobs as they are more educated Therefore, most people want to get the confidence through the university or college study In today's society, people need more knowledge and skills to be adapted The university and college study is a good way to achieve this Topic 18: YOUR FAVOURITE SUBJECT (MÔN HỌC YÊU THÍCH CỦA BẠN) I have to learn many subject but the one I like most is English! I like it because of many reasons First of all, English is the most spoken language in the world One out of five people speak English, so if I can speak English fluently, I can communicate with many new people from around the world Second of all, I can get more knowledge when I learn English because it is the language of science, of aviation, computers, diplomacy, and tourism Third of all, I may get a better job if I know English Knowing English will make me bilingual and more employable in every country in the world Besides, I can enjoy English art in its original form I can watch movies, read books and listen to music in its original and untranslated form, which is in most cases more authentic Songs tend to be better when I can truly understand them These reasons above make me love learning English so much I practise it every day I think I will learn it all my life Topic 19: Your daily activities (Hoạt động hàng ngày bạn) I am a high school student Every morning from Monday to Saturday, I get up at o'clock After breakfast, I go to school by bicycle It takes me about 20 minutes to go from my house to my school Usually, I study at school until 11:30 a.m I return home at noon to have lunch with my family In the afternoon I attend English and computer courses I always get home just in time for dinner at 7:30 p.m After dinner, while my parents are watching television in the living-room, I read books or prepare for school in my own room.I am free at weekends On Sunday mornings, I get up later than usual Then I often go shopping downtown with my friends Sometimes we go for a picnic in the countryside On rainy Sundays, I stay at home reading books and listening to music.I am quite happy with my daily activities Topic 20: Your favourite sport (Môn thể thao yêu thích bạn) I like swimming It is my favorite sport, for I know that it is healthy as well as a good chance for a person to exercise his or her body.Last Sunday morning, as the weather was fine, I went to Ha Long with my family It took us about two hours by car to arrive at our destination, and I felt very excited about it When our car reached the top of the cliff overlooking the Bay, I admired the golden sand of the long beach, the blue sky and water, and the splendid country surroundings which looked like an artist’s painting We put on our bathing-suits and ran into the water It was a very happy swim for me We played ball, challenged each other in swimming a certain distance Of course, I was always beaten by my bigger brothers but I was satisfied with my good effort When we felt tired, we lay down on the beach to rest and to have some sunbath At about noon, we returned to our tent and had lunch About p.m we went once more into the water and swam till p.m Finally, we got ready to start for home Everyone was delighted to have spent such a wonderful swim I really enjoyed swimming very much Topic 21: YOUR BEST FRIEND (Bạn thân bạn) Linh has been my best friend since we were in grade She is an attractive girl with short hair and a cheerful face with dimples on both cheeks We have share our common interest, playing badminton and gotten a long well with a group of top five through the previous years At the beginning of this year, our group joined a relief activity in a southern province Linh was our leader, and her decisions during the trip proved that our selection was right She is a smart and decisive leader in tasks At the same time, she is also a very helpful and cooperative person when she works with you Whenever you have a problem, you can talk to her to seek her advice I have been her “client” for years I must say, so far, Linh has been my best friend I love and respect her for her helpfulness, kindness, and cooperation II VIẾT LẠI CÂU: (0.5đ) Structure 1: This/ It is + superlative + noun + S + have/has+ ever + Vp2 = S + have/has+ never + Vp2 such a/ an + adj + noun+ before This is the most interesting novel I’ve ever read I have never read such an interesting novel before Structure 2: S1 + Aux not+ V + as+ adj/adv + as + S2 = S2 + Aux + V + comparative of adj/adv + than+ S1 I can’t cook as well as my mother can My mother can cook better than I can Structure 3: S + did not + Vo + until + time/ S + V(past) = It was not until + time/ S + V(past)+ that + S + V(2/ed) = Not until + + time/ S + V(past), Aux + S + Vo The noise next door did not stop until after midnight It was not until after midnight that the noise next door stopped Structure 4: If + S + V(present simple), S + can + Vo = Should + S + Vo , S + can + Vo You can ring this number whenever there is any difficulty Should there be any difficulty, you can ring this number Structure 5: S + denied/ admitted + V-ing/ Having + Vp2 “I didn’t break the vase of flowers,” the boy said The boy denied having taken the vase of flowers Structure 6: S + started/began + V-ing… + time + ago/ in + year (past) = S + have/ has + Vp2 …+ for + time/ since + year (past) My father started working in this company 10 years ago My father has worked in this company for 10 years