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In the past, buildings often reflected the culture of a society but today all modern buildings look alike and cities throughout the world are becoming more and more similar.
city has its architectural character, but the similarities between cities are more obvious these days than in the past. In my opinion, one reason for this is the high price of land. In most large cities, land is scarce and consequently it is very valuable. This has led to the construction of tall buildings which occupy only a small area of land while providing lots of floor space where people can live or work. Buildings of this type are made of concrete and steel and can be built comparatively quickly using prefabricated materials. They do not use local materials, such as stone, timber or brick, which used to give cities their individual character. In consequence many cities. now look very much the same and you might not know whether you were in Brisbane, Bangkok or Berlin when you are on the street. While I realise that we cannot stand in the way of progress, I believe that cities should try to keep some individuality. For example, in Paris it is prohibited to build very tall buildings in the centre of the city, as this would spoil the overall appearance of the skyline. Other cities have chosen to design unique buildings to ensure they look different. The twin towers in Kuala Lumpur or the Opera House in Sydney are examples of this approach, and I agree with this kind of initiative. All in all, although it is regrettable that modern cities look similar, I tend to feel that this is unavoidable. However, it can be argued that, even if the buildings are similar, cities will maintain their own character as a result of cultural diversity, the terrain and the climate, which ultimately determine how people live. LIFESTYLE 110. Some people enjoy change, and they look forward to new experiences. Some people like to live in the same house, have the same job and habits all their lives. However, others aspire to changes and new experience. Personally, for the several reasons, which I will explain bellow, I prefer the first approach to life. First of all, changes in one's life bring many benefits. One tries new things, gains new knowledge and experience. I think it is great because without changes life becomes boring. I always try to make changes in my life. Moreover, when I feel that my life is boring I do not feel well about it. I feel like I spent those days for nothing. I did not do anything exiting, I learnt nothing interesting and I just waisted my time. Second of all, people need changes. Furthermore, we need obstacles to overcome and reach our goals. I believe that changes make us stronger, more persistent, more self-confident, and more patient. Also, I feel that all people who succeeded in life like changes and new experience because it is impossible to be the best at some field without perfecting the present knowledge and gain new experience. People catch every opportunity to learn more and change their life for the best. From the other side, people who like their lives to stay the same are very permanent. They have the same job all their life, the same habits, the same week-ends and even the same years in years out. I think it is boring. What will they tell their children about their lives? What kind of contribution will they make for the society? I think such people are just afraid of changes. I think curiosity and aspiration to the new experience are two of the main reasons of human evolution. People always wanted to break limits and gain more knowledge and experience. So, people who enjoy change are the engine of human development. (314 words)
111. Some people prefer to eat at food stands or restaurants. Man, through the ages, has undergone any changes from the time when he had to haunt for food to these days when he has to buy it. Some people prefer to buy fresh vegetables, meat and fruits and prepare food at home. However, other people prefer to skip that step with cooking and have dinner at a restaurant. I think that both of these choices have some advantages and disadvantages. Bellow I will give some reasons to support my answer. Personally, I do not like fast food. So, my choice is always between a restaurant and my home. First of all, I would like to say that cooking is a great tradition. It helps people to relax, reflect on some pleasant moments while peeling or cutting the vegetables. It is a means of eliminating one's stress and tension. Second of all, sometimes I do not want to have something too complicated for my dinner. I just want to have light food like a salad and a glass of milk. So, one of the reasons why I like to eat at home is because I can have what I want at this moment. One greater thing about eating at home is that I can sit in front of the TV and watch an interesting program or a movie. Finally, having dinner at home allows a family communicates with each other, be closer and share some good and bad moments that happened earlier that day. Besides, eating at home is a great way to save some money. As for restaurants, I see some positive aspects about eating there too. First of all, I sometimes get tired from peeling, cutting, washing, frying, etc. It does not mean I do it a lot. Sometimes I just use the microwave and a preprocessed food that I bought earlier. I want to have something more delicious than I have in my refrigerator, something that is time-consuming to prepare at home. So, for me it is a good reason to go to a restaurant. There one may meet old friends or just has a great time listening to music and tasting some delicious meats. Also, restaurants are a good place to celebrate something. One does not have to prepare food for all friends who are coming, wash dish, put in order all that mess after the party, etc. In conclusion, I think that it does not important where one has one's dinner. What important is that it must be full and nutritious. 