TEM-2011:Should private car owners be taxed for pollution?With the development of society, many people can afford a car. As the number of the cars is rising, we are facing some problems. One big problem is the pollution caused by the use of cars. In order to solve this problem, government agencies in some big cities recently suggest that a “pollution tax” should be put on private cars in order to control the number of cars and reduce pollution in the city. For my part, I agree to this viewpoint, and my reasons are as follows: To begin with, cars contribute to the environmental pollution. For example, a lot of big cities in China are now plagued by serious air pollution. Then it is the responsibility of these private car owners to pay for the pollution and they should be taxed. The purpose of collecting environmental pollution tax is to raise the fund, and then utilize the tax revenue lever to protect our environment.Secondly, it is a good way to raise people’s environmental awareness by putting a pollution tax on private cars. If people suffer from the financial loss when making a decision, they will think more about their decision. Then they will consider more when deciding to buy a private car. Consequently, the increase rate of the number of the private cars can be controlled.In a word, it is a very good and necessary attempt to use the means of taxation to treat the pollution. Of course, it must be kept in mind that all people, including the private car owners, should try their best to protect the environment.272words TEM-2010:Should College Students Hire Cleaners?According to a recent report, six university students hired cleaners to clean their dorm and do their laundry every week. Although we have no right to tell them what to do with their money, as a university student myself, I find this practice absurd.For a start, away from our parents, it is in university that we learn to be independent adults. Cleaning the room and doing one’s laundry are the mostbasic living skills. If we always depend on others to take care of us, how can we survive when there is no one to help us? How can we take on any responsibility when we step into society?For another, the practice reflects their flippant attitude towards money. The money they paid for the cleaners probably comes from their parents, who must be very depressed once they know the truth. It also sets a very bad precedent on campus. Other students may follow suit to show the wealth of their families; or worse, they tend to think money can buy them anything in this world, which obviously is wrong.All in all, I think we must do away with this practice. Otherwise, we may never appreciate the good value of money and an independent way of life. The better and sooner we can take care of ourselves, the more proud our parents will be.226word TEM-2009:Will Tourism Bring Harm to the Environment?In recent years, tourism has developed rapidly in China. Many people believe that tourism produce positive effects on economic growth and we should try our best to promote tourism. But what these people fail to see is that tourism may bring about a disastrous impact on our environment. As for me, I'm firmly convinced that too much tourists bring harm to the environment.The bad impact of tourism on the environment has mainly expressed itself in various ways. One way is the process of exploiting a new scenic spot. In order to attract tourists, a lot of artificial facilities have been built, which have certain unfavorable effects on the environment. This process usually breaks the ecological balance of the area. In some mountainous places, trees are being cut down to build hotels for others to see and explore the beauty of the mountains. Then land slides and mud-rock flows come up. Another way the development of tourism has damaged the environment occurs when tourists go to scenic spots. Some tourists don't have the awareness to protect the environment, and ignorantly throw their garbage here and there. Some people even kill the local wildlife to eat, which badly damages the balance of the natural environment.It is wrong to sacrifice the environment for the growth of tourism. We must keep in mind that too much tourists bring harm to the environment. We need to find a balance between satisfying the needs of tourists and reducing to a minimum the pollution they cause.251wordsTEM-2008:The Benefits of VolunteeringVolunteering means being willing to help people in need and make contributions to society for no financial rewards. Needless to say, volunteering is of tremendous benefits to both those in need and the society. Yet, despite the fact that volunteers are not paid for what they have done, serving as a volunteer, I believe, is also beneficial to the volunteers themselves.First, volunteering helps volunteers improve their interpersonal skills. They can understand people better and have better skills to motivate others and to deal with difficult situations in collaboration with people of different personalities in their volunteering work.Besides, volunteering serves as a good opportunity for volunteers to apply their knowledge to practical problems. This is especially useful for sudden volunteers. For instance, students volunteering to assist foreign guests on big occasions like Canton Fair can not only practice their oral English, but also have first hand experience on the latest development of their field.Finally, volunteering satisfies one’s psychological need for respect and self-fulfillment, and it gives the volunteers a sense of achievement.In a word, volunteering helps to improve one’s interpersonal skills, apply one’s knowledge to practice, and give the volunteers a sense of self-fulfillment. It is of great benefits to the society, but it benefits the volunteers even greater.