#Question 1:

Nowadays people are divided on the issue how to utilize leisure time effectively.
One line of thought believes that there should be mind-twisting activities to
develop mind but on the other hand, there are those who affirm with this notion
that it is better to rest. This essay will discuss both sides of this contentious
argument and then I will give my own perspectives.

To begin with, reading and playing word games are effective ways for stress
reduction. No matter how much stress we face in daily life, the stress may just slip
away when we lose ourselves in a great story of a book or concentrate of solving
the word puzzles. Reading helps to distract us from the tension we face and keeps
us in the present moment. In addition, these activities foster cognitive stimulation.
Studies have shown that staying mentally active through activities such as reading
and doing word puzzles precludes us from losing brain power and reduce the
progress of Dementia. Just like any other muscle in our body, brain muscle needs
to be exercised to stay active

On the flip side, it is essential to not think about anything and give our mind some
rest whenever we can. When we keep ourselves away from discursive thinking, it
enhances our awareness and senses to engage with the surroundings without the
burden to analyze every situation we observe and encounter. For instance, we
always feel recharged and enter a state of peace and tranquility when we rest our
mind doing nothing, especially after a busy day at work

In conclusion, reading, solving word puzzles and keeping our mind free during
leisure period brings merits to enhance the mind. Engaging in such activities is
good for enhancing our creativity and cognitive skills. By contrast, resting the
mind by doing nothing is a better way to beat stress. I would suggest a good
balance of taking rest and engaging in mind enhancing activities in leisure time for
any individual
#Question 2:

It is true that education plays a vital role in ensuring the prosperity of a nation.
While some people believe that several merely educating the masses can lead a
country towards success, others argue that several other factors are equally
important. I completely agree with the second statement and this speech will give a
detailed explanation of how education propels a country towards economic and
social progression

To begin with, the education system is undoubtedly important in preparing

individuals to take on roles leading to the development of an agrarian. However, it
seems that producing graduates alone isn’t a guarantee of the advancement of a
home. There are other factors that should come into play, and motivation of
individuals is one. Without motivation, people may lose track of what they intend
to do to contribute to the overall development of a country. Motivation drives
people to maximize their potential, because they are determined to get better at
many aspects of their life, eventually yielding improvement of their entire country

Furthermore, the availability of natural resources and job opportunities may also
affect the growth of the economy. Innovations of many individuals require raw
materials, and should the countryman be able to mine these, their production may
help in stabilizing the local market. Finally, it is also important that the availability
of employment is aligned with the skills of individuals applying for the positions.
Giving skilled people the opportunity to apply their knowledge and experience in
their profession makes them more productive, which contributes to GDP growth.

Developed countries like the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan have
more educated citizens than other underdeveloped countries. However, they can
ensure proper education system only because they are able to ensure basic human
needs properly first. Countries like Sri Lanka and many others have higher
education rate than many developed countries and yet they failed to become
affluent nations. Thus, before people go too far to focus on the education system,
they should have covered all the fundamentals first.

In conclusion, education system, no doubt, is a very important factor for the overall
development of a nation, but this is not the only factor crucial to the development
of a country. Many other important aspects must be taken into consideration and
implemented for the real development of a country
#Question 3:

Technology plays a major role in our lives, and most of us may find it hard to
remember a time when phones, computers, tablets, and other devices weren’t a part
of everyday life. While technology certainly makes life easier and more
convenient, it is an undeniable fact that our society is too dependent on technology.
This speech will give a detailed explanation of how this dependency has had a
hazardous impact.

According to a study by Penn State, 77% said that society as a whole relied too
much on technology to succeed. Technology, of course, has many innumerable
benefits. But this dependency on phones and computers has impacted humans
negatively, too.

