NOWADAYS MANY PEOPLE THINK THAT CHOOSING THE RIGHT SECONDARY SCHOOL DETERMINES THEIR FUTURE LIFE.

1. How do you think people choose?
2. What do you think people take into account when they chose a school? (location, standard of education, friends)
3. How do people get information on secondary schools before entering one? (open days, school publications, older friends, reputation of school)
4. For some people extracurricular activities are just important as teaching/learning) What do you think? Which activities, celebrations or festivals did you find the most memorable in your school?
5. Would you choose the same school again? Why? Why not?

William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, FRS is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and science.

This book romps through the history of Britain to reveal how English became such an infuriatingly complex - but ultimately world-beating - language. The subject areas covered in the course of the programme (which was originally broadcast in 6 episodes) include the arrival of the Angles and the Saxons, the rules which brought order to a disorderly language.

Other books by the same writer you might want to read:

Notes from a Small Island is a humorous travel book on Great Britain by American author Bill Bryson, first published in 1995.

Made In America is a nonfiction book by Bill Bryson describing the history of the English language in the United States and the evolution of American culture.

When you have to talk about a topic, you can arrange your ideas around advantages and disadvantages. Most things have cons and pros.

Divide your talk into four parts:

1. Give the topic you are going to talk about and state that you are going to mention some of the advantages and disadvantages.

2. Talk about the advantages

3. Talk about disadvantages

4. Give your opinion

Example:

Television

As far as I know television was invented in the 1920s or 1930s and has become an important part of our lives since then. Like everything else in life, it has advantages and disadvantages.

First, let me speak about the benefits of watching television.

I have a nine-to-five job, I usually arrive home between 6 and 7 pm. I am very tired in the evenings, so I just want to put up my feet and relax. I am not very fond of going out, I prefer watching TV to going to the cinema.

A second point is that TV is very entertaining. I am fond of comedies, they really cheer me up after a hard day at the office. I have cable TV and I subscribe to comedy channels.

In addition to this, TV brings the world into my living room. It gives me information about the news and the weather and many other things.

Last but not least, watching American films with subtitles is a great way of learning English.

However, there are disadvantages, too.

Firstly, I am short-sighted and watching TV is not too good for my eyes.

Secondly, if you watch too much TV, you will become a couch potato.

Also, you can become more isolated and lonely if you watch TV instead of going out.

Another point is that sometimes I get fed up with TV programs like reality shows or violent films.

Overall, I think that despite the disadvantages, TV is one of the best inventions ever. You just have to enjoy it in moderation and be very selective.

Matura Exam Practice
In these two pictures you can see two dramatically different landscapes, one dominated by a factory and another one featuring miles of unspoilt countryside. One of the pictures is about polluting the environment, the other one shows peaceful nature. Compare the two pictures.
(some ideas, words and phrases to use:
1. industrialization
+ creates: jobs, progress, economic growth
- harmful chemicals, pollution, global warming
2. Earth in the future?
- depends on us - it is likely that picture 1 shows our future
overpopulated earth, more cars, more factories, more pollution
3. pollution:
harmful gases (cars, aerosol sprays, factories)
CO2 - if CO2 level increases, the temperature will rise (greenhouse effect)
If the temperature rises, the icecaps at the poles will melt.
If the icecaps melt, sea level will rise.
If the sea level rises, there will be floods everywhere - the Netherlands, London etc. will be under water.
If there are floods, many people will lose their homes and it will be impossible to grow crops in those places.
4. We should make changes - individulas and governments, too.
green ways, renewable energy sources (solar panels, windpower)
3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
(images from: 7 próbaérettségi angol nyelvből)

8 WAYS TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CX8LjP_d_0

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtoeZ9Nkeqk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWxjFLDoIDA

THE ENVIRONMENT - problems and solutions

We are used to living comfortably. We depend on our cars, central heating, electrical appliances and supermarket shelves.

We need more and more energy, so we burn a lot of natural resources (coal, oil) to produce electricity or to drive our cars.

When we burn natural resources, they release gases, such as CO2. A lot of CO2 changes the atmosphere, creating the greenhouse effect. Solar energy is trapped in the atmosphere and the temperature of the earth rises.

