UE (Section B)作文佳作分享

1.Helping primary schoolchildren newly arrived from mainland (2004)

Do you realize that there are more and more people from mainland gaining the right of abode in Hong Kong? In fact, it has already become a trend. The new adults immigrants usually adapt to the new environment especially if they work, but how about the little ones? They really require our help to integrate into the Hong Kong community, as those children may come across many problems and are not familiar with the new lifestyle. In this essay, I am going to examine the reasons for helping the primary schoolchildren newly arrived from mainland.

Actually, it is really tough for those primary school students to catch up with the local education curriculum. Under the examination -orientated system, they are forced to learn different knowledge within a very short time. Even in the primary school, there are always tonnes of homework, tests and examinations. In this way, those primary school students who are newly arrived may have to bear a high pressure and feel suffocated.

Besides, their low English standard is another problem. Since those children from the mainland usually do not have as many chances as the local children to be exposed to English, they may find it is very difficult to achieve high English proficiency. Even though they study round the clock and hope to strive for bright results with flying colors, they may still get disappointing results in the examinations. Thus, they will be very depressed and upset. As a result, they may lose their interest in studying.

Apart form the local education system, the discrimination problem is also a barrier for their adaptation in Hong Kong. Although the Hong Kong residents usually have a positive attitude towards those new immigrants, some naïve, local primary students may laugh at those newly arrived ones who cannot speak or pronounce Cantonese accurately and may even label them as ‘mainlanders’. In fact, their prejudiced acts will severely hurt those children’s hearts and make them lose their esteem. Those children will therefore become shy in making friends with others. Hence, they can hardly find someone to share their ups and downs, and will be very lonely.

Moreover, school violence problem is like the whirlwind spreading all over the schools. Those students may become their easy targets and will surly cast a deep shadow on them that can hardly fade away. Consequently, their mental growth will be adversely affected. In some extreme cases, they may even want to escape from reality by committing suicide. This shows that they really need someone help them to tackle with the problem.

On top of discrimination, Hong Kong ‘s economy is still in the doldrums. Thus, the HKSAR government will put their prime priority in dealing with the economy and other social problems, so as to make Hong Kong become prosperous and stable again. Thus, it may neglect the real needs of those newly arrived students and think providing them with such a little allowance will be enough. Indeed, their pressing need is someone who cares about them and is willing to support them. Those primary students may want to consult the problem they meet in the daily routine and gain some professional advice or guidance. Thus, they can alleviate their pressure. That is the reason why it is so important for us to help the primary schoolchildren newly arrived from mainland.

All in all, it is really necessary and urgent to help those newly arrived children to jump over all the hurdles. With someone who always stand by and play an active role in helping them, such as regular home visit and giving counseling, this can surly shorten the time they need to adapt to the new environment. Eventually, they will find that Hong Kong is a lovely place to stay in!

2.(2004) Have you ever seen any advertisements that an artist claims that she regains her confidence after taking a slimming programme on television? Lisa Wong, Nancy Sit, …… There are a lot of different advertisements about slimming, but they share the same aim — being thin is beautiful and get slim now! These commercials repeat many times on the television and make me believe that I should become thinner. However, after attending a talk on ‘Health and Beauty’, I have changed my mind. In this essay, I am going to share what I have learnt from the three speakers of the talk.

‘To lose your weight extremely is harmful to your health,’ said a medical doctor. Many people lose their weight by reducing their intake of food. They try to be on diet to reduce their intake of calories. Some of them may even try to make themselves vomit what they have taken in after a meal. The medical doctor told us that we take little food, to the detriment of our health. The gastric juice is very acidic. If there is no food, it will harm our stomach wall. Besides, those people who want to lose their weight will also do a lot of exercise. How can the muscles and heart bear such a heavy workload if there is so little energy providing to them? They may also have a chance to faint in the street. Can you imagine how dangerous it is?

A social worker told us that many people want to lose weight since they have a wrong concept that being thin is beautiful. They also have a large pressure from society and peers. It goes without saying that most people want to have a boyfriend or girlfriend with a beautiful figure. Therefore many people attempt to lose weight. But is thinness implying beauty? If a person loses so much of his/her weight, he/she will certainly become skinny. I think skinny is ugly but not beautiful. Do you want to be compared to a skeleton? The social worker also said that since there are a lot of cases that fat people are discriminated. They cannot get a job. Thus, many people want to reduce their weight since they are afraid that they may be sacked.

The experience of an ex-patient recovering from eating disorder is very impressive. She said that she tried to lose her weight mainly because of her boyfriend. Her boy friend always complained about her obesity. Therefore, she started to reduce her weight. She took only one meal a day which only contained an apple and a slice of bread. She also exercised three times a week. She is about 155cm tall but she was only 72 pounds at her thinnest stage! She also showed us her photo, it did scare me. Her boyfriend left her since she was so frightening. She said that she really regretted about it and would never try to lose her weight.

