Task 2

　　1. Nowadays many people find their social network on the Internet. Do you think it is a positive trend?

　　Well, yes definitely, personally I am a big internet fan, and I think on-line social networks is very good to socialize with friends and family members, and even get connected with professionals. My first reason is that it is instant and easy to use, social network like facebook, MSN, and professional social network-Linkedin. With wifi access and a tablet or smart phone, I can connect with people in no time. Additionally, before the invention of on-line social network, we have to call someone through the phone or visit them in person and it is very costly in terms of both money and time, cuz we have to physically be somewhere in order to talk to them face to face, with on-line social network, it also helps us to expand our social networking.

　　2. When things at home such as furniture are broken, do you prefer to have them repaired in a shop or fix them by yourself?

　　Well, personally I prefer to get service in a shop. To begin with, most of the time, it is pretty tough to fix broken furniture, and fixing up a broken furniture can be really time consuming. Like, for me, I am a college student who is busy with all kinds of assignments, like papers, presentations, and group projects and stuff, scarcely do I have time to fix things, and frankly speaking sometime, it is impossible for one to fix something without the help of professionals, like when your car breaks down, you don't even know what goes wrong and you don't have the tools, with which to fix that. So, based on these reasons, I will seek professionals for help.

　　3. Between the following two places, where would you choose to live?

　　1. big and new place but far from your workplace and/or university

　　2. small and old place but near your workplace and/or university

　　Personally, I'd like to live in a bigger place that is far away from my workplace. Actually, a bigger place far away from my workplace is more likely to be in the suburb than otherwise, and I am the kind of person who like peace and tranquility. I want to get away from the noise and pollution, and I hate the hustle and bustle of the city. Working in the downtown areas all day along is boring, and I want to escape from these concrete jungle and live far away. I like the solitude, clear skies, and peaceful evenings in the suburbs or country and it is pretty romantic.

　　4. Some people like to listen to audio books, others like to read paper books. Which do you prefer and why?

　　Well, personally, I prefer to read paper books. It is true that one can listen to audio books practically everywhere. You can listen on the bus, or in bed before you fall asleep. However, I still prefer to read book myself since I can get more involved when reading myself. What I am trying to say is that the person who reads the audio book sometimes doesn't tell the story the way that I　like. I mean I might not like the tone of their voice, and sometimes I find that I zone out and miss important parts of the book.

　　5. Some people think that the best way to learn is to attend lectures. Others think that it is better to learn on their own. Which do you prefer and why?

　　Well, personally, I prefer to attend lectures. Actually, studying alone can be boring and I am the kind of person who likes to interact with others when learning. By attending lectures, I get a chance to hear multiple points of view, although some points might not be as thought-provoking, I can learn a lot of stuff beyond the textbooks anyway, and understand how an idea works in real life when other students share their personal experiences. Additionally, the professor who holds the lecture can make difficult and abstract concepts and ideas easy to understand, one might not be able to understand some materials when studying alone.

　　6. Is it better to attend a large school or small school?

　　Personally, I prefer to attend a small school. Actually, in a small school, everyone know everyone else, and it is very easy to connect with one another, plus one can readily get a strong sense of belonging. The teachers and fellow classmates are more than a teacher or classmate since they are like families. Additionally, the class size of a small school is not big, and there be only 10 or 20 students, thus, it is very convenient for teacher to organize group discussions, and the teacher can give enough attention to every single student. However, in a big university, the professor might not know the name of the students, the learning efficiency is not as high as in small class.

　　7. Some people like surprise visits from their friends, others prefer to be informed of such visits. Which one do you prefer?

　　Well, personally, I prefer to have scheduled visits from my friend. To begin with, surprise visits have its obvious drawback, and that is I might not be available to offer my friend a warm reception simply because, as a college student, sometimes, I am overwhelmed with all kinds of assignment, like presentations, group projects and stuff. On the other hand, I can get fully prepared for my friend if he or she gives me notice ahead of time. I like arrange the room and board, the city attraction we plan to hang out, and other activities, and thus I can guarantee that my friend will enjoy his or her stay at my place.

　　8. Some people prefer to buy high-tech products as soon as they are introduced to the market other prefer to wait for some time to get them. Which do you prefer?

