An essential element of the ecosystem is water.

Water pollution occurs when harmful chemicals

or microorganisms are released into water bodies, which results in the degradation of animal
and humans life quality.

The most common cause of water pollution is the direct disposal of industrial and human waste
into the surface water. Another reason worth mentioning is the oil spill.Since the dawn of
industrialization, numerous factories have been discharging toxic chemical compounds such as
metallic sulfides or cyanides. When being introduced into lakes, rivers, and seas, these toxic
wastes poison freshwater or saltwater animals and plants, subsequently destroy the ecosystem.
Even when the industrial waste is buried in the ground, they can still permeate the soil to pollute
the underground water, thus begin the process again.

Another cause of water pollution is human waste. Various kinds of pathogenic bacteria live in
human feces, and they may cause gastrointestinal infection if they appear in the water supply.
Oil spills are also the reason for sea pollution. Most of the marine animals cannot digest oil, or
cleanse the spilling oil on their feathers. Therefore, they will die soon unless there are human
interventions. The spill also adversely affect seawater, which damages the tourist industry of
coastal regions.

To summarize, water pollution is mostly the result of oil spills and industrial or human waste
disposal. It severely affects the environment and subsequently the life of animals and human.

(275 words)

In many countries nowadays, young single people no longer stay with their
parents until they are married, but leave to study or work somewhere else.
Do you think this trend has more advantages or disadvantages?
Here are some tips to help with this kind of question:
1. Notice that the question includes the words "do you think". This tells you that
you need to give your own opinion, as well as discussing both the advantages
and disadvantages. Put your opinion in the introduction and conclusion, and
don't be afraid to use the word "I" (e.g. I believe) to make it clear
what you think.
2. You won't be able to write a good essay if you don't plan your ideas first. Spend
2-3 minutes noting down ideas for the advantages of leaving home before
marriage, then 2-3 minutes writing notes for the disadvantages. Then decide
what your opinion is, according to whether you have more advantages or
disadvantages.
 3. If you can't think of any ideas, start by thinking of some examples e.g. Did you
or any of your friends leave home before getting married? Do you know
anyone who lived with their parents until they got married? What were the
reasons and benefits or drawbacks of each decision?

In some countries, governments are encouraging industries and businesses to

move to regional areas outside the big cities.
Do the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages?
Here are some ideas:
1. Introduce the topic by paraphrasing the statement, then give a clear opinion
about whether there are more advantages or disadvantages.
2. Advantages - e.g. costs are lower in regional areas; there is more space;
provide jobs to boost deprived areas; avoid further overcrowding in cities.
3. Disadvantages - e.g. greater availability of skilled workers in big cities; better
transport and infrastructure; companies based in regional areas are further
from their clients, providers and other contacts.
4. Conclude by summarising your opinion in a different way.

Some universities now offer their courses on the Internet so that people can
study online. Is this a positive or negative development?
It is true that online courses are becoming a common feature of university education.
Although there are some drawbacks of Internet-based learning, I would argue that there
are far more benefits.
The main drawback of the trend towards online university courses is that there is less
direct interaction. Students may not have the opportunity to engage face-to-face with
their teachers, and will instead have to rely on written forms of communication.
Similarly, students who study online do not come into direct contact with each other,
and this could have a negative impact on peer support, discussion and exchange of
ideas. For example, whereas students on traditional courses can attend seminars and
even discuss their subjects over coffee after lessons, online learners are restricted to
chatting through website forum areas. These learners may also lack the motivation and
element of competition that face-to-face group work brings.
Despite the negatives mentioned above, I believe that online university courses are a
positive development for various reasons. Firstly, they allow learners to study in a
flexible way, meaning that they can work whenever and wherever is convenient, and
they can cover the material at their own pace. Secondly, the cost of a university
education can be greatly reduced, while revenues for institutions may increase as more
students can be taught. Finally, online learning offers open access to anybody who is
willing to study, regardless of age, location, ability and background. For example, my
uncle, who is 65 years old, has recently enrolled on an online MBA course in a different
country, which would have been impossible in the days before Internet-based
education.
In conclusion, while I recognise the possible disadvantages of online learning, I consider
it to be a positive development overall.

Some universities offer online courses as an alternative to classes delivered

on campus. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

Sample essay
Nowadays a lot of people are debating whether online classes can be an
alternative to regular classes. In my opinion, they can. I personally believe that
the advancement in technology has made it possible to make some
revolutionary changes to the education system. Online learning is one of
them.

