☆★Let's Enjoy English☆★

I was really shocked when I saw some e-mails which I sent to Ryo while I was in L.A. I hardly used grammar properly but I said to him that my grammar level was high. How come!! Well, now, I make up my mind to practice my English again, and swear by the gods and buddhas to do my best. Well, if I write down so long at the first day, I do not think I can keep my diary. Get going!

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Some people claim that television has destroyed communication among friends and family. But personally, I disagree. Television has given lots of advantages for us. TV rather gives us the current important topics to be discussed. TV plays a significant role on establishing a good relationship. TV makes us have a rich stock of topics for conversation.

First of all, we all recieve a clear advantage of keeping informed the current affairs by watching TV. Before the advent of TV, it is not easy for us to understand what is happening in the nathin, much less in the world. But TV gives us much information and sometimes they give us documentary based on important thing occuring recently. By wathing it, we have quite a few oppotunities to have topics and things to be discussed. It absolutely has made our communication more lively and vigorous.

Second, wathing TV often creates the atmosphere peaceful or calm down. For instance, they broadcast many music programs. My family always look forward to watching a music program which broadcast on Friday night. It does a feature of televising famous music from 50s to 90s which all members of my family can enjoy. We al

Thrid, TV enable us to have a rich stock of topics for conversation. Sometimes my professor assigns us to see TV program

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Do you agree or disagree with the following ?
Face-to-face communication is better than other types of communication, such as letters, e-mail, or telephone calls.

I agree that face-to-face communication is better than other types of communication, such as letters, e-mail, or telephone calls. Of course, there are some adbantages to each method of communication, but I believe that there are much more advantages ...

The clearest advantage of face to face communication is that we can avoid misunderstandings. I have personally experienced this: I often use e-mails to get in touch with my friends who live in other countries. To communicate with each other, we use English not our native language. Our language competence have not reached to native levels. So we sometimes invite misunderstanding because we just see letters which do not perfectly convey our personal feelings precisely due to our lack of language competence. Through this situation, I understand it without face expression or gestures, we can not express our genuine feelings.

Beyond that, face-to-face communication is far from some technical troubles.

Finally,

In summary, the goal of communication is to ecpress your thoughts effectively to your audience. Therefore, I believe that face-to-face communication is better than any other method overall. WHile technology has made communication faster and more complex, I do not think that it has improved on the original face-to-face method.

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Some students prefer to study alone. Others prefer to study with a gruop of students. Which do you prefer?

Some students prefer to study alone because they can concenrate on their study without being disturbing by others. But personally, I think it more important for students to have as wide variety of ideas as possible in attending a group of studens. Therefore, I prefer to study with a group of students.

Of course, there are advantages in studying alone. Studying needs certain amount of concentration. But I find more advantages in studying in large group. One specific reason is that we are able to get more innovative or new ideas that we have never come up with than when we study alone. Another reason is that we can acquire the critic sense of mind when we study with more students.

First, when we study with many students, we can deepen our subjects. For instance, I am a university student in Japan, and we have always been given many assignments on various subject. When we are study with many students, each student from different major brings several ideas from his or her standpoint. It helps me a lot to widen our perspective.

Beyond that, we need to foster the sense of critic mind when we study. Where I live, in Japan, we always be given lectures by professars in university and have few oppotunities to express our own ideas. So students tend to have no ideas on various subject, which is a big educational problem these days. But when they discuss with lots of students, it provides them with the good oppotunities to show their opinions and would be good practice.

My primary considerations with respect to /// are whether we can have a // and...
Therefore, I prefer to ...

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You have enough money to purchase either a house or a business. Which would you choose to buy?

Some people may buy their own house when they have enough money. But personally, I would like to buy a business, which can provide me with more chances to enjoy my life; the chance to make more money, to travel around the worlod. and to make my family happy.Therefore, I prefer to purchase a business if I have enough money.

Expanding business is a chance to make more money.

If I have enough money, I would have a chance to travel around the world. The world is getting closer and I would like to expand business in the world. If we have branches in other countries or make a contact with them, I might have to go to other countries for conferences or meet clients. One way ot another, a business would give me the chance to travel.

I have always to buy my own house. But business makes it possible Although it might not happen right away, after a few years in the business, I am sure I would have wnough money. Then I would have both a business and a house. It will my family much happier than just buying a house immediately missing the chance to get both possibilities.

A house is just one thing, but a business is so much more. A good business would give me the oppotunity ot buy a house, and help me parents. Buying a business is an investment for the future.


ビジネスはチャンスを広げる、家も買える、
仕事が増える、生活が楽になる、リスクもあるが、それも拡大によって緩和、
もっと多くの人に出会える、家族こそを養うため（家は入れ物である）

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Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
With the help of technology. students nowadays can learn more information and learn it more quickly.

Certainly new technology have changed our way of learning in the industrialized world. Where I live, in Japan, the Internet and other form of information technology gain in popularity daily. But despite this growing interest in com@puter tecvhnology, reading books is still very popular. Personally, I believe that technological advance has not necessarily meant that studefnts nowadays can learn more information and learn it more quickly.

My primary reasons is that books have important qualities that are seperate from the content of the words in them. For example, seeing the words of a chapter in the tale of genji on a computer screen may allow a student to rtead them. But if that student sees the same chapter handwritten on a scroll, the textures of the paper and ink will be part of the image.

Another reason is that computers are not yet as accessible to many students as books are. One example of this is that even in Japan where people love technology, it is difficult and expensive for students to keep an Internet connection open for a long time. Also, there are countries in which the electrical and telephone systems in rural areas would not allow students even to use computers. Sutdents in those countries need traditional books to meet their information needs.