　　Well, personally, I would say I like to buy innovative high-tech products after the price goes down, and I have a few reasons for support. First and foremost, products with cutting edge and state of the art technology are usually very expensive when they first come out, and as a college student I do not have lost money to waste on that, cuz I have to pay college tuition, textbooks and stuff like that. Additionally, we consume technological products for its convenience and they will be as valuable and convenient as they firstly show up in the market, so it is more advisable to buy that after a while.

　　9. Science club, hiking club, which one are you interested in?

　　Personally, I would like to choose to join the science lab. To begin with, I bet there will be field trip to research centers and science labs. By going to the lab, I got a chance to use the lab equipment and apply theory in practice. It is very helpful for me to understand some theories since most of the time the things we learn in classrooms are very theoretical, and hard to understand. Also, by doing activities in the lab, I can be more creative and imaginative. Possibly, We can come up with lots of idea with regard of the theories, and make contribution to the technological advancement, and then it might be applied in the real world, thus benefits the entire human race.

　　10. Is it better to grow up in a large family or a small family? Explain why. Please include details and examples in your explanation.

　　Personally, I prefer to live in a small family since you don't have to deal with too complicated relationships with lots of family members. For example, if there are lots of members in the family, one has to go the birthday party of every single person in the family and that can be really tiring. Also, a big family is very crowded and noisy. It is very inconvenient because one might have to wait for their turn to use the bathroom. You know, it is much easier for a smaller family to agree on big decision. Plus, in a small family, it is very quiet and peaceful, one does not have a lot of triviality to deal with, and it also provides the kids a quiet environment to study.

　　11. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: protecting the environment is just as important as developing the economy?

　　Personally, I don't agree with that. Instead, I think protecting the environment is more important than develop the economy. Recently, there are rampant environment related diseases, like the lung problems caused by the haze and fog in big cities, problems. Plus, the global warming, pollution, and extinction are running wild on earth too. Also, we have to think of the future of our lives and the lives of the next generation. Actually, if the economy falls, there is still a big chance for it to pick up. However, if we don't protect the environment, and cherish the mother earth, it will be gone forever.

　　12. Do you agree or disagree with the statement: employees should be prohibited to listen to music at work.

　　Well, personally, I think it's a very bad idea to prohibit music in workplace. Actually, listening to music is a very good way for people to release their negative emotions, like sadness, or sorrow, or even anger. Employees might forget about the pressure in life and thus have a higher efficiency in the workplace. Additionally, music keeps people refreshed and spurs creativity and innovation. So, that is why it is a common practice for high-tech to allow the play of music in their office, just so that they can create a relaxing environment and be more creative, and thus make more breakthroughs in their field.

　　13. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children should be required to help with household tasks as long as they grow old enough to do so. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

　　Personally, I definitely think that children should do household tasks as soon as they are old enough. Lots of important qualities can be developed through such activities as doing housework. Children will learn to be responsible person, and that is a like cornerstone for them to become a better person. On top of that, children will get a sense of achievement when competing the house chores, and their parents might even give them some reward like buy them toys or offer them some pocket money. Through such activities, children will be very determined and motivated when they do bigger projects in their adulthood and be successful.

　　14. School should require all students to have their own laptops. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

　　Personally, I think students should be required to own laptops. To begin with, students might need to write papers, and they can find reference on the internet easily, cuz they can just type the key words in the search engine, and the next moment they know, the answer shows up on the screen, and they basically can find reference on every topic, like technology, history, and even psychology. Also, they need to use lots of software to finish some assignments and projects, so the use of computer is inevitable. For example, I am an economics major, and I need to use statistical software to analyze data, obviously, I cannot do that without the computer.

　　15. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? We learn more from failure than success. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

　　Personally, I couldn't agree more with this statement, indeed, the best lesson one can learn is through failure. Actually, time and experience are the best teacher, and growth can only be achieved when you fail and after some barriers or setbacks in life, one has to analyze the real cause and avoid the risk of making the same mistake again. Albert Einstein once said, “Anyone who has never failed has never tried anything new.” One can only be a better person and make better judgments by learning from every single experience that we have been exposed to, otherwise, we would be the same person as we were yesterday.

