Writing四级作文

Private Schools

More and more private schools are being set up in China these days, ending the state monopoly of the country‟s educational system . Although private schools are still on the experimental stage and are much more expensive as compared with the public schools, there is no lack of application for enrollment.

People welcome private schools for many reasons. First of all, private schools are relieving our government of part the burdens of financing so many schools. Secondly, parents are willing to send their only child to better schools even if it costs more. Thirdly, having more money than the government-founded public schools, those private schools can attract better teachers. They can also offer better environments including superior living facilities and more advanced teaching equipment.

However, adequate money doesn‟t guarantee good education. Without well guided and properly disciplined, the privileged young children might turn out to be new aristocrats, and therefore unfit for our highly modern society.

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Relax and Live

It is often believed that only rich middle-aged businessmen suffer from stress. In fact anyone may become ill as a result of stress if they experience a lot of worry over a long period and their health is not especially good. Stress can be a friend of an enemy: it can warn you that you are under too much pressure and should change our way of life. It can kill you if you don‟t notice the warning signals. Doctors agree that it is probably the biggest single cause of illness in the Western world.

When we are very frightened and worried our bodies produce certain chemicals to help us fight what is troubling us. These chemicals produce the energy needed to run away fast from an object of fear, and in modern life that‟s often impossible. Unfortunately, if we don‟t use up these chemicals, or if we produce too many of them, they may actually harm us. The parts of the body that are most affected by stress are the stomach, heart, skin, head and back. Stress can cause car accidents, heart attacks, and may even drive people to suicide.

Our living and working conditions may put us under stress. Overcrowding in large cities, traffic jams, competition for jobs, worry about the future, any big changes in our lives, may cause stress. Some British doctors have pointed out that one of Britain‟s worst waves of influenza happened soon after the new coins came into use. Also if you have changed jobs or moved house in recent months you are more likely to fall ill than if you haven‟t. And more people commit suicide in times of inflation.

As with all illnesses, prevention is better than cure. If you find you can‟t relax, it is a sign of danger, “When you are taking work home, when you can‟t enjoy an evening with friends, when you haven‟t time for outdoor exercise—that is the time to stop and ask yourself whether your present life really suits you. ” says one family doctor. “Then it‟s time to join a relaxation class, or take up dancing, painting or gardening.”

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The Glory of the Olympic Games

You can thrill to the sight of the world‟s ski champions sailing through the air or racing down mountain slopes—

You can marvel at the skill and grace of expert ice skaters, swimmers, jumpers, gymnasts— You can watch our top athletes compete against the top athletes of other nations—

All these you can do every four years, thanks to TV. Thus, you can have a front-row seat at the modern Olympic Games.

You can view the opening-day ceremonies on color TV. Bright flags wave, bands play, the crowd roars its approval of the parade of athletes. Nation by nation, the colorful groups march by. Your heart beats fast with pride as you view the fine group headed by your own country‟s banner. A high point of the ceremonies is the lighting of the Olympia flame. You may wonder why a runner carries a flaming torch to light the fire. That lighted torch came all the way from Olympia, Greece. It was relayed from hand to hand to the host country.

The goal of Olympic athletes is expressed in their motto, “Swifter, higher, stronger.” By undergoing the stress and strain of tough competition, they grow in strength, endurance, discipline. They learn to respect and to cooperate with people from many nations. Each Olympic year their creed reminds them that the most important thing in the Games is not winning, but taking part. The oath they take binds them to abide by the rules of the Olympic Games, “in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our country”.

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Pain and Growth

Looking back over my life, it seems to me that I have learned the most when I felt the greatest pain. My mother‟s death, for example, made me more profoundly aware of the beauty in nature. My capacity for finding joy in the most ordinary events (watching a flower open, leaves turning red, a bird taking a bath) seems to deepen each time I live through great sorrow. Death makes life more precious; frustration makes success more fulfilling, failure makes the next accomplishment more meaningful.

In order to feel deeply it is necessary to feel everything. It is impossible to choose. You can‟t really know how great is your sense of joy at a baby‟s birth or your satisfaction at succeeding at a hard job unless you are also deeply aware of the anguish of separation and the pain of failure. It‟s through the capacity to feel that we discover ourselves and others and explore the potential for a full, significant life.

This is an especially crucial issue for parents. Our natural inclination is to try to protect children from pain. We have the mistaken notion that if a child is happy we are doing a good job; if a child is sad we are failing as parents. But giving children the message that happy is good and sad is terrible decreases their capacity to explore the full range of human experiences.

