Agree or disagree

Thesis: As we are living in a technologically advanced world,
Paraphrase: it is easy to share cultures or traditions with other nations. As a result, unique features of a country are being lost.
Overall: I do believe that its downsides are equal in number with the benefits.

To commence with, it is an undeniable fact that having the same wearing styles, eating habits or traditions can lead to the disappearance of a long-term culture belonging to a certain country. To illustrate this, when a new young generation turns into maturity, they may be unaware of their own cultures that other foreigners are also following.

Additionally, if overseas nations start to copy another country’s conventions, it will be considered as a social discrimination against host country’s residents.

Conversely, the great advantage of having similar attitudes or way of life is that it can build a close relationship among world nations. It may be a sign of looking up to because there are many communities who follow the same way of living to have a friendly atmosphere among them. Take the Korean and the Japanese as an example. They have coexisted in harmony by sharing the same lifestyles for centuries. Last but not least, it helps to prevent tourists from experiencing a culture shock when encounter the same culture as theirs.

To be concluded, even though there are a good many of drawbacks stemming from sharing similar lifestyles and cultures, it can bring benefits to both the country itself and its residents.

1. 
   It prevents culture shock
   

The percentage of overweight children in western society has increased by almost twenty percent in the last ten years.

What are the causes and effects?

Thesis:
Nowadays, the majority of world population is suffering from obesity. Especially, it has been reported that this case has become more worrying among European teens. In the forthcoming paragraphs, several reasons why this is occurring will be outlined together with its far-reaching effects.

To commence with, there are some causes lying behind the youth in Europe are putting on more weight than expected. Firstly, children’s addiction to fast-foods is far higher now than in the 2000’s so that they want to accomplish more tasks, like studying or playing video games. It is evident that hormones or chemical substances contained in junk foods are known to contribute to gaining extra weight. What’s more, an increasing number of European children are not following a balanced-diet, which is a direct result of becoming obese. Overweighting has an adverse effect on children’s health, bringing about slow blood circulation and sometimes early death.

Moreover, the next biggest reasons are lack of exercise and sedentary lifestyle. Dealing with regular exercise is a major factor in depriving of unnecessary weight. However, most teenagers prefer to spend their leisure time by engaging in electronic games, not on the playground, which dramatically reduce their movement. Additionally, with the introduction of techies, including gadgets or devices, children have become more dependent on their aid to perform even ordinary tasks. A combination of these factors results in the youth becoming out of shape. As a result, they are facing social discrimination by their fellows. In the worst cases, this could cause them to commit a suicide.

To be concluded, the reasons why obesity problems are on the rise in western communities are various and they exert a devastating impact on young people’s lives. Not solely parents, but also governments should take the responsibility over what children consume and sporting events ought to be set up to decrease the number of obese children.
Lack of exercise

2. 
   Teased by pears
   

It is widely accepted that fame and money have cont

ributed to people becoming popular rather than their feats or good deed, which may have a negative impact on the youth. I agree with the opinion above up to a point.

To commence with, there is some truth in the fact that a good number of super stars gain popularity due to their luxurious lifestyles instead of their outstanding performance or achievement, leading to the formation of ideas among young section of a society about becoming famous by wealth or fancy outlook, not hard-work and determination. To illustrate this, Robert Atkinson is a good example, who has achieved worldwide fame with his strange manner of behavior. His social contribution to the youth is not so great, except the comedies made by him.

Conversely, there can be many actors or actresses who are famous for their incredible acts as well as fabulous attainments. They set a good example to the rest of the world by showing how success can be reached via long years of practice and diligence. For instance, Jackie Chan is the one who is not solely a professional actor, but also talented at martial arts. The magic acts performed by him in movies are not just the work of animation, but the skill gathered over the years.

To be concluded, even though some are in agreement with the view about bad repercussions of famous stars on children, there are still a number of gifted people who have gained popularity by their great accomplishments.

In recent years some countries have experienced very rapid economic development. This has resulted in much higher standards of living in urban areas but not in the countryside. This situation may bring some problems for the country as a whole.

What are the problems?
How might they be reduced?

Nowadays, with the advance of technology, fast economic growth has been recorded in several states. It has brought about the improvement in city dwellers’ living, not villagers’. In the forthcoming paragraphs, a few serious problems will be outlined together with effective long-term solutions.

To commence with, it is an undeniable fact that since standard of living in cities is much higher than that in the countryside, such as employment opportunities or quality education, a large number of rural inhabitants may desire to move to urban areas to enjoy these facilities. As a result, the problems like traffic congestion and overpopulation will be common for those residing in towns while there will be a substantial decline in farm output owing to lack of labor force. An ideal solution would be the creation of job vacancies, pay increments in the suburbs.

Moreover, there is another highly controversial issue that the social gap between urban and rural residents will rise. With an economic growth, as the rich become richer and richer, the poor will be economically disadvantaged. As a consequence, this could lead to a growing number of crimes among villagers so that they will have an equal level of living standards. In order to resolve these issues, all the basic needs, including reputable universities, hospitals, factories and entertainment places should also be built in rural settings for villagers to have the same standards of living as urban dwellers.

To be concluded, although economic development in urban areas has raised many problematic issues, they could be best tackled by governments via the establishment of good infrastructure in suburban areas.

Nowadays, with a boost in world population, an ever-increasing demand for food items has been recorded, which involves the application of chemical substances to increase production rate and keep foods fresh. I do believe that its drawbacks are far more significant.