If the temperature rises, the polar ice will melt.

If the polar ice melts, the sea level will rise.

If the sea level rises, there will be floods in  many parts of the world.

If there are floods, people will lose their homes and will not be able to grow vegetables.

If people are not able to grow vegetables, they will starve.

Global warming, climate change and pollution pose a serious threat to people.

What should we do to protect the environment?

We should Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. It means that we should

-         reduce the number of cars and old, dirty factories, use less water, energy, buy fewer things

-         reuse things: give old clothes to charities, they will give them to people who can wear them.

-         recycle plastic bottles, newspapers, collect waste selectively

We shouldn’t waste water or electricity. Instead of turning up the heating, we should put on a warm jumper. Instead of taking long baths we should take short showers. Instead of driving to work solo, we should use public transport or share a ride. Maybe ride a bike.

Overall, we should pay more attention to the environment and teach the next generation how to avoid the mistakes we made.

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QUESTIONS:http://iteslj.org/questions/environment.html

http://www.centennialbulb.org/cam.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzJI8gfpu5Y

THE ENVIRONMENT

We are ………. to living comfortably. We depend ………. our cars, central heating, electrical appliances and supermarket ……….

We ………. more and more energy, so we burn a lot of natural resources (coal, oil) to ……… electricity or to drive our cars.

When we …….. natural resources, they release gases, such as CO2. A lot of CO2 changes the atmosphere, creating the ……… effect. Solar energy is ……… in the atmosphere and the temperature of the earth rises.

If the temperature …….., the polar ice will ……...

If the polar ice melts, the sea level will rise.

If the sea level rises, there will be ………. in  many parts of the world.

If there are floods, people will lose their homes and will not be ………. to grow vegetables.

If people are not able to grow vegetables, they will starve.

Global warming, climate change and pollution ………. a serious threat to people.

What should we do to protect the environment?

We should ………., ……… and ……….. It means that we should

• reduce the ………. of cars and old, dirty factories, use less water, energy, buy ………things

• reuse things: give old clothes to ………, they will give them to people who can wear them. 

• recycle plastic bottles, newspapers, collect waste ………..

We shouldn’t waste water or electricity. Instead …….. turning up the heating, we should put …….. a warm jumper. ………. of taking long baths we should take short showers. Instead of driving to work solo, we should use public transport or share a ride. Maybe ride a bike. 

……….., we should pay more attention to the environment and teach the next generation how ……… avoid the mistakes we made.

https://www.goodlucktoefl.com/toefl-writing-topics-agree-or-disagree.html

https://www.englishclub.com/speaking/agreeing-disagreeing-topics.htm

https://actionwins.ca/Documents/Sample_Essay_PEH.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=agree+disagree+opinion

https://eduline.hu/erettsegi_felveteli/2014/4/17/emelt_szintu_tetelek_minden_targybol_D9WORN

Reading books is my hobby. Books provide knowledge, information and entertainment. A lot of knowledge is stored in books written by master minded geniuses. Books are our best guides and honest friends.

Reading gives much pleasure. I can enjoy the company of great writers by reading their works. I can learn from them good and noble things of life. Good books are friends. They contain the wisdom of ages. They are an endless store of knowledge. We can learn much from them they give us food for the mind. Reading book is the best of all hobbies. It is not very expensive. We can borrow books from libraries

Reading is one of the most constructive hobbies a person can have. The difference between ignorance and knowledge is only a book away. Reading stimulates your mind. It makes you think. You can learn to do many other hobbies by reading. It will generate in you new ideas and a more sound of understanding of the world and those around you. All great men and women have had a love of reading and a passion for learning.

Reading can be a relaxing hobby as well. It is something you can just sit around in your house and do. You can go to the park and read. You can go up into the mountains or out in field to read alone if you would like. You can get completely lost in reading and forget where you are or what time it is, or how much time has passed while you have been reading. If you do not like reading, do it anyway, until you learn to love it. Read different types of books to see which genre of books are most interesting to you.

Reading can fit all personality types, whether you like fiction or non-fiction, action, adventure, drama, humor, whatever it may be, there are books that will fit your tastes. I try to read books as often as I can. I have a personal website now, where I created a book club and can make comments or reviews of the books I read. I think I enjoy every book that I read. Every single one has something to offer, something to learn from it.

