11 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Universities should
give the same amount of money to their students' sports activities as they give to
their university libraries. Use specific reasons and examples to support your
opinion.
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. hese
include computeri!ed 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.
#ven the book and maga!ine budget of universities has gone up tremendously in last
decade. More is being published on every sub$ect, 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 time as possible. &ecause
students are young and can stay up all night studying, many universities are starting to
leave their libraries open all night during exam periods. his 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. )or this reason, libraries should always be
better funded than sport activities.
12 Many people visit museums when they travel to new places. hy do you
thin! people visit museums? Use specific reasons and examples to support your
answer.

*eople love to visit museums when traveling to new places. I think this is because
museums tell them a lot about the culture of those places. Museums are also fun. It"s
almost impossible to get bored in a museum. #very museum will have at least one
thing of interest to somebody.
+hen visiting someplace new, you can find out about the culture of that place in
many ways. ,ou can go to a movie or a place of worship or a nightclub. Another
option is to sit in the park and listen to the people around you. he easiest way to
learn about a place%s culture, though, is by visiting its museums. Museums will show
you the history of the place you%re visiting. hey"ll show you what art the locals think
is important.
If there aren%t any museums, that tells you something, too.
Museums are fun. #ven if you%re not interested in art or history, there is always
something to get your attention. Many museums now have what they call -hands-on-
exhibits. hese were originally designed to keep children occupied while their parents
were looking at exhibits. .owever, museums have found that adults en$oy hands-on
opportunities $ust as much as children. hese exhibits have activities like pushing a
button to hear more about what you%re looking at, creating your own work of art, or
trying on clothes like those on the models in the museum.
*eople also en$oy visiting museums about unusual sub$ects. )or instance, in my
hometown there%s a museum devoted to the potato. his museum has art made out of
potatoes. It also tells all about the history of the potato, and sells potato mementos like
key chains and potato dolls.
*eople en$oy visiting this museum because it%s different. It"s not something they%d find
in their hometown and the museum%s curator en$oy talking about the /reat *otato.
Museums are popular because they are about us. hey reflect our creations, our
values, and our dreams. 0o matter who you are or what you like, somewhere there is a
museum that will ama!e and interest you.
1" #ome people prefer to eat at food stands or restaurants. $ther people prefer
to prepare and eat food at home. hich do you prefer? Use specific reasons and
examples to support your answer.
Some people like to eat out at food stands and restaurants, while others like to
prepare food at home. 1ften it depends on the kind of lifestyle people have. hose
with very busy $obs outside the house don%t always have time to cook. hey like the
convenience of eating out. 1verall, though, it is cheaper and healthier to eat at home.
+hile eating in restaurants is fast, the money you spend can add up. +hen I have
dinner at restaurant with a friend, the bill is usually over twenty dollars. I can buy a lot
of groceries with that much money. #ven lunch at a fast-food stand usually costs five
or six dollars for one person. hat"s enough to feed the whole family at home.
#ating at home is better for you, too. Meals at restaurants are often high in fat and
calories, and they serve big plates of food--much more food than you need to eat at
one meal. If you cook food at home, you have more control over the ingredients. ,ou
can use margarine instead of butter on your potatoes, or not put so much cheese on top
of your pi!!a. At home, you can control your portion si!e. ,ou can serve yourself as
little as you want. In a restaurant, you may eat a full plate of food -because you paid
for it-.
It%s true that eating out is convenient. ,ou don%t have to shop, or cook, or clean up.
&ut real home cooking doesn%t have to take a lot of time. here are lots of simple
meals that don%t take long to make. In fact, they%re faster than eating out, especially if
you think of the time you spend driving to a restaurant, parking, waiting for a table,
waiting for service, and driving home.
&oth eating at restaurants and cooking at home can be satisfying. &oth can taste
good and be en$oyed with family and friends. I prefer cooking at home because of the
money and health issues, but people will make the choice that fits their lifestyle best.
1% #ome people believe that university students should be re&uired to attend
classes. $thers believe that going to classes should be optional for students.
hich point of view do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to
explain your answer.
Some people may believe that going to classes should be optional, but I disagree. I
don%t understand how university students can expect to learn anything if they don%t
attend classes. *ersonal experience can help people learn about themselves and the
world outside the classroom, but when it comes to learning about academic sub$ects,
students need to be in class.
In class they receive the benefit of the teacher%s knowledge. he best teachers do
more than $ust go over the material in than class textbook. hey draw their students
into discussion of the material. hey present opposing points of view. hey schedule
guest speakers to come, give the students additional information, or show
documentary films on the sub$ect.
Also, attending classes on any sub$ect teaches more than $ust facts. It teaches
students how to learn, how to absorb information and then apply what they%ve learned
to other situations. heir teacher is the best one to help them with these skills. hey
can%t learn them $ust by reading the textbook.
/oing to class also teaches students how to work with the other members of the
class. Many times students will be given group assignments. his is different from
what they did in secondary school. .ere they%re with people from different
backgrounds and experiences. In this situation, they learn how to handle working with
people different from themselves to achieve a common goal.
