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Topic 1： Is It Better to Buy or Rent?

The price of housing has kept increasing in recent years, which causes a big headache for people living in cities. A lot of people cannot afford to own a real estate property, so they choose to rent instead of buying an apartment. This group of people does not want to bear burden of mortgage so that they opt for a practical solution. Renting an apartment makes them have a place to stay and thus they can focus on work as well as personal life.Some other people, however, believe that an apartment owned by themselves makes them feel safe and relieved, so they are willing to sacrifice some other aspects of life to borrow money from the bank to buy an apartment. As far as I am concerned, to buy or to rent is all about people's personal choice. But when the price of housing is standing too high, it will be better to rent first and wait for the good timing when the price is going down to buy.

Topic 2: On Job Hopping(跳槽)

It seems that nowadays, very few young people are willing to stay in a job position for long, let alone for the whole life. They change jobs constantly. This results from several factors. Firstly, young people like fresh things, and it is easy for them to be fed up with old routine work. So when they stay in a position for a while,the excitement will fade out. Secondly, young people are still looking for the best suitable job for themselves. They are quite realistic and not willing to waste time in a job they are not interested in. Thirdly, some young people are not satisfied with current salary, believing they deserve better pay. In my opinion, constant job hopping will not benefit young people in their career development. Every job has its own merits and young people can certainly learn something from it as long as they are patient and wise enough. Every job experience is valuable down the career path and young people shall be able to make the most of it.

Topic 3: Online Social Network

Modern people will be no stranger to online social network. Facebook, Renren and Kaixin001 are probably the most populous networks among Chinese netizen. In these networks, people interact with each other, be it a stranger or a friend, and have a lot of fun in the virtual world. This phenomenon could be a result of the fast development of the Internet and people's great interest of the virtual world. I think it is a very good new platform for people to keep in touch. But it should not be overused. Firstly, some people are addicted to it, which makes them want to get online 24 hours a day. When people spend too much time on one thing, they will naturally have not enough time for study and for work. Secondly, online social network change people's behavior of interacting with others. In virtual world, you just click the mouse and type in words instead of having a face-to-face talk. This will not benefit people's long term friendship, and even harm their interpersonal relationships in real world.

Topic 4: The Most Important Skills for Modern People

With the development of science and technology, the skills that modern people master are also changing with it. Some old skills including cooking, sewing and gardening are no longer be deemed as necessary skills. Then what are the most important skills for modern people? Some hold that foreign language skills and computer skills are on top of the list, whereas some others believe that communication skills are the must.As far as I am concerned, communication skills are of the greatest importance for modern people. Firstly, in a globalized world, everyone is interconnected with each other. Communication is the key in personal interaction, and good communication skills can bring people sound interpersonal relationship. Secondly, most of the work done today requires teamwork. One person alone can not finish everything. Cooperation asks for communication, and effective communication will promote cooperation. That's the reason why lots of big companies emphasize communication skills first when they are recruiting new employees.

Topic 5: What Is More Important: Character or Academic Achievement?

What is the criterion to judge the performance of a student? Some believe that the exam marks should be the first standard concerned. A student's first priority is to study well, and academic achievement can show the result of a student's efforts and capability. But some disagree by holding that good character should be considered first when talking about the performance of a student, as character shows that whether a student has correct basic moral value and proper behavior. As far as I am concerned, sound character is more important in judging a student's performance. Firstly, good exam marks can not be everything as that won't follow a student's whole life. But sound character will be the only thing that lasts for long. Secondly, if a student has very poor character, good marks will be meaningless. When the student has grown up, his academic achievement will probably be used for wrong purpose. I, therefore, believe that we should reform the education system and care more for students' character cultivation.

Topic 6: On the Importance of Being Grateful

Have you ever said "thank you" when your classmates helped you? Have you ever thought about repaying a business partner who once lent you a hand? If the answer is yes, you must be a person who feels grateful. Your gratefulness makes your family more harmonious and helps you build a reliable cooperative relationship with other people, which can help you a lot in your lifetime.However, there are less and less people who feel grateful in the modern society. For one thing, people focus so much on what they can get that they never think of what to give. That is to say, they are too greedy to feel grateful. For another, some people take others' love and care for granted and know nothing about gratefulness.In my view, gratitude is important to our society and cultivating gratitude should begin from children

with something small. We should teach our children how important gratitude is and ask them to do small things for others to show their gratefulness. Our society can become more harmonious and beautiful because of gratitude.

