Staying up Late Will Cost Your Life (Final Version)

    The doctor says 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. is the beauty of time, which is the body’s meridians run to the gallbladder, the liver breaks. If we overwork these two organs, it will result in the imbalance of our body and mental disorder. The human body needs sleep to perform important regenerative functions. Recently, scientists have believed that an average individual needs at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep a night to be at their best. In a new study, researchers Christina Schmidt and Philippe Peigneux, they asked 25 early birds and 26 night owls to spend a week following their natural sleep schedules. Subjects underwent cognitive testing twice daily while in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. After being awake for 10 hours, early birds had grown more alert, performing better on a reaction-time task requiring sustained attention and showing increased activity in brain areas linked to attention. As a result, staying up late as night owls could be harmful to your body.
    Have you ever wondered that what do people do in such a midnight? A domestic website called “stay up all night” is organized spontaneously by a group of “night owls”. The major members of this website are the students whose average age is 20 or so and the white-collar workers. They may stay up late for completing their work or, for students, to finish their homework and prepare for the tests. But also, people become night owls not for their work but for some leisure activities. More and more people choose to go to pubs to meet their friends or for other reasons. If you don’t like to go out, don’t worry, you can still find companions. Due to the well-developed technology, people can surf on the Internet to find some news, buy something you want or chat with your friends. Moreover, some people always stay up late for playing computer games. Nowadays, more and more companies release a lot of computer games. This may make people be addicted to playing these games and become night owls. As a result, there are a lot of reasons for people to stay up late.
    The disadvantages caused by staying up late can be divided into three categories. The first one is the physical problems. Sufficient sleeping is important, if our bodies don’t gain enough rest, the immune system will be destroyed which makes it easy to cause disease, such as getting cold, intestines and stomach disorder and being allergic. Also, because bad sleeping quality will damage our brain cells, it often accompanies drowsiness, dizziness, headache and difficulty with concentration. In addition, sleeping late retards blood circulation which will reflect on our appearance, such as black eyes, bloodshot eyes and pimples on face.
    The second one is the mental problems. Irregular sleeping also damages our mental health, because lacking of sleep harms the area in our brains which controls emotional reaction. We feel gloomy, depressed, furious or stressful. As our emotional intelligence is decreased, we tend to be impetuous and unreasonable. We can’t judge things correctly when encountering frustrations or pressures. According to the Columbia University Medical Center, staying up late may increase the risk of melancholia and idea of committing suicide. In a research, some Turkish scientists investigated the sleeping habit of 264 university students by measuring the frequency of having nightmares. And they found out that subjects who always stay up late have higher average anxiety index than subjects who sleep early. Besides, scientists also investigated 4000 people on line and found out that within 20-year-old female, staying up late relates to nightmares.
    Finally the last one is the invisible risks. Since staying up late weakens our physical and mental abilities, if we keep this bad habit over a long time, it will lead to serious problems that are difficult to be detected. For instance, chronic diseases, such as unusual liver function and bad blood circulation that makes us unable to remove toxic substance from our bodies. They cause skin, hormone and excretive problems that age our bodies, largely increase the risk of getting cancer and even cause infecundity. Also, our brains will secrete the endocrine which makes us hungry and eager to eat more than usual. In the long run, we gain unnecessary fats and are out of shape. In addition, the damaged brain cells and unhealthy emotion may bring about clouded memories and poor crisis management which lead to wrong decisions and accidents by carelessness.
    Above all, people nowadays tend to stay up late for a lot of things. Students may stay up late for doing their papers or studying for their exams. Some people like to go to pubs for fun; someone surfs on the Internet for chatting with their friends, playing on-line games or shopping. All of these actions for staying up late may cause the physical problems like getting sick easily, retarding blood circulation and having black eyes. In addition to physical problems, staying up late will cause mental problems too, for instance, feel depressed, cannot judge things correctly and increase the risk of melancholia. And there are some invisible risks like unusual liver function and making incorrect decisions. Therefore, if people want to live longer, have a healthy life, and look younger, they should try to sleep earlier for achieving a better quality of life.