　　16. Agree or disagree: Life is better now than the past. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

　　Personally, I cannot agree more with that. To begin with, advanced technology has made lots of things unthinkable in the past possible, like now it takes only less than one hour to travel over 300 miles by express train. In the past, it might take you a whole day. Now, with the express train, we can save lots of valuable time. Plus, with increasing income, more people have access to nutritional food, like, salmon, tuna, shrimp and stuff like that. They are high in protein, low in carbs. Plus, the Food and Drug Administration follow closely on the food safety issues, and it is very costly for relevant companies to have some loopholes in their food production.

　　17. Do you like to buy new books or used books. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

　　I would say I prefer buying used books. As a college students, professors sometimes require students to buy textbooks, and most of the time, the textbooks can be really expensive, you might easily spend over $100 on a single books. That is a lot for a college kid. Additionally, most of the time used books are not that crappy, you can use it, and take notes on it and highlight the important part, it has no impact on your study at all. So based on these reasons, I find it more reasonable to buy used books at a cheaper price.

　　18. Agree or disagree: Zoos are useful than harmful to animals.

　　Personally, I couldn't agree more that zoos help to protect animals rather than harm them. To begin with, some animals that might live in really harsh environment, like the Arctic region, Sahara deserts, and even in extremely dry areas. However, the zoo can be a very good place to shelter such animals, and they can live in a clean and comfortable environment with abundant food to feed themselves. Additionally, by keeping animals in the zoos, citizens, especially the younger generation will get a chance to closely observe them, thus they will know the animals better, hopefully, this can raise their awareness to protect endangered species.

　　19. Do you prefer to live alone or live with others.

　　Personally, I prefer to live alone. Actually, I am very private person, most of the time, I keep things to myself. I would get distracted if I chose to live with others who I might not familiar with. Actually, I am highly efficient when I do things without the disturbance of others, like when I study I feel more comfortable when nobody is around me. Plus, someone you are living with might have totally different habits and schedule when it comes to when to study or sleep or even watch TV. It would be really disruptive when one wants to study while the other prefers to watch TV.

　　20. Some people think that it's more important to spend time with families, others think they should focus on work and study. Which do you prefer?

　　Personally, I think families are more important than work and study. To begin with, the people who really care about you most are your family members, your parents, sisters, and brothers, and the family members are the first group people you deal with; and when you are depressed or suffering from setbacks in life, it is your family who supports you. Lots of times, it is the encouragement and love from one's family that makes someone stronger in life. The people who are not be able to be their parents when they got sick or are dying only regret that they should have spent more time with them, instead of closing business deals and stuff.

　　21. Some people like to spend their vacation in countryside. Others like vacationing in the cities. Which do you prefer and explain why.

　　Personally, I would choose to go on a vacation in the country. The only reason for me to go on a vacation is to get away from the busy streets and concrete jungles n the city, and get a chance to be close to mother nature. By traveling in the country, I might find a nice spot to go camping and appreciate the beautiful starry sky at night, and enjoy the tranquility, I don't have the chance to enjoy that kind of moment when living in the city. Also, traveling in the country makes it easier for me to do some hiking, like walking on the trail, and do some fishing and BBQ.

　　22. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Students should always study in quiet places.

　　Personally, I think students should always study in quiet places. To begin with, students are likely to concentrate more when studying in quiet places， like in the library or classroom, I can fully focus on my work and nothing can distract me. There are just too much distraction to study in a noisy environment. Plus, when studying in quiet places, like the library, I feel like people around me are also studying, and that is a motivation for me to concentrate on my own work.

　　23. Imagine that you have to give up watching TV for one month, would this be difficult for you? Explain why.

　　Well, personally, I would say it will not be difficult for me to do that. Cuz, honestly, I am not a fun of watching TV, since most of the time, I am pretty busy with my school assignment, like presentations, group projects and research papers, and stuff. Plus, even if I really need some information of current events, like sports, technology, and politics, I can always use my smart phone and with a touch on the screen, the whole world is basically in front of me.

　　作者简介：

　　孟炎，托福(TOEFL)口语优秀主讲师，毕业于密苏里大学哥伦比亚分校，经济学硕士，SAS高级程序员。托福114，GRE高分通过(1330),2008年外研社全国大学生英语竞赛特等奖(全省仅4人)，演讲比赛优胜奖;全额奖学金获得者，曾在经济系任研究生助教教授美国本科生经济学课程。微信号：244017295

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