Books can make you see the world differently; they can make you understand things more fully and wholly. They can change your paradigm. They will increase your vocabulary, your understanding of life and people, and with this understanding, you will gain more confidence in your social interactions. You will be able to argue your opinions more thoroughly and logically. You will understand the current issues to a greater extent. When you learn to understand others better, you can become more tolerant and respectful of differing opinions. Your opinions will become more logical and solidified; they may change and be molded as they are solidifying from your increase in knowledge.

I really enjoy books that  - besides entertainment - give me food for thought. I also look for new books and new writers. I came across Veronica Roth's debut novel on an internet forum. A lot of young readers were fascinated by it and recommended it. Although Roth is a very young novelist (born in 1988) she has won quite a few awards -including Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2012).

The genre of the trilogy is dystopian fiction. Dystopian fiction novels describe horrible or degraded society that is generally headed to disaster.

The story is set in the future, in the Chicago area (where by the way the writer lived). I am going to put the events of the trilogy in chronological order because it is easier to follow the plot this way.

It all started when a government decided to use genetics to create a better mankind. Scientists were asked to modify people's genes to make them more hard working, ......... . At first it seemed to work. They thought they were on the right track. But after a couple of years everything went horribly wrong. People went mad (went postal) and started to attack and kill each other. The experiment turned out to be a disaster. To rectify its mistake, the government set up 'experiments', establishing isolated cities across the country in the hopes of raising enough genetically pure (Divergent) individuals to fix the 'genetic damage' left in the wake of the Purity War.

I believe this is something that makes you wonder where science leads us. Most people are convinced that sooner or later science will give us every answer. It will make our lives better, healthier and longer. It will eradicate hunger, poverty and illness. However,  what people do not realize is that sometimes we have to pay a steep price for achievements. Nowadays, there are debates on GM (genetically modified) food. Some people argue that GM food will ease world hunger, it may be the answer to global warming as well because we will be able to produce crops that withstand cold weather, droughts, and floods.Others argue that GM food causes severe health problems and they might be able to change human DNA. Of course, average people get frustrated because they can't tell who's right and who's wrong. But books like the divergent trilogy make you think aboutthe problem - from the viewpoint of a future generation.

But back to the Divergent trilogy. The story revolves around Tris, a girl who was born generations after the genetical experiment and does not anything about it. The story is set within a dystopian version of Chicago. The city is divided into 5 groups (or as they call it:factions): Abnegation, meant for the selfless (they only wear grey clothes, they govern the city because they aren't hungry for money or power); Amity, meant for the peaceful (they only wear yellow and red clothes, they work in agriculture and they are 'drugged', which contributes to their happiness, they never participate in wars, always keep their neutrality); Candor, meant for the honest (they only wear black and white because they believe in bad and good); Dauntless, meant for the brave (they only wear black, they are full of tatoos and piercings, it is the youngest faction and their job is to protect the city); and Erudite, meant for the knowledgeable (always have to wear something blue, they are the scientists of the city, doctors, inventors of important medicines). When people turn 16 they have to take a test that tells them which faction suits them. Then, they are allowed to make a choice: they can either stay with their family or transfer to a different faction.

The protagonist, Tris (Beatrice Prior ) was born into an Abnegation family but she never felt comfortable in her faction because she wasn't selfless like the rest of her family. When she takes the test, she realizes that she belongs in three groups: Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. People who have this kind of result are different from others, that's why they are called 'Divergent'. When Choosing Day comes, Tris decides to leave her family and start a new life in the brave Dauntless faction. However, she has another test to take. It's called initiation and she can become a full member of the Dauntless only if she is among the best. She has to learn to fight and face her own fears. Meanwhile she realizes that the intelligent Erudite' group is planning an attack on  Abnigation. The group doesn't like the way Abnigation leads the city. Erudite want to use mind control on Dauntless and make them carry out the attack. During the attack quite a few people die (including Tris's parents) but in the end they are able to stop the mind control simulation and end the fight.

In the next book, Insurgent, the survivors go to Amity. But their enemies from Dauntless and Erudite find them and fights begin again.