Stay Up Late Will Cost Your Life

The doctor says 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. is the beauty of time, which is the body’s meridians run to the gallbladder, the liver breaks. If we overwork these two organs, it will result in the imbalance of our body and mental disorder. The human body needs sleep to perform important regenerative functions. Recently, scientists have believed that an average individual needs at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep a night to be at their best. In a new study, researchers Christina Schmidt and Philippe Peigneux, they asked 25 early birds and 26 night owls to spend a week following their natural sleep schedules. Subjects underwent cognitive testing twice daily while in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. After being awake for 10 hours, early birds had grown more alert, performing better on a reaction-time task requiring sustained attention and showing increased activity in brain areas linked to attention. As a result, staying up late as night owls could be harmful to your body.

Have you ever wondered that what do people do in such a midnight? A domestic website called “stay up all night” is organized spontaneously by a group of “night owls”. The major members of this website are the students whose average age is 20 or so and the white-collar workers. They may stay up late for completing their work or, for students, to finish their homework and prepare for the tests. But also, people become night owls not for their work but for the leisure activities. More and more people choose to go to the pubs to meet their friends or for other reasons. If you don’t like to go out, don’t worry, you can still find companions. Due to the well-developed technology, people can surf on the Internet to find some news, buy something you want or chat with your friends. Moreover, some people always stay up late for playing computer games. Nowadays, more and more companies release a lot of computer games. This may make people be addicted to playing these games and become night owls. As a result, there are a lot of reasons for people to stay up late.

The disadvantages caused by staying up late can be divided into three categories. First one is the physical problems. Sufficient sleeping is important, if our bodies don’t gain enough rest, the immune system will be destroyed which makes it easy to cause disease, such as getting cold, intestines and stomach disorder and being allergic. Also, because bad sleeping quality will damage our brain cells, it often accompanies with drowsiness, dizziness, headache and difficulty with concentration. In addition, sleeping late retards blood circulation which will reflect on our appearance, such as black eyes, bloodshot eyes and pimples on face.

Second one is the mental problems. Irregular sleeping also damages our mental health, because lacking of sleep harms the area in our brains which controls emotional reaction. We feel gloomy, depression, furious or stressful. As our emotional intelligence is decreased, we tend to be impetuous and unreasonable. We can’t judge things correctly when encountering frustrations or pressures. According to the Columbia University Medical Center, staying up late may increase the risk of melancholia and idea of committing suicide. According to the research, the Turkish scientists investigated the sleeping habit of 264 university students by measuring the frequency of having nightmares. And they found out that subjects who always stay up late have higher average anxiety index than subjects who sleep early. Besides, scientists also investigated 4000 people on line and found out that within 20-year-old female, staying up late relatives to nightmares.

Finally the last one is the invisible risks. Since staying up late weakens our physical and mental abilities, if we keep this bad habit over a long time, it will lead to serious problems that are difficult to be detected. For instance, chronic diseases, such as unusual liver function and bad blood circulation that makes us unable to remove toxic substance from our bodies. They cause skin, hormone and excretive problems that age our bodies, largely increase the risk of getting cancer and even cause infecundity. Also, our brains will secrete the endocrine which makes us hungry and eager to eat more than usual. In the long run, we gain unnecessary fats and are out of shape. In addition, the damaged brain cells and unhealthy emotion may bring about clouded memories and poor crisis management which lead to wrong decisions and accidents by carelessness.

Above all, people nowadays tend to stay up late for a lot of things. Students may stay up late for doing their papers or studying for their exams. Some people like to go to pubs for fun; someone surfs on the Internet for chatting with their friends, playing on-line games or shopping. All of these actions for staying up late may cause the physical problems like getting sick easily, retarding blood circulation and having black eyes. In addition to physical problems, staying up late will cause mental problems too, for instance, feel depression, cannot judge things correctly and increase the risk of melancholia. And there are some invisible risks like unusual liver function and making incorrect decisions. Therefore, if people want to live longer, have a healthy life, and look younger, they should try to sleep earlier for achieving a better quality of life.

Diverse Style of Teachers ( Final Version)

    To most of children, what is their turning point in their childhood? I guess the answer would be “going to school” because that means they have to say goodbye to their liberal lives and accept the social standards. Since we go to school in such a young age, we must have met various kinds of teachers. As a result, I think teachers can be sorted in to the following styles.

    The first one is the teachers who are always rigid and serious. They always start each course on time and finish it late because they want to teach students more and more knowledge. In addition, they would give students a lot of homework and check their results carefully to ensure their students' learning progress. Even though sometimes they looked solemn, serious and indifferent, actually they really care about their students and are willing to help them.