/oing to class also teaches students responsibility and discipline. .aving to be at
a particular place at a particular time prepares them for getting a $ob. &eing at a place
on time with an assignment completed prepares them for a career.
In short, by going to class students learn more than $ust information from the
teacher. hey also learn how to learn, how to work with others, and how to work
responsibly. hese are not optional skills in life, so attending classes should not be
optional in college.

1' (eighbors are the people who live near us. )n your opinion* what are the
&ualities of a good neighbor? Use specific details and examples in your answer.
If you have a good neighbor, you are a lucky person. ,ou have someone who cares
about your needs and your property, who is helpful in the little day-to-day situations
that come up, and who is supportive in times of crisis.
A good neighbor is someone who, for instance, understands that your children
may occasionally run across his lawn, even though you tell them not to. .e%ll reali!e
that children can be careless about things like that, and he won%t make a big fuss about
it unless it becomes a regular thing. In the same vein, he knows that you%ll understand
if some of the trash from his trash cans blows across into your yard. I0 other words,
he is sensitive to the unintentional things that can happen. .e doesn%t make a big deal
about them.
A good neighbor is also respectful of your property. )or example, she asks your
permission before doing anything that interferes with what%s yours. his means she
wouldn%t plant a huge tree in between your houses without asking how you feel about
it. If she wanted to put up a fence, she would let you know first. She might work with
you to decide where it should be placed. Maybe the two of you would even split the
cost.
A good neighbor would lend you some milk if you ran out . She%d give you a ride
to work if your car was broken, and let your children stay at her house in the evening
if you got stuck working overtime. ,ou would do the same for her. &oth of you would
help make the other%s life easier.
when something really awful happens to you, like a death in the family, a good
neighbor will volunteer to help in any way he can. his could mean something small,
like making some casseroles to put in your free!er to feed vesting relatives, 1r it
could mean something big, like helping you get through the sadness of the funeral.
I think only someone who has experienced a bad neighbor can really appreciate a
good one2 A good neighbor can be a good friend. .e or she can make all the
difference in the world to your life.
1+ )t has recently been announced that a new restaurant may be built in your
neighborhood. Do you support or oppose this plan? hy? Use specific reasons
and details to support your answer.
I can see both advantages and disadvantages to having a new restaurant built in our
neighborhood. I%m worried about traffic and how it will affect our neighborhood.
.owever, I think that it will benefit local businesses and increase appreciation for our
neighborhood. 1verall, I think it is a good idea.
raffic congestion is always a concern when you build something new. 1ur streets
are narrow, with parking on both sides. More cars traveling through the neighborhood
could cause a lot of congesting. raffic means parking problems, too. 1ur
neighborhood has very few garages attached to the houses. Most of us depend on
finding a space to park on the street. If the new restaurant is built, we"ll be competing
for those spaces with the restaurant%s patrons. *lus, if the restaurant offers wallet
parking, it%ll be even worse. 3alet parkers work in teams to grab every possible space
available on the street.
I%m also concerned about the type of patrons this new restaurant will bring into our
neighborhood. A family restaurant wouldn%t be a problem. .owever, if it%s going have
a bar and dancing, then there could be problems. he restaurant would stay open later,
and people leaving the restaurant might be drunk. +ho wouldn%t worry about rowdy
customers staggering around our neighborhood in the early morning hours, looking
for their cars4
I have to admit, though, there are advantages to a new restaurant. 1ur
neighborhood could certainly use the $obs the restaurant would provide. 0ot only that,
the money neighborhood residents would earn there would likely be spent at other
neighborhood businesses. his would give a boost to those businesses and make our
neighborhood more prosperous.
A new restaurant would also attract a lot of people to our neighborhood. hey
could see what a nice area this is to live. hat might attract new residents to the
neighborhood. hat would be a good thing, because we%ve been losing residents to the
suburbs the last couple of years.
here are a lot of details to consider, but all in all, I support the idea of this new
restaurant in our neighborhood.
1, #ome people thin! that they can learn better by themselves than with a
teacher. $thers thin! that it is always better to have a teacher. hich do you
prefer? Use specific reasons to develop your essay.
Most of us can learn how to do something simple on our own with $ust a set of
instructions. .owever, to learn about something more complex, it%s always best to
have a teacher.
eachers bring with them varied and useful backgrounds. hey%ve been trained to
teach individuals in different ways depending on their style. )or instance, omen
students learn better by discussing a topic. 1thers learn more by writing about it.
eachers can help students learn in the way that%s best of each student. A textbook or a
manual can only give you one way of learning something. *lus they%re only as helpful
as your ability to understand them. A good teacher can adapt her teaching to your
needs.
eachers help you focus on what you%re learning. If you%re learning something by
yourself, it"s easy to become distracted, and go on to other activities. eachers keep
your attention on the sub$ect. hey also approach a sub$ect logically, taking it one step
at a time. 1n your own, it%s tempting to skip parts of the learning process you think
you don"t need. hat can binder your ability to really understand the sub$ect.
