Prefere nces

(colors )

71a. What color

do you like? Why?

I like red. Please

allow me to explain

. In my countr y, red

is associa ted

with lifeand good

luck. For exampl

e, a bride will

wear someth ing red

on her weddin g

day,in the hope

that it will bring

her and her bridegr

oom some

luck in future.

71b. What color

do you like? Why?

If I had to describ

e my favorit e color,

I would choose

yellow. Many artists

arekno wn to use

yellow in their paintin

gs. For exampl e,

Vincen t van Gogh

is famous for the

yellow sunflo wers in

some of his paintin

gs. Many countri

es have yellow intheir

nationa l flags. For

exampl e, South

Africa has a broad

yellow band in their ne

wly design ed flag.

This symbol izes the

energy and warmt

h to be found in

thenati on.

71c. What color

do you like

most? Why?

Yellow is my favorit

e color. First of all, to

me, yellow symbol

izes the sun. What

Imean to say is that

it remind s me of

energy and warmt

h. Second ly,

yellow is abright

color as appose

d to dull colors

like brown and

gray. For instanc

e, browna nd gray

usually make me feel

depress ed. Lastly,

I would like to

mentio n thatyell

ow is a practic al

color. That is to say,

you can wear

yellow with almost

anycol or, and it does

not get dirty

too easily.

72. Do colors have

some symbol ic

meanin g in your

countr y?

Yes, colors certainl

y have a lot of meanin

g in my countr

y. Please allow

me toexpla in.

Firstly, it is signific

ant that the nationa

l flag of my countr

y has a redbac kgroun

d. Red is symbol

ic, for exampl e, of a

vibrant life, which

we believe areone

of the domina nt

charact eristics of the

countr y and its

people. It also signifie

sgood luck, so a

bride would wear

some red on her

weddin g day. In

additio n, Ithink

that yellow has a

specifi c meanin

g to our people.

For exampl e, we

believe that it symbol

izes the energy radiate

d by the sun,

which in turn is the

primar ysourc e of

life. In additio n,

howev er, it also

signifie s the obscen

e, as appose d

toblue in the most

of the wester n

culture s. For exampl

e, here a blue movie

wouldb e called

a yellow movie.

Lastly, I think that

white has a special

meanin g to us.To

be more specifi

c, in times of

sadnes s and mourni

ng, we use white

to express our

feeling s, as appose

d to black in most

of the wester n

culture s.

Prefere nces (shoppi

ng and movies )

73a. Do you

like / enjoy

shoppi ng?

Yes, I love shoppi

ng. Please allow

me to explain .

Firstly, I usually

buy clothes for my

self. I like to go to

the shops and see

what they have to

offer. I browse around

and compar e the

prices before a buy

someth ing. Second

ly, I do the shoppi

ng of all our

househ old needs.

I love to find out

about any new

produc ts on the

market and how

they can possibl

y make my life easier.

73b. Do you like /

enjoy shoppi ng?

No, I hate shoppi

ng. Please allow

me to explain .

Firstly, shoppi ng is

the mostba sic

activity in a capitali

stic society . What

I mean to say is that

someb ody has

aprodu ct which

they would like

you to buy from

them whethe r you

really need it or not.

They lure you

into their shops

and malls by

adverti sing their

goods on TVand

in the newspa pers.

They only tell you

about the positiv

e aspects of

their pr oduct, but

would never mentio

n the disadv antages

. This you have to

find outfor yoursel

f, usually after

you have bought

the produc t.

74a. Do you often

go to the

cinema ?

Yes, I go to the

cinema as often

as possibl e. I

usually go with

some friends towatc

h the latest action

movies or comedi

es. We have a great

time, like for exa

mple when our

favorit e star is

playing a lead role in

the movie.

74b. Do you often

go to the

cinema ?

Yes, I go to the

cinema as often

as possibl e. I

believe that films

are a wonder fulfor

m of art. Please

allow me to explain

. Firstly, in

films there are a

wide range of genr

es rangin g from

comed y and drama,

to horror and

science fiction. For exa

mple, recentl yI

have seen the

drama Titanic , which

has been describ

ed asthe most

expens ive film

ever made. The

extent to which

the produc ers

attende dto the details

of the origina l ship

was astoun ding.