    On the contrary, some teachers seem to be very friendly and get along with students. However, the fact is that they dawdle everyday and students never learn anything from them. They just show up in the class but never teach any useful knowledge. The reason that they can get along with students is just because they don’t give students any homework so that students can almost ignore this course and lesson some of their heavy pressure from studying.

    The last type is the teachers who mix these two extremes. This kind of teachers can get along with students and also teach them much knowledge. They give students knowledge by a relaxed way such as chatting so that students can absorb the know-how without feeling too much pressure.

    To sum up, during our student life, we’ve met a lot of teachers. Teachers play an important role in students’ lives because they always affect students’ learning attitude, characteristics and personalities very much. Therefore, students’ adjustability can be trained by adjusting to different kinds of teachers.

Living in Dorm or at Home

    Nowadays more and more people like to live in the dormitory rather than living at home. As a college student, many of my friends live in the dorm for many reasons. So what are the differences between dormitory and home?

    When people live in the dorm, they have to deal with all things, such as ironing, washing dishes and clothes, cooking, and so on. In addition, because they don’t live with their families, sometimes they might feel lonely and miss them a lot. As a result, they would be very busy owing to do not only work but also all housework.

    As to living at home, people can be more relaxed because there are other family members like your father, mother, sisters, brothers, and so forth. You can do the boring housework in turns instead of doing all of these by yourself. Besides, when you feel frustrated or sorrow, you can be comfortable by sharing your thoughts with your family and get some constructive advice or feedback.

    Although living in the dormitory can make yourself be more independent, I think dealing with our family is also important. Therefore, I think we cannot say which one is better than the other one.

Diverse Styles of Teachers (Second Version)

   To most of children, what is their turning point in their childhood? I guess the answer would be “going to school” because that means they have to say goodbye to their liberal lives and accept the social standards. Since we go to school in such a young age, we must have met various kinds of teachers. As a result, I think teachers can be sorted to the following styles.

    The first one is the teachers who are always rigid and serious. They always start each course on time and finish it late because they want to teach students more and more knowledge. In addition, they would give students a lot of homework and check their result carefully to ensure their students learning progress. Even though sometimes they looked solemn, serious and indifferent, actually they really care about their students and are willing to help them.

    To the contrary, some teachers seem to be very friendly and get along with students. However, the fact is that they dawdle everyday and students never learn anything from them. They just show up in the class but never teach any useful knowledge. The reason that they can get along with students is just because they don’t give students any homework so that students can almost ignore this course and lesson some of their heavy pressure from studying.

    The last type is the teachers who mix these two extremes. This kind of teachers can get along with students and also teach them much knowledge. They give students knowledge by a relaxed way such as chatting so that students can absorb the know-how without feeling too much pressure.

    To sum up, during our student life, we’ve met a lot of teachers. Teachers play an important role in students’ lives because they always affect students’ learning attitude, characteristics and personalities very much. Therefore, trying to adjust the different styles of diverse kinds of teachers can be a good chance to train the students’ adjustability. 

Should I Go to Cram School? (Final Version)

To most of Taiwanese students, where is their common memory when they were in junior high or senior high school? The answer is obvious—cram school. Generally in Taiwan, because our education system tends to be the spoon-fed education, going to cram schools seems to be indispensable. Even though students do a good job at school and always get high scores, their parents still want them to go to cram school lest lagging behind other peers. And my parents are no exceptions.

    My parents usually have unnecessary anxiety. They always ignored how “good” I did in school. They usually think when you have already got 95 points, why don’t you get 100 points? As a result, they want me to go to cram school. To me, I think 95 points is good enough because the grade is better than most of the other students. So why can't I use my free time to do what I want instead of going to cram school? There are still many things that are more important than studying!

    Seeing that most of my classmates go to cram school, my parents want me to follow what the most people choose to do. They usually view “going to cram school” as one of the “social activities”. Because during the break time in junior high or senior high school, my peers always talk about their cram school, including their homework, the appearance of their teacher, and so on. In order to have the subject of a talk, my parents want me to go to cram school not only to learn but also make friends with other people. However, I think the topic of conversation should not be confined to such a limited subject. Movies, sports, hobbies, or cartoons can also be good materials of a talk. If we only talk something that happened in cram school, I think our horizons would be limited and that would not stimulate our thoughts.

