toefl essay 6

(Similar or different friends?) Do you prefer to have friends who are similar to you or different from you?

Almost everyone in the world has friends. Friends were found anywhere at anytime. Some of our friends can be similar to us, and some of them can differ in many ways. Regardless of their similarities or differences, there are a few advantages of having such friends. Having friends who are similar to us would be beneficial in which we can enjoy things together and share the same opinion. With friends who are alike, we can always enjoy going to mutual enjoyable places together such as going to clubs or watching movies. For example, Gee and I have no problems on finding a place to eat everytime we go out because we both enjoy eating and spend time at the local hawkers downtown. In addition, having friends of mutual interest would provide us with companion to share our opinion. I have a few friends who are similar to myself and I found that I can share my opinion with them on almost everything. We have a good time tossing view with each other either in fashion, movies or even life. I believe that having friends who are similar to us would provide us with a smooth plan on almost anything. However, having friends who are different from us would have a few advantage of its own. People always say that, "Opposite, attracts". Friends who are different from us would be able to criticise and introduce us to something new and different. I realize that friends who are different from us would be able to criticise on our opinion. Of course, not all of our opinions are good. Hence, having a friend with an opposite thought would provide us with a different view on a certain matter. I have been friends with Nina for almost 5 years now. Despite of our differences in characteristic, Nina and I have never fight during our friendship. In fact, it was Nina who introduce me to things that I have never done before such as jungle tracking and eating sushi. Even though, neither jungle tracking nor sushi would be in my favourite list, it is fun and enjoyable to be able to experience such new things. Therefore, I believe that having friends who are different from us can provide us with unexpected experience in life. Nevertheless, I would have prefer to choose a friend who are similar to me rather than friends who are different from me. I feel that friendship would be smoother and enjoyable by having friends who are similar to us. However, I never refuse a friendship offered by a friend who are different from myself.

You have to travel 50 kilometers. Discuss the different options you have.

If I had to travel to a place 40 miles away, I would consider several ways of transportation, such as car, bicycle, or train. Each of these options has it's advantages and disadvanatages. In this essay I will present advantages of each way of travelling, and I will argue in favor of traveling by train. It would be possible to travel by car. Cars are reasonably fast and comfortable. They can accomodate more than one passanger, which is important when several people travel together. Most cars are spacious, so every passanger has enough space to fully enjoy the trip. Moreover, passangers can travel as fast as it suits them. If they are in a hurry or some kind of emergency situation, thay can travel very quickly. On the other hand, if the purpose of their trip is casual, such as visit to a friend or having a picnic in the nature, they can make occasional stops, in order to rest or enjoy the pleasant surroundings. Some mental effort is required by the driver, because he has to pay attention to the traffic in front of him. Another option is travelling by bicycle, since 40 miles is not a very large distance. One important advantage of a bicycle is that it doesn't burn fuel in order to move, so it doesn't produce toxic output which would pollute the environment. Moreover, bicycles are healthier than cars. Riding a bicycle requires physical effort and sterngthens muscles. In fact, some scientist assert that riding a bicycle is one of the most effective forms of excercise. Bicycles find their way through heavy traffic more quickly and easily than cars. Also, they use less space and are easier to park, which makes them useful for travels through heavily urbanized and crowded areas. Finally, bicycles are the cheapest conveyances, since they don't require expenses for fuel, and only minute amounts of money are needed for maintenance. For my part, I must argue in favor of travelling by train, because it comprises some of the main positive properties of both previously discussed approaches. Trains are very comfortable, and they don't require any effort from the passanger, neither physical, nor mental. They are also very fast, sometimes even faster than cars. Finally, trains are environmentally clean means of transportation, since they use electric power, not fossil fuels, like cars do. The superiority of travelling by train is further confirmed by the corresponding price, which is significantly higher than those of car or a bicycle travels.