Structure 7: If + S + had + Vp2 , S + would/could (not) + have + Vp2 = Had + S + Vp2 , S + would/could + have + Vp2 Without + noun, S + would/could (not) + have + Vp2 = If it hadn’t been for + noun, S + would/could (not) + have + Vp2 = If + S + had + Vp2 , S + would/could (not) + have + Vp2 = Had + S + Vp2 , S + would/could (not) + have + Vp2 Without his help, I could not have finished my work If he hadn’t helped me, I could not have finished my work Had he not helped me, I could not have finished my work If it hadn’t been for his help, I could not have finished my work Structure 8: S1+ V(2/ed) + as soon as + S2 + V(2/ed) = No sooner + had+ S2 + Vp2 + than + S1 + V(2/ed) Hardly/ Scarcely + had+ S2 + Vp2 + when + S1 + V(2/ed) It started to rain as soon as I went into the house No sooner had I gone into the house than it started to rain Practice 1: Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it means exactly the same as the sentence before it I only recognized him when he came into the light  Not until he came into the light did I recognize him “What time does the film start, Peter?”  I asked Peter what time the film started It was a mistake for you to buy that car  You shouldn’t have bought that car “Sorry, I’m late.” said the boy to the teacher The boy apologized to the teacher for being late It's the first time I've been to a flower shop → I haven’t been to a flower shop before Practice 2: We didn't have a holiday until last summer → It was not until last summer that we had a holiday If you hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t have known how to solve it → Had you not helped me, I wouldn’t have known how to solve it The demand was so great that they had to reprint the book immediately → So great was the demand that they had to reprint the book immediately Hai finally managed to get a job  Hai finally succeeded in getting a job People believe that the Chinese invented paper in 105 A.D →Paper is believed to have been invented by the Chinese in 105 A.D Practice 3: The film was so interesting that I couldn’t go to bed  It was such an interesting film that I couldn’t go to bed We got lost because we didn't have a map  If we had had a map, we wouldn’t have got lost I would prefer you to deliver the sofa on Friday  I would rather you delivered the sofa on Friday The bridge was so low that the bus couldn't go under it  It was such a low bridge that bus couldn't go under it It was a mistake of mine to park outside the police station  I shouldn’t have parked outside the police station Practice 4: If you run a lot, you'll become healthy  The more you run, the healthier you’ll become Barbara is the best tennis-player in the club No one in the club plays tennis better than Barbara The furniture was so expensive that I didn’t buy it The furniture was too expensive for me to buy The robbers made the bank manager hand over on the money The bank manager was made to hand over on the money by the robbers He left school and then joined the army After he had left school, he joined the army Practice 5: Somebody stole his watch yesterday His watch was stolen yesterday The last time she had a swim was five years ago She hasn't swum for five years They’ll have to change the date of the meeting again The date of the meeting will have to be changed again The garage is going to repair the car for us next week We are going to have the car repaired next week Would you mind not smoking in my house? I’d rather you didn’t smoke in my house Practice 6: We couldn’t drive because of the fog The fog prevented us from driving Although his leg was broken, he managed to get out of the car In spite of his broken leg, he managed to get out of the car The cake was so hard that I couldn’t eat it It was such a hard cake that I couldn’t eat it We didn’t go on holiday because we did not have enough money If we had had enough money, we would have gone on holiday I can’t cook as well as my mother does My mother can cook better than me/ I can Practice 7: The children couldn’t go swimming because the sea was rough => The sea was too rough for the children to go swimming The mechanic serviced my car last week => I had my car serviced by the mechanic last week I’m always nervous when I travel by air => Travelling by air always makes me nervous He couldn’t afford to buy the car => The car was too expensive for him to buy “Why don’t you put your luggage under the seat?” he asked => He suggested putting my luggage under the seat Practice 8: Although he had a good salary, he was unhappy in his job In spite of having a good salary, he was unhappy in his job They haven’t cleaned the streets this week The streets haven’t been cleaned this week Apples are usually cheaper than oranges Apples are not as expensive as oranges I advise you to put your money in the bank You’d better put your money in the bank That restaurant is so dirty that no one wants to eat there It is such a dirty restaurant that no one wants to eat there Practice 9: 10 It’s a pity I didn’t take my doctor’s advice I wish I had taken my doctor’s advice “Don’t forget to phone the office,” she told him She reminded him to phone the office We spent hours getting to London It took us hours to get to London I haven’t eaten this kind of food before => This is the first time I have eaten this kind of food She started working as a secretary five years ago => She has worked as a secretary for five years 11