To commence with, the use of chemicals is closely bonded up with modern farming. However, there has been a noticeable rise in the number of health disorders brought about by the consumption of genetically modified foods. Obesity is a major issue facing the world today because hormones are being used in a great quantity so that agricultural products yield more harvest, which, in turn, has caused people’s growing tendency to be fat. Take the teens in the USA as an example, a recent survey showed that the proportion of overweighting among those under 16 is twice as that in the 1990’s.
Additionally, GMFs have played a major part in the increasing number of people afflicted by cancer as the cells in chemically produced foods are a major factor in triggering this disease.

Furthermore, the damaging effects of chemical foods on the environment cannot be overlooked. The continuous use of fertilizers to kill pests or increase productivity has been proved to have deteriorated soil fertility because the ingredient in pesticides kills not solely harmful insects, but also useful minerals contained in soil. Last but not least, the water added chemical minerals is usually mixed with drinking water, leading to the change of a person’s physical appearance, like hair loss or change in skin color.

To be concluded, foods grown in a chemical way can meet a growing need for foods, but cannot be justified owing to the side-effects mentioned above on health. Governments invest in local farmers to come up with new organic approaches in cultivating farming output.

health disorders

3. 
   addiction to
   
4. 
   modify genetics
   
5. 
   decline in soil fertility by continuous use of chemicals
   
6. 
   

The provided line graph makes a comparison between the number of overseas visitors to the Great Britain and British citizens travelling to foreign countries over two decades from 1979 to 1999 while the proportions of the states which were visited by the British are illustrated in the bar chart.
Overall, the figures for those immigrating into the UK were necessarily much lower than the number of people leaving the United Kingdom, with the most popular destination among the British being France.
To commence with, there was a slight rise in both migration and immigration from 1979 to 1986, with the former constituting 20mln and the latter making up around 12mln. In contrast, the next decade witnessed a noticeable increase in the number of people visiting from the UK, finishing the period at nearly 55mln, which was twice as many visitors to the United Kingdom.
In 1999, about 11 million British residents took a tour to France, which was the most preferred country in that year while Turkey was chosen by only a mere of 3 million British. The next biggest group of British tourists spent their holiday in Spain, comprising just below 10mln while the figures for the remaining countries: the USA and Greece stood at less than 4 million.

The given line graph depicts the data regarding how much watching movies in three ways cost over a period of six years from 2005 to 2011 while the proportion of market value from three forms is compared in the pie charts.

Overall, there were upward trends in the figures for all categories, with cinema ticket being the most expensive whereas most viewers opted for DVD to watch a film.
To commence with, starting at around 9$, the cost of cinema ticket witnessed a gradual increase of well-over 2$ in 2009, finishing the period at 14 dollars. In contrast, legal download experienced a significant fall from 8$ in 2005 to 6$ in 2007 before rising noticeably up 9$ at the end of the period while the price for DVD showed a slight growth of 2$, from 6 dollars at the beginning, to 8 dollars in 2011.
Both 2005 and 2011 saw the popularity of DVD which was chosen by 64% and 56% of audience respectively, in comparison with the remaining categories making up less than a half in both years.

The provided maps make a comparison between 1990 and 2005 when Istanbul resort located by the seaside went through developments in its infrastructure.

Overall, it is immediately apparent that there have been a number of changes in this touristic place, with the most noticeable ones being the cutting of trees and erection of apartments.

To commence with, in 1990, there was no airport to welcome tourists, with the only way of accessing to the resort being a railway station situated in the East. In fifteen years, a new airport was erected beside a river running through the middle of the city. Furthermore, to sail in the sea, a ferry service was launched and a railway line was extended to far west-side of the resort, passing by the sea.

As for the changes in building industry, located in the north-east in 1995, the school, hospital as well as parking area remained unchanged whereas many cottages, along with trees were demolished to make the way for the construction of flats and a supermarket which were situated in the West. Lastly, in 2005, the first factory in that area was built next to a railway.

Today, with the advance of technology making it possible to manufacture to a greater extent than ever before, humans are becoming more and more materialistic, preferring to get rid of appliances out of order rather than have them fixed. In the forthcoming paragraphs, some contributory factors for this situation will be outlined together with its implications.

To commence with, high standard of living lies at the root of the fact that household items are being purchased at an ever-increasing quantity. The affordability to buy the latest gadgets is likely to lead old ones to fall out of favor. Consequently, this will give rise to the formation of a huge stack of garbage, which, in turn, has a devastating impact on ecology. The second biggest reason lying behind unused devices being discarded is that an increasing variety in choices generates interest in possessing modern tools, even if those in use are not invalid yet, bringing about a waste of budget which could be better spent on children’s education and enjoying better health care.

Furthermore, with the aid of mass-production, it is much cheaper to consume newly-made items instead of having them repaired. However, this production method generates a huge demand for raw materials, which are inevitable to run out one day. Last but not least, the tendency to show off wealth by obtaining state-of-the-art techies is becoming more commonplace among the elite section of a society. As a result, social inequality is triggered when economically disadvantaged people feel unable to lead a luxurious life.

To be concluded, the reasons why societies are becoming a throwaway are linked to a number of factors, with the most significant one being an addiction to fashionable belongings. This may have far-reaching effects on not solely nature, but also humans.

7. 
   High standard of living
   
8. 
   Increase in trash
   
9. 
   An increasing variety in choice
   
10. 
    Waste of budget which could be better spent one children’s education and good health care
    
11. 
    cheaper to purchase than repair
    
12. 
    shortage of raw materials
    

North-west North north-east