112. Fashion trends are difficult to follow these days and it’s widely believed that they primarily exist just to sell clothes. Some people believe that we shouldn’t follow them and that we should dress in what we like and feel comfortable in. It’s widely believed in today’s materialistic world that the latest innovative fashion trends hold great significance. On the other hand, such trends are believed to be set only in the pursuit of profits for large designer companies. It seems that in recent times, people are now changing their minds in regards to wearing clothes for comfort and as a personal choice. Personally I agree that we should pay more attention to individuality and comfort in the way we dress. Firstly, fashion designs exist as a form of creative artistic expression of the designer. Although this may be true, undoubtedly such designs take away individuality once a trend is set in place. By this I mean that there is nothing unique about wearing what everybody else does. More specifically, if everyone sports the latest colour and design in summer skirts, do we not look the same? Secondly, It is possible that fashion trends can look extremely stylish to the general public. However, it can be argued that the main purpose of wearing clothes is for more functional reasons. This is primarily due to the fact that clothes were traditionally worn to protect people from climatic conditions. For instance, clothes are still worn basically to keep people warm and dry in winter and cool in summer. Finally, fashion certainly gives us a sense of confidence and pride in our appearance. While this is certainly a good point, it also means that following such changeable trends proves to be expensive. For example, purchasing every latest season’s fashion item will of course blow the budget of many young people. In conclusion, there are various arguments to support the dismissal of fashion trends, consisting of not conforming, comfort and price, which I strongly agree with. (290 words)
113. Nowadays, food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved the way people live? The twentieth century has brought with it many advances. With those advances, human lives have changed dramatically. In some ways life is worse, but mostly it is better. Changes in food preparation methods, for example, have improved our lives greatly. The convenience of preparing food today is amazing. Even stoves have gotten too slow for us. Microwave cooking is much easier. We can press a few buttons and a meal is completely cooked in just a short time. People used to spend hours preparing an oven-cooked meal, and now they can use that time for other, better things. Plus, there are all kinds of portable, prepackaged foods we can buy. Heat them in the office microwave, and lunch at work is quick and easy. Food preparation today allows for more variety. With refrigerators and freezers, we can preserve a lot of different foods in our homes. Since technology makes cooking so much faster, people are willing to make several dishes for even a small meal. Parents are more likely to let children be picky, now that they can easily heat them up some prepackaged macaroni and cheese on the side. Needless to say, adults living in the same house may have very different eating habits as well. If they don’t want to cook a lot of different dishes, it’s common now to eat out at restaurants several times a week. Healthful eating is also easier than ever now. When people cook, they use new fat substitutes and cooking sprays to cut fat and calories. This reduces the risk of heart disease and high cholesterol. Additionally, we can buy fruits and vegetable fresh, frozen or canned. They are easy to prepare, so many of us eat more of those nutritious items daily. A hundred years ago, you couldn’t imagine the process of taking some frozen fruit and ice from the freezer, adding some low-fat yogurt from a plastic cup and some juice from a can in the refrigerator, and whipping up a low-fat smoothie in the blender! Our lifestyle is fast, but people still like good food. What new food preparation technology has given us is more choices. Today, we can prepare food that is more convenient, healthier, and of greater variety than ever before in history.
114. Nowadays food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved the way people live? Food is a basic part of life, so it follows that improved methods of food preparation have made our lives better. Nowadays we can prepare meals much faster than we could in the past. We can also enjoy a greater variety of food and eat more healthfully, all because of modern methods of food preparation. Microwave ovens have made it possible to prepare delicious food quickly. People these days rarely have time to shop and prepare meals the old-fashioned way. We live very fast lives. We are busy working, caring for our families travelling, playing sports, and many other things. Because of microwave ovens, we have time to enjoy a good meal with our family and then play soccer, go to a movie, study, or do anything else we want to afterwards. Modern methods of preserving food have made it possible to enjoy a wide variety of food. Because of refrigerators, freezers, canning, and freeze-drying, we can eat fruits and vegetables that come from far away places. We can prepare a meal one day and save the leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer to eat at another time. We can keep different kinds of food in the refrigerator or on the shelf. Its easy to always have food available and to be able to eat completely different meals every day. Healthful eating is easier now than it ever was. Because of modern transportation methods, fresh fruits and vegetables are available all year round. Modern kitchen appliances make it easy to prepare fruits and vegetables fro cooking. Bread machines make it possible to enjoy healthful, home-baked bread whenever we like. We can eat fresh and healthful food everyday because modern methods have made preparation easy. Our lifestyle is fast, but people still like good food. New food preparation methods have given us is more choices. Today we can prepare food that is more convenient healthier, and of greater variety than ever before in history.
Date: 2016-04-22; view: 1257
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