1 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Playing a game is fun only when you win. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

　　I agree with the old saying, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” I don’t need to win. I have fun playing all games because it gives me time to be with friends, learn new things, and work as a team.

　　Tennis is one game that I enjoy. It’s a great opportunity to socialize. Of course, you can’t carry on a conversation while you’re playing, but my tennis partner and I talk a lot before the game. Since we have to reserve a court, we have to talk to one another to find a convenient time to meet. Then we have to make sure that the court is available at that time. This often takes many phone calls and, of course, we talk about many other things during the same conversation. Once we get to the court, we often have to wait. That gives us another opportunity to chat. After the game, we usually go out for a soda or a meal and talk some more. We don’t even talk about how well or how poorly we played. Tennis is just an excuse for us to get together.

　　The board game Scrabble, on the other hand, is a real skill builder. It’s a challenge to form words from the letters in front of you and on the board. I always learn a new word from my opponent, although sometimes I’m suspicious whether the word really exists. Often we don’t even keep score. We just do it because it’s fun and we learn new English words.

　　Soccer is the most competitive sport I’m involved in. I do my best, but it doesn’t matter to me if my team loses. I enjoy just being with my friends and traveling to different schools in different cities to play. I learn a lot about teamwork when we practice. Our coach tells us the most important thing is to play well as a team. It seems she just wants us to have fun and not worry about winning.

　　All in all, I just enjoy having a good time. Presumably that’s our purpose in life. Isn’t that better than worrying about who wins and who loses all the time?

　　2 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? High schools should allow students to study the courses that students want to study. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

　　I think high school students should be allowed to choose some of the subjects they study. However, the basic subjects, like mathematics, literature, and science, should be mandatory for all students.

　　When I was in high school, we were allowed to choose three electives each semester. Electives were subjects that weren’t part of the basic curriculum. They included things like music, journalism, art, and various kinds of team sports. Choosing some of these subjects to study gave me a chance to experiment. I was able to get a head start on what I was going to study in college.

　　However, college preparation shouldn’t be the main factor. I think all students should be allowed to take a certain number of courses just because they’re interested in them. For many students, high school is the last chance to learn about things they’re interested in. Maybe once they have a job there won’t be time for studying.

　　Of course, it’s also important that students study certain basic subjects. If I’d had a choice, I know I wouldn’t have studied mathematics or science. I wasn’t very interested in them. However, once I was in class, I found myself getting interested. I wouldn’t have known this if I’d been given the choice, because I would have chosen not to take the courses.

　　High school students aren’t always the best judges of what they’ll find useful in the years ahead. They need the guidance of experts in the field of education. However, they also need some freedom to follow their curiosity and individual interests. They should be given the freedom to choose some courses, while being required to take others.

　　3 AD Do you agree or disagree with following statement? It is better to be a member of a group than to be the leader of a group. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

　　According to my opinion, it’s always better to be a leader than a follower. True leader show initiative. They take action and they assume responsibility. A leader makes a decision. Some followers may approve of the decision, others may complain about it. However, these followers all chose to follow, not to lead. They chose not to make a decision. That’s how I’m different. I’m not a follower. I want to make the decisions.

　　Good leader will not react to events, but will anticipate them .A leader will start a plan of action and then will persuade others to follow. For example, a class president at a local college may feel that the relationship between the community and the campus is not a good one .The citizens may feel that the college kids make too much noise on the street, litter public areas, and shop in other communities. A good class president will recognize that the community and the campus depend on one another. The president will ask the student body to keep noise down, help clean up the neighborhoods, and work with businesses to attract students. A good leader takes the initiative.

　　Good leaders must be action-oriented. Having taken the initiative, they must see the job though. They have to take charge and lead the followers. They have to motivate and encourage the followers. The followers (in this example, the student body) must understand why good relations with the community are necessary. The followers must be persuaded to do something about it.

　　I enjoy taking the initiative, determining the direction, and being responsible for my actions. I don’t want to suffer through other people’s stupid decisions. If there are going to be stupid ways to do something, let them be mine. Wouldn’t you agree?

　　4 EX What do you consider to be the most important room in a house? Why is this room more important to you than any other room? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

　　The kitchen is my favorite room in a house, because it is where families gather. To me, that is the most important thing. So many of the memories people have of growing up revolve around the kitchen. My childhood memories concern the kitchens in my grandparents ‘homes.

　　My mother’s family lived in a row house in the city. The rooms were all small, and that included the kitchen. In the summertime, when we’d visit, the back door of the house would be left open. People would be sitting on the back porch and in the kitchen, talking and laughing, while my grandmother made dinner. There was no air-conditioning, but I don’t ever remember feeling too hot. There was always a breeze coming through, along with the sounds of traffic and kids playing ball in the street.

　　My father’s family liver on a farm in the country, and their house had a huge kitchen with windows on three sides. It seems like the windows were always open and the curtains blowing with the breeze. The main door to the house was almost never used. Everyone came in through the kitchen, and sat at the big table in the middle of the room. When dinner was being prepared, all the women would bustle around, while the men sat at the table talking about farm prices. Sometimes my grandmother wouldn’t even sit down during dinner, but would be refilling bowls of food and people’s glasses. From outside ,we could hear the cows in the field near the house.

　　These two kitchens are the background for some of my happiest memories. From the beginning of time, human beings have gathered together near the fire where the food was being prepared. I hope that never changes.