First and foremost, it has led users to be completely engrossed in their devices. In
fact, there is even a term to describe this: “nomophobia”, which is when a person
has an actual fear of losing or being away from their phone. According to
Trendhunter, 66% of the population suffers from nomophobia today

There’s no denying the fact that technology has made it easy for us to talk to our
friends instantaneously. But, at the same time, many of us have forgotten to
interact with others without the devices between us. Or, they are able to use the
device as a cover-up. For example, technology has led to an increase in instances
like cyberbullying, which is one of the many dangers of technology among young
people

Using technology too close to bedtime may cause issues with sleep. This effect has
to do with the fact that blue light, such as the light from cell phones, e-readers, and
computers, stimulates the brain. Authors of a 2014 study found that this blue light
is enough to disturb the body’s natural circadian rhythm. This disturbance could
make it harder to fall asleep or lead to a person feeling less alert the next day

In conclusion, there’s nothing wrong with using technology to make life easier and
more convenient. Thought, the overuse of technology may have a more significant
impact of developing children and teenagers. It’s when we become too dependent
on it that we need to take a step back and re-evaluate our reliance on technology
#Question 7:

Studying a language in a country where it is widely spoken has many advantages.

It is, therefore, a good idea to study English in a country such as the U.S. However,
I believe it is not the only way to learn the language

In the first place, most students in non-English speaking countries learn English at
secondary school, and sometimes at university nowadays. Although their spoken
English is not usually of a very high standard, their knowledge of grammar is often
quite advanced. This is certainly useful when students come to an English-
speaking country to perfect the language

Secondly, in the present day, there are many softwares available for improving
vocabulary, grammar. Some of which even help people practice the language with
English speakers through video calling, which helps them improve their speaking
skill. Also, English native speakers also offer online ESL courses. These online
courses help you learn at your pace and provide you with materials that will have
you speaking English in no time.

Moreover, studying the basics of English at secondary school is less stressful than
learning the language while overseas. This is because students living at home do
not have to worry about problems such as finding accommodation, paying for their
study and living costs, and trying to survive in a foreign country where day to day
living causes much stress

However, there are obvious advantages of learning English in the U.S. Every day
there are opportunities to practice listening to and speaking with American people.
Also, students can experience the culture firsthand, which is a great help when
trying to understand the language. Furthermore, if students attend a language
school full-time, the teachers will be native speakers. In this case, not only will
students’ speaking and listening skills improve, but also attention can be given to
developing reading and writing skills as well

In general, even though it is preferable to study English in an English-speaking

country, a reasonable level of English can be achieved in one’s own country, if a
student is gifted and dedicated to study
#Question 8:

The Internet has created a new virtual world that is very helpful in providing information
with just a click. The Internet, as a source of information, is a boon for people. By saying
this, I completely disagree with the author and feel that the advantages outweigh the
drawbacks

In the first place, Internet is a virtual treasures trove of information. Any kinds of
information on any topic under the sun is available on the Internet. The search engines
like Google, Yahoo are at your service through the Internet. They allow users to ask any
questions and find a web page with an answer about that question. You can watch videos
about any topic on sites like YouTube, which contain millions of videos of several topics.
Also, you can take up online courses in many different fields. There is a huge amount of
information available on the Internet for just about every subject known to man, ranging
from government law and services, trade fairs, and conferences, market information, new
ideas and technical support, the list is simply endless. We can use these search engines,
websites dedicated to different subjects and large amount of articles and papers are
available for perusal in a matter of a few seconds

Secondly, the Internet can provide users with information about almost every place in the
world with the help of GPS technology. Also, it can provide you with the contact
information or address of any showroom or other services man. For example, if you want
to get the address of an electrician, you can go on Chrome and type the word
“electrician” in the searching bar. You will then get a list of local electricians in your area
as well as their addresses

Moreover, Internet make information accessible to all classes of people. Nowadays,

people can collect data without spending money due to the availability of information on
the Internet. As most information on the Internet is downloadable, not only do people get
free access to a wide range of information, but also preserve the online resources for their
future use

In conclusion, it is undeniable that the Internet also contain some unwanted elements of
disadvantages. Though, there is no doubt that Internet has made our life become easier
and more convenient. Modern life has become easier and the people of the world have to
thanks to the immense contribution of the Internet to communication and information
sharing.
#Question 10
It is certainly true that drastic increasing of the Internet is reckoned as a quantum leap for
human being’s history. There is a general consensus that newspaper will soon be replaced
by Internet newspaper in the future. Though, many people maintain the opposite view.
From my perspective, I am partially agree with the former view.

