1、Unit OneMy favourite sportSkiing is my favorite sport, even though I have only skied for four days in my whole life! Last year my father promised to take me on a holiday if I did well in my exams. When I got straight As, Dad said, How about a weekend at the Botanical Gardens?However, my mum said, No
2、, you promised a special holiday. I think you ought to keep your word. And, despite the expense, he did.My dream was to see some real snow, so in the Christmas vacation we flew to Seoul, South Korea, and then took a shuttle bus which runs back and forth between Seoul and Muju Resort. As the bus clim
3、bed through the mountains, we saw the snow on the trees. I was dying to get out and play with it! At last, we reached the resort and quickly scrambled out of the bus.No one in my family had ever touched snow before. We were all like little childrenwe picked it up, made snowballs, and threw them at e
4、ach other!Then we checked in at the hotel. Our room overlooked one of the ski slopes. The slope was floodlit, so we watched people skiing until 10 p.m. We could not wait to try it ourselves.The next day we had our first skiing lesson. We rented our ski suits, boots and skis, and went outside onto th
5、e snow. Wearing skis for the first time makes you feel very strange. Suddenly you find you cannot even walk.Our instructor took us onto a gentle slope, and showed us some basic skills. In order to go up a hill, you have to stand sideways, and go up step by step. You must point the tips of your skis
6、together so that you can stop. However, the tips must not cross, or you will fall. You should not ski alone in case you fall and get injured. To be honest, that first lesson was not a great success, and I kept on falling down! However, the next day I definitely improved. I only fell over a few times
7、, and I managed to do a few longer runs. I felt pleased with myself, and the instructor congratulated me, so I felt great. Although it was very cold, I spent most of that holiday skiing. It was the most wonderful time of my life.Nevertheless, it was all over too soon. Now I have decided to work part
8、-time this summer, so I can earn enough money for another super skiing holiday.Unit TwoTutorial centers1 HelpfulI have been studying at a tutorial centre for two years. The fees are very reasonable, and my command of English has improved greatly since I started.My tutors are all qualified teachers.
9、They are sincere and kind. I have been helped a lot by them.One of my teachers was British. At first, I could not say anything to her. However, later I learnt how to communicate in English with a westerner.I think that the tutorial centre has given me a lot of confidence in using English.MANDY ZHANG
10、2 Waste of moneyI have studied at a tutorial centre for one year. However, I think that I have been cheated. These tutorial centres are only interested in making money, so they accept too many students for each class. However, they do not want to pay for good teachers. My English teacher was a unive
11、rsity student who studied physics, not English! Very often, he could not answer our questions about the use of the language.In my opinion, it is better to spend more time on school work than to waste money at a money-making tutorial centre.REX YANG3 I go to sleepI have attending a tutorial centre fo
12、r two months. I have been forced to attend by my parents, but I do not think it is useful for me.I am always very tired after school. Sometimes I even sleep during the classes in the evening.Furthermore, the teachers are very boring. They give us a lot of supplementary exercises but they teach us no
13、thing. I usually read comics during class. Sometimes I go to a video arcade instead. I think tutorial centres are useless.SIMON LAN4 Good and badI have experienced both good and bad tutorial centres.In my first centre, I was in a very big class. My teacher was an Australian. He just talked about his
14、 travels. I could learn nothing from him. I left within a month. Then I asked all my friends for their advice. As a result of their recommendations, I enrolled on a course at another centre.The teachers are excellent here and the classes are small. We have been taught many good techniques for develo
15、ping our language and study skills.There are both good and bad tutorial centres, so you must do some detective work before you enroll.However, the most important thing is whether you are willing to learn and to work hard. The key factor is yourself.GRACE LIUnit ThreeFashionMy topic is Fashion. Fashi
16、on is important to almost all of us. By fashion, we usually mean popular trends in styles of dress. When we go out or to a party, we usually like to wear fashionable clothes. To illustrate my talk, I have brought along five objects.My first object is this blouse. It looks beautiful, doesnt it? Its m
17、y most expensive piece of clothing, and I love it. It cost me $200. It may seem very extravagant, but I could afford it with my own savings. It wasnt easy for me to earn the money, but when buying clothes, I think the more you spend the better the quality. So you see, fashion is quite important to m
18、e.However, Im not as keen on fashion as my brother Gary. Last summer, he won a free trip to London in a contest. The organizers wanted to show him some famous sights. But he didnt appreciate old buildings. He just spent all his time searching for the coolest pair of trainers! For him, fashion was mo
19、re important than culture. These are the trainers he bought. Was it worth a trip to London to buy these? Well, I dont think so. It was a waste of time and money.Fashion is very big business. Changes in fashion can create or ruin jobs. As an example, I have brought this blonde wig to show you. It bel
20、ongs to one of my mums friends. In the 1960s, these were very fashionable. But a few years later fashions changed, and women wore wigs much less often. Many wig factories closed down, and hundreds of workers lost their jobs, which was terrible!Fashion can affect the natural world, as well. Im holdin
21、g an old hat borrowed from a drama company. Its made of beaver fur. These hats were very fashionable about 200 years ago. As a result, beavers almost became extinct. Luckily, in the 1850s, these hats went out of style and the beavers were saved.Finally, we should remember the saying, never judge a b
22、ook by its cover. Clothes will not make us more or less clever, better or worse, more or less honest. I once saw a movie about Mother Teresa. She spent all her life helping poor people in India, most of whom were dying. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. When she flew to get the award, she wore the same old clothes as usual, and carried all her possessions in a little bag like this, which I bought in a market. This reminds us that fashion is not the most important thing in life.Thank you.