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Contributions from every sector and individual are equally important for the sustainable development of the society. As for the holistic approach, both art and science are important for the development, so it is very difficult to compare the contributions. Artists work for preserving the art and culture, thus preserving societal value as a whole, while scientist work for implementing new ideas, eradicating diseases, and eliminating poverty and illiteracy. But in comparison to the contribution of artist, the contribution of scientist is important to the society that I belong. The identity of the society lies in its culture and customs. These are most preserved, practiced and passed to generations to come. And these are preserved in the form of arts like museum, history, paintings, monuments, etc. These are well depicted in artists work like arts and paints and they even preserve these societal values in museums, which would otherwise might have been lost. Societal, economical, ethnical values are very important which would attract tourists and thus help in income generation source. It would help in community development by working together to preserve the society and its values. The on-coming generation will know about he systems, rights and rituals of the society, thus help in retaining identity. Artists fascinate tourists which inturn help in spreading the societal values to other society. In this way, it helps in promoting the art and culture of the society. New discoveries, easy life, advance technology are some of the important contributions by scientists among others. The scientists work for eliminating poverty by educating people, innovative ideas and implementation of new projects, thus, employing many people of the society. As health is wealth, science provides the ultimate way to eradicate diseases, and provides a healthy environment to live on. Scientist discovers new ideas, making and providing ways to information and communication development, thus bridging the digital and religious gap. It provides opportunity to implement our own ideas. In the society where I belong, scientific contribution are more important to the artistic contributions for many reasons. Firstly, because, I belong to the developing nation, with a lot of natural resources and the prime medium for the development is eco-tourism. Eco-tourism not only helps in generating income but in sustaining the ecology and the environment as a whole. Due to pollution and solid waste problem, the area is losing its beauty, and the numbers of tourists are also declining. So, the first step to develop the society that I belong is the scientific approach to solid waste management and pollution control and management. Secondly, because, the prime occupation of the society is agriculture, and indigenous knowledge can better be implemented by scientific approach. Also scientific approach, helps in conserving and preserving art and humanities, and biodiversity on the other hand. While every type of contributions are equally important for the sustainable developnet of the society, scientists contributions are more important for the development of the society that I belong. Scientists can eliminate diseases thus providing the healthy environment to live on, they can bring about new approach in agriculture thus providing enough food for the society, they can bring about new ideas and easy and comfortable life by employing and providing media to use our own skills and tatents.

(Plan or not plan your free time?) Do you prefer make plans for your free time or do things spontaneously?

Everyday, as soon as we wake up, we are already busy planning all our activities for the day. As we go to bed, we continue to think and plan our activities for the following day. This routine continues day in and day out. That is why, some people prefer to plan their activities for their free time carefully out of habit or as an extension of what they used to do. However, for some people, free time means a time to relax and not make any pains at all, which I also prefer. Nowadays, time seems to fly and no matter how fast we do things, we can't seem to have enough. Having free time becomes a luxury, and people intend to enjoy every second of it. Planning their activities carefully assures them they would not miss anything and no time will be wasted on unnecessary or trivial matters. One good example is going for a long drive to another place. Planning which place to go through either on the internet or through brochure gives them a foresight of what to expect and do. Placing reservation on their intended hotel or resort assures them of immediate accommodation regardless of what time they arrive. Checking the condition of the car results to uninterrupted traveling and breakdown-free. Preparing a checklist and packing things the night before prevents situation of leaving out important things. In short, being prepared, leaves for very little possibility of problems and assures them of a worry-free leisure time. However, as we wake up and go to bed, we always worry on things that we are supposed to do and accomplish. We hardly have time for ourselves. That is why, during free time, some people prefer not to make any plans. They would like to spend it to relax, forget about everything and enjoy the beauty of letting life and time pass them. Letting their mind relax and getting rid of all their worries, it allows them to appreciate things they do not normally see or value. Spending time with their loved ones, doing nothing, seeing their children play with themselves, watching TV, appreciating the beauty of flowers blooming, watching the birds soar high, exchanging pleasantries with their neighbors, playing with their dogs, and being thankful for all their blessings. These things do not need planning at all, but these simple activities are the ones that give most people their greatest pleasure. In summary, some people prefer to plan their activities carefully for their free time because they want to make the most out of it. Others prefer not to plan anything at all because free time is the time to reflect and enjoy life as it is, I could not agree more.

Do you prefer to spend time alone or with others?

I like to spend some time alone. Hanging out with friends is fun, I would not say the opposite, but I also enjoy being by myself for many hours because I can do a lot of things that I like and that cannot be done if there is people around. Most of my hobbies are individual activities that require concentration and silence. One of the things I like the most is reading. Therefore I want to be isolated in order to concentrate in my books. I prefer reading rather than watching tv, at home my family get together to watch a television show, I go to my bedroom to read a book instead, that is what I prefer and my family respects it. I hate when someone talks to me when I am at the computer surfing on the internet looking for information about the subjects I am interested in. It is not that I do not like people. I get along well with my friends and family, but I am a loner. I like to be alone because it is when I can think about everything that happens to me. At the end of the day I analyze the facts, search reasons and make conclusions. I not only imagine the future but also make detailed plans to achieve what I want. I play with different possibilities of what I am going to do. I reach such level of introversion that I can even hear my own voice telling me my deepest thoughts. I do not consider myself being crazy for my preference to loneliness. I am a thoughtful person, and many people are like me. I enjoy my own companion, I have found out that being alone is a good way to know who I am.