5earning a sub$ect on your own is a very narrow way of learning. ,ou can only
use the information you get from the textbook. +ith a teacher, you get the information
in the written materials as well as the teacher%s own knowledge of the topic. eachers
can also provide extra materials to broaden the scope of what you%re learning.
here%s nothing wrong with studying on your own, and a learner can always
benefit from some 6uiet study. )or the best possible learning, though, a good teacher
is the biggest help you can have.
1- hat are some important &ualities of a good [Link]/? Use specific
details and examples to explain why these &ualities are important.
#ven though $ob situations can be very different, there are several 6ualities that all
good supervisor have in common, A good boss treats all her employees fairly. She
doesn%t single out one employee for better'or worse(treatment than the others. A poor
supervisor has favorites. Sometimes she%ll even use her favorites to spy on other
employees. She expects them to tell her what the others are saying about her. his can
cause a lot of bad feeling among employees.
A good supervisor gives clear and understandable directions. She doesn%t
constantly change her mind about what she wants employees to do. She also doesn%t
get angry with an employee who is confused and needs her to explain the directions
again or more fully. 7elegating authority well is another 6uality of a good supervisor.
She knows how to use the skills of her employees to best advantage. A poor
supervisor insists on doing everything herself. She is unwilling to give any authority
to others.
A good boss evaluates her employees on a reasonable ser of criteria, not on how she
feels about them personally. And she lets the employees know what those criteria are,
so they have a fair chance of meeting them.
She gives both praise and criticism in a straightforward manner. She also offers
guidance when needed. A poor supervisor will critici!e without giving any
suggestions on how to improve.
Most importantly, a good supervisor set the standards for her employee by her own
behavior. She works hard and treats employees like valuable assets to the company.
his promotes good morale among her workers, and this is of great benefit to her
business.
10 #hould governments spend more money on improving roads and highways*
or should governments spends more money on improving public transportation .
buses* trains* subways/? hy? Use specific reasons and details to develop your
essay.

/overnments should definitely spend more money on improving all forms of
public transportation. hese include buses, subways and trains. his is the best way to
preserve natural resources and reduce pollution.
As a planet, we"re dealing with a finite amount of natural resources. 1nce they%re
gone, they can%t be replaced. hey can%t fill our need for oil and gasoline forever. &ut
we seem to forget that and consume them at an incredible rate. In wealthier counties,
some families have two or three cars. As soon as teenagers get their driver%s licenses,
they"re given cars so their parents won%t have to drive them places.
*ublic transportation hasn%t been sufficiently developed. &ecause of this,
suburban areas surrounding cities have been allowed to sprawl more and more widely.
his means that people can%t even go to the store without having to hop into the car.
#verything is too far away from where they live. If there were better and more
fre6uent public transportation, people would be able to give up their cars for local
driving.
As a result of all the cars being driven, we"re dealing with terrible pollution
problems. In big cities, there are days during the summer when the elderly and people
with respiratory problems are advised not to leave the house. en years ago this was
unheard of2 0ow it%s the norm. *ublic transportation would cut down considerably on
air pollution.
*ublic transportation also encourages a sense of community. *eople who travel to
work together all the time get to know each other. 8ar isolate us from neighbors.
.owever, people feel they need to drive because they can%t depend on public
transportation to fit their schedules. If more money were available, buses, subways
and trains could run 9: hours a day. hen they would be available all the time to the
people who need them.
I always try to take public transportation whenever possible, and I encourage
friends and neighbors to try it too. I think we must support public transportation in
order to create a better world.
21 )t is better for children to grow up in the countryside than in a big city. Do
you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to develop your essay.
here are advantages and disadvantages to a childhood in either the country or a
city. It%s hard to say which is better. /rowing up in the country means a certain
amount of isolation. ,ou%re in a small town or on a armband not with a lot of people.
#ven more important, the people you meet everyday tend to be $ust like you. Most
will be the same race as you, have the same background as you, and will have gone to
the same school as you. In the city, the people you meet are different. here are
different races and different cultures. ,ou get a more interesting mix.
8ity people tend to come from a lot of different places and move around a lot. So,
there isn%t the sense of community in the city that you have in the country. *eople in
the city can live in the same apartment building for twenty years and never get to
know their neighbors. In the country, everybody knows everybody. )or a child, this
means the country is more secure. A child can get lost or hurt in the city and have no
one to turn to. In the country, everyone"s a neighbor. *eople in the country feel
connected to each other.
A child growing up in the city has the advantages of a lot of interesting and
exciting place to visit. .e or she can go to the !oo, museum, art galleries and concerts.
here are a lot of restaurants with different kinds of food. It"s easy to see every new
movie that comes out. 8hild in the country don%t have a lot of these activities nearby.
All in all, I think a childhood in the city is better because it prepares you more for
what real life is like.