My primary considerations with respect to how well students can learn from sources of infomation are their accessibility to a wide variety of students and the kinds of information they provide. Therefore, I believe that while technologically media provide facts more quickly, they do not actually help students to learn more or to learn more rapidly.

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Which do you prefer to live in a traditional house or in a modern apartment building?

I am most satisfied when I am in an environment that seems to have its own identity and history. Therefore, if given the choice, I would prefer to live in a traditional house.

What I appreciate the most about traditional houses is the individuality of materials used to build them. For example, I grew up in a traditional house in which the wood used for beams had been shaped by hand. This gave the walls and ceilings of each room their own character.

By contrast, I dislike the impersonal sameness of modern apartments. One illustration of this is the way all the apartments in a modern building tend to have the same layout and bland colors. The concrete and artificial surfaces used also make such buildings feel like hotels rather than houses. Even when families furnish such apartments with very old famiy possessions, the rooms feel cold and uncomfortable to me.

Therefore, I prefer to live in a traditional house, While modern apartments may suit some people, I appreciate the individual character of a house with its own history.

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Some people prefer to plan activities for their free time very carefully. Others choose not to make any plans at all for their free time. Compare the benefits of planning free-time activities with the benefits of not making plans. Which do you prefer?

Some people prefer not to make any plans at all for their free time because they can make their plans according to their moods that way. But personally, I think that it is more important for me to be able to do as many fun things in my free time as possible. Therefore, I prefer planning activities for my leisure time very carefully.

Of course, there are advantages of not making plans for your free time. For instance, if you think of something interesting to do in the middle of a day off, you can do it without having to cancel other plans. Also, it can sometimes simply feel more relaxing not to have a fixed schedule. But I find more advantages in planning my leisure time carefully. One specific advantage is that I can buy tickets ahead of time for concerts and museum exhibits. Another advantage is that I do not feel as if I am wasting any of my rare time off from work.

First, planning my leisure time allows me to go to concerts and museum exhibits. For example, I saw the Katushika exhibit at Tokyo national museum when I was living in Tokyo a few years ago. Because I decided in advance that I wanted to go there, I was able to buy a ticket for the day on which I most wanted to go before tickets sold out. Futhermore, planning ahead allowed me to invite a friend to join me. I enjoyed seeing the exhibit with her more than I would have alone.

Beyond that, planning my leisure time allows me not to waste a minute of leisure. Specifically, I now work a part-time job and am a full-time student, so I only have one dependable afternoon of leisure per week. If I plan ahead, I can play tennis, meet friends for coffee, and write a letter to my parents on the same day. Furthermore, my hobby is putting together models of antique cars, which takes a lot of time. But because I set aside a specific time to work on them every week, I have finished two models in the last month.

Therefore, I prefer to plan my leisure time carefully in advance. As I see it, my leisure time is very limited. I do not want to waste even part of it.

according to their moods: 気が向くままに
in the middle of a day off: 休日の最中に
a fixed schedule
dependable afternoon of leisure:当てにできる余暇の午後
put together：集める
set aside a day to〜：とっておく

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There is no benefit in keeping animals in zoos.
Do you agree? or disagree?

I am in total agreement in the idea that there is no benefit in keeoing animals in zoos. The benefit that zoos can entertain visitors ranging from children to eldery people is no longer valid. We should be aware that extinction of species and loss of ecosystem have reached crisis levels.

The animals in zoos are, in other words, in prison. It is no less a punishment to animals than to humans. Different from their natural environment, they are in captivity. Birds can not fly as fas as they want to. Polar bears, which naturally live in extremely cold temperature, live in unsuitable climate provided for them. They do nothing for hours except swim back and forth. They hit heads on the walls because they live such a narrow space. I have heard some animals had gone mad in zoos in the newspaper. The animals in zoos are as unhealthy and unhappy as an animal without disease or injury can possibly be.

The animals in zoos would lose their innate habits. They can not help but apply to the environment. Lions are examples of them. They usually capture other animals to sustain their life. But in the zoos, they are given other animals' meats and they would forget their instinct knowledge and ways of life. Adult animals can not pass down their knowledge to their children. It breaks their natural habits.
(Continue...)

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Some people even insist that any cigarette smoking be stopped by making it illegal. Do you consider such a law to be good or bad?

Some people think whether they smoke or not is a personal right unless they break the rules. In this society, however, I think people are getting selfish and more and more people have been breaking the rules. I regard a law that prohibits people from smoking as good suggestion. I support this idea for following reasons; People can improve their health, we can protect people near smokers, we can keep an environment clean.

By making smoking illegal, we can decrease the number of people who are suffered from diseases caused by smoking habits. Every year, dieseases such as lung cancer deprive people of their lives, and it is said to be caused by smoking habits. In my university, there have been inceasing numbers of students who smokes. I think it is dangerous to them to start smoking because smoking are said to be addictive once they have begun to smoked. Health are inevitably ruined by smoking.

By making smoking illegal,we can protect people who are near smokers. Secondhand smoke is proved that it can have bad effect on them. For example, in my company, most of my senior smoke near me. For me, like their junior, I can not tell them not to smoke. If smoking became illegal, I can protect my health by this law.

By making smoking illegal. we can keep an environment clean. Nowadays, people throw their cigarette out on the road, the drain. It makes the road dirty. It contaminate a river and as a result people will be affected. If we make smoking illegal, we will be free from these problems.

Thus, I would like to support this idea that....

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