| Click here to visit DATA's Language Arts (Reading) program Downtown Academy in Fort Lauderdale The Albatross says, "Hey, you look like a smart bird. Fly over to DATA"......... E-mail: talkinternational@yahoo.com See the rest of Mr. Mac's web site (Teachers to Teachers.com) Make a free web page on geocities.com: Go to stevemccrea.com then look for the link. www.godaddy.com $10 per year to own your own domain name. hoax/rumor sites: http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/ http://www.netscalped.com/ Are you prepared to check up on rumors? http://www.cdc.gov/hoax_rumors.htm http://www.urbanlegends.com/ http://snopes.com/ MORE TIPS FOR STUDENTS "Five Tips" |
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| Parents and students are invited to "go farther"... Tell your child, "There is more in you." When the student says, "I finished my homework"...the adult can say, "go to one of Mr. Mac's web sites..." Students can visit www.middleschoolhub.org and receive extra credit for completing the worksheets on these pages. Just print out the page and bring the page into school to show Mr. Mac www.highschoolhub.org www.number2.com www.quia.com BRAVO LIST Woody 11.09.04 (Student who went farther) PARENTS AND GUARDIANS: If you receive a message from Mr. Mac saying, YOUR CHILD DID NOT DO WELL TODAY IN CLASS, then please scroll down and select an essay topic below. Your child needs to write a 200-word (one side of one page) essay -- the parent can choose the topic (and make the essay 300 words or longer) or select a topic from the choices below. Mr. Mac is serious -- every day in class is a chance to earn credit toward the goal. There are 9 weeks, with 5 readings each week, a total of 45 points for class. If you are not receiving an email message from Mr. Mac at least once a week, then your message is bouncing or you have not signed up with Mr. Mac. My cell-phone's email is s2314@tmail.com and my regular email is smccrea@downtownacademy.org I look forward to hearing from you. Mr. Mac 954 646 8246 cell available every evening, even weekends until 11 pm ... If I don't answer, leave a message stating when I can return your call. |
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| Weeks 10 to 18 Classwork for DATA students Here's a Project for EXTRA CREDIT BRAVO GRADING CRITERIA 9 weeks 5 points each week 45 points for class. 10 points for HOME Reading Journal 10 points for the BOOK REPORTS (One for October, one for November) 35 points for Odyssey/Tests ===================== 100 points total The Home Reading Journal is easy to maintain: 30 minutes of reading each night, two sentences of summary notes. That's EVERY NIGHT. I expect to see 30 notes from Nov. 1 to 30 when I look at the Home Journal in class during the first week of December. Call with questions at 954 646 8246. |
| Welcome to Mr. Mac's web site for READING ... If you want information about the Data Reading Program, click HERE (****Mr. Mac's web site about "how to go farther"****) EXTRA CREDIT >>> Go HERE and Write about a TOPIC Look below for a list of topics What should every student know? how to type with ten fingers / how to burn a CD / how to skim, scan and read carefully / how to write quickly / how to use EXCEL / how to search for information on the internet / how to speak on the telephone / how to sit still and complete a worksheet / how to back up a hard drive / how to give directions to an international visitor / how to speak parts of four languages / how to study for the SAT / how to ask for information politely |
| Dear Students and Parents at DATA School Please remember: A student gets extra credit by writing a composition. Any of the following topics is a good start. At least five paragraphs, please... If the student doesn't want to do the writing, the adult can write while the student speaks. 1. Compare two cities (example: Miami and New York). 2. If I give you a ticket to go anywhere in the world, where would you go for one week? (This magic ticket includes a hotel for 6 nights...anywhere). Use your imagination and write with specific examples about what you would do. 3. Compare two animals -- What is similar and what is different about __________ and ___________. (a bear and a tiger) Here are the basic steps you should follow: 1. Define your problem or question 2. Decide what sources of information you can use (make a list) 3. Locate your sources 4. Start reading, printing, taking notes 5. Organize all the data you have and write your paper or complete your assignment -- From: http://www.ri.net/schools/ East_Greenwich/research.html From a teacher's web site a) Write a sequence essay about Crayola Crayons. Outline each stage of this company's history. b) Write a description essay about the problems confronting the Rain Forest. Also describe what one can do to help preserve the Rain Forest. c) Explore some of the links at this site, Volume Two: Our Oregon Trail Series. Then write an evaluation essay evaluating the importance of this event. d) Choose a movie, video or TV show that you want to see, then go see it or watch it. Then read the book that the movie, video or TV show was based on. Next write a combination compare and contrast / choice essay. Compare the movie to the book. Describe how they are the same and how they are different. Then choose. In your opinion which medium was better and why was it better. http://students.resa.net/stoutcomputerclass/2la.htm More Topics... Do you need more topics? Write to Mr. Mac and he'll send you more ideas....or scroll down.... talkinternational@yahoo.com or smccrea@downtownacademy.org An interesting article... Why Heather Can Write Not everything kids learn from popular culture is bad for them: Some of the best writing instruction takes place outside the classroom in online communities. By Henry Jenkins Digital Renaissance February 6, 2004 When she was 13, Heather Lawver read a book that changed her life: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Inspired by reports that J. K. Rowling's novel was getting kids to read, she wanted to do her part to promote literacy. Less than a year later, she launched The Daily Prophet, a Web-based "school newspaper" for the fictional Hogwarts. Today, the publication has a staff of 102 children from all over the world. Lawver, still in her teens, is its managing editor. She hires columnists who cover their own beats on a weekly basis-everything from the latest Quiddich matches to Muggle cuisine-and edits each story. She encourages her staff to closely compare their original submissions with the edited versions and consults with them on issues of style and grammar as needed. Heather, by the way, is a home schooler who hasn't set foot in a classroom since first grade. My last two columns have centered on what parents and schools can do to help kids develop media literacy. This month, I will reverse directions and examine how participating in popular culture may help kids to master traditional literacy skills. We often act as if schools had a monopoly on teaching, yet smart kids have long known not to let schooling get in the way of their education. Teachers sometimes complain that popular culture competes for the attention of their students, a claim that starts from the assumption that what kids learn from media is less valuable than what schools teach. Here, however, much of what is being mastered are things