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I think that, if people move to another country, they had better follow custom of the new country and feel themselves as part of society where they study, work and live. First of all, people following custom of the new country show respects to people in that country and the way they live. From other side, people of new country also will respect newcomers and help them, what is very important to whom, who are beginning a new life in the new country. If newcomers will feel themselves foreigners and keep distance between them and people from new country, they never will have either success in career or comfort in life. Our nation has one wise folklore, what means "If you going to drink water in new country you should follow their custom and tradition". I found it very useful from my own experience of being the Russian, the Chinese and the American, while remaining just Mongolian, where I had lived. Everywhere I meet very nice people who are ready to help and make my life in their country as happy as in my motherland. Secondly, following their custom, they can learn new things, gain more knowledge and make their lives more interesting. I know 19 years old American volunteer teacher who came in my country to teach English. After living two years in new country he fully adapted and became a member of new family. Everybody respected him and loved. He learned a new language, a new style of life and achieved useful experiences of which the most important is the belief in himself that other people need him and he can make good things. I believe that he will make good career, find good friends live happy life, wherever he is. Finally people moving to another country must follow new custom because it is not only respect to peoples in new country but also respect to themselves in living happy life in new country, while keeping their own custom within family, countrymates and friends

(Friends vs. family.) Do friends or family have more influence on young adults?

In everyone's life, there is some infulence of other person, either they are parents or friends. In my opinion , freinds are the most important influence on yound adults. I will explain this by giving some examples as below. In the early age of person, there is more influence by family. But as soon as becoming the younger, they come more contact to friends rather then family. Younger people like the company of their age with whom they can share their ideas, thouhts, life etc. With some good friends, one can develop itself taking examples from the good friends. Freinds can exchange their good thoughts, developing careers, and some good and bad things with friends also. Some talks are like that one can not share it with family but can shere with friends. Secondly, friends plays an important role in our lives. They are the most important people who can change one's path by giving them right decision or right advice or may spoil the life by giving the wrong advice. Its all depends on type and nature of friends. If we have good friends, who can understand and knowledgeable person, they are always helpful to us. In the contrary, if friends are not good, then in thier friendship, one can spoil his/her life also. I would like to give example here, how freinds can more influence on young adults. When i was studying in the collage, there is one group, in which some boys are good and some are not good. Some boys are on the wrong track. I means to say that they have habit of smoking , drinking etc. In that group, some boys are really nice, but after some time they also started smoking and drinking. Which is not good for the health. This makes impact on young adults. In sum up, I would like to say that freinds are the most important influence on young adults, rather then family because of above reasons.

Discuss the contributions of artists vs. those of scientists.

It is a commonly accepted fact that society benefits from the work of it's members. Some of them are more inclined to artistic forms of creation, while others prefer working in a scientific framework. Both scientists and artists contribute to the socity in their own way. Works of artists affect people's state of mind, and works of scientists affect their everyday life. In my opinion, scientific work is more valued by the modern society. Artists make art, and art makes people feel better. Artistic creations may be more or less valuable, from the connoisseur's point of view, but nevertheless, some people find them enjoyable and pleasing. For instance, looking at a beautiful picture or listening to Beethoven's symphony seems very relaxing after a hard day spent in the office. Furthermore, museums and galleries all over the world are made possible by the work of the generations of artists, from the ancient times until today. Without the museums and galleries, men of modern age would not be able to improve their knowledge about past times. Therefore, education is also the important role of artists. The art enriches people's spirits and makes them more imaginative, while at the same time teaches them about historical events. Scientists contribute to the society in a different way. Their influence is of more material, and less spiritual nature. For example, physicists try to determine the laws of nature and engineers then use that knowledge in order to make various devices and systems. Those products of joint efforts of physics and engineering make ordinary people's lives easier. Just think about the difference that was made by the invention of microwave ovens for example. It is my opinion that science is more appreciated than art by the modern society. There are several reasons that lead to this conclusion. People find it easier to accept information in material, than in spiritual form. For example, using typical products of science, such as computers or TVs, doesn't require much mental effort, while art can sometimes be obscure and hard to grasp. Furthermore, in many countries, science receives generous financial support from the government, while art seldom does. This is because a country's military and economic power is dominantly affected by it's science, not art. Therefore, scientists are payed much better than artists. In fact, having art as a sole profession is very unlikely to provide enough money to support a family, for instance. Even though some people become fascinated with art classes while in school, later in life they are usually forced to move towards more scientific fields of work, such as economics or engineering. In conclusion, scientists and artists both have their ways of contributing to the society. Artists affect people's lives in the spiritual sense, by forming their life views, educating them, or simply by relaxing them when they are tired and exhausted. On the other hand, science affects material side of life, by creating inventions that relieve people of hard work, thus making them have more free time. Science is more appreciated than art in modern society, because science is more precise and easier to understand, while art can be obstruse. Also, science is more important for the country's economy and army, which makes it more interesting for the government.

