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Stegosaurus

Some intensive English programs in the United States offer a foreign student the option of living with an American family while he or she is studying abroad. Many students feel that such a home-stay program is a valuable part of their total learning experience. However, others may feel that such a program offers little value. In a short essay, discuss one or two advantages of living with an American family and then state one or two disadvantages. Tell whether you are in favor of or opposed to the idea of home-stay. Give examples to support your opinion.




Nowadays, many students go to the United States to practice their English as well as experience the local culture by attending a home-stay program. While some people argue that the program has little value for students, I believe students can benefit a lot from the program.

First, living with an American family can help students experience the native culture better. It is because living with an American family, students can attend many local activities and celebration events. For example, some students may go to churches with their American family and the students can also celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving with their American family. By attending these events, they can surely understand American culture better. One of my friends once attended a home-stay program for a year and he did a lot of things with his American family. When he came back, he told me that American culture was so different from what he thought previously. In this case, attending a home-stay program helped him understand native culture.

In addition, it will be safer and more comfortable for us if we live with an American family when we study abroad. Sometimes we would hear some horrible news that some students were shot down on campus. Although it is very important to acquire advanced knowledge, we should also consider about our own safety. Besides, living with an American family, we can be taken care of better and the food provided by the American family is usually better than that provided by school. My friend who attended a home-stay program told me that he tasted the most delicious dishes in his American family. Thus, living with an American family can provide us safety and comfort.

Admittedly, there are one or two disadvantages of living with an American family to some degree. That is, this may bring our family some financial burden as we all know that it is very expensive to live with an American family. My cousin who attended this program told me that the fee was about 60 dollars a week. However, students who choose to attend this program are usually from wealthy family so they can generally afford this. And students can also do some part time jobs in order to release this financial burden. Comparing with the benefits that living with an American family brings, this only disadvantage can be totally ignored.

Considering all the facts above, there are so many advantages for students to attend a home-stay program while studying abroad. And I believe people will realize this eventually and more students will choose to live with an American family while studying abroad in the future.

Stegosaurus

9月2日 综合写作
TPO7

The writer discusses that the wood companies in the United States will not adopt new, ecologically friendly practices in order to receive ecocertification which differs from the main idea in the listening that American companies will eventually seek ecocertification for their wood products.

First, the writer makes a point that American consumers will not value or even pay attention to the ecocertification label because they are exposed to so much advertising. The listening, in contrast, holds a different view that American consumers will not treat all advertisements as the same. American consumers will distinguish the advertisements made by their own companies and the advertisements made by independent agencies. Thus, American company will value wood products with ecocertification a lot because of the international reputation of the independent agencies which issue the ecocertification.

Another point shown in the reading passage is that ecocertified wood will be more expensive than uncertified wood so few people will buy ecocertified wood, but the listening material presents a conflicting idea that price alone will not affect consumers' decisions. The professor claims that price of ecocertified wood is usually 5 percent higher than uncertified wood but this price will not affect consumers' decision. American consumers will consider other factors as well. Therefore, American consumers will buy the ecocertified wood because they are aware of the value of preserving.

Finally, the writer states that American companies will not keep up with the developments in the rest of the world which challenges the standpoint made by the professor who says that American companies will pay attention to international developments not because of foreign companies but because of foreign competition. If American companies develop slowly in ecocertified wood, foreign companies will crowd in American market to sell ecocertified wood.

Stegosaurus

9月2日  独立写作
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

It is better to relax by a movie or reading a book than doing physical exercise.

Nowadays, a lot of exciting movies and novels emerge in the society. Many people are obsessed with these attractive movies and novels. They also state that watching a movie or reading a book is a better way to relax than doing exercise. As for me, I quite disagree with this statement.

First, doing physical exercise can help people relax their eyes while reading books and watching movies still keep their eyes busy. After a long time of work and study, our eyes usually get tired and will feel uncomfortable about our eyes, which will distract our attention from work and study. At this time, we need some exercise to rest our eyes. For example, I can go jogging outsides because by doing this, I can see lots of agree trees and objects that are far from me which is beneficial to my eyes. However, if I watch movies and read books, my eyes will even get more tired. Thus, doing exercise can help us relax better.

In addition, doing physical exercise can help us solve complicated problems. People always feel more excited after doing some sports. Besides, after doing some exercise, our minds can usually be more flexible. Nevertheless, relaxing by reading books and watching movies does not have this effect. According to a survey conducted by China Youth Health Association (CYHA), 80% of teenagers said they when met complex math problems, they would choose to do some exercise because this could help them think and they usually could solve the problems after doing exercise. I also have similar experiences. When I meet some difficult math problems, I will usually go to the swimming pool which is near my house to swim for a while. And I can always solve these problems that I cannot solve previously after swimming. In this case, doing physical exercise is really a better relaxing way.