that schools try-and too often fail-to teach their students. (It has been said that if schools taught sex education the same way they taught writing, the human race would die out in a generation.) I will focus on high school aged kids who are reading, writing, editing, and critiquing Harry Potter fan fiction online. But keep in mind that such informal teaching occurs across a range of other online communities. We could, for example, talk about the important role the Riot Grrl subculture played in the early 1990s in helping teenage girls to develop technical competency at a time when cyberspace was still seen as a predominantly male domain; we could talk about young anime fans who are teaching each other Japanese language and culture in order to do underground subtitling of their favorite shows. University of Wisconsin-Madison education professor James Gee calls such informal learning cultures "affinity spaces," asking why kids learn more, participate more actively, and engage more deeply with popular culture than they do with the contents of their textbooks. As one 16-year-old Harry Potter fan told me, "It's one thing to be discussing the theme of a short story you've never heard of before and couldn't care less about. It's another to be discussing the theme of your friend's 50,000-word opus about Harry and Hermione that they've spent three months writing." I have studied and participated in fan communities, off and on, for more than two decades. Yet much of what I found when I recently turned my attention to Harry Potter fandom took my breath away. Ten years ago, published fan fiction came mostly from women in their twenties, thirties, and beyond. Today, these older writers have been joined by a generation of new contributors-kids who found fan fiction surfing the Internet and decided to see what they could produce. Consider, for example, the girl known online as Flourish. She started reading X-Files fan fiction when she was 10, wrote her first Harry Potter stories at 12, and published her first online novel at 14. She quickly became a mentor for other emerging fan writers, including many who were twice her age or more. Most people assumed she was probably a college student. Interacting online allowed her to keep her age to herself until she had become so central to the fandom that nobody much cared that she was in middle school. What difference will it make, over time, if a growing percentage of young writers begin publishing and getting feedback on their work while they are still in high school? And what happens when those young writers compare notes, becoming critics, editors, and mentors? Will they develop their craft more quickly-and develop a critical vocabulary for thinking about storytelling? FictionAlley, the largest Harry Potter archive, hosts more than 30,000 stories and book chapters, including hundreds of completed or partially completed novels. Its (unpaid) staff of more than 200 people includes 40 mentors who welcome each new participant individually. At the Sugar Quill, another popular site, every posted story undergoes a peer-review process it calls "beta-reading." New writers often go through multiple drafts before their stories are ready for posting. "The beta-reader service has really helped me to get the adverbs out of my writing and get my prepositions in the right place and improve my sentence structure and refine the overall quality of my writing," explains the girl who writes under the pen name Sweeney Agonistes-a college freshman with years of publishing behind her. Like many of the other young writers, Agonistes says that Rowling's books provide her with a helpful creative scaffolding: "It's easier to develop a good sense of plot and characterization and other literary techniques if your reader already knows something of the world where the story takes place," she says. By poaching off Rowling, the writers are able to start with a well-established world and a set of familiar characters and thus are able to focus on other aspects of their craft. Often, unresolved issues in the books stimulate them to think through their own plots or to develop new insights into the characters. Literary purists, of course, might question the wisdom of having kids develop as creative writers in this nontraditional way. But while there is certainly value in writing about one's own experiences, adolescents often have difficulty stepping outside themselves and seeing the world through other people's eyes. Their closeness to Harry and his friends makes it possible to get some critical distance from their own lives and think through their concerns from a new perspective. And writing about Harry offers them something else, too: an audience with a built-in interest in the stories-an interest that would be difficult to match with stories involving original fictional characters. The power of popular culture to command attention is being harnessed at a grassroots level to find a readership for these emerging storytellers. Harry Potter fan fiction yields countless narratives of youth empowerment as characters fight back against the injustices their writers encounter everyday at school. Often, the young writers show a fascination with getting inside the heads of the adult characters. Many of the best stories are told from a teacher's perspective or depict Harry's parents and mentors when they were school aged. Some of the stories are sweetly romantic or bittersweet coming-of-age tales; others are charged with anger or budding sexual feelings, themes that could not be discussed so openly in a school assignment and that might be too embarrassing to address through personal narratives or original characters. As they discuss such stories, teen and adult fans talk openly about their life experiences, offering each other advice on more than just issues of plot or characterization. Having a set of shared characters creates a common ground that enables these conversations to occur in a more collaborative fashion. Through online discussions of fan writing, the teen writers develop a vocabulary for talking about writing and they learn strategies for rewriting and improving their own work. When they talk about the books themselves, the teens make comparisons with other literary works or draw connections with philosophical and theological traditions; they debate gender stereotyping in the female characters; they cite interviews with the writer or read critiques of the works; they use analytic concepts they probably wouldn't encounter until they reached the advanced undergraduate classroom. Not surprisingly, someone who has just published her first online novel and received dozens of comment-filled letters finds it disappointing to return to the classroom where her work will be read only by the teacher-whose feedback may dwell more on comma splices than character development. Some teens have confessed to smuggling drafts of stories to school in their textbooks and editing them during class; others sit around the lunch table talking plot and character issues with their classmates or try to work on the stories on the school computers until the librarians accuse them of wasting time. They can't wait for the school bell to ring so they can focus on their writing. It is not clear that these successes can be duplicated simply by incorporating similar activities into the classroom-though some teachers