Monday 18 July 2011

University Education: Purpose



Some people think the purpose of university education is to prepare students for employment while others think it has other functions.

Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

School:Physical Education Program


Physical Education Program in Schools

Task 2


Most schools offer some type of physical education program to their students. Why is physical education important? Should physical education classes be required or optional?
OUTLINE:


WHY?


Physical well-being is as important as intellectual
Academic performance alone is lest likely to benefit to individual.
Unless one has physical fitness


Physical education is like the soil to grow
Professional athletes, sportsperson, defense personnel
Even an executive need physical vigor to accomplish his work


Weak body could harbor ailments
Will increase the number of absent days at work
Become less productive
Reverse is true for the healthy and strong


For these reasons, physical education is required
But should be cater to individual need


16 Sep 2009

Travel or Work before University

Travel or Work before University

TEST 2,Cambridge IELTS 5
TASK 2

In some country young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies.

Discuss the advantage and disadvantage for young people who decide to do this.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Advantage:

Get through real life working environment
Explore the world, Observe different culture, help develop Vision, Mission
(Cross contextual learning)
Expand social life

Disadvantage:

Time spent
Money
Distraction from academic study

University : Entry & Gender


Gender & UNIVERSITY ENTRY

TASK 2


( Question from Cambridge IELTS 5,Test 1)


University should accept equal numbers of male and female students in each subject.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

BRAINSTORMING:


1-Why should be equal in numbers?
Could it be practical to get a uniform number of graduates, what would be the implications? Rigid application could be counterproductive.
Disproportionate numbers, so what?


2-Is there different aptitude and abilities between each sex?
There may be but need to be investigated rigorously. We know from personal experience that boys and girls are different.


What about individual preference?
She should be the one who choose what she studies.


3-Uni should not discriminate against a particular sex. It does not necessarily mean that number should be equal.


Who should decide :Uni or prospective students?Need to develop idea on the subject and make suggestion for action.


Give an opportunity to get what one wants.


September 11,2009

HEALTH CARE:Who'll pay the bills


HEALTH CARE:Who'll pay the bills

TASK 2


The costs of medical health care are increasing all the time. Governments are finding it difficult to balance the health care budget. Should citizens be totally responsible for their own health costs and takeout private health insurance, or is it better to have a comprehensive health care system which provides free health services for all?

The costs of medical health care are increasing all the time. Governments are finding it difficult to balance the health care budget. Should citizens be totally responsible for their own health costs and takeout private health insurance, or is it better to have a comprehensive health care system which provides free health services for all?

Discuss.

Advances in technology have strong impact on preventive, curative and palliative aspects of health care.This results in newer treatment options along with increasing costs and consequent funding challenge in health sector of a society. Therefore, budget issue is a pressing problem for individual as well as government in different regions. In this essay I will discuss about who should take main responsibility for medical service.


Some would argue that each individual must take care of their own health and pay for any health problem from their own pockets. This would encourage every person to be responsible. One option to take such duty is to take part in private insurance. On the other hand, private insurers could be part of profit industry. If so, each citizen spends his or her hard earned money for a basic human right, that is, appropriate free health care. Therefore, paying every penny for the total expense of individual's health service is unjust. Furthermore, this could deter poor members of a particular society to enjoy healthy lives.


Some may say that government is totally responsible to provide free universal health care for every citizen. It is reasonable for a government to provide such service as health is a basic human need. The authority could fund health budget by taxation. In addition, residents of such country will get less financial burden for their health. They are expected to lead happy and healthy lives so long as a country has the economic might to support a free health care system. However, medical procedures and treatments are increasingly advanced in recent years and become more expensive. It means public fund may not sufficient enough to support some costly medical interventions in a society. Such situation is evident in different parts of the world especially in developing regions.As a result,they will be the most vulnerable and suffer from ailments miserably.


All in all, I think citizen or government should not face the challenge of expanding medical bills separately. They need to share the responsibility. Who should take a greater share should be decided by each community.

Cultral Attractions

Recently, UK government spends substantial amount of budget to support and subsidize museums, galleries, and visual and performing arts. Some people see such expenditures as extravagant and they prefer the authority to spend more on other crucial sectors like health care and education. They suggest that payee should be the one who fancy these cultural attractions. In this essay, I discuss my opinion on who should be financially responsible for the future of arts, museums and galleries and why.

First of all, it is a conventional wisdom that public money should be well spent to benefit a society. To achieve such goal, the budget is allocated across different sectors and priority is given to important areas. For example, significant proportion of budget is spent on health care, education, scientific researches and public transportation. This is welcomed by most citizens as these things obviously have important implication on each person. On the other hand, arts and culture of a society may be seen as minority interests that belong to a particular class or small percentage of a community. Those who held such a view would express that payee should be these people who pursuit artistic attractions. Although it seems logical to spend less on culture of a nation or a region, there are other important aspects of arts and culture that could be beneficial to a community.