The biggest advantage of online classes is that they are convenient. They
allow students to learn at their pace and at a time convenient for them.
Regular classes, on the other hand, have fixed hours. If you have a full time
job or a young child or aged parents to take care of, you cannot attend them.
Online classes are actually a boon for people who have other commitments
that prevent them from attending classes delivered on the campus.

In this day and age, learning has become a never-ending process. People are
constantly upgrading their skills to improve their career prospects. They are
enrolling in new courses in the middle of their career. If universities didnt offer
the option of online learning, most of them would be in a fix because few
people can afford to quit their job to learn a new skill. Online courses also
allow students to obtain foreign degrees without having to leave their country.
For example, students in India can join online courses offered by foreign
universities and obtain coveted degrees sitting at home.

Perhaps the biggest argument against online courses is the lack of quality
control. But this has changed over the years because of advancements in
technology. Now that several internationally acclaimed universities have also
started offering online classes, their credibility has also increased.

To conclude, in my opinion, online classes are a positive development and a

nice alternative to regular classes conducted on campus.
A recent research reported by the Gulf newspaper claims that, the most
successful CEO around the world read over 80 books annually. Books
develops imagination and provides immense knowledge. Technological
advancements have digitalised paper books to digital versions, a mass
appeal nowadays. In my opinion, the dominance of digital books will
propel, paper books will eventually disappear for its disadvantages. This
essay will further discuss on why the current generations prefer e-books.

Digital devices (mobile phones or tablets) are enhancing peoples lives,

the applications on the devices has multiple usages. It is penetrating the
book market, forcing the traditional paper books to extinction. Firstly, e-
books is gaining appeal, as books downloaded can be stored for ever.
With no wear and tear the e-books can be enjoyed for generations. For
example, an e-book downloaded from Amazon can be stored on cloud
forever unlike the grandmothers books with deteriorated appearance.
Secondly, digital reading is inexpensive. Bundle offers online is of great
value to customers and hence more preferred. For instance, series are
bundled and offered such as 13 Wimpy kid books, the entire series is
priced at US $60/-, a hard to resist temptation. Therefore, the shift in
choice by the current generations.

On the other hand, paper books arent practical or fashionable to children

today. The weight of the paper book is another negative aspect. In
comparison to the e-books, paper hard bound long-lasting versions are
difficult to hold and to carry. For instance, a traveler will find it
convenient to carry four digital books on flight on his Kindle device than
carry the weight of paper books, hence not practical, given current
lifestyle.

In conclusion, books are not just educational supplement but also a

means of entertainment. Hence reading culture will continue to last for
many generations. Digital e-books offer the same reading pleasure at
cheaper prices and its extended durability is an aspect hard to contend
for paper books. Kindle a new popular digital e-book product has an
online library, provides buyer an instant access to most books with just a
click. Further, it also offers a large collection of books for free and also
recommends based on interest. Whereas, the paper book buying process
today requires more time and money, lacks the convenience and the
appeal with age and will eventually become obsolete medium for readers.

some people think that money is one of the most essential factors in
promoting happiness. Do you think people can be happy without much
money? What other factors contribute towards happiness?

Money is considered an essential factor for people to feel happy

about their life. But we dont really need too much money to actually
make us happy, because obviously there are other issues such as self-
satisfaction and love from family or friends can also contribute to the
happiness of an individual.

It is defiantly true that we cant live without a reasonable level of basic

materials which are purchased by money. Just imagine the daily life of a
person who needs to pay for everything, with no money he or she cannot
even survive in modern society not to mention being happy. I think
nobody would ask refugees in Syria whether they are happy or not
because it is already difficult for them to survive, happiness is certainly
luxury.

But after people having met the basic survival needs, are they
automatically happy? I am afraid not. Happiness was and has always been
luxury for most people, it is not because the amount of money, but
because the recipe of happiness is more than simply a lot of money. In
fact, there are plenty of filthy rich people feel unhappy. And meanwhile
thousands of ordinary people are enjoying their simple but priceless
happy lives.
In my view, as long as our basic needs being met, more money would not
necessarily make us happier. Indeed, factors like self- satisfaction and
being loved probably have greater marginal effect. For instance,
workaholic who filled their life with work would feel happier when they
finished an excellent project as they got huge self-satisfaction from it. A
child who experienced parents divorcing at an early age might set finding
someone to set a complete family as his life goal when he grows up,
because being loved is the vital thing to his happiness.