are using fan fiction exercises to motivate their students. Schools have less flexibility than the fan community does to support writers at very different stages of their development. Moreover, schools impose a fixed leadership hierarchy (including very different roles for adults and teens); it is unlikely that someone like Heather or Flourish would have had the same editorial opportunities that they have found through fandom. Even the most progressive schools set limits on what students can write compared to the freedom they enjoy on their own. Certainly, teens may receive harsh critical responses to their more controversial stories when they publish them online, but the teens themselves are deciding what risks they want to take and facing the consequences of those decisions. The Harry Potter books are not universally welcomed into U.S. schools; they have been at the center of more textbook and library controversies over the past several years than any other book. The teen writers are acutely aware of those censorship struggles and many have decided, not to talk with parents and teachers about what they are writing. What the grown-ups don't know can't hurt them. Some students say teachers have ridiculed them for the time they put into their fan writing; others complain of parents trying to protect them from the "demonic" influence of the books. But some teachers do care enough to read and give feedback on these stories. And there are supportive parents who fly with their sons and daughters to conventions where the young writers speak to rooms full of people about the story-writing craft. These teens don't need adults taking over their spaces-but they do need adults to respect and value what they are trying to do. Many young fan writers aspire to professional writing careers; many are getting accepted into top colleges and pursuing educational goals that stem from their fan experiences. Fandom is providing a rich haven to support the development of bright young minds that might otherwise get chewed up by the system, and offering mentorship to help less gifted students to achieve their full expressive potential. Either way, these teens are finding something online that schools are not providing them. Henry Jenkins is director of the Program in Comparative Media Studies at MIT. http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/04/02/ wo_jenkins020604.asp?p=0 What is Plagiarism? What is Plagiarism and Why is it Important? In college courses, we are continually engaged with other people’s ideas: we read them in texts, hear them in lecture, discuss them in class, and incorporate them into our own writing. As a result, it is very important that we give credit where it is due. Plagiarism is using others’ ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information. How Can Students Avoid Plagiarism? To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you : use another person’s idea, opinion, or theory; use any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings—any pieces of information—that are not common knowledge; use quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words; or paraphrase of another person’s spoken or written words. http://www.indiana.edu/%7Ewts/ pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml More test prep ideas http://www.oocities.org/ CollegePark/1150/boards.html But Mr. Mac, why don't we read books in class? ANSWER: We do. The books are not required in class, they are available in every classroom. You need to read books between 10 and 10:30 am every day. You are asked to read one-page and two-page segments of books. Then you have to answer questions. That will be your life in Reading Class. It is your initiative that will force you to read entire books. (You need to read books to complete the book review progrmects). There are students who want to read entire books and then discuss them. I will give BRAVO to the students who read books. You can see the 1000 books project by clicking HERE. Mr. Mac, what are you looking for? ANSWER: I'm looking for 200 words that say everything that you feel about the subject of the essay. ESSAY is from a French word that means "try" or "attempt." Did you attempt to communicate with me? The reader needs to be moved, to feel the emotion of the book that you reviewed or to know your emotions and your arguments. If you write a good essy, you tell the reader exactly what you are thinking. USE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES. Here's an example.... If you could study a subject that you have never had the opportunity to study, what would you choose? Explain your choice, using specific reasons and details. Mr. Mac's essay (attempt) Ever since September 11, I have been petrified and confused about the information that Arabic speakers receive about my country and my culture. If I had the opprotunity to study Arabic, a subject that I've never studied before, I would be incredibly satisfied. Not happy, but satisfied. There are three reasons for this distinction. First, I have looked at some Arabic words and I conclude that it's a tough language to connect to. In Spanish I can say MANANA. In French, it's DEMAIN. In English it's TOMORROW. But in Arabic it's BUKHRA and the KH is a deep sound in the throat. So I find the subject difficult and I would not be happy to study Arabic. Still, there is magic in that mysterious language of the desert and each night I go to bed thinking, "Maybe I will start studying Arabic bukhra..." Second, I don't have an unlimited supply of time. I am engaged in a lifelong pursuit of beautiful sotries (for example, I recently learned about Bread and Tulips, a delightful tale about an Italian woman who finds love after 18 years of a dutiful marriage). I realize that if I study Arabic intensely, I will be prevented from immersing in the cultures of otehr countries. Third, I will drink from the literature suggested by my Arabic students and students from Iran (they speak Persian, not Arabic). I will be deeply satisfied by understanding better the poetry of the ancient civilizations of the Tigris and Euphrates, but my satisfaction will be tempered by the difficult knowledge that I do not have time to be absorbing in the literature of China and Japan. In short, Arabic would be a fabulous choice for me. I plan to indulge in the educational experience of learning the language and some of the literature. I know that courses in Arabic will not be a completely pleasant experience, so I expect that I will feel discouraged by the difficult grammar -- but, someday, I will awake and say, "Today is BUKHRA. Today I understand Arabic!" Go ahead... try and write an essay... then REWRITE the essay and improve the words. |