(216 words) TEM-2007: Is It Wise to Make Friends Online?（1）Is it wise to make friends online? (2) People’s views about this issue vary from one to another. (3) Some people think that it is unwise to make friends online while others think that there is nothing wrong with online friends. (4) In my point of view, although online friends cannot be always trusted, the benefits far outweigh the risks. (5) The reasons are mainly as follows:(6) First of all, it is easy and quick to get to know people and make new friends online. (7) We know friends are indispensable in our daily life but they cannot stay with us wherever we go. (8) For many people, especially college freshmen, leaving friends and the security of home for a new place where they don’t know anyone can be overwhelming. (9) With some online chatting tools such as QQ and MSN, they can talk to people they like and find people with common interests easily. (10) In addition, online friends can help broaden our knowledge about different cultures and customs. (11) Chatting with people from different places and social backgrounds is surely an effective way to understand other cultures and develop cross-cultural communication skills. (12) We can also practice our English in speaking and writing.(13) To sum up, making friends online is amazing. In the online global community we can enjoy an active social life with rewarding experience, so it is wise to make online friends.241wordsTEM-2006:Saving Money is a Good Habit（1）Recently the result of a survey conducted by a Beijing information company has shown that the majority of Chinese students think that saving money is a good habit while the rest prefer to use tomorrow’s money. (2) As is seen to me, the principle of “hard work and thrift” is still at work in China, and I absolutely believe that we will profit more from saving money than from spending tomorrow’s money.(3) Through saving money, we’ll be better prepared for our life. (4) There is an old saying that “a penny saved is a penny earned”. (5) In modern society, life is so changeable that we c an’t predict what will happen in the future. (6) So we’d better get prepared for unexpected emergencies. (7) What’s more, psychologically speaking, saving money means controlling money rather than being controlled by money, and it enables us to be freer and more independent.(8) With the money we’ve saved, we don’t need to be too much concerned about the old age or the monthly installment that we owe to the bank.Of course I don’t mean that we cannot loan money to buy a house or for some enjoyment. What I’m saying is that we must think twice before spending tomorrow’s money. (9) To put it in a nutshell, I’m a great believer that saving money is a good habit.230words TEM-2005:My Idea of a University Arts FestivalAn arts festival will no doubt add much to our campus life, since it, like other group activities, will be a stage on which students from different colleges and departments communicate and share their interests. This festival, of course, needs to be well organized, so as to get everyone involved. While all kinds of activities contribute to this great festival, lectures by leading artists in this country will surely make it more successful.First of all, influential ‘stars’ are always an attraction to involve the greatest number of participants. The main purpose of this festival, just as other campus activities, is to add variety to students’ life. Its results and influence need to be measured more by the number of participants than by their artistic level it will display. The more people get involved, the more successful the festival. While afew of the students are busy performing during the festival, lectures permit the majority to sit there listening and asking their ‘masters’ questions.Secondly, face-to-face communication between students, some of whom are potential artists, and the leading artists is always a bridge linking textbook knowledge and practice. University students spend most of their time learning from textbooks or at the library, but knowing how to do is quite different from doing it. The experience of and advice from those practitioners in the fields of music, movie, and painting help university students to think what else they need to learn and what they will do in the future.What’s more, lectures by well-known experts will enhance the influence of the arts festival and the university. Arts festivals are held in many universities in the city, but they are organized in more or less the same way. As far as I know, lectures are seldom part of them. Therefore, it will promote the reputation of our festival, which is a new comer in the city.In a word, it will be beneficial to invite some experts to give lectures. It will get more students to get involved, students will benefit from lectures by experts, and it will draw more public attention to the festival.(353 words) TEM-2004:Will Phones Kill Letter Writing?Telephone is said to be one of the greatest inventions of the world, which has revolutionized people’s way of life. Although more and more people nowadays tend to phone more t han write letters, I still don’t believe phones will kill letter writing in people’s daily communication.People communicate for different purposes and in different ways. Letters, though traditional in a way, help people express their ideas in a more exact way，without the careless tongue slips of telephone conversations. More importantly, it is long held that “To see is to believe.” and communication in written form is considered to be more formal than that done orally. Therefore, letters are always the preferred way of communication when it comes to formal occasions like job application, nailing down a contract or traveling information confirmation. It is not entirely groundless to say that letters