(Learn by doing, by being taught, by reading.) How do you like to learn?

It may sound strange but my personal approach to learning things is a combination of learning by doing, by reading about things and listening to people talking about them. I consider that using all three ways (when given the opportunity) is the best way to gather as much information as possible about the respective thing. Sometimes I do not have at hand all three ways of learning so I use whatever is best applicable for that specific case. If, for example, I have to learn about a theoretical subject that I need to use at my work, first I read all available bibliography on that theme, then I try to listen to other people's opinion on that matter. Combining the two methods, I compare my understanding and possible questions regarding that theme with others comments and approach. Another case would be when I have to learn a practical thing like playing squash. In this situation the most preferred way to learn is by doing. I would probably ask a trainer to show me how to play. After getting acquainted with the movements I may listen to others talking about their way of playing, in this way trying to use their tips and tricks of becoming a better player. A case, in which I would combine all three ways mentioned above, is if I have to learn how to use a software. Firstly I read instructions and documentation that comes with the software, and then I try to apply what I read. If I have difficulties getting the program to work properly, I ask people with more experience in the matter to show me how to do it, which means I learn by doing. This would also be the case when I learn by listening how others have used the software, what problems they encountered and what solutions they found. As described above, I consider the best way to learn things is to combine all the methods available for a certain situation and use all information at hand to make the most out the learning process.

What single quality is most necessary for success?

Many people believe that one can be successful if he /she is committed, honest, faithful or intelligence. But, the foundation of each of these qualities lies in believing the power the person has, and working accordingly to achieve the goal. There are many people, who are honest, beautiful, good and soft spoken, intelligent and even faithful, but only some are successful in achieving their goal. While all of these characteristics are equally important and act as the medium for success, the most important is the power to cope with circumstances and keep our spirit go on in the most difficult situations. As it is well said that we cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sail, similarly, in the way to our destination, we will come across lot of obstacles, but we need to find the way to come across that situation. This is where the success lies. No matter how low we fall, but what matters is how high we bounce back Success can be measured by what we have and how much of the power we are using to achieve our goal. For, example while in playing games, it is sure that one team will win and other will lose, but the spirit is not just in winning but in learning new techniques and improving the team sprit and cooperation. Winner team cannot always be successful, but the successful team is the one which has improved a lot with respect to its earlier performance. Though the person is honest, intelligent, faithful and committed, it is not sure that he will be successful. The most important rather than these is to know the environment and the need, and implementing best of the best ideas and actions. No matter how smaller step it can be, but it can bring great changes. As Shiva Khera has said, "Winners don't do different things but they do things differently", better explains the meaning of being successful. Success is not just winning, but more than that is how much we are satisfied with whatever we are doing. So, all qualities like honesty, intelligence, and faithfulness are directly proportional to the success. The definition of success for each of us may vary. Some may think root cause for success is honesty while others may think it is the commitment. But, in my opinion, where there is will there is power, so each of us should know our strength, and work accordingly to be successful. And we should measure our success not with others but with what we have and what we have achieved.

(Value of vicarious learning.) Discuss learning from others and learning by yourself.

Since our birth all time we are learning about life. There are people who prefer to ask the advice of their family or friends and there are people who prefer to make up theirs mind by themselves. Both of that ways have advantages. Asking the advice of family you can get a wise one, which proved by people and time. Using the advice of other people is less dangerous sometimes. Personal experience makes people more independent and responsible. Also it remembers longer. In the childhood we often listen to the advice of our family. Being adults, we asking for advice of family or friends too. As a rule, our parents give us a wise advice because they are older us and live a long life. Listening to the advice is less dangerous for life then experience. For instance, your experienced friends can advise you to take a vaccination before your travel and it save your health. Using the advice of family and friends can give a short way to the goal. On the other hand, personal experience is useful too. You will remember your personal experience all life long whereas others' advice you can forget. When people learn life by experience they become more independent, they get used to rely on themselves. Independence is a good personality because your parents and friend won't be with you all life. Learning about life by own mistakes, people learn to be responsible for their actions. In my learning about life I used both the advances of family and my personal experience. In most cases I asked family or friends before make a decision, so I can say that I prefer listening to the advice.