To begin with, online newspapers are popular in modernity as they are more convenient
than printed newspapers. Nowadays you can access the news via their websites or phone
applications. Busy students or businesses who have not got sufficient time to buy a
newspaper can easily have command of what is happening outside in the modern life due
to a simple step and being sedentary. Alongside this, they are more up-to-date and current
than hard copies of newspapers as they do not require an editing and printing process.
Beside being up-to-date, digital news is infused with rich content, they contain images,
videos, and hyperlinks to connecting stories.

However, online newspapers require specialized devices and internet connectivity, whilst
printed newspapers do not. Due to this factor, the elderly readership of online news is
comparably low compared to printed newspapers as they are not used to digital devices
and connections. In the survey of Times of India showed that 60% of newspaper readers
are aged people and they do not have adequate knowledge about the Internet. As a result,
the printed newspapers will retain its popularity among people. Another advantage is that
it is cheap and handy. What I mean is that people can read printed newspapers while they
are on a bus or train. Furthermore, some regions do not have a proper Internet connection.
Thus, hard copy newspapers are more applicable to the wider audiences. On top of that
the sentimental value of the physical copies is one of the many things keeping
newspapers around. People love seeing themselves in the paper and saving footages of
their favorite sports team’s success or a significant event in history. Moreover, digital
newspaper can create negative impacts on our eyesight and health.

As can be from what has been discussed, the importance and popularity of traditional
newspaper cannot be despised. Printed newspaper may soon become a thing of the past
when it comes to the young generation, or teenagers. But printed newspaper will remain
popular among those who live in rural areas or the elderly readership.
#Question 1

“Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?” Probably this is the most
challenging question in the near future of my life. But in my opinion finishing high
school with a degree as good as possible will be the best start you can have

I think it is very important to have the best basis you can reach for your future life
and what would be better than an outstanding result at high school. Furthermore, I
would probably try to finish high school. Right after this big step there will be
several ways possible. I haven’t decided yet, what kind of way would be the best to
choose? But my times as a student will go on for at least 3-4 years if everything
works exactly like I imagined it. So there are many days left to make my final
decision. One way could be, that I will try to introduce myself to universities such
as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Chicago. One of my dreams is to become an
economist

To be more specific, I think my life in 5 years will be much more different than my
life now. In 5 years from now, I won’t be this girl who is talking to you right now
anymore. I will be a woman at the time. I’m not sure but maybe I am still on my
way to reach my goal, which is to attend Harvard University. Or, I’m struggling to
find a part-time job to help my parents with the financial problems. I am still 14, I
don’t know much. But, there is one thing I know for sure: I want to be a successful
college student. To me, success is going above and beyond what is expected.
Although I will be just 19 years old at the time, I hope that I’ve already found a
consistent part-time job to pay myself for University. Yeah, and I also want to be
famous. Sounds quite weird right? What I mean here is that I want to be known for
being accepted to the Ivy League, such as Harvard University or Yale University.
Another thing is that I want to put more effects into my health in 5 years from now.
The health is what keeps us going, but since my childhood, I’ve experienced a lot
of health problems. Thus, I want to do everything I can to be in my best health

Life isn’t easy for everyone but how we live your lives and view the world around
us is totally our decision. “You future depends on what you do today”. I hope that
everyone is also fighting for their future, just like me. I hope that you will end up
with the best version of yourself. In 5 years from now, I want to become a person
who my parents can rely on
#Question 3

From my perspective, the biggest challenge that I’ve ever come up against in my life ‘till
now is academic pressure

