Online Class Notes (Ally)

IELTS Writing Task 2/ IELTS Essay:
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Plastic bags, plastic bottles and plastic packaging are bad for the environment.
What damage does plastic do to the environment?
What can be done by governments and individuals to solve this problem?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.

word choice for speaking q’s.

thesaurus: good/important/bad/neg/quick/slow/big/small

Vocabulary

narrative: 说故事的角度
ie. The narrative in this news article is pro-China.

I should wake up at 5 AM

opinion/event: shitai

Q: When do people give gifts in your country?
A: In my country, people always give gifts in seasonal holidays, such as Chinese NY. And usually, we would prepare some special gifts to each other/ and sometimes these gifts carry special traditional /cultural significance/symbolic value. For an example, we will prepare pocket money to children in the Chinese NY to wish them good luck and prosperity.

Q: Do you take a gift when you visit someone in their home? why or why not
A: Absolutely yes. When I visit someone in their home/In Chinese culture, bringing a gift is a good choice/display of nice manners. because there’s a traditional saying in China “no one can refuse a person with a gift”. IMO, I will bring some useful gift to visit someone in their home, such as food./to show my thoughtfulness and my sincerity. If I run out of ideas, I will always choose some food, because you can never go wrong with food.

Q: What was your last gift? what was it?
A: My last gift is the gift I mentioned before. It is food from my colleagues. You know mushrooms are very famous in YN especially in this season/very famous and in season right now. One of my friends sent me some special mushrooms from YN so I can get a local taste. I tried it and it really taste very delicious. I enjoyed the food from my friend and I feel that gift deepens our friendship. I think I will prepare some special gift from SH to show my appreciation.

Q: Do you enjoy gift-shopping?
A: I really enjoy gift-shopping and I also enjoy giving some suggestions to the others about gift shopping. Because I think when you pick a gift, it should show how you understand your friend/you need to consider the personality and preferences of your friend. So the gift which you pick it carries a lot meaning and show different messages. For example, I wouldn’t buy a unisexual fragrance for a sexy female/woman friend. I would pick/select a fragrance with a strong flower tone, which is a better choice.

Q: Flowers as a gift?
A: I don’t know what others say/I know that many people think flowers expire quickly and it’s not that practical as a gift/a practical gift, but I really love flowers as a gift. Just because they’re pretty and they lighten my mood/can make my day. And different flowers show different meanings, and no matter what they say, females/us girls always love flowers/ can always be a good choice to female friends.

Part 3:
Q: What is the purpose of gift giving in our life?
A: I think the purpose of gift giving in our life is message-delivering. No matter you want to deliver a pos or neg msg. I mean neg message, maybe you want to say sorry to someone, you want to send them a gift first to open the topic. The message delivering is how we want to com to the people. If you want to con to someone, gift sending is a good choice. You can have some flowers to congrats your friend’s wedding. And also gift-giving reduce the difficulties of com, because there’s a old saying in Chinese “no one can refuse people’s gift”. When you want to say something neg, you want to apologize to someone, gifting is always a good choice. It can decrease the neg emotions from the people you want to talk. IMO, gifting is a good choice for communication so it is important in our life.

• “good choice” “neg, pos” …
• big concept + specifics + example ie. For celebratory occasions like graduations, baby showers, weddings… /Whether it is to say congrats or to apologize ….

More and more people enjoy the time on social media in their daily life. While some people spend most of their time on it, the others think it is a poison. However, you have to admit that social media brings a lot of benefits like contacting people more instantly and know different aspects from people. So we should embrace it whenever we can.

In the ancient time, if we want to contact a friend the only way, we can use is letter, but it spends too much time even several months. It was very inconvenient if we have something urgent to tell. However, we can use social media to contact people instantly in now days. It is very quickly and efficient. Under the social media technology, we can communicate anyone in anytime.

In additional, social media also update people’s status in real-time. We can know about anyone’s life only with a ‘follow’ click, even though the celebrity’s life. But the most important thing is social media also help us to know more details about our friends. You can share the happy or emotional moments to your friends even they weren’t there. It makes the relationship more and more closely.

In my opinion, I prefer to social media is a fabulous invention in this generation. It makes the information delivered more quickly and efficiently. It helps me to gain lots of new news around the world and keep me in trends. That is an important skill in my working industry – advertisement. In the future, we can imagine that social media will be apply for more area such as social system management, it can save the cost and time of communication in the society.

Edited

Today’s young generation spend most of their time/People today are becoming increasingly reliant on social media in their daily life. While some people think social media provides meaning to their lives, others think it is a drug. Admittedly, social media can be addictive in a negative way. However, it is without doubt that social media brings a lot of benefits like contacting people more instantly and knowing different aspects from various narratives/sources/those around you. So we should embrace it whenever we can.

In the ancient times, the only way to contact a friend is by letters/post/mail, but it takes too much time/but it is incredibly slow and inconvenient. It was impossible to deliver urgent message. However, today, we can use social media to contact people instantly nowadays. It is very quick and efficient. With a simple chat app, people can send instant messages to coworkers, relatives, friends, or even groups. Under the social media technology, we can communicate with anyone in anytime.

In addition/additionally, social media also displays/shows people’s status in real-time. We can know about anyone -even celebrities – just by clicking a ‘follow’ button./ For hardcore fans/star-chasers, this is great news because they can know everything about their idols./it is much easier to cyber-stalk their idols. But the most important thing is social media also helps us to know more details about our friends. You can share the happy or emotional moments to your friends even though/if they weren’t there. This situation/benefit/advantage/feature of social media … It makes the relationship more close/intimate/strong/ it strengthens/deepens our friendships./it makes it easier to maintain our relationships, especially long-distance ones.

In my opinion, social media is one of the most fabulous/miraculous/life-changing inventions in this generation. It makes the information delivery more quick and efficient. It helps me to gain lots of new news around the world and keeps me in touch with the current trends. That is an important skill in my professional industry – advertisement. In the future, we can also imagine/stay optimistic that social media will be applied to more areas such as social system management, and it can/would bring more benefits to our society.

NOTES:
1. more and more -> becoming increasingly xxxx… today’s people are  …
2. while some… others.. / One way… the other…

3. You have to -> it is without doubt, undoubtedly
   adj -> simple first, then complex ie. Slow and inconvenient
4. you and I -> It is ….
5. Give a specific example. Think about daily action/movement.
6. Only: how much Just: time 刚刚(i was just here) / severity 轻重小事大事  (You just need to click “like”)
7. 词性的转换  try to change to noun, so you have a free “verb”spot
   This + noun to summarize the previous sentence – > S of your next sentence = flow