Should college be available only to the best wstudents?

Some people believe that a college or university education should be available to all students. Others believe that higher education should be available only to good students. Discuss these views. Which view do you agree with? Explain why Some people believe that a college or a university should be available to all students. Others think that higher education should be available only to good students. In my opinion, higher education should be available to all students. Why do I think so? Firstly, to get higher education is a right of any person. If higher education is available only to good student, it will be infringement of human rights. We cannot say to man that she or he is not entitled to get higher education because it will be anti-constitutional. On the other hand, a college or university can have own rules for students who don't have a good GPA. For example, students can graduate from college if they have only "A" or "B". Another example, students can take several times the same exam while they won't receive a good grade. It is very important to give a right to get higher education to all students, because it will be their chance to change something in their life, get better job in the future or built their career. Secondly, who gives us right to share people in good and bad students. Maybe they have good abilities for studying,yet,these students chose the wrong way ignoring learning when they were high school students. We have a lot of examples when people didn't have a good grade when they were a high school students, however, they could graduate from college and became to work successfully. We know many examples about great people, Pushkin, Mendeleev, who weren't good students in all subjects, but they were very talented persons and whole world knows their names. To be a good or bad students are not the same to have abilities for learning. We should understand and remember it. Some people can say that government and parents just waste money for education bad students. Nonetheless,the government also can change rules for those students. For example, not support financially if the student has a grade "C" or worse.However,our government sustains any students. I think that it is the right way, because we live in a free country and any man has the same right to get higher education. In summary, in spite of colleges and universities are mostly interested in good students, I strongly believe that any students, good or bad, should have the same right to earn high education.

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Some people learn by doing things; other people learn by reading about things; others learn by listening to people talk about things. For me, I prefer to learn by doing things for some reasons. One of the most important reasons is that it will be concrete to doing things. I don't have to imagine, or create a picture in my mind for what I am going to learn. For example, I am going to learn how to use the computer. Then, I will prepare a computer when I start learning so that I can learn by touching it. I can have more ideas to learn precisely and quickly. If I only go through all the guidelines and read things from the book or listening to people, I will not pick up clearly and easily. Besides, it will waste me much more time. Another reason is it will give me more interest to learn. If I only learn by reading or listening, sooner or later I will get bore and lose the interest to learn. However, if I learn by doing things, I will feel it is more practicality and self-assured. Therefore, I will learn better and faster. The last reason is: Genuine knowledge comes from practice. No matter how much I learn by reading or listening to people, I just learn half of the things. The other half is practicing. That is why the best student in the school, it doesn't mean he will be the best worker for the job. We have to practice and use the knowledge what we learn from the books, to test and prove, then re-developing it. This is a recycle pattern. People said, never too old to learn. The more we learn, the more reward and benefit we gain.

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Some people plan for their leisure time others dont. Planning as well as non planning for free time activities has advantages. Planning in advance ensures maximum utilization of free-time whereas non planning ensure flexibility of acitivites during free time.I would like to plan in advance for my leisure time. Planning helps us decided upon the activities that we are going to do beforehand. We make sure that all the things needed for those activities are there or make provision for getting those things. Like if we plan to go for a trip during holidays then we can make sure that transport is arranged, all materials for journey are acuired etc. Planning ensures that we get rest as well during that time as we dont have to run around or think about wbat to do during the leisure time. If we need a group for some leisure activity planning helps us to get people's availability well in advance. Planning in advance makes the leisure time more constructive as we already know what we are going to do during that time. Not planning and just utilising the time as it comes has its advantages. If one has already planned everything and at last moment something goes wrong then the whole plan may get cancelled and the effort put up in making the plan will go waste. For example if someone has planned a trip with a group of people and at the last moment the train gets cancelled or someone backs out then the plan gets effected and even dropped and in such cases nothing goes well and the whole day gets wasted. Not planning makes the utilization of free time more flexible. As you haven't planned in advance you are in a state of mind to what ever u feel like doing. But if u have planned for something and it doesn't materialize then you won't feel like doing something else instead and you invariably waste your time. Not planning also ensures that u have time for something urgent that comes up. If u have planned for a movie and booked the tickets and just about the time if you someone visits your house then u either need to cancel your movie or ask the visitor to come at some other time whereas if you havent planned before hand then u can always go later in the day for the movie or at some other time. So not planning adds flexibility to the activities, less tension if something comes up urgently and gives u the freedom to change the activities at your will. I would myself will like to plan well in advance for the leisure time.Without plan it will be difficult to do any work properly. So instead of planning on the day i would prefer to plan in advance but at the same time make sure that i have back up plans if something goes wrong in the original plan. By doing so i will be ensuring that i utilize my time properly and do things that i always wanted to do in my leisure time.