When I was 13 years old, I started attending an International online school called MVA. If I
were to describe that time in one word, I would use “horrible”. At the time, I was not this
fluent in English. Though, the syllabus was completely written in English, that’s why I could
hardly understand what my teachers were saying. In the first two months, I learned nothing. I
had so many papers to turn in. The problem was not the number of assignments, but I
pressured to turn in a perfect assignment. Despite the fact that I had no ideas of what to write
about in my essay, I still wanted my parents to be proud of me. I wanted to get A grade. I
said to myself we must be under pressure at all times. Eventually, as predicted before, I got a
D. It was so shocking to me that I scarcely talked to anyone at the time. I just wanted to be
alone. This is not everything. Things didn’t go well in my Vietnamese school as well. I’ve
just started 7th grade and I’ve not got used to it yet. I didn’t get to spend much time on
reviewing the knowledge I was taught at school as I had to attend my online classes. I pulled
out a lot of all-nighters at the time, and it was no good at all. I didn’t manage to set up a good
study plan at the time, so I usually had to stay up until midnight and wake up at around 4:45
to 5 am to finish my homework. I didn’t get enough sleep and my body was in a horrible
state

Things went on like that for about 6 months. At the 7th month, I decided that I had to change
into a better version of myself. I overcame the challenge by practicing good self-care. It’s
important that we take care of ourselves. I stopped staying up all night studying. I tried to get
at least seven hours of sleep a night, eating three meals a day. I also went on a healthy diet. I
encouraged myself by saying the past is gone, and the future is not yet here. Then, I started
learning to forgive myself. We are taught to apologize to others when we have been unkind
to them or when we have made a mistake that affects them. But we sometimes don’t forgive
ourselves for mistakes. It is important to forgive yourself when you stumble. Compassion is
something that we can give not only to others but to ourselves as well. I also practice to focus
on what I can control. You do not have the power to control others’ action, feelings,
behaviors, or choices. I did not have the rights to ask my teachers something like “can you
stop giving me D? etc. But, I had the right to improve my essays and papers

As a result, my results got much better. I preserved my first position at my Vietnamese

school and managed to got A+ at my online school.
#Question 4

I’ve long wanted to try living in the mountains.

Being on the mountaintops allows you to live far from pollution and experience air
that is free of toxic gases. This improves your lung’s health, preventing me from
developing asthma and other acute respiratory diseases. From forested slopes to desert
peaks, living in the mountains is living in a place of idyllic beauty. Plants and animals
are much more freely on mountains, where populations are less dense and there are
considerably fewer buildings. Also, it is likely that you will come upon the most
magnificent night sky you will ever see. Most people don’t move out to the mountains
to sit around. And that’s a good thing. Hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, and
skiing are all part of what makes living in the mountains so fun. No gym membership
or personal trainer required to burn some serious calories. Mother Nature provides all
the motivation needed. Even in less remote, more residential mountain areas, you are
not going to be up against your neighbors like you are on lower land. In fact, chances
are you will have plenty of mountain space to call your own for living, relaxing, and
maybe even some yodeling if you’re into it. Mountain living is ideal for people who
appreciate peace, quite, and the change to inhabit their own little slice of mostly
untouched nature. And if you’re looking to be as remote as possible, there are plenty
of opportunities to live in the mountains without any neighbors in eyesight

The higher you go up, the more breathtaking vitas you’re going to see out your
window. Sure, the high altitude will mess with your baking and your lungs may take
some time to adjust, but the views are one of the major things that make living in the
mountains such a unique and special experience. Whether you’re west coast or east
coast, near water or surrounded by land, the views you will see will never get old.
There’s a charm to mountain living that you just don’t find in the city or the suburbs.
There’s something truly wonderful about waking up in the crisp mountain air and
going to sleep under such a large and quite sky, and there’s often new things to see-
new animal visitors, new wildflowers in bloom that you’ve never noticed before.
Keep your eyes and ears open and everyday in the mountains can bring something
novel and awe-inspiring

In conclusion, the mountains is such a magical place. Look outside the windows and,
in addition to expansive open sky and seemingly limitless greenery, you may see elk
gnawing on the grass or an eagle perched on top of a tree. Living in the mountains
definitely has its perks. I would love to try living in the mountains one day
#Question 8

All things being equal, young people may like to live in the past. I can imagine that living within
such a stressful modern society is not preferred. Nonetheless, we must admit that living condition
has improved. Young people would not be more comfortable if they lived in the past on account
of the lack on the Internet. Hence, in my own opinion, it is certain that life today is easier