    To sum up, I think the question of whether I should go to cram school or not differs from person to person. Not all of people “have to” take lessons after school! Parents should evaluate their children’s conditions to make a decision about whether to send them to cram school or not.

Diverse Styles of Teachers (First Version)

    To most of children, what is their turning point in their childhood? I guess the answer would be “going to school” because that means they have to say goodbye to their liberal lives and accept the social standards. Since we go to school in such a young age, we must have met various kinds of teachers. As a result, I think teachers can be sorted to the following styles.

    The first one is the teachers who are always rigid and serious. They always start each course on time and finish it late because they want to teach students more and more knowledge. In addition, they would give students a lot of homework and check their result carefully to ensure their students learning progress. Even though sometimes they looked solemn, serious and indifferent, actually they really care about their students and are willing to help them.

    To the contrary, some teachers seem to be very friendly and get along with students. However, the fact is that they dawdle everyday and students never learn anything from them. They just show up in the class but never teach any useful knowledge. The reason that they can get along with students is just because they don’t give students any homework so that students can almost ignore this course and lessen some of their heavy pressure from studying.

    The last type is the teachers who mix these two extremes. This kind of teachers can get along with students and also teach them much knowledge. They give students knowledge by a relaxed way such as chatting so that students can absorb the know-how without feeling too much pressure.

    To sum up, during our student life, we’ve met a lot of teachers. Teachers play an important role in students’ lives because they always affect students’ learning attitude, characteristics and personalities very much. Therefore, trying to adjust the different styles of diverse kinds of teachers can be a good chance to train the students’ adjustability. 

Should I Go to Cram School? (Second Version)

To most of Taiwanese students, where is their common memory when they were in junior high or senior high school? The answer is obvious—cram school. Generally in Taiwan, because our education system trends to be the spoon-fed education, going to cram schools seems to be indispensable. Even though students do a good job at school and always get high scores, their parents still want them to go to cram school lest lagging behind other peers. And my parents have no exceptions.

    My parents usually have unnecessary anxiety. They always ignored how “good” I did in regular school. They usually think when you have already got 95 points, why don’t you get 100 points? As a result, they want me to go to cram school. To me, I think 95 points is good enough because the grade is better than most of other students. So why can't I use my free time to do what I want instead of going to cram school? There are still many things that are more important than studying!

    Seeing that most of my classmates go to cram school, my parents want me to follow what the most people choose to do. They usually view “going to cram school” as one of the “social activities”. Because during the break time in junior high or senior high school, my peers always talk about their cram school, including their homework, the appearance of their teacher, and so on. In order to have the subject of a talk, my parents want me to go to cram school not only to learn but also make friends with other people. However, I think the topic of conversation should not be confined to such a limit subject. Movies, sports, hobbies, or cartoons can also be the good materials of a talk. If we only talk something that happened in cram school, I think our horizons would be limited and that would not stimulate our thoughts.

    To sum up, I think the question of whether I should go to cram school or not differs from person to person. Not all of people “have to” take lessons after school! Parents should evaluate their children’s conditions to make a decision about whether to send them to cram school or not.

Should I Go to Cram School? (First Version)

To most of Taiwanese students, where is their common memory when they were in junior high or senior high school? The answer is obvious—cram school. Generally in Taiwan, because our education system trends to be the spoon-fed education, going to cram schools seems to be indispensable. Even though students do a good job at school and always get high scores, their parents still want them to go to cram school lest lagging behind other peers. And my parents have no exceptions.

    My parents usually have unnecessary anxiety. They always ignored how “good” I did in regular school. They usually think when you have already got 95 points, why don’t you get 100 points? As a result, they want me to go to cram school. To me, I think 95 points is good enough because the grade is better than the most of other students. So why don’t I use my free time to do what I want instead of going to cram school? There are still many things that are more important than studying!

    Seeing that most of my classmates go to cram school, my parents want me to follow what the most people choose to do. They usually view “going to cram school” as one of the “social activities”. Because during the break time in junior high or senior high school, my peers always talk about their cram school, including their homework, the appearance of their teacher, and so on. In order to have the subject of a talk, my parents want me to go to cram school not only to learn but also make friends with other people. However, I think the topic of conversation should not be confined to such a limit subject. Movies, sports, habits, or cartoons can also be the good materials of a talk. If we only talk something that happened in cram school, I think our horizons would be limited and that would not stimulate our thoughts.

