1.

The main environmental problem of our time

is the loss of particular species of plants and
animals or there are more
Some people have recently said that the reducing number of some organisms on
the planet is the primary environmental issue that humans are facing whilst others argue
that we have to pay attention to many other crucial problems as well. In my opinion,
concerns about environments in this era are not limited to the gradual extinction of
species.

On the one hand, there are various reasons why some individuals consider the
remarkable decline in the existence of plants and animals more worth-noticing. First of
all, the flora and fauna system plays an indispensable role in balancing the ecosystem,
which means any loss of a species can adversely affect the environment. This leads to
various negative consequences that people have to suffer from. Furthermore, the wildlife
and trees are also sources of food to nourish people. It is admittedly true that we cannot
survive without certain species of plants and animals to consume as well as to maintain
our well-being. Therefore, the fact that some kinds of them are becoming extinct would
directly threaten the survival of us-human beings.
Environmental issues, on
the other hand, consist of
more causal elements than
the aforementioned one.
We are living in the era
when the advances of
technology and the
development of
industrialization have
contributed a great deal to
the atmosphere and water
pollution. To be more specific, the untreated waste from factories or the manufacturing
process of some particular products are released into the river and the air. In that way,
human’s health can seriously deteriorate if they drink polluted water or breathe in the
contaminated atmosphere. Moreover, compared to the extinction of some species, the
damage people do on forests
is equally noticeable. It is
undeniable that forests are
integral in human's life as
they prevent floods, provide
us with food, and balance
the quality of the
atmosphere to maintain our
respiratory system. Letting
deforestation continuously happen is similar to driving humans to the verge of death, so
we need thorough consideration on this issue to come up with some solutions for
afforestation in the future.
In conclusion, although the statement that the disappearance of some species in
the world is the most important problem humans should focus on is valid to a certain
extent, I strongly believe that there are still various other environmental issues that we
need to give some thoughts to guarantee the co-existence of human and nature.

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2. It is best to accept a bad situation or to try and
improve such situations

Many people have stated that the most optimal solution to difficulty is to accept
and live with it whereas opponents argue that we need to make an effort to overcome the
obstacles and try to enhance the unfavorable circumstances. Whilst the former is valid to
a certain extent, I personally agree with the latter.
To begin with, there are a variety of reasons why the proponents suggest the idea
of embracing the difficult situations. The first one is that this attitude towards life can
ensure the felicity for humans in almost every situation. As humans' capability is
limited, they cannot foresee or change what will and have happened to them. They are
forced to deal with all unfortunate circumstances even though they are exhausted
fighting against their fate. Nevertheless, the acceptance of bad situations is rather
essential in preventing them from negative emotions, and making sure that they can still
be content when facing tragedy. In addition, from time to time, people compromise in
unfavorable situations to avoid intense competitions with others. When people would
like to change the course of their life, they have to enormously endeavor to accomplish
success, including competing with those who want the same thing. Such competitions
may entail hostile attitudes towards each other or cause unresolved conflicts which
could worsen a person’s life.

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 On the other hand, struggling with adversity to gain a better life is part of a
human's instinct. We always have a thirst to achieve a prosperous life full of happiness,
and somehow we are willing to take any cost to obtain our desire. In my opinion, in
various cases, this belief acts like a motivation that encourages everyone, especially the
underprivileged, to stand up for themselves to get over adversarial situations.
Furthermore, the willingness to improve difficult circumstances also has meanings to the
development of a country. If people in a community believe that they are supposed to
fight for themselves to have a better life, they will devote themselves to working in order
to be financially stable. As a result, the economy of that country will grow, and their
living standards will be enhanced significantly. This viewpoint could bring considerable
benefits to a particular nation, making it more thriving, which is the main reason why I
entirely support it.
In conclusion, although it is true
in certain circumstances that
people should accept their
adversity, I am more inclined to
the idea that they had better try
to fight against it for the sake of
both themselves and their
community.

3. Music is a good way of bringing people of

different cultures and ages together. Agree or
disagree?
It is believed that musical products are
among the efficient tools for people different
from one another in terms of ages and
cultural backgrounds to unite. From my
perspective, I totally agree with this
statement for the following explanations.

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 To begin with, we cannot deny that music apparently shows many aspects of the
culture where it originates. To be more specific, foreigners who take part in musical
experiences of the country they visit are likely to have a more comprehensive perception
of the cultural identities, customs, and tradition in that nation. This can be explained by
the fact that music is considered an effective method for ancient people to preserve their
cultural values and pass them out through generations. Thanks to these experiences,
people could gain a better knowledge of other different communities, reducing the
conflicts and misunderstandings caused by differences related to cultures so that they
may live in harmony with each other.

In addition, music also plays a crucial role in minimizing the generation gap,
which is one of the concerns among families in modern societies. For example, the
elderly tend to prefer traditional or classical music to memorize the old times, however,
sometimes some of them desire to alter their conventional life to have some new
experiences which are usually supposed to be for the youth. In that case, I suppose
music of the young generation, including pop, hiphop, or rock, would stand out to be
the ideal way for them to start their new journey. When old people expose themselves to
the musical flow of new and modern genres, they can gain the energy and spirit of young
people, who could be their children or grandchildren. In that way, the differences in
mindset, viewpoints, and beliefs among generations may pale in comparison with the

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shared enjoyment music provides for anybody. Similarly, the youth can also try to get to
know the senior citizens in the same way.
In conclusion, it is obviously reasonable for people coming from distinct cultures
and those at different ages to make use of music as a way to get along with each other.

