TEM 4 Writing [45 MIN]
[2009]
Tourism is a booming business in China. However, some people worry that too many tourists may bring harm to the environment, while others don’t think so. What is your opinion?
Write on ANSWER SHEET THREE a composition of about 200 words on the following topic:
Will Tourism Bring Harm to the Environment?
You are to write in three parts.
In the first part state specifically what your opinion is.
In the second part, provide one or two reasons to support your opinion.
In the last part, bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or make a summary.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization, language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
[2010]
It was recently reported in a newspaper that six students who shared a dorm at a local university hired a cleaned to do laundry and cleaning once a week. And each of them paid her 60 yuan a month. This has led to heated debate as to whether college students should hire cleaners. The following are the supporters’ and opponents’ opinions. Read carefully the opinions from both sides and write your response in about 200 words, in which you should first summarize briefly the opinions from both sides and give your view on the issue.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization, language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
YES College students’ first priority should be given to academic pursuit and other social activities. Hiring cleaners can free themselves from chores and spare more time for them to improve themselves. A clean and tidy room always brings a good mood, which in turn, leads to efficiency in study. A professional cleaner can surely offer students a better living environment at a reasonable price.
NO Without a steady financial source, college students will put an even greater burden on their parents by hiring cleaners to do laundry and cleaning. It is an excuse for students not to do laundry and cleaning themselves for academic pressure and extracurricular activities. Laundry and cleaning job, if done routinely, just takes a fraction of time. [2011]
Recently government agencies in some big cities have been studying the possibility of putting a “pollution tax” on private cars. The amount of tax private car owners would have to pay would depend on the emission levels, i.e. engine or vehicle size. This has caused quite a stir among the public. The following are the supporter’ and opponents’ opinions. Read them carefully and write your response in about 200words, in which you should first summarize briefly the opinions from both sides and give your view on the issue.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization, language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
YES It turns out to be a fact that the emissions of cars increase the pollution. If the amount of tax private car owners have to pay depends on the emission level, people would drive less or buy low-emission cars in order to save money. Vehicle emission will do great harm to our body’s respiratory system(呼吸系统). So it would be a blessing fro us to put pollution tax on private cars. In a long term, taxing private car owners promotes sustainable development and environment protection by warning car-users to reduce emissions.
NO It will be very difficult to implement the policy of “pollution tax”. How to measure the exact amount of emission? How to avoid bribery for escaping from fine and punishment? Taxing private car owners doesn’t reduce pollution, which is mainly caused by heavy industry. Car-making industry at home will be heavily weakened by introducing pollution taxes. For the rise of tax, customers will pay much more to own a car, thus delaying their plan of buying cars. [2012]
Read carefully the following excerpt on private-education arguments in the UK, and then write your response in NO LESS THAN 200 words, in which you should: ? Summarize the main message of the excerpt, and then ? Comment on whether private education should advocated.
You should support yourself with information form the excerpt.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization, language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks. Do Parents Want to Go Private? The latest Ipsos Mori poll for the Independent Schools Council shows that 57% of parents would choose private education if they could afford to do so. That is the highest figure since these polls began in 1997. The first thought, is why so many parents would choose private education? What is motivating them to do so? We have smaller classes in private schools than a decade ago, better-paid teachers, fewer staff shortages, far more computers, and many more new school buildings. In terms of investment, education has done pretty well over the past decade: education spending now absorbs a higher proportion of the nation’s wealth than 10 years ago. Some of the figures show dramatic improvements. There is now one computer for every six private school pupils compared with one for every 23 in 1994. In 1997, around one quarter of all primary classes contained over 31 pupils. Now it is one in 10. There has been no shortage of intervention strategies to tackle under-achievement: measures to close failing schools, the creation of expensive new academies, and schemes to target children who fall behind with their reading and maths.
[2013]
Nowadays, such new ways of consumption as coupons, online group-buying have emerged. Will new ways of shopping make us smart customers? The following are the opinions of two different groups. Read carefully the opinions from both sides and write your response in about 200 words, in which you should first summarize briefly the opinions from both sides and give your view on the issue.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization, language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
YES NO Most of the students do not have enough time Products on sale may be sometimes of low to earn money and we have to live on our quality and those group-buying deals are, in parents. So we collect all kinds of coupons, some cases, fake and misleading. visit group-buying websites to save money. More often than not, such new ways of The world nowadays is changing rapidly and consumption tempt us to buy goods not because fashion comes and goes fast. If we can buy of their high quality and suitability but out of those shining goods at lower price, that will be impulse. very great. Coupons and group-buying are not an on-trend Such new ways of consumption as treat offered by shopkeepers and manufacturers. group-buying can be conducted online in just Instead, they are actually marketing tricks. The a few minutes. All you need to do is to get to only purpose of such tricks is to maximize the stores and enjoy yourselves. profits. [2014]
Should English majors study maths in university? A letter written by an English major who complained about the mandatory maths classes he had to take has gathered attention recently. The following are the supporters’ and opponents’ opinions. Read carefully the opinions from both sides and write your response in about 200 words, in which you should first summarize briefly the opinions from both sides and give your view on the issue.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization, language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
YES Nowadays, mathematics is seen everywhere in the digital age. Average persons with a financial awareness should also do various calculations in their daily life. Sometimes they even have to deal with numbers in budgets, bank savings and so on, let alone those professionals in computer engineering. For college students, the subject of mathematics also benefits them in further education and future job-hunting, which require postgraduates and employees to have a good mastery of data collection and analysis. NO The mathematics courses in university are designed to be in line with national curriculum. For those studying arts, if is a waste of time taking the courses only to get scores. Generally speaking, students who major in English are often poor in mathematics. If they are forced to learn the subject, they would be very reluctant. With the development of science and technology, we don’t have to learn those difficult formulas by heart and do complex calculations by ourselves because they are time-consuming and computers can do them all in just a few minutes. [2015]
Read carefully the following excerpt on homework banning arguments in the UK, and then write your response in NO LESS THAN 200 words, in which you should: ? Summarize the main message of the excerpt, and then
? Comment on whether homework should be banned for the sake of both the children and their
parents.