All in all, I understand that all people want to be beautiful. However, we should think about what beauty is and not to be misled by others. Obesity is no good but is being so thin good? You may die if you lose your weight extremely. It does not make sense to be beautiful after death. We should treasure our health. Look before you leap!

3.(2003)

No war, just peace

‘No more war, we want peace!’ we can easily hear this protest on television reporting the progress of wars or read this lament in newspapers. Everyone trembles with fears. No one is willing to live under the threat of wars. Many anti-war organizations can be found across the world and they advocate peace. However, wars are still inevitable. The reason lies in some countries fighting a war in order to expand their powers and show off the latest weapon inventions. They intend to become the world super-power. Perhaps these countries may achieve their goals. Yet, far-reaching consequences are always ignored. From my perspective, I am strongly against wars. In this essay, I am going to state the reasons against wars.

Form the social perspective, wars lead to heavy causalities even in modern and advanced countries. Without doubts, not only do soldiers die in the event of fighting a war, but also several thousands habitants are involved in a war between two or more countries. Over the past couple of decades, we can know that innumerable people died in wars. As time goes by, an anti-war sentiment has been aroused. In

addition, inventions of weapon become more powerful and involve high technology. Therefore, the use of weapons is more frequent than in the past. If a war breaks out and different powerful weapons are used, more and more people will be injured or died than in the record of history. It goes without saying that the birth rate will decrease sharply and lead to a slow population growth as men have to attack other countries or safeguard their own country.

Apart from the social aspect, wars also affect economy. As a matter of fact, wars devastate the economy of a country. Take an example. A number of farmlands and industrial plants will be ruined by bombs. Hence, the primary and secondary production will be affected. As men have to be soldiers , no more men can work in farms or factories except women and the elderly. To a certain extent, the productivity is low. Worse still, farmlands will no longer exist in some poor countries. As a result, people there will face famine. Besides, wars destroy houses. . Undoubtedly, a country takes a long time to recover the economy after wars. Worse still, a country may become impoverished gradually.

Breaking out a war with another country will badly affect the diplomacy among countries. As we know that a war brings adverse and long-lasting and even irrecoverable casualties, poor economic conditions and other unexpected consequences. After breaking out a war, each country has to bear all the aftermath. Although some countries which do not involve in a war will give a hand, the recovery of the country still depends on herself. In addition, there are more and more global co-operations between different countries such as trading, politics and so on. So, countries tighten relationship via international co-operations. If a war breaks out, this close and peaceful relationship among countries will be loosened.

Environment will be destroyed in the event of war. The use of weapons usually create explosion and fire everywhere. Not only does it cause heavy injuries and deaths for human and animals, but also destroys the environment. Indeed, using weapons in a war will create fumes which is detrimental to all creatures including environment. As we all know, the pollution of environment has been deteriorating in these several years. If we still do not protect the environment, we may find that the earth may no longer suitable be for living.

All in all, fighting a war brings adverse impact on many aspects Some wars may be fought for a particular purpose like safeguarding their own country. This kind of wars can be forgiven. However, we should always remind ourselves that wars will bring far-

reaching consequences or even unexpected aftermaths. In my opinion, every country has the same obligation i.e to safeguard people , but not involve in or break out a war no matter if there is a conflict with other countries. Many measures can solve to problems but not to fight a war. On the other hand, we should keep on advocating peace. Rome is not built in one day. I do hope that there will be fewer wars and all of us can live peacefully in the future.

4.(2002 question2)

How often do you surf the Internet? In this new era, a great variety of information can be searched via the Internet. We only need to key in a few words in the search engine, and can directly find the required topics within one or two seconds. Thus, some people may think that traditional secondary schools and teachers are redundant. Using the Internet is already a very good means for students to explore the world. However, is it definitely true? In this essay, I am going to argue that schools and teachers cannot be replaced.

The information in the Internet may even misled the immature ones to go astray. How can you make sure what you have found is absolutely right? It is not strange to hear that even the webmasters do not know what they have uploaded is wrong. Take the cure for a disease as an example. Some web sites claims that drinking hydrogen peroxide or taking in other kinds of ‘newly-invented’ medicine or pills can make us healthy and can immune to AIDS or cancers. Indeed, those ‘medicines’ are harmful to our health and may even poison us. These will surly misled the youngsters to receive wrong concepts, since some of them are still not mature enough to distinguish between black and white. They may easily fall into the traps in the Internet and will absolutely feel regretted in the future.

Apart from the potential dangers in using the Internet, students will waste all their time, if they are not forced to go to school. In the economic depression, both parents in a family go to work, so as to earn a living. They will have no time to supervise their children to use computers for learning, instead of entertaining themselves.