| Quotes Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it. --Albert Einstein (1879-1955) In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place. --Gandhi (1869-1948) The will to win is nowhere near as important as the will to prepare to win. --John Wooden *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* +---- TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORY! ----+ In 1922, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, what country became a republic? People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing-that's why we recommend it daily. --Zig Ziglar To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it. -- Bunker Hunt Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. --Helen Keller (1880 - 1968) There is a destiny that makes us brothers: None goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others Comes back into our own. --Edwin Markham Stop thinking in terms of limitations and start thinking in terms of possibilities. --Terry Josephson, 20th/21st-century motivational author Answer: Turkey Brain Research Nancy Snyderman at abc.com Do a google search on "Nancy Snyderman Brain" The Brain Game When Lori and Rich Boulware of Kendall Park, New Jersey, hit the road recently, their navigational radars were tuned in to different frequencies. Rich used a mental map while Lori used landmarks to get around. As the couple tried to get around a tricky area of town, Rich said, "Turn left on Webster," while Lori said, "You have to turn before the ice cream cone." Dr. Helen Fisher, an expert in gender differences, says the Boulwares are not unusual in their navigational skills. "Women go from one object to another. A man will say, go two miles down the road and then head east. That's very different from saying, go down to the shoe store and take a left at the high stone wall." The reasons behind these differences have fueled arguments for generations and continue to do so today. Is it our biology or our culture? Many scientists say it's all in our heads, or, more precisely, in the way men's and women's brains are designed and the way they function. Hunters and Collectors Rob Becker Male brains are wired to move information quickly within each side — or hemisphere — of the brain. This gives them better spatial abilities. They can see an object in space, and react quickly. In women's brains, areas of the cerebral cortex — linked to language, judgment and memory — are more densely packed with nerve cells than men's brains. This allows them to process that information more effectively. Fisher explained that the corpus callosum, which she describes as a "big highway between the two sides of the brain," is larger in women toward the rear than it is in men. "Hence," she said, "the two sides of the brain are better interconnected" in women. This means that women can absorb and analyze all sorts of information from the environment simultaneously. This makes women more adept at multitasking, while men tend to do better tackling one thing at a time. WRITING TOPICS Read these topics. Your child can earn extra credit for writing answers to these questions. These questions are typical of essays that appear in high school. When a child is forced to think in a logical way, one hundred or 200 times, something changes in the brain and the child becomes a young adult. Please assist your child by requiring your child to answer one of these questions each weekend. In three years, you will ahve completed this list. Bravo! If you have questions, contact me at 954 646 8246 up to 11 pm any night. (even weekends)... Reading is fundamental but WRITING and REwriting are the steps toward logical thinking and persuasive arguments. CLICK HERE for Printable list From a web site at ETS for TOEFL (test of English as a Foreign Language) http://ftp.ets.org/pub/toefl/989563wt.pdf People attend college or university for many different reasons (for example, new experiences, career preparation, increased knowledge). Why do you think people attend college or university? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement Parents are the best teachers. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Nowadays, food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved the way people live? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. It has been said, “Not everything that is learned is contained in books.” Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why? A company has announced that it wishes to build a large factory near your community. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this new influence on your community. Do you support or oppose the factory? Explain your position. If you could change one important thing about your hometown, what would you change? Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer. How do movies or television influence people’s behavior? Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television has destroyed communication among friends and family. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Some people prefer to live in a small town. Others prefer to live in a big city. Which place would you prefer to live in? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. “When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success.” Do you agree or disagree with the quotation above? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Universities should give the same amount of money to their students’ sports activities as they give to their university libraries. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Many people visit museums when they travel to new places. Why do you think people visit museums? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some people prefer to eat at food stands or restaurants. Other people prefer to prepare and eat food at home. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some people believe that university students should be required to attend classes. Others believe that going to classes should be optional for students. Which point of view do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer. What are some important qualities of a good supervisor (boss)? Use specific details and examples to explain why these qualities are important. Should governments spend more money on improving roads and highways, or should governments spend more money on improving public transportation (buses, trains, subways)? Why? Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay. It is better for children to grow up in the countryside than in a big city. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to develop your essay. In general, people are living longer now. Discuss the causes of this phenomenon. Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay. We all work or will work in our jobs with many different kinds of people. In your opinion, what are some important characteristics of a co-worker (someone you work closely with)? Use reasons and specific examples to explain why these characteristics are important. In some countries, teenagers have jobs while they are still students. Do you think this is a good idea? Support your opinion by using specific reasons and details. A person you know is planning to move to your town or city. What do you think this person would like and dislike about living in your town or city? Why? Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay. It has recently been announced that a large shopping center may be built in your neighborhood. Do you support or oppose this plan? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. It has recently been announced that a new movie theater may be built in your neighborhood. Do you support or oppose this plan? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should sometimes do things that they do not enjoy doing. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television, newspapers, magazines, and other media pay too much attention to the personal lives of famous people such as public figures and celebrities. Use specific reasons and details to explain your opinion. Some people believe that the Earth is being harmed (damaged) by human activity. Others feel that human activity makes the Earth a better place to live. What is your opinion? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. It has recently been announced that a new high school may be built in your community. Do you support or oppose this plan? Why? Use specific reasons and details in your answer. Some people spend their entire lives in one place. Others move a number of times throughout their lives, looking for a better job, house, community, or even climate. Which do you prefer: staying in one place or moving in search of another place? Use reasons and specific examples to support your opinion. Is it better to enjoy your money when you earn it or is it better to save your money for some time in the future? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. You have received a gift of money. The money is enough to buy either a piece of jewelry you like or tickets to a concert you want to attend. Which would you buy? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. Businesses should hire employees for their entire lives. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Attending a live performance (for example, a play, concert, or sporting event) is more enjoyable than watching the same event on television. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Choose one of the following transportation vehicles and explain why you think it has changed people’s lives. • automobiles • bicycles • airplanes Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree that progress is always good? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the present. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. 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. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. The expression “Never, never give up” means to keep trying and never stop working for your goals. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some people think that human needs for farmland, housing, and industry are more important than saving land for endangered animals. Do you agree or disagree with this point of view? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. What is a very important skill a person should learn in order to be successful in the world today? Choose one skill and use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. Why do you think some people are attracted to dangerous sports or other dangerous activities? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some people like to travel with a companion. Other people prefer to travel alone. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. Some people prefer to get up early in the morning and start the day’s work. Others prefer to get up later in the day and work until late at night. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. What are the important qualities of a good son or daughter? Have these qualities changed or remained the same over time in your culture? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some people prefer to work for a large company. Others prefer to work for a small company. Which would you prefer? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice. People work because they need money to live. What are some other reasons that people work? Discuss one or more of these reasons. Use specific examples and details to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Face-to-face communication is better than other types of communication, such as letters, email, or telephone calls. Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. Some people like to do only what they already do well. Other people prefer to try new things and take risks. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. Some people believe that success in life comes from taking risks or chances. Others believe that success results from careful planning. In your opinion, what does success come from? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. What change would make your hometown more appealing to people your age? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The most important aspect of a job is the money a person earns. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? One should never judge a person by external appearances. Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A person should never make an important decision alone. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. A company is going to give some money either to support the arts or to protect the environment. Which do you think the company should choose? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some movies are serious, designed to make the audience think. Other movies are designed primarily to amuse and entertain. Which type of movie do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Businesses should do anything they can to make a profit. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position. Some people are always in a hurry to go places and get things done. Other people prefer to take their time and live life at a slower pace. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Games are as important for adults as they are for children. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents or other adult relatives should make important decisions for their older (15 to 18 year-old) teenage children. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. What do you want most in a friend — someone who is intelligent, or someone who has a sense of humor, or someone who is reliable? Which one of these characteristics is most important to you? Use reasons and specific examples to explain your choice. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Most experiences in our lives that seemed difficult at the time become valuable lessons for the future. Use reasons and specific examples to support our answer. Some people prefer to work for themselves or own a business. Others prefer to work for an employer. Would you rather be selfemployed, work for someone else, or own a business? Use specific reasons to explain your choice. Should a city try to preserve its old, historic buildings or destroy them and replace them with modern buildings? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Classmates are a more important influence than parents on a child’s success in school. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. If you were an employer, which kind of worker would you prefer to hire: an inexperienced worker at a lower salary or an experienced worker at a higher salary? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. Many teachers assign homework to students every day. Do you think that daily homework is necessary for students? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. If you could study a subject that you have never had the opportunity to study, what would you choose? Explain your choice, using specific reasons and details. Some people think that the automobile has improved modern life. Others think that the automobile has caused serious problems. What is your opinion? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Which would you choose: a high-paying job with long hours that would give you little time with family and friends or a lower-paying job with shorter hours that would give you more time with family and friends? Explain your choice, using specific reasons and details. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Grades (marks) encourage students to learn. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Some people say that computers have made life easier and more convenient. Other people say that computers have made life more complex and stressful. What is your opinion? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The best way to travel is in a group led by a tour guide. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some universities require students to take classes in many subjects. Other universities require students to specialize in one subject. Which is better? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children should begin learning a foreign language as soon as they start school. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Boys and girls should attend separate schools. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Is it more important to be able to work with a group of people on a team or to work independently? Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer. Your city has decided to build a statue or monument to honor a famous person in your country. Who would you choose? Use reasons and specific examples to support your choice. Describe a custom from your country that you would like people from other countries to adopt. Explain your choice, using specific reasons and examples. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Technology has made the world a better place to live. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Advertising can tell you a lot about a country. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Modern technology is creating a single world culture. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Some people say that the Internet provides people with a lot of valuable information. Others think access to so much information creates problems. Which view do you agree with? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. A foreign visitor has only one day to spend in your country. Where should this visitor go on that day? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice. If you could go back to some time and place in the past, when and where would you go? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice. What discovery in the last 100 years has been most beneficial for people in your country? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Telephones and email have made communication between people less personal. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. If you could travel back in time to meet a famous person from history, what person would you like to meet? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. If you could meet a famous entertainer or athlete, who would that be, and why? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. If you could ask a famous person one question, what would you ask? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. Some people prefer to live in places that have the same weather or climate all year long. Others like to live in areas where the weather changes several times a year. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. Many students have to live with roommates while going to school or university. What are some of the important qualities of a good roommate? Use specific reasons and examples to explain why these qualities are important. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Dancing plays an important role in a culture. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some people think governments should spend as much money as possible exploring outer space (for example, traveling to the Moon and to other planets). Other people disagree and think governments should spend this money for our basic needs on Earth. Which of these two opinions do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. People have different ways of escaping the stress and difficulties of modern life. Some read; some exercise; others work in their gardens. What do you think are the best ways of reducing stress? Use specific details and examples in your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Teachers should be paid according to how much their students learn. Give specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. If you were asked to send one thing representing your country to an international exhibition, what would you choose? Why? Use specific reasons and details to explain your choice. You have been told that dormitory rooms at your university must be shared by two students. Would you rather have the university assign a student to share a room with you, or would you rather choose your own roommate? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer. Some people think that governments should spend as much money as possible on developing or buying computer technology. Other people disagree and think that this money should be spent on more basic needs. Which one of these opinions do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. Some people like doing work by hand. Others prefer using machines. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Schools should ask students to evaluate their teachers. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. In your opinion, what is the most important characteristic (for example, honesty, intelligence, a sense of humor) that a person can have to be successful in life? Use specific reasons and examples from your experience to explain your answer. When you write your answer, you are not limited to the examples listed in the question. It is generally agreed that society benefits from the work of its members. Compare the contributions of artists to society with the contributions of scientists to society. Which type of contribution do you think is valued more by your society? Give specific reasons to support your answer. Students at universities often have a choice of places to live. They may choose to live in university dormitories, or they may choose to live in apartments in the community. Compare the advantages of living in university housing with the advantages of living in an apartment in the community. Where would you prefer to live? Give reasons for your preference. You need to travel from your home to a place 40 miles (64 kilometers) away. Compare the different kinds of transportation you could use. Tell which method of travel you would choose. Give specific reasons for your choice. Some people believe that a college or university education should be available to all students. Others believe that higher education should be available only to good students. Discuss these views. Which view do you agree with? Explain why. Some people believe that the best way of learning about life is by listening to the advice of family and friends. Other people believe that the best way of learning about life is through personal experience. Compare the advantages of these two different ways of learning about life. Which do you think is preferable? Use specific examples to support your preference. When people move to another country, some of them decide to follow the customs of the new country. Others prefer to keep their own customs. Compare these two choices. Which one do you prefer? Support your answer with specific details. Some people prefer to spend most of their time alone. Others like to be with friends most of the time. Do you prefer to spend your time alone or with friends? Use specific reasons to support your answer. Some people prefer to spend time with one or two close friends. Others choose to spend time with a large number of friends. Compare the advantages of each choice. Which of these two ways of spending time do you prefer? Use specific reasons to support your answer. Some people think that children should begin their formal education at a very early age and should spend most of their time on school studies. Others believe that young children should spend most of their time playing. Compare these two views. Which view do you agree with? Why? The government has announced that it plans to build a new university. Some people think that your community would be a good place to locate the university. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of establishing a new university in your community. Use specific details in your discussion. Some people think that the family is the most important influence on young adults. Other people think that friends are the most important influence on young adults. Which view do you agree with? Use examples to support your position. 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 — planning or not planning for your leisure time? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your choice. People learn in different ways. Some people learn by doing things; other people learn by reading about things; others learn by listening to people talk about things. Which of these methods of learning is best for you? Use specific examples to support your choice. Some people choose friends who are different from themselves. Others choose friends who are similar to themselves. Compare the advantages of having friends who are different from you with the advantages of having friends who are similar to you. Which kind of friend do you prefer for yourself? Why? Some people enjoy change, and they look forward to new experiences. Others like their lives to stay the same, and they do not change their usual habits. Compare these two approaches to life. Which approach do you prefer? Explain why. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People behave differently when they wear different clothes. Do you agree that different clothes influence the way people behave? Use specific examples to support your answer. Decisions can be made quickly, or they can be made after careful thought. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The decisions that people make quickly are always wrong. Use reasons and specific examples to support your opinion. Some people trust their first impressions about a person’s character because they believe these judgments are generally correct. Other people do not judge a person’s character quickly because they believe first impressions are often wrong. Compare these two attitudes. Which attitude do you agree with? Support your choice with specific examples. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People are never satisfied with what they have; they always want something more or something different. Use specific reasons to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should read only those books that are about real events, real people, and established facts. Use specific reasons and details to support your opinion. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is more important for students to study history and literature than it is for them to study science and mathematics. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? All students should be required to study art and music in secondary school. Use specific reasons to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? There is nothing that young people can teach older people. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Reading fiction (such as novels and short stories) is more enjoyable than watching movies. Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position. Some people say that physical exercise should be a required part of every school day. Other people believe that students should spend the whole school day on academic studies. Which opinion do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. A university plans to develop a new research center in your country. Some people want a center for business research. Other people want a center for research in agriculture (farming). Which of these two kinds of research centers do you recommend for your country? Use specific reasons in your recommendation. Some young children spend a great amount of their time practicing sports. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Only people who earn a lot of money are successful. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. If you could invent something new, what product would you develop? Use specific details to explain why this invention is needed. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A person’s childhood years (the time from birth to twelve years of age) are the most important years of a person’s life. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children should be required to help with household tasks as soon as they are able to do so. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some high schools require all students to wear school uniforms. Other high schools permit students to decide what to wear to school. Which of these two school policies do you think is better? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Playing a game is fun only when you win. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? High schools should allow students to study the courses that students want to study. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is better to be a member of a group than to be the leader of a group. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. What do you consider to be the most important room in a house? Why is this room more important to you than any other room? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Some items (such as clothes or furniture) can be made by hand or by machine. Which do you prefer — items made by hand or items made by machine? Use reasons and specific examples to explain your choice. If you could make one important change in a school that you attended, what change would you make? Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer. A gift (such as a camera, a soccer ball, or an animal) can contribute to a child’s development. What gift would you give to help a child develop? Why? Use reasons and specific examples to support your choice. Some people believe that students should be given one long vacation each year. Others believe that students should have several short vacations throughout the year. Which viewpoint do you agree with? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. Would you prefer to live in a traditional house or in a modern apartment building? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice. Some people say that advertising encourages us to buy things we really do not need. Others say that advertisements tell us about new products that may improve our lives. Which viewpoint do you agree with? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some people prefer to spend their free time outdoors. Other people prefer to spend their leisure time indoors. Would you prefer to be outside or would you prefer to be inside for your leisure activities? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your choice. Your school has received a gift of money. What do you think is the best way for your school to spend this money? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Playing games teaches us about life. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Imagine that you have received some land to use as you wish. How would you use this land? Use specific details to explain your answer. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Watching television is bad for children. Use specific details and examples to support your answer. What is the most important animal in your country? Why is the animal important? Use reasons and specific details to explain your answer. Many parts of the world are losing important natural resources, such as forests, animals, or clean water. Choose one resource that is disappearing and explain why it needs to be saved. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A zoo has no useful purpose. Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer. In some countries, people are no longer allowed to smoke in many public places and office buildings. Do you think this is a good rule or a bad rule? Use specific reasons and details to support your position. Plants can provide food, shelter, clothing, or medicine. What is one kind of plant that is important to you or the people in your country? Use specific reasons and details to explain your choice. You have the opportunity to visit a foreign country for two weeks. Which country would you like to visit? Use specific reasons and details to explain your choice. In the future, students may have the choice of studying at home by using technology such as computers or television or of studying at traditional schools. Which would you prefer? Use reasons and specific details to explain your choice. When famous people such as actors, athletes and rock stars give their opinions, many people listen. Do you think we should pay attention to these opinions? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. The twentieth century saw great change. In your opinion, what is one change that should be remembered about the twentieth century? Use specific reasons and details to explain your choice. When people need to complain about a product or poor service, some prefer to complain in writing and others prefer to complain in person. Which way do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. People remember special gifts or presents that they have received. Why? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Some famous athletes and entertainers earn millions of dollars every year. Do you think these people deserve such high salaries? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. Is the ability to read and write more important today than in the past? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. People do many different things to stay healthy. What do you do for good health? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. You have decided to give several hours of your time each month to improve the community where you live. What is one thing you will do to improve your community? Why? Use specific reasons and details to explain your choice. People recognize a difference between children and adults. What events (experiences or ceremonies) make a person an adult? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer. Your school has enough money to purchase either computers for students or books for the library. Which should your school choose to buy — computers or books? Use specific reasons and examples to support your recommendation. Many students choose to attend schools or universities outside their home countries. Why do some students study abroad? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer. People listen to music for different reasons and at different times. Why is music important to many people? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. Groups or organizations are an important part of some people’s lives. Why are groups or organizations important to people? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer. Imagine that you are preparing for a trip. You plan to be away from your home for a year. In addition to clothing and personal care items, you can take one additional thing. What would you take and why? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice. When students move to a new school, they sometimes face problems. How can schools help these students with their problems? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer. It is sometimes said that borrowing money from a friend can harm or damage the friendship. Do you agree? Why or why not? Use reasons and specific examples to explain your answer. Every generation of people is different in important ways. How is your generation different from your parents’ generation? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer. Some students like classes where teachers lecture (do all of the talking) instead of classes where students do some of the talking. Which type of class do you prefer? Give specific reasons and details to support your choice. Holidays honor people or events. If you could create a new holiday, what person or event would it honor and how would you want people to celebrate it? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. A friend of yours has received some money and plans to use all of it either • to go on vacation • to buy a car Your friend has asked you for advice. Compare your friend’s two choices and explain which one you think your friend should choose. Use specific reasons and details to support your choice. The 21st century has begun. What changes do you think this new century will bring? Use examples and details in your answer. What are some of the qualities of a good parent? Use specific details and examples to explain your answer. Movies are popular all over the world. Explain why movies are so popular. Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer. In your country, is there more need for land to be left in its natural condition or is there more need for land to be developed for housing and industry? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Many people have a close relationship with their pets. These people treat their birds, cats, or other animals as members of their family. In your opinion, are such relationships good? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Films can tell us a lot about the country where they were made. What have you learned about a country from watching its movies? Use specific examples and details to support your response. Some students prefer to study alone. Others prefer to study with a group of students. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. You have enough money to purchase either a house or a business. Which would you choose to buy? Give specific reasons to explain your choice. You can write about any one of these topics... Or choose your own topics... These topics come from a list found on the SAT web site (ets.org) maintained by the collegeboard.com More interesting stuff to read |
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