Children need to understand that suffering, frustration and failure are not only inevitable but helpful. The parent who took a simple puzzle away from a four-year old—because “he gets too upset and frustrated when he can‟t get it right immediately,”—did the child a great disservice. Children need to experience such feelings as they grow up; it helps them to develop the patience, persistence and ability to cope that they „ll need when a scientific experiment fails, or a low grade is received after diligent study. There is nothing so terrible about failing and feeling pain; what

hurts in the long run is not trying because of the fear of pain.

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The Nature of Happiness

I live in Hollywood. You may think people in such a glamorous, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.

Many intelligent people still equate happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more abiding emotion.

Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.

I have often thought that if Hollywood starts have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to glamorous parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”. But in memoir after memoir, celebrities reveal the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun; depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children, profound loneliness.

The way people cling to the belief that a fun-filled, pain-free life equates happiness actually diminishes their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equated with happiness, then pain must be equated with unhappiness. But, in fact, the opposite is true: More times than not, things that lead to happiness involve some pain.

As a result, many people avoid the very endeavors that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment, civic or charitable work, and self-improvement.

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Time Spent in a Bookstore

Time spent in a bookstore can be most enjoyable, whether you are a book-lover or merely you are there to buy a book as a present. You may even have entered the shop just to find shelter from a sudden shower. Whatever the reason, you can soon become totally unaware of your surroundings. The desire to pick up a book with an attractive dust jacket is irresistible, although this method of selection ought not to be followed, as you might end up with a rather dull book. You soon become engrossed in some book or other, and usually it is only much later that you realize you have spent far too much time there and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment—without buying a book, of course.

This opportunity to escape the realities of everyday life is, I think, the main attraction of a bookshop. There are not many places where it is possible to do this. You can wander round such places to your heart‟s content. If it is a good shop, no assistant will approach you with inevitable greeting, “Can I help you, sir?” You needn‟t buy anything you don‟t want. In a bookshop an assistant should remain in the background until you have finished browsing. Then, and only then, are his services necessary. Of course you may want to find out where a particular section is, but when he has led there, the assistant should retire carefully and look as if he is not interested in selling a single book.

You have to be careful not to be attracted by the variety of books in a bookshop. It is very easy

to enter the shop looking for a book on ancient coins and to come out carrying a copy of the latest best-selling novel. This sort of thing can be very dangerous. Apart from running up a huge account, you can waste a great deal of time wandering from section to section.

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Social Life and Time

In the United States, it is not customary to telephone someone very early in the morning. If you telephone him early in the day, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate attention. The same meaning is attached to telephone calls made after 11:00 p.m.. If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he assumes it‟s a matter of life and death. The time chosen for the call communicates it‟s importance. In social life, time plays a very important part. In the U.S.A., guests tend to feel they are not highly regarded if the invitation to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date. But it is not true in all countries. In other areas of the world, it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in advance because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten. The meaning of time differs in different parts of the world. Thus, misunderstandings arise between people from cultures that treat time differently. Promptness is valued highly in American life, for example. If people are not prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible. In the U.S., no one would think of keeping a business associate waiting for an hour; it would be too impolite. A person who is 5 minutes late is expected to make a short apology. If he is less than 5 minutes late, he will say a few words of explanation, though perhaps he will not complete the sentence. Model 8

Challenges of School

Life is full of challenges. School has to be the most challenging obstacle in the lives of youth today.

Elementary school brings about a few challenges characteristic of those years spent there. There‟s the challenge of coloring in the lines, a very real problem to any youngster. Or how about the challenge of remembering to raise one‟s hand before one speaks? There are hundreds of rules and regulations that govern these young children. The one thing that keeps these children in line is the hope of reward. Yes, this is the brass ring. The reward for a clean desk is an extra five minutes of recess! The prize for having all homework done, a shiny-new pencil topper! These small wonders keep small people in line. They make the children love challenge.

Middle school is not so easy. It is not easy for the students, and it also isn‟t easy for the teachers. The challenge of staying out of trouble, or writing that research paper-----these are the new confrontations of an older, wiser group. This clan has outgrown the recess and pencil-topper tricks. They know that their efforts have to bring them something really useful, so mom and pop are pulled onto the scene. How does five, ten dollars for each “A” sound? Or, how about no telephone if one doesn‟t do well in school? Need I say more?

By the time high school arrives, a student‟s place in academic excellence or else their unlikelihood to even graduate has been established. Little can be done now to make life‟s challenges seem interesting, especially where school comes in. The slothful are rewarded with a nice job at a gas station a pregnant girlfriend, and a fifteen-year-old Ford .The diligent are rewarded with an SAT score of over 1100, acceptance into Yale University , and a ticket to life. By

meeting the challenges of school, sticking it out, and pulling through, they are given their greatest reward: success. Model 9

Difference Between Cultures

I have always found the Chinese to be a very gracious people. In particular, Chinese frequently compliment foreign friends on their language skills, knowledge of Chinese culture, professional accomplishments, and personal health. Curiously, however, Chinese are as loath to accept a compliment as they are eager to give one. As many of my Chinese friends have explained, this is a manifestation of the Chinese virtue of modesty.