Topic 7: Living with Parents after Graduation

Which will you choose to deal with your accommodation problem after graduation, living with parents or renting a room on your own? Quite a number of people prefer to rent a room on their own; however, more and more people choose to live with parents.There are several reasons for that. First, because of high housing prices, most people can't afford to buy a house after graduation. What's more, with their limited incomes, the graduates feel stressed with the high housing rent and living costs. Living with parents can save them lots of money which they may spend on housing and daily expenses. Finally, many people have been accustomed to depending on their parents and they can't take care of themselves. Personally speaking, I'd rather rent a room to live my own life, though living with my parents may help save much money. I also suggest that those who are so dependent on parents should learn to be independent as early as possible.

Topic 7: Living with Parents after Graduation

Which will you choose to deal with your accommodation problem after graduation, living with parents or renting a room on your own? Quite a number of people prefer to rent a room on their own; however, more and more people choose to live with parents.There are several reasons for that. First, because of high housing prices, most people can't afford to buy a house after graduation. What's more, with their limited incomes, the graduates feel stressed with the high housing rent and living costs. Living with parents can save them lots of money which they may spend on housing and daily expenses. Finally, many people have been accustomed to depending on their parents and they can't take care of themselves. Personally speaking, I'd rather rent a room to live my own life, though living with my parents may help save much money. I also suggest that those who are so dependent on parents should learn to be independent as early as possible.

Topic 8: More Disasters than Before?

Much attention has been paid to reports about natural disasters recently. Earthquakes, droughts and floods in the West and Southwest this year resulted in many casualties and great losses, which greatly shocked us and forced us to be on alert. We can't help raising the question: are there more disasters than before?Many people probably will say "yes" to this question. There are more and more reports about disasters on TV and on the front pages of newspapers and websites. Media often cover details of disasters for days, which easily gives viewers a false image that disasters happen every day. As far as I am concerned, the great coverage of natural disasters by the media reflects the environmental awareness of human beings. We are more concerned about environmental protection now, and this is the first step to a better future of our planet.

Topic 9: How to Deal with Peer Pressures?

People often feel peer pressures. For example, your roommates smoke but you don't. Your classmates wear expensive clothes but you don't. In these cases, you may feel excluded if you don't do the same things as they do. Sometimes peer pressures drive people crazy, but you can only rely on yourself to deal with it.There are two ways to deal with peer pressures. First, pay attention to your own feelings and decide what you should do. Try saying "no" to peer pressures. Don't give in to pressures and do things against your will.Second, find friends who stand on your side. It's tough to deal with peer pressures alone,but it's much easier if at least one peer supports you. Make friends with those who have similar opinions or habits to yours, so that you won't feel excluded.To conclude, peer pressures can be eased if you have the courage to say "no" to it, and combat with it together with your true friends.

Topic 10: Lectures and Discussions

Lectures and discussions are two main styles of teaching in universities, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some students are in favor of lectures, but others enjoy discussions very much.Lecturing is the most traditional teaching method in China, because it is considered highly efficient. Students can get used to lectures easily, for most of them have been taught in this way since primary school. Teachers play a very important role in lectures, while students seldom have chances to speak. On the contrary, discussions allow students to have chances to interact with each other. What's more, students have more freedom and initiative in class where they can express their ideas freely

Topic 11: On the Importance of Mutual Understanding

Nowadays many people are so focused on their own interests that they barely consider the feelings of others. As a result, misunderstandings, or even conflicts, arise.It is important for people to understand each other during a conversation, or in the interpersonal communication. For one thing, mutual understanding makes it easy for both parties to reach an agreement on the topic they are discussing. This may help solve the most difficult issues among different cultures, countries or communities. Furthermore, for people who are friendly to each other, this mutual understanding can definitely strengthen the love and friendship between them.Both the speaker and the listener can do much to help gain mutual understanding. On the one hand, the speaker should try his best to express himself clearly, correctly, vividly and forcefully. On the other hand, the listener should also make every effort to be very attentive. Most importantly, both parties should take a friendly attitude towards the other side.and ask any questions about the topic. However, the class can easily go out of control if there is no restriction.As for me, I prefer discussions to lectures because of the open atmosphere. However, teachers should take charge of the discussions to help students learn more.

Topic 12: Book Smart or Street Smart?

There is a heated debate nowadays about which is better or more useful, to be book smart or street smart. People's opinions differ greatly over this topic. Some people believe to be book smart is way better. Many important fields like science and education need a great number of book-smart people. They can apply what they learn from books to their career. Others argue that true cleverness is not about how much you have learnt, but about how you deal with what you have learnt. Street-smart people can learn much from different experiences and can solve practical problems easily. They are much useful than book-smart people to some extent. As for me, there's no clear victor in the battle between street-smart people and book-smart ones. They both have their advantages, and our society require both. As a result, it's much better if we are both book smart and street smart.