Therefore, most youngsters may not have self-discipline to work hard, even if a large pool of correct information is provided in the Internet. As a result, they can still learn nothing and time has already slipped through their fingers! What will their future become?

Actually, the traditional schools are absolutely ideal places for students to grow well mentally and physically. Teachers are facilitators who help us to learn. . Not only do schools provide a place for us to learn different knowledge, but also it adds colors to our lives. Take extra-curricular activities as an example. We can join different clubs and take part in many competitions. Through those activities, we gain much personal experience and knowledge that are not only confined in textbooks or the Internet, such as the ways to build up the team spirits. Moreover, these can alleviate the high pressure we shoulder in facing tonnes of homework, tests and examinations. They are surly wholesome to our mental health. How can you still maintain good health, if you just sit before the computers round the clock?

On top of the extra-curricular activities in schools, teachers and friends also play an important role in our growth. Teachers are lighthouses in the sea. They give us light and guide us to the right road to success. Sometimes, they may even point out our faults and suggest ways to correct them. More importantly, they will instill the moral precept and the right ways to express our own feelings. When we are caught in a dilemma, we may consult them as they have much more experience than us. Thus, we will not be too impetuous to make a decision. Besides, in the school, we can also make a lot of friends. Although friends are not as indispensable as the air we breathe in, we cannot neglect the importance of them. When we are caged in desperation, they can be our good listeners and let us air our plight to them. They can also help us to analyze the problems and even figure out the possible solution. Thereby, we will feel more comfortable, since we found some persons who are really caring for us.

All in all, schools and teachers should not be replaced, since they can help to sweep away all our doom and gloom. Otherwise, all the youngsters, our hopes of future, will only know facing to the ‘cold’ computer and immerse into the virtual world all the

days. How cool our world will become!

5.(2000) English in daily lives

Do we realize that we can touch English very easily in Hong Kong? All Hong Kong students need to study English. Outside school, due to the history of Hong Kong as a colony of the British Empire, English still plays a vital role. We have quite a lot of opportunities to use English both in school and outside school. How far will students benefit from learning English? In this essay, I am going to discuss how Hong Kong students can use English outside school and its benefits to them.

As an international city, Hong Kong holds numerous exhibitions with the suppliers from all over the world. Do we still remember the popular international stamp exhibition, or technological products exhibition? All these exhibitions can be held only with the help of different countries. Take the stamp exhibition as an example. The participants come from all over the world. As an international language, English is the only means for all countries to communicate well. Students of Hong Kong, of course, also need to use English to communicate with the officers of different countries. They have to speak, or read English as some countries only provide notices with their own language and English only. In this way, Hong Kong students can use English outside school. Technological products exhibition provides plenty of the latest technological invention. Most of them are promoted in English. Hong Kong students also need to understand English in order to understand the products. The international exhibitions can lead students to have more chances to use English. Students can then read and speak more English with the help of the holding of international exhibitions. Students can also learn some specific terms in English for example the specific adjectives in chemistry, exothermic” and “endothermic. The former describes a reaction which involves heat production, the latter, heat absorption. We seldom use these two words in our daily lives and we can’t look up their definitions in the Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary but in the Chemistry book. With the lexis , students can get hold of English better and their English communication skills will also be enhanced.

Some students do not like visiting exhibitions, but surely they have to take food. As an international city, Hong Kong holds many exhibitions as well as providing various

kinds of services to foreigners. Again, the international language – English, will be used. Most restaurants in Hong Kong provide an English menu. Students cannot only taste the delicious food in a restaurant, but also learn the English names of dishes from all over the world. Some restaurants provide an English menu only. In Central and Admiralty and the like many restaurants are open mainly for foreigners. In order to be efficient, English-speaking waiters are employed and English menus are available. In this way, these restaurants provide a great opportunity to use English. Hong Kong students have to read and speak English so that they can order dishes. Sharing the same benefits with holding international exhibitions, Hong Kong students can have more chances to practice English. They can speak more, read more and learn more about the common English expression that cannot be learnt from school! Students can remember such common expressions as well as the lexis of food better as they have the experiences, not just learn from books or are taught by teachers! This is surely a more effective way of learning English.

Students living far away from Central or Admiralty may lack the opportunity to go to the English-speaking restaurants. But they can go shopping where they live. Apart from the catering service, Hong Kong provides other services in English. We can easily have the opportunity to use English while shopping. Most of the boutiques not only get the Chinese notices, but also the English ones. Some boutiques even get English notices only. Although the salesmen usually speak Cantonese, Hong Kong students can still have a chance to be exposed to English terms related to fashion. Besides boutiques, CD galleries are also great chances for Hong Kong students to touch English. Unlike other Asian regions like Japan, most of the foreign CDs are imported directly to Hong Kong. What we can buy in Hong Kong are the original editions, those are the ones with English promotion. This surely gives more opportunities for students to touch English more than in Japan or any other regions which release the edition with their own languages for promotion. We have to read English so that we can understand the background of composing a piece of music. We can also learn English from English songs. In this way, students’ English standard will be raised if they use more English in their daily lives.