I have noticed a difference, though, in the degree to which modesty is emphasized in the United States and China. In the US, we tend to place more emphasis on “seeking the truth from fact;” thus, Americans tend to accept a compliment with gratitude. Chinese, on the other hand, tend to reject the compliment, even when they know they deserve the credit or recognition which has been awarded them. I can imagine a Chinese basketball fan meeting Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. He might say, “Mr. Jordan, I am so happy to meet you. I just want to tell you, you are the best basketball player in the world; you‟re the greatest!‟ to which Jordan would probably respond, „thank you very much. I really appreciate it! I just do try to do my best every time I spend on the court.” If an American met Deng Yapping, china‟s premier Ping-Pong player, she might say much the same thing: “Ms. Deng, you are the best!” but as a Chinese, Deng would probably say, “no, I really don‟t play all the well. You‟re much kind.”

Plainly, Americans and Chinese have different ways of responding to praise. Ironically, many Americans might consider Ms. Deng hypothetical response the less modest, because it is less truthful--and therefore less sincere. Americans generally place sincerity above etiquette; genuine gratitude for the praise serves as a substitute for protestations of modesty. After all, in the words of one of my closest Chinese friends, modesty taken to the extreme is arrogance. Model 10

Weakness or strength

Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn‟t understand why, after three months of training , the master had taught him only one move.

“Sir,” the boy finally said, “shouldn‟t I be learning more moves?”

“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you‟ll ever need to know,” the master replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the master took the boy to his first tournament.

Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when his judo master intervened.

“No” the judo master insisted, “Let him continue.”

Soon after the match resumed, his opponents made a critical mistake; he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and his judo master reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy and his judo master reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. “Sir, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”

“You won for two reasons,” the master answered. “First, you‟ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. Second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”

The boy‟s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

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Problems and Opportunities

We live in an unusual time with corporate downsizing, restructuring, and the increase in global competition. Some view these times as problematic; others see the incredible opportunities created by such change.

In the last decade there has been huge growth in home-based and service-industry businesses. Terse businesses have been started by individuals with the courage to pursue their dreams. Yet, for every idea that is implemented, thousands of ideas never get beyond the conceptual stage- from the imagination to a plan of action

What holds people back from pursuing their dreams and acting on their great ideas? I believe its fear of failure. Someone once said “there are a lot of ways to become a failure, but never taking a chance is the most successful way.” I‟ve also heard it said that “people don‟t plan to fail…. They fail to plan.”

Companies these days must be willing and able to change constantly. Sometimes companies change course to survive, and sometimes they do so because an opportunity is too good to resist. I know of a small company that provided a messenger service several years ago. A sudden major increase in corporate use of fax machines nearly put this small company was astute enough to realize other global corporate trends happening at the same time. The owner shifted gears from offering a messenger service to providing an offsite records storage service, and soon business was booming once again.

It all comes down to perspective. When there was a downturn in the economy, some people could say “This is great! With the downturn in the economy, nobody will have budget for my service.” Or others thought “this is great! With the tightening of budgets and the loss of support staff, there‟s an even greater need for professionals to be effective, which is precisely what I‟m here to help them so!” Model 12

The Success Personality

Is there a “success personality”—some winning combination of qualities that leads almost inevitably to achievement? If so, exactly what is that secret success formula, and can anyone develop it?

At the Gallop Organization we recently focused in depth on success, probing the attitudes of

1500 prominent people selected at random from Who‟s Who in America. Our research finds out a number of qualities that occur regularly among top achievers. Here is one of the most important, that is common sense.

Common sense is the most prevailing quality possessed by our respondents. Seventy-nine percent award themselves a top score in this quality. And 61 percent say that common sense was very important in contributing to their success.

To most, common sense means the ability to present sound, practical judgments on everyday affairs. To do this, one has to sweep aside extra ideas and get right to the core of what matters. A Texas oil and gas businessman puts it this way: “The key ability for success is simplifying. In conducting of meeting and dealing with industry, reducing a complex problem to the simplest term is highly important.”

Is common sense a quality a person is born with, or can you do something to increase it? The oil man‟s answer is that common sense can definitely be developed. He attributes his to learning how to debate in school. Another way to increase your store of common sense is to observe it in others, leaning from their—and your own—mistakes.

Besides common sense, there are many other factors that influence success; knowing your field, self-reliance, intelligence, and the ability to get things done, leaderships creativity, relationships with others, and of course, luck. But common sense stands out. If you might even find yourself listed in Who‟s Who someday Model 13

Information is Power

In such a changing, complex society formerly simple solutions to informational needs become complicated. Many of life‟s problems which were solved by asking family members, friends or colleagues are beyond the capability of extended family to resolve. Where to turn for expert information and how to determine which expert advice to accept are questions facing many people today.