    To sum up, I think the question of whether I should go to cram school or not differs from person to person. Not all of people “have to” take lessons after school! Parents should evaluate their children’s conditions to make a decision about whether to send them to cram school or not.

Playing House

Organization and Ideas

1. Question：But do the chances of a successful marriage actually improve by cohabiting?
    Her answer：No. Because of the lack of commitment, couples who do marry after living together have higher rates of separation and divorce. Then the writer starts to support her opinion in the following paragraphs.

2. The characteristic of a cohabiting couple is the lack of commitment and specialization. As a result, they generally live more financially and emotionally independent of one another to allow themselves the freedom to leave. As to a married couple, they specialize and pool their resources to creat a higher quality lifestyle. They have more invested in their relationship and think longer.

3. Leight's view is that cohabitation can suppress the development of a higher level of commitment and that will cause the higher number of saparation and divorce. This opinion can be supported by paragraph 2 to 7 because Leight did a lot of research.

4. I think it's sufficient. Because this essay just has 8 paragraphs, the writer cites evidence at least 8 times. Therefore, this article becomes more persuasive and logical. I think it's enough.

5. No. I think this essay is pretty consummate. I cannot find any loopholes in this article.

Living on Tokyo Time

Organization and Ideas

1. The examples give the readers specific figures so that we can imagine how Japanese are busy. For instance, Japanese work "10" hours a day and rarely take a vacation of more than "three" or "four" days. Even the students have "less than a month" for summer vacation.

2. I think the Japanese don't be bothered by the cradle-to-grave, manic schedule because they grow up with a sence of time as a communal resource, like the company motor pool. The main priority of their time is to serve the institution rather than thinking that time belongs to themselves in the first place.

3. The Japanese view time as a commercial resource so that they seldom have their private time. They spend most of their time working or engaging in the social activities with their boss or colleagues. In contrast, the American regard time as their belongings. Time belongs to them in the first place. As a result, in the West, they can save time, spend time, invest time, even kill time.

4. I think the writer is between the two views. She doesn't like the Japanese schedule because it's too busy for her, but she likes its result-- the national health insurance, a wonderful train system, and so on.

5. The accurate statement is in paragraph three- In the West, we can save time, spend time, invest time, even kill time.

Coffee --The Amazing Drink (Final Version)

When you walk on the street, have you ever bought a cup of coffee in Starbucks to taste the coffee’s amazing flavor or just want to keep yourself awake even though it costs you a lot of money? It is well-known that coffee is our great partner when we feel sleepy because it has caffeine to keep people awake. Furthermore, coffee is a kind of drink that is expensive than others and is always related to luxury. In addition, people buy it to enjoy its smooth, bitter, and mellow flavor, and to somewhat, people can show their taste when they buy it. Imagine that you are drinking a cup of coffee in New York, Paris, or other cities, and chatting with your friends or enjoying your private time. How modern and satisfied you are!

Coffee has a long and mysterious history. Each area has its own version. But one thing can be sure is the place of the origin of coffee. It is grown on the mountain of Ethiopia in East Africa. In 1454, a Yemeni monk publicized coffee, which was unknown at that time. Gradually, it was spread throughout Arabian Peninsula by its mysterious scent. In the early phases, Arabians eat the fruit of coffee rather than using the coffee beans. They chewed the fruit of coffee to suck the juice. Later, they combined the ground coffee beans with the animal’s fat as the energy drink. In 16th century, the first coffee shop of Europe was established in Vienna and the Europeans also combined coffee with milk. Then, the glamour of coffee spread throughout the world.

The production of coffee is very complex. First, the coffee berries have to be separated from the coffee seeds. Then, those seeds have to be fermented and dried. Finally, the most important part is roasting. After those steps, the coffee beans can be completed. it can be distinguished by their breeds and place of origin. For example, the Coffee Arabica and Coffee Robusta are based on the breeds of coffee. As to Java and Mandheling, they are discriminated by their place of origin.

To me, coffee is really an amazing drink. The best coffee I’ve ever drunk is in Italy. That coffee shop, operated since 1760, is near Spanish Embassy. The flavor of its Latte is very smooth and rich. I can feel both the scent of coffee and milk. No wonder that coffee can bring us the sensory satisfaction and the spiritual content. To sum up, coffee is just like magic that combines so many functions in one.