Do you prefer to spend time with a small group of friends or a large group of friends?

Some people prefer to spend time with one or two close friends while others choose to spend time with a large number of friends. There are different advantages in both cases. Spending time with only one or two close friends enables stronger communication between specific friends. The bond form between such friends is much stronger and more stable than compared to the later choice. The reason for this is because there are more chances and opportunities to get to know each other better, its easier to discuss personal problems in more close-nit groups compared to larger groups. This way we get to understand each other better and hence there are no walls of formalities and misunderstandings are not easily developed. A more comfortable and cozy atmosphere is formed between close friends rather than a whole bunch of friends. On the other hand spending time with a large number of friends does improve ones communication skills and interaction with people in general becomes easier. With lots of friends one learns to share and get used to other people's temperaments and therefore develop a more tolerant nature, which of course will help us in the future. We may also develop leadership qualities and management skills in between lots of people. Its easier to play games like charades, tabu, black foot, etc. , games which everyone enjoys, when there are lots of friends. There are lesser chances of boredom between lots of friends as everyone may have something different to offer to the group as a whole; there are more ideas, there are more helping hands if one wants to accomplish a task like clearing up or baking,etc. Therefore there are advantages to both ways of spending time. I personally prefer spending time with a few close friends usually. I feel its important to be close to your friends, be able to share your problems with them and not feel hesitant in confiding in them. One should have a strong communication channel and good understanding with their friends. All this is more likely if I spend time with a few close friends rather than a large number of friends.

Discuss living on-campus vs. living off-campus in college.

Some students prefer to live in university dormitories, but others choose to live in apartments in the community. While there are advantages for both options, living in university dormitories is generally the best choice for young foreign students. The advantages of living in the university dormitories over the community apartment are the presence of mentor for any help and information, easy access to internet, extra classes, canteen and library, and cost effective in sense that easy or no transportation needed. Foreign student can easily adapt in the University housing, as everyone living there would be student or belonging to the university itself. Also, the university dormitories are specially meant for the students, so every requirement and the facilities will create a studious environment. In contrast, the community apartment can be very noisy, and even, it would be difficult to manage everything by oneself along with ones studies. The rent cost will be high in the community apartment in comparison to the university housing, as the room in the university can be shared to minimize the cost, which is very difficult in the community apartment. In the university dormitories, the students will get access to the library, Internet, and other various requirements. In addition, university housing will be close to or in the university itself, thus, it does not cost for travel or, minimum cost can work. It will be difficult for the new student to locate suitable community apartment, thus, the university housing if provided then, the students do not need to search for suitable the community apartment to live on. Even after completion of the education or during vacation, it could be easier to manage the things at a time, and leave the university housing, which otherwise would be difficult in case of the community apartment. While in the university housing, there would be security of the belongings, there would be friends belonging to the same university even same class, which could help in discussing the lectures and learning together, it would be rather difficult to leave the community apartment at a time. There would be more responsibility while living in the community apartment than in the University dormitories. While many students prefer to live in community apartment, I find living in university dormitories more suited. Since, I have no experience living or travelling to foreign countries, there would not be the better choice for me than living in the university dormitories. The new place and the new university, mean the new experience, almost full of unknown terms and mysteries, and the university can be the only place where I can adapt soon. Living in the university dormitories, I will be accessible to the facilities provide to the students, like easy accessible to Internet, libraries, canteen, security, any help at any time. Since the dormitories is specially meant for the students, overall necessity will be provided there which I need not to worry about. Also, the mentor's help and the friendly environment will make me feel like in home.

Is it more important for children to play or to study?