There are many reasons why culture is important to a particular nation or region. Firstly, pieces of music, orchestra and painting are cultural heritages and legacy from one generation to another. For example, the National Gallery in London houses the historical collection of western European painting, while encouraging access to the pictures. Great pieces like those of Leonardo Da Vinci would not be reachable to ordinary citizens without a government support for these galleries. I feel that the places could not be sustained by contribution of individual enjoying them alone. Furthermore, family and children could visit to the museums to relax their mind, stimulate creativity of the young, study history and get aspiration. This means these centres also have educational value that can not be easily learned in classrooms. Finally, these places and arts catch the tourists’ eye which promotes cultural tourism and eventual national income.Therefore,investment in them is not futile.

All in all, I think arts, museums and galleries also have public interests and value too. Thus these cultural attractions should also be supported and subsidized by a government along with other critical area like health care and education.

(09 09 09)



Similar topic from different perspective


Some say that artists (musicians, writers, painters) should be supported by the government. Others think it would be waste of money


Discuss both arguments and give your opinion. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.


A Sample Answer:
http://www.ieltsstudy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34:art-1&catid=2:task-2&Itemid=6

CULTURAL ATTRACTION

CULTURAL ATTRACTION

Task 2:

The government spends about GBP 220 million a year supporting museums and galleries in the UK, and a similar amount subsidizing the visual and performing arts.
This is huge sum to spend on minority interests, and the money would be better spent on more important things.
It should be up to people who enjoy cultural attractions to pay for them.

What are your views?

Words:
Government/authority/people/individual/payee
Spend/subsidize/pay/public fund/budget/taxpayer money/expenditures/resources
Interest/advantage/legacy/historical/cultural/aesthetic value/educational/aspiration
Important/crucial/central/critical/key/considerable/priority
Enjoy/consume/watch/go to/relax/like/love
Centres/Hall of fame/collections/exhibition/paintings/playwright/poet

Opinion/View:
Important things/health/education/scientific research/transportation
Benefits: help maintain and propagate cultural values/heritage and legacy/indirect income from cultural tourism/help creative/to relax/recreational/leisure pursuits/subjects/ study
Drawbacks: suffer other sectors/extravagant spending/inappropriate use

Paragraph plan:
Intro/against/for/conclusion

Check:
Collocation/phrasal verbs/links/correction/allotted time

Leisure Time


Leisure Time

Page 52
Focus on IELTS
Sue O'Connell 2002
5th impression


Do young people today make good use of their leisure times?
Or do they spend too much time on playing video games and watching television,instead of taking part in more productive activities?


Leisure time can be well spent in many different ways.One popular option among the young is playing video games and watching television.While other activities like sports,social gathering and reading are available to them,many people feel that they spend too much time on these indoor games and screens and prefer them to be more active.In this essay,I will discuss my view on the issue to get positive results out of free time.


Nowadays, younger generation has greater choices of leisure facilities than previous one. Among such facilities are television and video games. Some social experts and families are concerned about health of teenage overindulge on these activities. This is supported by some reports that sitting too long in front of television could lead to problems of eyes and back. On the other hand, some medical experts believe that some video games can improve the dexterity of the player and this could help his or her future career like operating doctor or pilot. In addition, watching television keeps young audience inform about what happens around locally as well as globally. That would enhance teenagers' inquisitive mind and encourage them to keep eyes on challenging local and international issues. While such benefit is welcomed, there also are dangers of exposing them to violence, crimes and explicit scenes on some television series which can have negative impact on younger personalities.


Alternatively, there are many activities which have positive results in term of social, physical and educational values. For example, walking, jogging and trekking in a recreational park improve the physical strength and give an opportunity to observe nature and environment. Furthermore, spending time with family, relatives and friends outdoor enriches their social lives. As a result, they would be more interactive and responsible socially. Finally, one could simply be entertained by reading at home or playing some music.


In conclusion, how much time should we spend on each activity during extra time is debatable. Each has its own merit so long as individual does not involve excessively. In my opinion, young and adult alike should choose sensibly on type of activity and time spent to get most benefits out of their free time.

Technological Developments: Early vs Recent


Early technological developments helped ordinary people and changed their lives more than recent developments.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?

EARLY vs RECENT TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Technological developments evolve from earlier ones to recent inventions.From the introduction of electricity,combustion engine and telephone to jet engine and the internet,people lives have been changed tremendously.In my opinion,both early and recent developments in technology have significant impact upon us.

It is an obvious fact that earlier inventions have changed our lives significantly. Since the invention and later ubiquitous availability of electricity,for instance,people enjoy using it regardless of social status.Almost every households use not only electric lights but different electrical equipment to fulfil varying needs at home as well as outdoor.Moreover,earlier communication device like telephone has changed the way ordinary people and privileged ones communicate.Furthermore,invention of combustion engine fundamentally transformed the mode we travel.

Similarly, recent developments also have its own virtues and substantial influence.Personal computer and the internet, for examples, fundamentally change the way we get information,communicate and entertain ourselves or doing business.Likewise,with the development of the jet engine,air travel become much easier and faster.

Obviously,these developments change people lives including ordinary folks,not just in the past but in the present and the foreseeable future as well.On closer look, recent developments utilize earlier ones,thereby creating new inventions.In case of personal computer and the internet,it is obvious that they would not have come into existence without electricity being developed before .

All in all, people lives have been improved significantly as a result of both early and recent developments.

(252 words)

Notes:

Developments:Electricity,Telephone,Combustion Engines
Jet Engine and the Internet.
How can you gauge the magnitude of change?