                              

                     

Coffee --The Amazing Drink (Second Version)

When you walk on the street, have you ever bought a cup of coffee in Starbucks to taste the coffee’s amazing flavor or just want to keep yourself awake even though it cost you a lot of money? It is well-known that coffee is our great partner when we feel sleepy because it has caffeine to keep people awake. Furthermore, coffee is a kind of drink that is expensive than others and is always related to luxury. In addition, people buy it to enjoy its smooth, bitter, and mellow flavor, and to somewhat, people can show their taste when they buy it. Imagine that you are drinking a cup of coffee in New York, Paris, or other cities, and chatting with your friends or enjoying your private time. How modern and satisfied you are!

Coffee has a long and mysterious history. Each area has its own version. But one thing can be sure is the place of the origin of coffee. It is grown on the mountain of Ethiopia in East Africa. In 1454, a Yemeni monk publicized coffee, which was unknown at that time. Gradually, it was spread throughout Arabian Peninsula by its mysterious scent. In the early phases, Arabians eat the fruit of coffee rather than using the coffee beans. They chewed the fruit of coffee to suck the juice. Later, they combined the ground coffee beans with the animal’s fat as the energy drink. In 16th century, the first coffee shop of Europe was established in Vienna and the Europeans also combined coffee with milk. Then, the glamour of coffee spread throughout the world.

The production of coffee is very complex. First, the coffee berries have to be separated from the coffee seeds. Then, those seeds have to be fermented and dried. Finally, the most important part is roasting. After those steps, the coffee beans can be completed. it can be distinguished by their breeds and place of origin. For example, the Coffee Arabica and Coffee Robusta are based on the breeds of coffee. As to Java and Mandheling, they are discriminated by their place of origin.

To me, coffee is really an amazing drink. The best coffee I’ve ever drunk is in Italy. That coffee shop, operated since 1760, is near Spanish Embassy. The flavor of its Latte is very smooth and rich. I can feel both the scent of coffee and milk. No wonder that coffee can bring us the sensory satisfaction and the spiritual content. To sum up, coffee is just like the magic that combined so many functions in one.

                              

                     

Coffee --The Amazing Drink (First Version)

When you walk on the street, have you ever bought a cup of coffee in Starbucks to taste the coffee’s amazing flavor or just want to keep yourself awake even though it cost you a lot of money? It is well-know that coffee is our great partner when we feel sleepy because it has caffeine to keep people awake. Furthermore, coffee is a kind of drink that is expensive than others and is always related to luxury. In addition, people buy it to enjoy its smooth, bitter, and mellow flavor, and to somewhat, people can show their taste when they buy it. Imagine that you are drinking a cup of coffee in New York, Paris, or other cities, and chatting with your friends or enjoying your private time. How modern and satisfied you are!

Coffee has a long and mysterious history. Each area has its own version. But one thing can be sure is the place of the origin of coffee. It is grown on the mountain of Ethiopia in East Africa. In 1454, a Yemeni monk publicized coffee, which was unknown at that time. Gradually, it was spread throughout Arabian Peninsula by its mysterious scent. In the early phases, Arabians eat the fruit of coffee rather than using the coffee beans. They chewed the fruit of coffee to suck the juice. Later, they combined the ground coffee beans with the animal’s fat as the energy drink. In 16th century, the first coffee shop of Europe was established in Vienna and the Europeans also combined coffee with milk. Then, the glamour of coffee spread throughout the world.

The production of coffee is very complex. First, the coffee berries have to be separated from the coffee seeds. Then, those seeds have to be fermented and dried. Finally, the most important part is roasting. After those steps, the coffee beans can be completed. it can be distinguished by their breeds and place of origin. For example, the Coffee Arabica and Coffee Robusta are based on the breeds of coffee. As to Java and Mandheling, they are discriminated by their place of origin.

To me, coffee is really an amazing drink. The best coffee I’ve ever drunk is in Italy. That coffee shop, operated since 1760, is near Spanish Embassy. The flavor of its Latte is very smooth and rich. I can feel both the scent of coffee and milk. No wonder that coffee can bring us the sensory satisfaction and the spiritual content. To sum up, coffee is just like the magic that combined so many functions in one.