Anothe r exampl

e would be

thethril ler with

my favorit e actor

Anthon y Hopkin

s in the lead role

called Silence of the

lambs. It had me on

the edge of my

seat for most

of the time.

75. Do you often

go to the

theater ?

No. I have never

been to the theater.

Firstly, it is too expens

ive for me. I prefer

togo to the cinema

. Second ly, I

believe that the theater

is boring. What I

mean tosay is that the

actors are on the

same stage the

whole time. I cannot

see howtha t can

be as excitin g as a

good movie.

76. What kinds

of movies do you

like best?

I like comedi es.

First of all, comedi

es are great fun.

What I mean to say

is that Ihave a good

laugh while watchi

ng. Second ly,

comedi es seldom

contain violent scenes.

For instanc e, you

would not easily

find murder s,

shootin g, fightin

g, andso on in a

comed y. Lastly,

comedi es often

contain excelle nt

acting by famous

stars. For exampl

e, Robbie Willia

ms in Mrs. Doubtf

ire is consid ered

one of themos t

extraor dinary perfor

mances ever by

an actor.

77. Who is your

favorit e movie

star? Descri

be him / her.

My favorit e

movie star is Jackie

Cheng. He is handso

me, and very

funny. Healw ays has

a smile on his face,

and never seems

to be worrie d about

thesitu ations that he

finds himself in. The

U.S. Preside nt

Clinton went to watch

oneof his movies

with him.

MUSI C

78. Do you think

music is

import ant?

Yes, I like music

very much. That is

to say, I cannot

imagin e what my life

wouldb e like withou

t music. Firstly,

I believe music

plays an import

ant part in people

slives. For exampl

e, we can use it to

sooth our minds

after a hard day at

work, or it can

provid e us with

the rhythm to

dance to.

79. What kind of

music do you

enjoy most?

I like pop music

very much. Allow

me to explain . First

of all, pop music

is lively,a nd

suits me at my

age. What I mean

to say is that us

youngs ters like to

listen tomusi c that

fits in with the

way we feel Second

ly, usually has a

good rhythm .

For ins tance, it is

suitabl e for us to

dance on. Lastly,

pop music is

simple tounde rstand.

That is to say, I like it

becaus e it is not

difficul t to underst

and, and ithelps

me to relax after I

have been studyin

g hard for

some time.

80. How long

do you listen to

music everyd ay?

Oh, let me think a

bit. I guess I listen

to music for

about half an hour

every day. Iwould

, for exampl e,

listen when I get

home from school,

or in the evenin

gs beforeI go to

bed. On weeke

nds, howev er, I

listen to music

much more. For

exampl e, Iwould

invite my best

friend over to my

place, and we would

listen to our favorit

eCDs for a few

hours at a time.

TRAV ELING

81. Do you like

traveli ng?

Yes, I like traveli

ng. Firstly, I

believe that traveli

ng is always educati

onal. What Imean

to say is that the

people that you

meet along the

way are usually

interest ing. Second

ly, I wish I were

able to travel more.

For exampl e, I

have nottrav eled to

a foreign

countr y yet.

82. How do you

usually travel?

I like to travel

by train. Allow

me to explain .

Firstly, when I travel

by train I amable

to see more of my

countr y. In additio

n, the trains in my

countr y arecon

venient and comfor

table. For exampl

e, I can travel to any

city, and I am

ableto sleep on the

train. Lastly, traveli

ng on a train is a social

event as well.

For exa mple, one

can chat to the

other passen gers

about where they

are going, andwh

y they are

traveli ng.

83. Where have

you travele

d lately?

I travele d to

xxx last month.

My parents and I

travele d there by

train. We went

tosee my grand

mother who has

been ill lately. I

enjoye d the trip as

I have not beento

xxx before. We did

not have the

opport unity to

sleep on the train,

as it take