Admittedly, sometimes doing physical exercise may cause people feel too tired to continue their work and study. It is because some people may choose to play basketball games for a few hours to relax themselves. They usually do not want to anything after the game. However, this problem can be solved by making a plan for our exercise. We could make sure that exercises will not make us feel exhausted by controlling our exercise time. Comparing with all the benefits that doing physical exercise brings this only drawback can be totally ignored.

Considering all the facts above, doing physical exercise can bring more fun and relax to people. I believe people will realize this eventually and more people will choose to do some exercise to relax themselves.

Stegosaurus

其实我写的时候也感觉能并起来，可我想了很久也没能把他们并上。。。。。。。。。。。。

面具小姐

9月1日  综合写作
TPO6
The writer discusses that the communal onlineencyclopedias have several important problems that make them much less valuablethan traditional, printed encyclopedias, which differs from the main point inthe listening that the criticism in the reading passage is prejudice and theauthor has no idea how far the communal online encyclopedias have gone(and 后面这半句没看懂。。⊙﹏⊙).

First, the writer makes a point that the contentsin the communal online encyclopedias are partially informed at best anddownright inaccurate in many cases. The listening, in contrast, holds adifferent view that even the traditional encyclopedias have many mistakes. Forexample, if people read a complex book, they will find a lot of errors in it.The advantage of communal online encyclopedias is that the errors in them can be easily corrected. However, the errorsin the printed encyclopedias will remain for decades.

Another point shown in the reading passage is thatthe information in the online encyclopedias could be fabricated, deleted, andcorrupted, but the listening material presents a conflicting view that thecrucial information in an article cannot be changed. It is because the mostcrucial facts in an article are put in a special format that cannot be changedby others. And there are special editors who will monitor changes and reverse thechanges which are obviously malicious.

Finally, the writer states that the communalencyclopedias focus too much on trivial and popular topics, which challengesthe standpoint made by the professor who says that the communal encyclopediastruly reflect what people concern. Because traditional encyclopedias only havelimited space, people have to decide what is important. However, this judgmentmade by a group of academics cannot reflect ordinary people's interests.Communal online encyclopedias present a great variety of contents which trulyreflect users' interests(感觉最后这两句应该能并起来。。).


感觉没什么错，而且信息也很全。。

面具小姐

不好意思。。改了忘了传了。。。。。。。。。。

-- by 会员 面具小姐 (2012/9/1 20:21:58)

听力原文是：
Second, the idea that the great houses were used to store grain maize is unsupported by evidence.
It may sound plausible that large empty rooms were used for storage, but excavations of the great
houses have not uncovered many traces of maize or maize containers. If the great houses were
used for storage, why isn’t there more spilled maize on the floor? Why aren’t there more remains
of big containers?
应该不是切玉米的痕迹吧。。。。。

-- by 会员 Stegosaurus (2012/9/1 20:49:25)

啊啊啊啊。。。把spilled 听成了spilt。。。。。。对不起。。。

Stegosaurus

不好意思。。改了忘了传了。。。。。。。。。。

-- by 会员 面具小姐 (2012/9/1 20:21:58)

听力原文是：
Second, the idea that the great houses were used to store grain maize is unsupported by evidence.
It may sound plausible that large empty rooms were used for storage, but excavations of the great
houses have not uncovered many traces of maize or maize containers. If the great houses were
used for storage, why isn’t there more spilled maize on the floor? Why aren’t there more remains
of big containers?
应该不是切玉米的痕迹吧。。。。。

safeandsound

我错了...语法的确没有问题...表示当时有点晕

面具小姐

不好意思。。改了忘了传了。。。。。。。。。。

Stegosaurus

9月1日  综合写作
TPO6
The writer discusses that the communal online encyclopedias have several important problems that make them much less valuable than traditional, printed encyclopedias, which differs from the main point in the listening that the criticism in the reading passage is prejudice and the author has no idea how far the communal online encyclopedias have gone.

First, the writer makes a point that the contents in the communal online encyclopedias are partially informed at best and downright inaccurate in many cases. The listening, in contrast, holds a different view that even the traditional encyclopedias have many mistakes. For example, if people read a complex book, they will find a lot of errors in it. The advantage of communal online encyclopedias is that the errors in them can be easily corrected. However, the errors in the printed encyclopedias will remain for decades.

Another point shown in the reading passage is that the information in the online encyclopedias could be fabricated, deleted, and corrupted, but the listening material presents a conflicting view that the crucial information in an article cannot be changed. It is because the most crucial facts in an article are put in a special format that cannot be changed by others. And there are special editors who will monitor the changes and reverse the changes which are obvious malicious.

Finally, the writer states that the communal encyclopedias focus too much on trivial and popular topics, which challenges the standpoint made by the professor who says that the communal encyclopedias truly reflect what people concern. Because traditional encyclopedias only have limited space, people have to decide what is important. However, this judgment made by a group of academics cannot reflect ordinary people's interests. Communal online encyclopedias present a great variety of contents which truly reflect users' interests.