The Philippines' national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, once said that the youth is the hope of the future. That is why, some people think that children should begin their formal education at a very early age and should spend most of their time on school studies to prepare themselves for their future. However, others believe that young children should spend most of their time playing, since one can only be young once, and once a child goes to school, he can never go back for missed times as a child. When both sides have been presented, I will definitely agree with those people who believe young children should spend most of their time playing. A child's social, mental, and emotional skills are developed to prepare him in his role as a member the society once he goes to school. His social starts to develop as interacts with children of his age. He learns to relate and communicate his feelings and share ideas with others as he performs activities with them. Moreover, his mental skills are polished as he begins to learn how to read and write. He becomes independent as he learn new things, distinguish right from wrong, importance of doing things which he thinks he can do from what he learned in school. And lastly, knowing what he and can not do at an early age, prepares the child emotionally in handling things and problems (such as in school activities and homework) by himself, adapting to people of varied personalities (through his interactions with his classmates), and facing new and different things as he goes to class everyday. However, meeting new people and doing things he is not prepared can be traumatic with children. It can also be a source of inferiority to children who cannot cope with the demands in school. Children should begin their formal education when they are ready and should be allowed to study and learn at their own pace. The fears and phobias in adults do not come when they are old and grown-up; they come from our childhood, and most started when children begin their formal education. We are only young once, if we allow our children to go begin their formal education at a very early age, we deprive them of their youth. Once they are sent to school the harsh reality of life is presented to them, sometimes, they are still unprepared to face them. Their innocence is lost as they begin to do things on their own, struggle to cope up with the demands of their schoolwork and adapt with children of different personalities, which, can be traumatic. That is why, children should be allowed to spend their time playing, enjoy life while they can, just because their playing does not mean, they are not learning. Children can still learn a lot of things through educational toys such as building blocks, puzzles, and coloring books. In this way, they can learn at their own pace without the pressure of getting good marks or striving to cope up with the achievements of their classmates. With both sides presented, I agree that students should be allowed to spend their time playing while they are young, once we get into the real world, there is no turning back. Children can still learn while playing because learning does not only come from formal education, let the children enjoy their youth and innocence.

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The intelligence is a poweful tool that provides an individual with many skills to success in life. People with a high intelligence are more capable to achieve their goals than those who are not very intelligent. The intelligence enables people to achieve objectives with less effort and with less work. It allows people to save time when carrying out tasks or activities. With a high intelligence you can get the same results with less time and effort than others who are less intelligent than you. However, you must use your intelligence in a good way to be successful in life; There is many people how are very intelligent but do not take advantage of their skills. The intelligence is something that can helps you to succeed in life. It allows you to develop more things in the same time than those developed by others. It allows you to be more clever than others. Intelligence is very important in all areas and fields in life. I think it is important to be very intelligent and clever not only when signing a contract or launching a business, but also when playing soccer or basketball. For instance, you can score a gol only by being more clever than the defender. It is very known the phrase usually used as: "It has been a gol of a clever". As the intelligence allows you to spend less time and effort to achieve the same goal, I can assure that intelligence is a really important charasteristic to be successful in life. On the other hand, Intelligence provides you with skills that can serve as valuable tools for a quarrel or a discussion. You may defeat your opponent only by being more intelligent or by speaking clearer than him . I fully support that if you want to be somebody important in life, you will have to be involved in difficult situations; in such situations, You will need a great intelligence if you want to go ahead. By being more clever than people you discuss or ague with, you may be able to improve your position in life. For instance, when you are involved in a promotion within a company and there are two possible candidates for the position, being very intelligent may be really useful. In that case, you have to convince your boss that you are better than your opponent. The intelligence is here a good charasteristic again. Nevertheless, the intelligence is not enough to be successful in life. Furthermore, it can be not taken for granted. In many cases, veru intelligent people do not take advantage of their skillls and do not know how to suceed in life, regardless their intelligence. In conlusion, the intelligence is a powerful characteristic that could allow you to be successful in life. It provides you with great skills to overcome difficult situations. It also allows you to reach things in life with less effort and time. And it allows you to be more clever than your opponents in capital negotiations. Nevertheless, the intelligence itself may be not enough for successing in life.

Would you support building a university in your neighborhood?

