Topic 1: Increasing travels between countries enable people to learn different cultures or to increase tension between people from different countries

Topic 37: What are the factors that cause stress and how to cope with stress?

Life today is filled with sources of stress, much of which cannot be avoided. When stress appears to be a lifelong problem to many people, how it actually forms remains a subject of controversy to many scientists. The objective of this essay is to outline both the sources of stress and appropriate ways of dealing with it.

Many stressors arise from people's circumstances. For example, the high-pressured and fast-paced lifestyle has made it unlikely for people to gain adequate leisure time. Failure to balance work and leisure causes them either to struggle with deteriorating health or to cope with psychological distress, e. g., anxiety and depression. Together with some other problems, such as disharmony with others, unpleasant work or living environment, it would increase stress to an unmanageable level.

Another group of stressors is intertwined with personality. People interpret events or situations differently. A problem taken as a threat by many people might be accepted as a positive challenge to others. Evidence is inconclusive about the reasons behind this distinction, but it is widely believed that a person of a cheerful disposition is less likely to be heavily affected by adversity. Of equal importance is the ability to handle with some issues, such as time and money. Considering the role of personality in deciding the attitudes toward an issue and responses to an event, the effect of stress management skills actually varies from person to person.

Methods to cope with stress are many, but the most effective ones are in fact not remote or complicated but accessible and practicable. People under stress are advised to participate more in recreational activities, adopt a sound dieting habit, and exercise regularly. They should learn to block out worries and try to keep the effect of a challenge in life to a minimum. Finally, it is important to nurture a good slate of mind and to perceive things positively.

As suggested above, environment factors can be taken as the sources of stress, and people's personality determines the extent to which they are influenced by those factors. Adopting a healthy lifestyle and proper attitudes toward life can promote people's physical and psychological well-being and help them relieve stress.

1. 
   lifelong = lasting = enduring = all-time
   
2. 
   form = develop = take shape
   
3. 
   lifestyle = way of life = daily life = everyday life
   
4. 
   unpleasant = disagreeable
   
5. 
   unmanageable = uncontrollable
   
6. 
   interpret = understand = construe
   
7. 
   cheerful = positive
   
8. 
   disposition = character = temperament
   
9. 
   practicable = workable
   
10. 
    block out = erase = forget = wipe out
    

Topic 38: Fashion is difficult to follow, and some people argue that we should not follow it. They think that we should dress what we like and feel comfortable. Do you agree or disagree?

Fashion refers to a style of clothing worn by most people of a country. The growing concern about fashion in recent years comes as no surprise, considering the fact that fashion is very often at odds with the traditional function of clothing, protecting wearers from the extremes of weather. In my opinion, fashion is not a betrayal but an indicative of a principle that wearing clothing is for both functional and social reasons.

Fashions are linked to personal style. Fashions allow wearers to express emotion and solidarity with other people. People dress to their mood and according to circumstances. Buying fashionable clothes is a process in which the buyer translates his or her self-esteem into a personal style. A fashion indicates one's taste, social class, likes and dislikes. It gives wearers a sense of identity and makes it possible for them to feel connected to society.

Fashions are designed and tailored to please buyers. Selecting, discussing and buying fashions can induce immense happiness. It has become a way of life and can be taken as a leisure activity, increasing interaction between people. With all types of images and colours, clothing is capable of giving buyers a desired look, boosting their moods and increasing their self-confidence. Fashion is about change which is necessary to keep life interesting.

Despite the enjoyment brought by fashions, people should beware of their ever-changing nature and the expenditure of time and money on this commitment. A fashion usually remains popular for about one or two years at most and then is replaced by another. Many people have been obsessed with following the current fashions slavishly and pursuing the clothing with promised quality and limited availability ceaselessly. Many of them are motivated to buy outlandish clothing in a belief that they can thus keep up with fashion and their social positions are displayed.

As shown above, there is no point in spurning fashion. Fashion is desired in a modern society as a means of expression and a source of enjoyment, although one should reduce unnecessary spending on fashions.

1. 
   at odds with = in opposition to = contrary to = against
   
2. 
   induce = stimulate = generate = bring
   
3. 
   beware of = be careful of = be cautious about = wary of
   
4. 
   at most = to the maximum
   
5. 
   slavishly = sequaciously
   
6. 
   outlandish = bizarre = peculiar = eccentric
   
7. 
   spurn = reject = snub-rebuff = scorn = disdain = despise = repulse