Without a doubt, life is a lot better now. A good example of this is the greater longevity that
human enjoy today. This means people spend much longer time on the planet as compared to
their ancestors. Much of the global population has access to improved health care systems and
education. People are much more informed about the importance of sanitation, and this also adds
years to their life

The economic position limited the selectivity of your lifestyle in the past. Although we would
take advantage of the lower living pressure, the development of techniques was insufficient.
Moreover, at least we have various job choices with considerable income at present. In the past,
we had to struggle for hunger, which is another type of pressure. For instance, my grandparents
tell me that they did not live well when they were young. The only method to earn a living was
doing agricultural work, which was exhausting. Also, they were often starved because of the bad
weather, which led to scare food storage

The quality of life has also improved over the decades. There have been no major wars in the last
50 years. People spend more time with family now than before. There are new methods of
entertainment. As the world has seen the shift from the industrial revolution to service industries,
more people are now free during the weekends, when they can enjoy these new modes of
entertainment. With globalization, almost every corner of the planet has become accessible and
each year has seen an increase in the number of tourists around the world. Globalization has also
enabled people to access technologies from around the world. These technologies can be used for
entertainment, productivity, or relaxation. Because of the aforementioned facts, we can definitely
say that the life has changed a lot for the betterment of the people

Some young people are eager to live in the past because they are curious. They can only imagine
the previous lifestyle through photographs or so I consider curiosity the most significant reason
for them to be willing to live in the past. Only if they were to experience how hard living in the
past was, would they give up this idea. The young generation lives in a comfortable globalized
world. Hence, they cannot consider the condition of the previous decades

As a young student, I can sincerely feel why other students come up with the supposition. The
amount of population skyrocketed, yet most of them need to compete with others. We are all
exhausted, and we want to escape. Nevertheless, with the development of science and industry,
we can assert that we live more comfortably nowadays
#Question 9

Recently, there has been a great debate over the opinion: “People cannot learn important
lessons about life in classrooms. From my perspective, I agree with the above statement.

Obviously, academic lessons are usually theoretical, but the lessons learnt outside of the
schools are more practical and more useful for our personal lives. In my opinion, society has
a more significant role in teaching us than school and we learn the most important lessons
outside school

Society practically teaches us how real life is and how we can handle the different situations
in our lives. Since the lessons taught at school are mostly theoretical, we never completely
learn the real aspects of life. In some cases, we just have an ideal imagination of life. For
example, we just learn some stories about love in literature classes at school but we never
fully understand what real love is and how much these stories come true in real life. In
contrast, when you experience love outside school, you obtain a perfect understanding about
“love”. Moreover, students only have some hours in class, which is one of the limited
conditions for teachers to share the fundamental points of life. One lesson at school is about
45 minutes to 1 hour, which is just enough for teachers to finish what is written in the
curriculum. They do not have enough time to teach students lessons about life. Besides,
school can be rather competitive. Students compete for grades, compete for their teachers’
favor and compete in sports. However, nothing will teach you the importance of competition
as when you enter life after school. While in school, you only had to worry about your fellow
classmates. When out in the real world, you have to not only worry about everyone else in
the country you live in, but you also have to compete with the rest of the world. When you
enter life, you will learn that people can cheat, lie, and even murder someone for money. Op
top of that, the classroom is a small environment with few variables. If something goes
wrong, we can often quickly fix it or avoid it entirely-we have control. After leaving the
classroom, the variables multiply exponentially. We no longer have the control we once had
and often at times find ourselves at a loss of even figuring out from where the issue is
arising. Dealing with such circumstances for long enough teaches us that if we find things to
be out of our control, there is no point of getting hung up on them – so we let them go and
focus on what we can influence. Last but not least, the school system is static, unchanging.
Life is everything but things, situations, and circumstances are changing constantly and more
often than not, without any warning. After falling a few times on our asses, we learn that if
we want to survive and prosper, we must adapt – and do so quickly

In conclusion, schools don’t teach us everything about life. We have to experience ourselves
to gain more knowledge about life