Topic 13: Due Attention Should Be Given to Spoken English

As we all know, spoken English plays an important part in learning English. However, more and more students pay less attention to spoken English nowadays. There are two main reasons for this phenomenon. First, students would rather pay more attention to written English than spoken English because of pressure of exams. In order to enter a better school, students take efforts to improve their grades in examinations. As for English, exams mainly focus on the written part. Therefore, written English becomes students' priority.Furthermore, many students lack courage to speak English. Being afraid of making mistakes and thus losing face, many students dare not speak English in public. In order to change this situation, the educational system should be reformed to keep a balance between written English and spoken English, and schools should pay more attention to the latter. And most importantly, students should be encouraged to make mistakes when speaking English. If they are self-confident, their spoken English is sure to improve.

Topic 14: Volunteering Activities

With the progress of society, the volunteer spirit has spread all over the country. More and more people are willing to be volunteers and take part in volunteering activities. Getting involved in volunteer work means a lot to our society. Firstly, you show loving care to others when you are doing volunteer work. You pass love and civilization on to others with your volunteer work, and make others feel that there are always people caring about them. This makes our society more harmonious. Secondly, people whom you help may be influenced by your good deed and follow your lead. As a result, all people may help and care about each other, which makes the world a better place to live in.Since volunteer work is so meaningful, we should call on more people to take part in volunteer activities. All young people are supposed to have the volunteer spirit and be active to do volunteer work.

Topic 15: Keep Connected with Parents

Many parents feel confused that, once upon a time, their kids shared everything with them, but now they don't even look at them. With the development of modern society, it seems that more and more children aren't willing to communicate with their parents. There are several reasons for this phenomenon. For one thing, many kids think that they have nothing in common with their parents. What parents chatter about is study, which makes them bored. Thus, they prefer to communicate with friends. For another, they feel that their parents don't understand them at all. What they love to do is often against their parents' will

and they can't get any support. As a result, the generation gap between parents and children become wider and wider. In order to change this situation, both parents and children should work together. Parents should learn to be a good listener and respect their children's ideas, whereas children should keep connected with their parents actively.

Topic 16: My View on Knowledge Economy

Knowledge economy, which emphasizes knowledge and people of talent, is gradually replacing the industrial economy and becoming the dominant economic form. It is playing a more and more important role in our economic life in recent years. Knowledge economy has fundamentally transformed our ways of work, business and education. To start with, with the development of knowledge economy, more and more people are transformed from traditional manufacturing industries to new fields such as the Internet and the computer science area. Secondly, knowledge economy has given rise to the boom of electronic commerce and online trade, so you can do business anytime and anywhere. Besides, people have to keep learning something new to adapt to this explosive knowledge society. In my opinion, we should insist on developing knowledge economy and make efforts to educate the young generation, to contribute to the progress of knowledge economy.

Topic 17: The Impact of the Internet on Education

As Internet application is becoming wider and wider, the Internet has already permeated traditional education and has tremendous impact on education. As a result, more and more people tend to choose online education. There are some reasons for this phenomenon. First,online learning breaks the limits of time and space traditional education encounters and provides flexible learning opportunities for all people. Second, with the online learning, one can learn lessons from the best teachers of top schools which one can't have access to traditionally. Third, online learning gives freedom to students, so they can schedule their study according to their own pace of learning. Finally online learning enables them to discuss with others and ask questions freely without seeing each other, which is perfect for shy people. In order to develop online learning, there should be more schools providing all kinds of online lessons for people who have different needs, and more people should seize these learning opportunities to enrich their knowledge.

Topic 18: On Dialects

There is a controversial issue about whether dialects should be prohibited in public. Opinions vary greatly on this issue.Some deem that dialects should be forbidden in public. There are so many people with various dialects in public that if everybody just speaks their own dialects, it can easily lead to chaos. In order to avoid this situation, we have to choose mandarin as the official language, for it can be understood by most Chinese. However, others argue that everybody has the right to speak dialects. Local dialects have been used for thousands of years, and they are valued as part of the traditional culture. Therefore they shouldn't be abandoned randomly. In addition, dialects still enjoy popularity in the daily communication among people from the same place. From my perspective, local dialects should be maintained and they can be used in public as long as they do not cause misunderstanding among the audience. Moreover, we should take responsibility to preserve endangered dialects.

Topic 19: Interviews Nowdays

The Benefits of Job Interviews Nowdays, if you apply for a job, you usually have togo through the job interview process. A job interview is an undoubtedly vital process in the course of applying for a job. Job interviews benefit both the interviewer and the candidate. On the one hand, the interviewer is able to get more information about the candidate beyond his resume, and to know what qualifications he has by judging from the performance in the interview. After examining the ability and personality, they can decide whether he is the right person for the position. On the other hand, the candidate can decide whether he takes this job after he gets general information about it, such as the income, working conditions, etc. Moreover, he can gain precious experience by taking part in interviews, which is good for the following interviews.Therefore, the interviewer should make efforts to improve the job interview process to select the best candidate, whereas the candidate should also get well prepared for a better job.