You should support yourself with information from the excerpt.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization, language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks. Calls for Homework to Be Scrapped A teachers’ group is calling for kids to do no homework fearing it makes them stressed and unhappy. Under the plans homework for primary school kids could be completely scrapped, and the amount teenagers have to do would be absolutely canceled. But don’t think you’ve been let off the hook just yet, as the idea is so far only being talked about. There are also calls for a group to be st up to look at other reasons why kids might be unhappy at school. Mary Bousted from the union said: “I think homework is a waste of time.” Homework especially puts lots of stress on poorer children, who might not have as many books and computers at home, she added. The government says teachers don’t have to give homework, but they are encouraged to set it. A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said homework helped children and young people develop their learning skills. [2016]
Read carefully the following excerpt on term-time holiday arguments in the UK, and then write your response in NO LESS THAN 200 words, in which you should: ? Summarize the main message of the excerpt, and then
? Comment on whether parents should take children out of school for holiday during term time
in order to save money.
You should support yourself with information from the excerpt.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization, language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
Term-time holiday will be banned Parents are to be banned by Micheal Gove, UK’s Education Secretary, from taking their children out of school to save money on holidays. He is to abolish the right of head teachers to “authorize absence” from the classroom, which has been used to let families take term-time breaks, and will warn them they face fines for their children not being at school. “Any time out of school has the potential to damage a child’s education,” a senior source at the Department for Education said this weekend. “That is why the government will end the distinction between authorized and unauthorized absence.” “This is part of the government’s wider commitment to bring down truancy levels in our schools. There will also be stricter penalties for parents and schools.” The tough measures on truancy are part of a wider attempt by Mr Gove to make education more academically rigorous and to tackle a culture in the educational establishment which he believes has accepted “excuses for failure”. Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the measure would discourage parents from trying to put pressure on heads to sanction term time holidays. “The high cost of holidays outside of term time is still an issue but ultimately a child’s education is more important than holiday,” he said.
[2017]
Read carefully the following excerpt and then write your response in NO LESS THAN 200 words, in which you should:
? Summarize the main message of the excerpt, and then
? Comment on whether our brains will get lazy in a world run by intelligent machines.
You should support yourself with information from the excerpt.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization, language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks. With intelligent machines to do the thinking, will our brain get lazy? Changing technology stimulates the brain the increases intelligence. But that may only be true if the technology challenges us. In a world run by intelligent machines, our lives could get a lot simpler. Would that make us less intelligent? Artificial intelligence is taking over many human jobs. For instance, planes are being flown much of the time by automatic pilots. And the complex problem of controlling air traffic around large modern airports is also achieved by artificial intelligence that operates well beyond the capability of mere human air traffic controllers. Artificial intelligence is embedded in many features of modern life for the implement reason that intelligent machines can already outperform humans, including some aptitude where there was once thought to be a human advantage, such as playing chess, and writing poetry, or even novels. As machines get smarter, they will do more of our thinking for us and make life easier. In the future, the electronic assistant will develop to the point that serves similar functions as a real living butler, fulfilling requests such as: “Organize a dinner party for six on Thursday, Jeeves, and invite the usual guests.” At that point, our long struggle with challenging technologies is at an end. Like Bertie Wooster, we can take is easy knowing that the hard work of planning and organizing is being done by a better brain-the electronic assistant. Starved of mental effort, our brains will regress.
[2018]
Read carefully the following excerpt and then write your response in NO LESS THAN 200 words, in which you should:
? Summarize the main message of the excerpt, and then
? Comment on the two points made by Stephen Corry, Survival’s Director.
You should support yourself with information from the excerpt.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization, language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks. Report exposes the dark side of conservation A report launched by Survival International-the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights-reveals how conservation has led to the eviction of millions of tribal people from “protected areas,” since “protected areas” like national parks should generally be “no go” for mining, agriculture, dams, roads and pipelines. Survival’s report shows that nearly all protected areas are, or have been, the ancestral homelands of tribal peoples, who have been dependent on, and managed them for thousands of years. But in the name of “conservation”, tribal peoples are “being illegally driven out” from these lands and accused of “poaching”; meanwhile, tourists and fee-paying big-game hunters are welcomed in. Bushman Dauqoo Xukuri from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana said, “I sit and look around the country. Wherever there are bushmen, there is game. Why? Because we know how to take care of animals.” Survival’s report concludes that the current model of conservation needs a radical shake-up. Conservation must stick to international law, protect tribal peoples’ rights to their lands, listen to them, and then be prepared to back them up as much as they can. Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said, “Millions are being spent by conservationists every year, and yet the environment’s in deepening crisis. It’s time to wake up and realize that there is another way and it’s much, much better. Firstly, tribal peoples’ rights have to be acknowledged and respected. Secondly, they have to be treated as the best experts at defending their own lands. Conservationists must realize it’s they, themselves, who are junior partners.”