are still indispensable nowadays.In a word, letters have their unique features to satisfy certain communication purposes and will therefore never be replaced by phones in people’s daily life. It’s perhaps more appropriate to say that they supplement each other instead of replacing each other.187words TEM-2003:The Importance of Keeping a Good MoodWith the development of modern science, technology and economics, our living standard has reached an ever higher level. But more and more people are living under greater pressure than ever before. As a consequence, people are increasingly suffering from various distortions both physically and mentally. To help out, it is important that everyone keep a good mood today.There are several reasons for my argument. First, a good mood can create high efficiency. When you work with a good mood, you will feel happy and be willing to do some work which used to be boring. On the contrary, a bad mood can make you passive and do things with reluctance. Second, a good mood is beneficial to your health. If you fail to keep a good mood, you will be feeling depressed and fed up, which is apt to cause some psychological diseases. Third, when you have a good mood, other people around you will be influenced. Thus more and more people will feel happy to communicate with you.To sum up, keeping a good mood is very important both for yourself and for the people around you. If you want to have a happy and successful life, please keep a good mood every day.206wordsTEM-2002:The Best Way to Stay HealthyNowadays，the desire for good health is universal. Wherever you are and whatever you do, staying healthy is always important. With the improvement of our living standards, people are attaching more and more importance to their health. However, which do you think is the best way to keep healthy?Different people come up with different views: eating green food, doing outdoor exercises or going to hospital for medical treatment frequently. As far as I am concerned, the best way to keep healthy is to develop a good quality of psychology.According to some surveys, nowadays, most patients are not physically sick but mentally ill. The burden on their shoulders is much heavier than others, so they can’ t step out of the shadow of depression and sadness. They need to release their spirit to the nature.Beside s, if you have developed a good quality of psychology, you’ll become more sociable and thus more willing to play your part in the society. Enrolling forsome keep-fit clubs or joining some travel agency, which by themselves are various versions of physical exercise, will benefit you a lot.As a poem says, youth is not a period of time; it’s a state of mind. Everybody wants to keep young at heart because youth is a symbol for endless energy and passion for living.Keeping a good quality of mind and keeping a sense of humor are really good. Even if you are 80, and you’ll never be old.(254 words) TEM-2001:Travel Broadens the MindNowadays more and more people choose to travel during their holidays, since travel not only brings leisure and joy but also broadens the mind. As for me, not only can it bring me more historical knowledge, but it can also add to my social experience.Take my trip to Mount Tai for example. As is known to all, it’s a magnificent mountain famous for both the beautiful scenery and the splendid cultural heritage. At the very sight of her, my soul was attached to her. I remembered the poem “Wang Yue” written by Du Fu, I remembered many historic events which happened on this land and I also recalled the responsibility to conserve this heritage. As I climbed up the mountain, our guide told me many things I had never got to know before, which of course broadened my scope of knowledge. It was also on this trip that I made many new friends with whom I exchanged my opinions, and that I got acquainted with some information about first aid and package tour. All this indeed added to my social experience.In short, travel offers a good chance for me to open my eyes and enrich my experience while I can enjoy myself. It broadens the mind in a relaxing way.212words TEM-2000:The Importance of Extracurricular ActivitiesPeople have different ideas about how students should spend their school days. Some believe that students should spend the whole day on academic studies. While others believe that extracurricular activities should be a required part of every school day. Both ways have their advantages. But I prefer the latter. The following are my reasons.As a student, our main task is to concentrate on our academic study. We have to attend classes, reading books and doing assignments. Only by working hard can we learn our courses well. But I don’t think we should spend every hour and minute on academic study. A proverb says, “All work and no play make sJack a dull boy.” Without good h ealth and strong body, how can we improve our study efficiency and make great achievements in our academic study? Besides, spending the whole day on academic study may make us exhausted and weak. We should find other meaningful things to do besides studying. For example, doing extracurricular activities can make students’ life more colorful and beneficial. There are various forms of exercise. My favorite one is football. I play football with my classmates for one hour every afternoon. After a day’s hard wor k, how nice it is to stretch my arms and legs! By playing football I’ve got both joy and strength. I always look energetic.Actually doing extracurricular activities doesn’t disturb our study if we make full use of our time. Instead it does help us study more efficiently. We can be good at learning as well as extracurricular activities. So I suggest that students do extracurricular activities along with their academic studies.(277 words)。