We do not need to go out in order to touch English. Staying at home is also a way to use English! Apart from students’ textbooks, Hong Kong provides English services that can be accessed at home, for example, radio, television and the Internet. RTHK Radio 3 and Radio 4 are English radio channels. Their programmes include music and news. Most of the programmes are conducted in English. This provides an effective means for students to strengthen their listening skills. They can also learn the correct

pronunciation and accent from the radio programmes. This is also good for students’ speaking skills. Furthermore, Hong Kong also provides two English television channels, TVB Pearl and ATV World. They further broaden students’ horizons on English as they provide more diversified programmes. Not only music and news, television produces programmes of geography, biology, science, religion and the like . Students can get hold of various aspects in English . In addition, the use of the Internet is a great chance for students to touch English. Almost all the pages are written in English. These pages contain much information and materials for students of different knowledge. By accessing the pages, Hong Kong students can inevitably touch English. They can learn more English related to different regions as different people from different regions write their pages with their own style. Although they all use English, different styles are used. Hong Kong students can then learn different styles of English with the Internet and this is absolutely beneficial to them. They can then have no problems to communicate with British, Americans, Australians, Canadians and the like ! This is surely a great chance for students to learn English!

All in all, we can easily touch English in our daily lives. Hong Kong students have quite a lot of opportunities to practice English. As the colony of Britain, English was the most important language in Hong Kong. As an international financial and commercial city, Hong Kong still needs English to communicate with the rest of the world now. Hong Kong students, the pillars of future, should get hold of English. The best way of learning English is to learn from daily life. Hong Kong has provided many chances for us. Let us grasp them firmly!

Use of English Question 2 2004

Which group would you like to offer help, poor elderly or primary schoolchildren? Although I want to help both groups, I would like to choose helping elderly people in this voluntary work project. In this essay, I will state my reasons for helping the elderly.

Primary schoolchildren immigrated from the mainland need help, because they have many problems in adapting to the living and study condition in Hong Kong. Especially for those students who have not learned English before, learning English in primary schools would be a great challenge, because many schools use English as the medium of instruction. On the other hand, there is social stigma on the immigrated from the mainland. Other schoolmates may make jokes and laugh at them. Under

this atmosphere, the young children will have low self-esteem. It seems that we should put our focus on helping these children; however, we should reconsider the objective of the project. This project aims at telling those people neglected by the society that, Hong Kong students care about them. Nevertheless, primary students can get help from schools, social workers, parents etc. Compared with those elderly people, who are living alone and are worrying about their meals, which group need our help? Therefore, I suggest helping elderly in our project, as they need more immediate help.

Frankly speaking, elderly people are very passive. Only a very small percentage of the elderly people will seek help when they encounter problems. I have joined a voluntary work in helping old people. The elderly are actually very lonely and boring. Many of them are very pessimistic. They live in a very congested apartment; they have no hope in life. However, they would not seek help from neighbours, social workers or any one else and there are two reasons for this phenomenon. First, it is due to their conservative belief. They think that seeking help from others is troublesome, and it exposes their weaknesses. Second, many old people are suffering from illnesses, such as diabetes, eye diseases etc. It is inconvenient to take a long journey in consulting a social worker provided by the government. In this case, we should take the lead to help them. , I am sure that they will be willing to share their feeling with us. Thus, offering help to elderly is more meaningful than offering help to the primary schoolchildren.

One may think that, ‘the HKSAR government had already given the old people a various aspects of assistances, why do we still need to help them?’ In fact, the assistance offered to the elderly is very insufficient. With the deficit budget of the HKSAR government, the monetary assistance to the elderly people over 65 will be reduced. Furthermore, the hospitals will not offer medicine to the patients now; many old people have to buy medicines from pharmacy by themselves. From all these, we may understand the reasons for the elderly to lose hope about their future. Although we are helpless in giving them monetary assistance, we may give them hope in this activity. We can give them positive messages about life, telling them the story of Doctor Tse Yuen Man, who was scarified during SARS. I am confident that these can give them hope and add colour in life. From my experience, many old people who live in squatter area, like the Shek Kip Mei Estates, are extremely poor. When our voluntary work team bring some oranges and biscuits to them, the elderly simile sweetly. They are quite willing to share their experience with us; we also learnt to cherish our life from their stories. Therefore, in visiting and

helping elderly, we can also learn a lesson from them.

It is always blessed to give than to receive. Although we cannot help both group of newly immigrated primary schoolchildren and elderly people, it is still a good chance to offer help to those in need. I suggest that our school join this project again in the following academic year, and we can offer help to the primary schoolchildren next time.