                  

The Handicap of Definition

Organization and Ideas

1. Paragraph 1~4：The major assertion is that the black people here is a tragically limited definition, and it isn't only white people who buy it.
    Paragraph 5~7：The major assertion is that the harm that comes from too narrow a definition of what is black.
    Paragraph 8~11：The major assertion is that when people are inculcated early in their lives, the black people can do the things well.

2. The relationship between paragraph 12 and the preceding paragraphs is the things that the blacks or the whites can do. The white people always take charge of the things that are essential to economic security. However, the black people can only be the good athletes or entertain other people.

3. Raspberry's thesis is to make the black children understand that they are as outstanding as any other races. They are capable of doing whatever they put in their minds to and making it in the American mainstream, not just in a black subculture. As a result, the writer uses many examples to support his idea.

4. I don't think there is any evidence to support the view that Raspberry is trying to make blacks "better" by making them white. Although the author mentions that white people have the better status than black people, actually he just want to let the blacks know they have the same capability to do the same things.

5. I think a feminist who reads the essay might argue that it is sexist because there are two words, "sexual prowess", in this article. But I think there aren't any evidence to show Raspberry is a sexist. The writer mentions it just because it is one of the opinions that the blacks might be misunderstood.

Getting Angry Can Be a Good Thing

Organization and Ideas

1. In paragraph 2, the writer's point is very clear. Because her family are Bolivian immigrants, her good friend once said that if the U.S. might have the war, her parents would belong in an internment camp just like the Japanese-Americans during World War II.  What her friend said was really offended her. After this event, Munoz generalizes the questions that the immigrants might encounter in paragraph 3. For example, there will always be doubt as to whether they really belong in this country, which is their home, and so on.

2. This essay's organization is both a bit of "chronological" and "particular to general". In paragraph 2 and 3, the author was 17 and she was propelled to join the civil rights movement. In paragraph 4, she started to work as an advocate. As to "particular to general", paragraph 1~3 was her personal experience. But from paragraph 4~7, she started to work as an advocate in the civil rights movement and started not only to talk about herself but also other people.

3. Outrage
    → Denotations：insult, injure, violate, trespass, infringe, mistreat, abuse, impair
    → Connotations：upset, furious, angry, offensive

4. She believes that outrage can be a good thing. She is deeply familiar with that hollow place that outrage carves in her soul. "Outrage" is just like a propellant to push her to help the immigrants and to support the civil rights movement. And all of these makes Munoz believe that she has the privilege of doing her small part to make things better.

5. I think the opening sentence, "I believe that a little outrage can take you a long way", is the essay's thesis and paragraph 2~7 are the supporting details. Because the opening sentence points out the topic,which is "outrage", the rest parts of the essay are surrounded by this spindle.

Mount Titlis ( Final Version)

"It will be a wonderful paradise," I told myself when I was sitting on the bus, and I knew that even though I hadn't been there. This was a sunny day and our bus was traveling in the tranquil champaign. The air was fresh and chill. The champaign was green and live. The sky was enormous and azure. My heart was excited and glad. I was in Switzerland! The bus was still heading for our destination, Mount Titlis, to see the glacier.

As a Taiwanese, I had never seen the snow before. Because Taiwan is a tropical country, people can hardly see the real snow. Let alone the glacier! As a result, it would be my first time to see the glacier. The elated feeling was beyond description, not only to me, but also to my friend and my younger sister. After the two-hour's drive, finally, we arrived at our destination, Mount Titlis.

After I arrived at Mount Titlis, I found the scene were very different. The landscape of the foot of the mountain was bright and beautiful. The grass and the trees are vivid. I even saw the animals, such as pigs, cows, horses, on the hillside. And then, when I was on the half way up the mountain, the view changed a lot. The grass and the trees disappeared. The mountain was bald and sometimes I could see the white pieces of ice cap scattered on the mountain just like the pattern of a milch cow. Eventually, when I arrived at the mountaintop, the only thing I could see was the glacier and the fog. It was my first time to see the glacier! It was also my first time to realize that walking on the ice was not an easy task at all. Because it was so slippery, people might tumble easily.

Just as the moment that I saw this view, I was really moved. I realized that the Creator was so mighty that it created various landscapes on the earth such as deserts, oceans, glaciers, mountains, streams, and so on, and each of them had their own features. This time, I knew more about the glacier, not from the textbooks, but from my personal experience. Until that moment, I started to understand why some people say “He that travels far knows much.”

