Thursday, March 22, 2012

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. 

Saturday, March 17, 2012

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.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

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.

Friday, February 17, 2012

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.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

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.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

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.

                              

                      R0021985.jpg


Monday, January 2, 2012

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.

                              

                      R0021985.jpg