The people in our community welcomed the announcement of the government's plan to build a university. In fact, majority proposed that our community is a good place to locate the university. I whole-heartedly support their proposal. Building a new university can offer a lot of opportunities to everybody. locating a new university in my community would create a learning environment and produce more business opportunities. There is only one small collage in my community. Instead, there are big plants. Therefore, most young students are growing up with seeing industry workers not university students who can give a good influence to young students. In addition bookstores would be set up and my communities could use university library. Besides, business opportunities would be activated by university students and school staffs. First, it will provide an excellent alternative to the existing university, which, unfortunately, cannot accommodate the growing numbers of students each year. Secondly, this will stop monopoly of education resulting to stagnation of the quality of education by creating a healthy competition to other institution to maintain and improve their standards of education. Moreover, students can now have the options to choose which university they prefer and take courses, which they really like. A new university also means more job opportunities especially for teachers, administrative staff and others who are in need of employment. However, a new university can also create problems to the community, more universities in the community do not immediately mean better education. Sometimes, the quality of education suffers from quantity because school administrators tend to commercialize education to attract more students. The policies may become lax; the rules may bend to accommodate the whims of students in order to keep them. A new university would also lead to an increase of migration of people who would like to avail higher education. This can lead to increased pollution and even crimes. The once peaceful community may become noisy and chaotic because of the increased number of people with different personalities. In the end, all things in this world have advantages and disadvantages. In this case, even if building a new university can increase pollution, or even crimes, bring noise and possible chaos to the community, the benefits that it will give the people, especially the youth in providing them the means to finish their education and prepare them for their future life can outweigh all disadvantages.

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We can learn about life by listening to advices of our friends and family or by drawing conclusions from our personal experience. Friends and family members can teach us a lot about life, because their experience is often larger than ours. Personal experience is important because it is direct and genuine. I think that personal experience is the preferable way of learning about life. Our family members and fiends are sometimes more experienced than us and can teach us a lot of important things about life. For example, our parents are older than us and have been in many situations that they can teach us about. It is important that there is a strong emotional connection between us and our friends and family. They love us and wish us success in life, so they are very commited and devoted to teching us. They would never mislead us or teach us bad things. Because of their great emotonal attachment, our friends and family can be biased towards us. For instance, parents often impose their opinions on their children by giving them advices. They are confident that they are doing the best thing for their childer, but that might not be true. That's why we must sometimes make our own decisions. Advices from people who are close to us should always be considered, but they are not necessarily true, so they shouldn't be blindly accepted. Learning from personal experience is effective, because personal experience in direct. When we experience something directly, it has greater effect on our personality than when we are told about it by others. For example, the horror of war is much clearer to someone who has faught in war himself than to someone who has just heard about it. Personal experience allows us to draw our own conclusions about life. In this cases, we are not confined by someone else's interpretation of events. However, in these situations we are often very emotional and unable to reason correctly. This is the case when experiences are exciting or disturbing, such as wars or other life-threatning situations. Also, Our impressions of our experience may be prejudiced. We may tend to interpret them incorrectly to avoid painful conclusions. Therefore, we should always view our personal exprerience from certain time distance, in order to gain real, and not false knowledge. In my opinion, the best way of learning about life is learning from personal experience. Other people's experiences given to us in form of advices, are always more or less shaped according to their personality. Therefore, the knowledge gained by experience is more confident.

(Do as the Romans do?) When people immigrate, should they adapt to the new country or keep their old customs?

When people move to another country, they may choose whether they will accept it's customs, or keep the customs of the old country. Accepting the new customs may help us overcome the cultural shock caused by the change of environment, while keeping old customs gives us emotional support in the new conditions, by maintaining cultural link with the old country. In my opinion, everyone should accept the new customs sooner or later, in order to completely fit in the new society. Moving to a new country may present a cultural and social shock for some individuals. Accepting the customs of the new country is one of the ways to fit in the new environment and overcome the difference between two countries. After we start practicing the new customs, we feel closer to the new community. People from the new country may not look at us as on a stranger, but as on one of their own. We would be better appreciated by the new society. Peolpe would be more forthcoming, since they would not be alienated by the differences in customs. Therefore, it would be easier for us to make friends. Also, our employers and co-workers would see us differently. They would praise us for our high adaptability to the new conditions. By keeping the old customs, we maintain a cultural and emotional link to our old country. It may help us relieve the pain that may be produced by the sudden change of environment. Practicing old customs reminds us of the old country and often recalls nice memories related to the part of our life that we spent there. This can help us in situations when we need emotional support. Moreover, some countries have rather interesting and unusual customs. Sometimes they can even be amusing and entertaining. By showing them to our new friends, we may establish closer relations with them. Still, it is my opinion that old customs should be practiced only during the transitional period, while we meet new people and adapt to the new culture. After that, I think that new customs should be accepted, in order to completely fit in the society. Of course, we shouldn't forget the old customs. On the contrary, they should remain in our memory as a reminder of the particular period in our lives. Based on all the facts previously stated, we may conclude that practicing old customs helps us overcome the difficulties of cultural change, by maintaining the connection to the old county. However, as we become more adapted to the new environment, old customs should be gradually replaced by the new ones.