To summarize, I think people need a certain amount of money to survive

before they can feel happy, but self-satisfaction and being loved are also
closely linked to individuals happiness.

Money cannot buy happiness is a famous saying and there are many
supporters and opponents of this viewpoint. However, in my opinion, to
some extent money is vital to lead a happy life, but other aspects are also
as essential as money.

To begin, the most substantial parameter contributes towards happiness

is loving family. Despite of having feeble financial background, many
individuals are living happy life due to strong family support. Whereas, it
has been observed many times, that wealthy people are more prone to
depression in spite of having extravagance livelihood and reason being is
broken family which causes isolation. For example, depression is very
common among the people of the developed countries compared to the
developing nations, because trend of living together in the developing
countries give people strength to face hardship and challenges of life.

However, apart from family, there are another factors, which analyze level
of happiness. For instance, many people have certain goals in their lives
and after achieving those goals they get real feel of happiness such as,
scientists spend their entire life in research and after attaining desired
result, they sense the real happiness. Furthermore, job satisfaction and
successful business another factors in individuals life, which catalyze the
happiness. Nonetheless, without money life could become arduous and
challenging, hence, money could not be eluded completely if one wants
to live a peaceful life.

To conclude, I believe, to a larger extent money decides the direction of

the life but with the support of doting family and hard work, true
happiness in the world could be achieved.

It is considered by some that money is a key to happiness. In my opinion, happiness can be

found without money and some aspects such as belief and good health are the important part of
happy life.

Most of the people work for money so they can enjoy their well being. However, something can
not be bought by money alone. To be more precise there are some self satisfactions which can
be gain by having a good attitude, for instance, Buddhist monks are trained to be solitude and
forsake greed, as a result, their happiness is not tied to money or possessions. It is their
understanding in life instead that leads them to true happiness. In addition, giving and helping
are main concerns for some people who value others well being as their own. A clear example
of this is nonprofit organization, the volunteers work tirelessly to help strangers or animal without
getting paid because their contributions for building peaceful society make them feel useful and
be proud of themselves.

With regards to the question of happiness influencing aspects, being realistic is one of the most
important factors. A number of people have to fail miserably in his or her expectation as a result
of setting it too high. Disappointment can be a huge obstacle for happiness, therefore,
understanding the situations and expecting reasonable results are essential. Furthermore, the
general condition of body and mind contribute to overall happiness too. In other words, wealth
has no use if you do not have a fully functional body and good mental health. One clear
example is children tend to be more cheerful than elders who are unhealthy.

In conclusion, money is not always essential in order to live happily and there are different
aspects such as mindset and health that are necessary for living in peace. People should make
sure they are not heavily focused on money, therefore, they might ignore real happiness.

In many cities the use of video cameras in public places is being increased in order to reduce crime, but some
people believe that these measures restrict our individual freedom.
Do the benefits of increased security outweigh the drawbacks?
It is true that video surveillance has become commonplace in many cities in recent years. While I understand that
critics may see this as an invasion of privacy, I believe that the benefits do outweigh the drawbacks.
There are two main reasons why people might disapprove of the use of video cameras in public places. The first
objection is that these cameras invade our privacy, in the sense that we are constantly being watched by the
authorities or by private security firms. Many people find this intrusive and feel that the recording of their
movements is a form of state control that curtails their individual freedom. The second argument against the
proliferation of CCTV cameras is that they are being used as an alternative to police officers patrolling the streets.
If this is indeed happening, then it is unlikely that members of the public will feel safer.
In spite of the drawbacks mentioned above, I believe that the use of video cameras to monitor public areas is a
positive measure. The key objective of video surveillance is to deter criminals and to prevent crime. For example,
petty criminals like shoplifters and pickpockets are less likely to operate in parts of cities where they know that
they are being watched. At the same time, when crimes are committed, the police can use video evidence to catch
and prosecute offenders. Therefore, in my view, video cameras offer valuable support to police officers, and they
make cities safer for inhabitants, workers and visitors alike.
In conclusion, it seems to me that we gain more than we lose from the enhanced security that CCTV cameras bring
to our cities.
(275 words)