Adding to societal changes today is an enormous supply of information. The individual now has more information available than any generation, and the task of finding that one piece of information relevant to his or her specific problem is complicated, time-consuming and sometimes even over-whelming.

Coupled with the growing quantity of information is the development of technologies which enable the storage and delivery of more information with greater speed to more locations than has ever been possible before. Computer technology makes it possible to store vast amounts of data in machine-readable files, and to program computers to locate specific information. Telecommunication developments enable the sending of messages via television, radio and very shortly, electronic mail to bombard people with multitudes of messages. Satellites have extended the power of communications to report events at the instant occurrence. Expertise can be shared world wide through teleconferencing, and problems in dispute can be settled without participant leaving their homes and/or jobs to travel to a distant conference site. Technology has facilitated the sharing of information and delivery of information, thus making more information available to more people.

In this world of change and complexity, the need for information is of greatest importance. Those people who have accurate, reliable up-to-date information to solve the day-to-day problems , the critical problems of their business, social and family life, will survive and succeed.

“Knowledge is power” may well be the most critical requirement of all people. Model 14

University Life Under Strain

The quality of university life is under strain from the relentless expansion of higher education, leasing independent schools in Britain complained. The warning followed survey of the impressions of campus life gained by former pupils of the schools. Infrequent contact with tutors, worries over student safety, and even grumbles over the food were all seen as symptoms of the pressure on universities. Head teachers said that standards could well drop if the squeeze on university budgets continues. A survey was carried out because of fears that the level of pastoral care in universities has declined. A number of students suicides had raised concerns among head teachers.

Although most of the 6,000 students surveyed were enjoying university life, almost a third were less satisfied with their course. About one in ten had serious financial problems and some gave alarming accounts of conditions around their halls of residence. Incidents quoted included a fatal stabbing and shooting outside a hall of residence, the petrol-bombing of cars near another residence, and two racist attacks. Nine percent of women and seven percent of men rated security as unsatisfactory in the area where they lived.

The survey confirmed head teachers‟ fears about contact between students and tutors slipping , with a quarter of students seeing their tutor only every three weeks. New students, used to regular contact with their teachers, found it hard to adapt to the change. Interview techniques were a cause for concern, with the school calling for more training of the university staff involved in admissions. Some headmasters complained that interview were increasingly “eccentric”. One greeted an applicant by throwing him an apple. Another interview lasted only three minutes. About a quarter of the students found the workload at university heavier than they had expected. There were differences between subjects, with architecture, engineering, veterinary science, medicine and some science subjects demanding the most work. The survey also confirmed previous concerns about possible racial bias in admissions to medical courses. Applicants with names suggesting an ethnic minority back-ground had been rejected by white candidates with the same qualifications Model 15

If I Were a Teacher

If I were a teacher, I would speak to my students in stead of reading to them the test all the time, for teaching in my opinion is not only a communication of knowledge, but also a personal communication between the teacher and the student. When the teacher keeps reading what is printed in the text book, it shows that he is not familiar with what he is going to teach. Otherwise he can talk to the students and dispense with the book or the notes. As his attention is limited to the textbook, the personal communication between the teacher and the students is reduced to a less important role and in effect makes the teaching less fascinating. If I were a teacher, I wouldn‟t do that. I would talk of my own understanding of what is printed there.

If I were a teacher, I wouldn‟t discourage a student if he talks of his original idea and if I agree with him, I would encourage him to do so, for I don‟t want them to be so passive in their studies as to fill their heads with notions of other people without their own. Other people‟s ideas should only serve to contribute to the formation of their own ideas.

If I were a teacher, I would consider it most important to teach the students to be healthy young people. Knowledge comes second, for humanistic ideas in a way determine the usage of knowledge one has acquired through education. We don‟t want the students to be intelligent but morally bad. Model 16

Pets

A pet is an animal kept by a person as a companion. Recently, more and more people, old ones in particular, like to enjoy the company of tame animals. They treat these animals as good friends or even as members of the family.

Pets are affectionate. They are obedient to their masters. They appreciate the care given to them and seem to know how to express their thanks. Whatever happens, they always remain loyal to their masters. Although they sometimes play mischief, they are innocent and even childish. This makes them all the more lovely. Moreover, trained pets are very helpful.

Sometimes, however, a pet, especially, a dog, can be a nuisance. It deposits its wastes everywhere. It attacks you by surprise. And a lot of people are reported to have become the victims of dogs. Therefore, laws should be laid out to forbid raising dogs in big cities.