4. Many people choose to be self-employed,

rather than to work for a company. Why?
Disadvantages?
Recently, there has been an increasingly popular tendency that many people have
decided to start up their own business instead of seeking for a job offered from other
companies. This essay will discuss the underlying reasons leading to this phenomenon as
well as the associated drawbacks.
First of all, in the era of modernization,
more and more people possess a stable
financial condition which supports
them greatly when starting a business.
Nowadays, they can rely on their family
business foundation, family assets, or
make an enormous effort to earn money
in order to afford the establishment of
their own business, which could be
accomplished thanks to the
development of human societies today. Furthermore, people these days have various
opportunities to access knowledge of start-up and to comprehend many other
conceptions in economic and financial areas. Thanks to the availability of information
sources and courses, they can learn how to be an entrepreneur all by themselves. Then, if
they have passion or aptitude in doing business, they may intentionally pursue
self-employment as a livelihood with a desire to become well-off someday.
Starting up an enterprise, however, may cause some adversarial consequences that
individuals should consider before making the decision. The first one to mention is that
there is a good chance people may incur an amount of liability during their business

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operation. Many surveys have pointed out the percentage of start-up failure or
bankruptcy has been remarkably high, especially in the economic crisis after COVID-19
pandemic. Based on this, the possibility of self-employed people succeeding in their
business is rather trivial, and they may have to pay for a massive debt in case they fail.
Moreover, from a societal perspective, being self-employed can be considered as a cause
of unemployment. It is valid to a certain extent that having a job in a prestigious
organization can guarantee the sustainability of a person's livelihood, and the
employment rate of the society. In contrast, self-employment involves a great deal of
risks that people have to deal with, among which is being jobless when their enterprises
collapse, causing many burdens for society and governments.

In conclusion, there are some plausible explanations for the growing number of
self-employed workers currently. Nevertheless, people also need to take into account
some potential downsides of this trend.

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5. People are surrounded by advertising. This
affects what people think is important and has a
negative impact on people's lives. Agree?
Many people have recently stated that the frequent appearance of advertising
products has manipulated humans' perception of values of things, thus causing various
adverse effects on life. In my opinion, while this is valid to a certain extent, I am totally
opposed to the idea as advertisement brings us more good than harm.

To begin with, proponents of this statement believe that some organizations take
advantage of advertisements to change the actual quality of their products in audiences'
minds, then encourage them to spend money on worthless purchases. This might be
true in some cases because the availability and advances of technology and social media
nowadays have made promotion far more straightforward than ever before. Some
businesses may make use of this to conceal the weaknesses of their products and use
tricks to deceive their potential customers. More noticeably, promotion campaigns can
also gradually alter people's mindset to get them to buy the products eventually. For

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example, people who have already accepted their weight might become extremely
obsessed with the advertisement indicating that they are overweight and need to pay for
their medicine to lose weight. This type of manipulation can have a detrimental impact
on people's conceptions of life.

In contrast, I still support the idea that advertisement seems to play an integral
role in the era of modernization and industrialization. First, promotion can bring
companies an enormous amount of profit, directly contributing to the economic
development of many countries. As people these days expose themselves to means of
mass media so often, enterprises that can digitize their businesses can accomplish a great
deal of income, which would be included in ‘Gross Domestic Product’ of the nation
they are based in. In addition, advertisement programmes can also provide customers
with more information related to the goods they intend to buy, assisting them in making
a wiser decision and avoiding wasting money on the wrong purchases.

To sum up, although people may assume that promotion nowadays has various
drawbacks and may change people's awareness of some values, I hold the belief that
advertisement in fact brings both individuals and the whole community a wide range of
benefits.

6. People decide to have children at a later age

than in the past. Why? Advantages outweigh
disadvantages?
People in some nations are more likely to postpone having children while they are
still young. This tendency has a number of compelling reasons, and I personally think
that the benefits of it will dominate the downsides.

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 The first explanation to mention is that women nowadays have become more and
more financially independent, which encourages them to continue pursuing their career
rather than giving birth. To be more specific, in some parts of the world, there has been a
prejudice that women have to sacrifice their own job to build up the family, particularly
to look after their babies. Now that many women have already succeeded in their career
path, they will desire to rescue themselves from deep-rooted beliefs or outdated
traditional notions to concentrate attentively on their jobs. In addition, raising children

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in modern societies may involve a wide range of responsibilities that young people may
not be willing to take. With the increasing development of societies, earning money to
take care of a nuclear family is becoming difficult due to the fact that the working
environment is more competitive, prices of necessary products are climbing, and
expenditure related to tuition fee or school activities for children is steadily escalating.

On the one hand, this

trend definitely causes
some difficulties for
countries around the
world. Delaying giving
birth may gradually put
the communities under
the pressure of old-aging
population in the near
future. This situation will
give rise to the shortage of labor force, then inhibit the growth of the economy, which
can affect the living standard of the inhabitants in this country. However, I still strongly
believe that if the governments come up with some solutions to put the situation under
control, it will turn out to be a positive tendency. As it facilitates the personal life of each
citizen, giving them chances to experience various aspects of life before settling down for
kids. More importantly, it gives people precious time to accumulate money used for
future intentions, which is rather rational than giving birth to a child without any
financial foundation.

In conclusion, the fact that people intend to give birth at their later ages clearly
has some potential reasons. And despite some aforementioned demerits, I am inclined to
the statement that the detrimental impacts of late childbearing may pale in comparison
with its positive ones.

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