Ⅰ.Supply the missing paragraph (20 points)
The following passage is incomplete with one body paragraph missing. Study the passage carefully and write the missing paragraph of about 100 words. Make sure that the tone and vocabulary you use are in unity with the passage provided.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Living in the City
Like many other city dwellers, I often complain about having to cope with the problems related with city life. I sometimes fancy getting closer to nature and appreciating its beauty fully in the country. Once a friend asked me, “Do you really hate life in the city that much? If you had a choice, would you move away to the country?” I compelled myself to think about city life more seriously. Now I have to do justice to it. Admittedly, the attractions of city life still appeal to me strongly despite its drawbacks.
In general, city life is relatively convenient and comfortable. The supply of water and electricity is continuous. Whenever one wants, all he has to do is just turning on a faucet or pressing a button. There is also a variety of vehicles for transportation, form buses and cars to trains and planes, that help people move about efficiently. Shopping centers are seen and there in cities. Thanks to the amazing diversity of commodities, going shopping is often interesting and enjoyable for city dwellers. Besides the fun of making purchases, there are also countless theaters, cinemas, art galleries and restaurants providing residents with various kinds of fascinating entertainment.
__________________
To some extent, city life is truly divorced from nature. It is sometimes very exhausting because of its fast-moving tempo. But on the other hand, nothing in the world is perfect; neither is city life. Viewed positively, the drawbacks should still be outweighed by its attractions. In fact, the drawbacks can be regarded as challenges to make life in the city more interesting, more exciting and more meaningful. To me, moving away from the city would mean the loss of excitement and the dynamic nature of modern life. Therefore, I would choose to continue to live in the city.
Ⅱ.Write an outline (20 points)
Read the following passage carefully and compose a “sentence outline” for it.
The Decline in Writing Skills
Teachers have always complained that students cannot write well and there can be no denying that in the past twenty-five years writing skills have hit an all-time low. Students as well as many people on the job have difficulty expressing themselves in written English. The decline is due in part to students'' attitude towards writing in the past two decades and modern devices such as the television and the telephone.
The student protests over 20 years ago were a major factor for the decline in writing skills. At many schools, the faculty gave in and greatly reduced or eliminated freshman composition courses. At on college, where all undergraduates had been required to take two years of English, students were given the potion of taking credits in fine arts, humanities, or English. Most preferred fine arts since it required little effort on their part-and absolutely no writing. With so little demand, the English faculty dropped form seventy-one to thirty within one year. Compounding the problem was the fact that some faculty members felt that making students write correctly was stifling their creativity. They told students not to worry about sentence structure, grammar, or spelling but just to get their feelings on paper. Those who wrote papers with sloppy sentences and numerous grammar errors could pass and even score high if their ideas were on the right track. The results were horrendous and saddening because many students'' writing ability greatly declined. They simply could not write properly.
The television and the telephone must also be held responsible for the rapid decline in writing skills. Television viewing increasingly takes up more and more of a person''s leisure time, time that should be spent writing and reading. No longer will youngsters write in their diaries or try to express their feelings and thoughts in poetry. Instead they would much rather space out in front of the TV, remote in hand, and switch channels. Laughter and screaming are constantly heard. Nor will they read extensively and be exposed to the workings of the language and absorb the nuances of effective communication. The telephone is even a greater culprit. Why should one bother to write letters when one can punch in a number and speak to the other party? There is no need to write down one''s thoughts and then wait for a response; gratification is immediate. Modern technology has even eliminated the need to jot notes to other members of the family: the memo unit on the answering machine takes care of that.
It is no wonder that writing skills have steadily declined over the past twenty-five years. Today''s youths, for the most part, see little need for writing. The telephone is their direct line of communication, and the television supplies them with immediate entertainment. The student activism of the 1970s has had its own perverse effect: It turned out a whole generation that was taught that correct writing is succumbing to the dictates of society. And the horror of horrors is that many of these students are now teachers.___________
Ⅲ.Composition (60 points)
With the increasing popularity of the Internet, someone says,“The more friends you get on line, the fewer friends you will have around you.”Write an expository essay (about 300 words)expressing your views on the statement.