Topic 20. My View on White Lies

The question about whether we should tell white lies in daily life has aroused an intense debate over these years. Different people have different opinions.Many believe that we need white lies. There are moments in our life when we have to tell lies. In order to avoid hurting others' feelings or to make others feel better, we often tell white lies instead of conveying the truth. White lies have magic power to give people much hope and warmth. For instance, when you tell lies to a patient who gets incurable disease, he can probably enjoy the rest of his days more peacefully. Others argued that no one should tell lies, no matter what kind of lies. A white lie is essentially a lie. Some people feel betrayed and even get more hurt once they find out the truth, which can wreck a relationship easily. As for me, whether we should tell white lies really depends. You'd better take into consideration what the occasion isand what the result may be.

Topic 21: Should a Formal Distance Be Kept Between Students and Teachers?

A good interpersonal relationship between teachers and students is vital for successful education.And what is a perfect teacher-student relationship like? Should there be a formal distance between them?The question has aroused much interest.For some, teachers and students should be friends, and there should be little distance between them. The teacher enjoys being treated as a friend by the student, and the student likes confiding in the teacher. Such a relationship is treasured especially by teenagers who are eager to grow up.However, others hold that there should always be a formal distance between the teacher and the student. They argue that only when the teacher keeps a distance from the student can he make fair judgments about all the students and avoid prejudice. In my opinion, the distance between the teacher and the student can best be adjusted according to the specific situation. There is no need to regulate a set distance between the two.

Topic 22: Need We "Never Give Up"?

When Wallace watched the spider fail six times in spinning a web and succeed at the seventh time, he realized that he should lead his Scottish people to fight against the English invaders for another time, and he, too, succeeded. Whenever we face some difficulties or suffer setbacks in our projects, we can always gain strength from the popular saying: "Never give up!"But need we never give up?Apparently there are always goals we can never achieve. However hard we tried, we could not win the top prize in every contest; whatever treatment used, we may fail to lengthen the life of someone beloved. There are always frustrations, and some are just beyond us. It is thus wise to accept the reality, i.e. to give up sometimes.As college students, we need the saying "Never give up" to keep us going. But we also need to learn to come to terms with reality. When occasionally I heard news about some college students committing suicide, I said to myself, "If only they had learned to give up!"

Topic 23: Work in the Countryside

Many university graduates now volunteer to work in the countryside. It is reported that once hundreds of university graduates competed with one another to work as a village leader in Beijing. Many factors have contributed to this phenomenon. First, with more and more university students graduating each year, the job market competition becomes increasingly fierce, and many graduates cannot find jobs in the cities. Working in the countryside is better than being jobless. Second, the villages that are trying to employ university graduates are generally in the rich areas of the country, which makes working there an attractive choice. Third, some university graduates, being from the countryside, are eager to go back home to contribute to the construction of their hometown. With their knowledge and enthusiasm, they will play an important role in building the new countryside.Personally, I think university graduates should go to work where they are needed most and where they can make full use of their talents. Working in the countryside can be truly an advisable choice.

Topic 24: Should Old People Stay at Home or Be Placed in Nursing Homes?

Should old people stay with their children or go to the nursing homes?Some hold that old people should stay at home. For one thing, the young are obliged to repay the care and love they once received from the old. For another, the old may help with some housework and gain a sense of achievement, which is important for their mental and physical health. By contrast, some argue that old people should be placed in nursing homes, where they can not only have opportunities to communicate and have fun with their peers,but also be treated by professional doctors and nurses. Furthermore, with the old staying in nursing homes, the young may have more time and energy to devote to their own careers.In my view,the decision should be made with all factors fully considered. Above all, the opinion of the old should be respected. They themselves should be the ones who make the decision, not the young.

Topic 25: A Letter to Apply for a Student Loan

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am a freshman in Peking University majoring in Civil Engineering. I am applying to your bank for a loan of 10,000 yuan.It is hard for me to make the application, but I have to. Last year both my parents were laid off, and to make matters worse, three months ago my mother was discovered to have caught a serious disease. Therefore, I could not get support for my study from my family any more. But I treasure the opportunity to go to college very much, and I have no choice but to ask for your help.If the application is approved, all the money will go to my tuition and fees for the next two years. I guarantee to repay the loan within five years, that is, one year after my graduation.Attached are documents confirming my statements. I would be greatly obliged if my application is granted.

Many thanks.

Yours sincerely,

Li Ming