I Was a Member of the Kung Fu Crew

Organization and Ideas

1. Paragraph 1：Lau met his Kung Fu Crew members a year ago and started to talk the Kung Fu in the early 1990's China by the story.
    Paragraph 2 ~4：Law was in eighth grade and has the great physical strength. And then , the author started to introduce the categories of the kids in Chinatown.
    Paragraph 5：Introduce how the hair is important in determining one's order on the street.
    Paragraph 6：When the examination of the hair is sufficient, the writer introduced how the pants is important in determining one's order on the street.
    Paragraph 7 ~12：Lau wrote somthing about what had the K.F.C. done in Chinatown.
    Paragraph 13：The K.F.C. disbanded.

2. There are four categories of kids in Chinatown. First, the pale-faced kids who study all the time to get into the Ivies are regarded as nerds. Second, the kids with uncombed hair and crooked teeth who sing karaoke in bars are the recent immigrants. Third, the kids with high-lighted hair who cut school, and the gangsters, whom everyone else avoids are viewed as the punks. The last category is K.F.C. They worked hard like the nerds, but they identify with the punks.

3. I think the writer's point is to show the readers how the apperance, such as hair, pants, and school bags, is important to the kids in Chinatown. Through the differences between the other groups, kids can find their own self- esteem and self- approval.

4. To Lau, Chinatown is his hometown and his spirit belongs to there. The author lived in Chinatown for a longtime and also had the great time with his friends to amble on the Canal Street. All of these shaped the magnificent memory of living there. As a result, Lau gradually has the identity of being the member of Chinatown.

5. I think Lau's thesis is explicit. Because Chinatown is a ghetto, it may remain many customs of the imigrants. Therefore, the whole essay supports this idea and the author also takes pride in his own culture.

Chocolate Equals Love

Organization and Ideas

1. In paragraph 1, at first, the author uses the question to ask the readers what food do we crave. By doing so, we may be interested in this essay and started to think about this question. And then, she uses many short sentences to give the readers some quick images as the answer of the question. Because chocolate has so many use, that's why it is the food that we crave.

2. By giving the history of chocolate as the beginning of the essay, the readers can understand chocolate more. We can know who discovered chocolate, how important it was to the Aztecs, how the Europeans viewed chocolate, and so on. Ackerman gives the history of chocolate to let us not only know the use and the ingredients of chocolate, but also the profound culture behind it.

3. I am surprised that one of the ingredients in chocolate is marijuana. I have heard some people say that eating or drinking chocolate can make people be more stimulant, so I always think it is because chocolate has caffeine in it. But after reading this article, I understand that this effect is not all because of caffeine, but also marijuana.

4. Her thesis is that chocolate has so many chemical ingredients that makes people be stimulant and crave for it.

5. As to myself,  I eat chocolate just because I want to enjoy its flavor instead of expelling my tiredness. As a result, when I eat chocolate, I would only focus on its silk, rich, and mild taste. Besides, I pretty agree with the writer that chocolate is very popular and I think it can be a good choice as a gift. Therefore, when I have to give presents to my friends, I always choose chocolate.

A Black Fan of Country Music Finally Tells All

Organization and Ideas

1. I think the first 3 paragraphs introduce the essay. In paragraph 1 and 2, the author used a scenario to tell the readers that she bought a singer's album. In paragraph 3, she told us she is a fan of country music and started to deal with it in the essay.

2. Williams' point is about the race. Because Williams is a black people, she dare not listen to the music that the white people like. As a result, she can only listen to the country music secretly. These two paragraphs show the struggle between her beloved music and her confined situation in the society.

3. 1950's ---
     Black people weren't allowed to listen to the country-and-western music. Their contribution to American  music was in jazz, blues, and funk. But some elements of jazz was copied by country music and people started to listen to the Black's music.                  
    1980's ---
     Country music became mainstream. Those singers of country music became the movies stars. Wall Street investment bankers even bought cowboy boots and hats and learned to do the two-step.

4. I think Williams won't hide her preference towards the music. It relates to her thesis statement successfully because it helps the readers to recall what she wants to say in this essay. And the writer doing this by using the comparison can make the readers feel fresh and new.

5. The writer gave us some very precise examples. For example, the country music was played at the Copa and at Town Hall. WYNY-FM radio in New York also had more than one million listeners. In addition, the country music singers, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, became movie stars. Furthermore, Garth Brooks became an American phenomenon.