Tham khảo

It is regrettable that Hanoi, where I’m living, is negatively affected by pollution and the major environmental problems it is facing are water pollution, air pollution and noise pollution.

There are various reasons why this city is badly polluted. Firstly, due to modernization, more and more vehicles such as cars and motorbikes are used. This leads to an increase in exhaust emissions which contaminate the atmosphere, not to mention the rising level of noise pollution. Secondly, factories and industrial zones in the city have discharged a huge amount of untreated waste into rivers, causing death to many fish and other aquatic animals.

In fact, pollution makes people here less healthy, and some even suffer from life-threatening diseases such as lung cancer, skin cancer, and so on. Therefore, the government must deal with this problem right away. Cutting down on vehicle use is the best way to reduce air pollution and noise pollution. We can do this by encouraging people to use public transportation. Besides, those who litter should pay a heavy fine. Finally, I think the best solution is to raise awareness and educate people to protect the environment.

1.

There is only one disease called common: the common cold. We call it the common cold because every year millions of people catch it.

Everybody knows the symptoms: a runny nose, a slight fever, coughing and sneezing. It is very unpleasant, but nobody knows a cure.

At the drugstore, there are usually shelves with cold "cures". These medicines don't cure a cold, but they do relieve the symptoms. Whatever you do, your cold will last for a few days and then disappear.

How can you help prevent a cold? Eat well, exercise and you will be fit and healthy.

2.

A couple of months ago I went to the Greek island of Crete. We stayed in a town called Xania, which is on the coast in the north west of Crete. It is a really picturesque town with small cobbled streets, a large harbour and many ancient buildings. I went there with my husband Brendan for a one-week holiday.

We got there by various means of transport, taking a train to the airport, then a four-hour flight, followed by a twenty-minute taxi ride from the airport to where we were staying. The whole journey took around eight hours from door to door, which was a bit longer than we expected it to take, although we didn't have any major delays, thank goodness.

I enjoyed my stay there very much, as I had not had a holiday for ages and needed to switch off from working. We didn't do much sightseeing, although Xania itself has a long and fascinating history so went to the local museum in order to learn more about it. I spent a lot of time reading books and swimming in the sea, which I must admit was quite a lot colder than I thought it would be. I also enjoyed eating the delicious Cretan food, and walking around the ancient streets in the town.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was going to a restaurant called Xalkina, where they had live Cretan music every night. The musicians were playing instruments that I had never seen before, and I loved the style and tempo of the music they played. I would definitely like to go back to Crete one day, though next time I would probably make more effort to see the amazing sights of the rest of Crete.

* To save the energy, we have to:

- Turn off lights and appliances when you are not using them, use energy-saving light bulbs

- Reuse plastic bags for shopping and storage

- Use a microwave instead of a stove to reheat food

- Change your travel behaviour, think more in terms of public transportation, if possible, walk or ride your bicycle instead of taking the car

- Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable batteries

- Reduce your house heat by 1C, keep the windows closed while heating, dress warmly

- Choose products that come with lightweight packaging

- Understand and improve your home's energy use

- Insulate your roof

- Turn heaters and coolers off when you don't need them

* We can protect the enviroments by:

1 Wrap gifts in fabric and tie with ribbon; both are reusable and prettier than paper and sticky-tape.

2 Start a compost heap to reduce the waste you send to landfill sites.

3 Buy your own hive: without bees the planet would last for only 60 years (and honey is good for your health).

4 Use a nappy washing service: they use 32% less energy and 41% less water than home washing.

5 Slow down. Driving at 50mph uses 25% less fuel than 70mph.

6 Wash your clothes with your flatmates' instead of wasting water on half-empty loads.

7 Turn down your central heating and put on a jumper.

8 Take a brisk shower, not a leisurely bath, to save water.

9 Hold a Tupperware party. Airtight food containers can be reused; sandwich bags and plastic wrap cannot.

10 Choose energy-efficient appliances when you replace old ones.

1. Talk about one of the wonders in the world

Ha Long Bay is one of the seven natural wonders in the world. Ha Long Bay is located in Quang Ninh province which is in the north of Vietnam. It is nearly 200km from Hanoi. So it takes you about 4 hours by car. You can also travel there in a coach or even in a helicopter on Saturday. The best season to visit Ha Long is in summer when the weather is warm and sunny. Ha Long Bay has many beautiful caves and islands; therefore, you must take a boat trip to enjoy the view here. You certainly must take pictures to remember the trip better, too. If you are an active person, you must do the water sports here like swimming, sailing, and windsurfing. One more thing, you must try the seafood here because it is incredibly fresh and delicious. With this travel guide, I hope that you will have a wonderful time here in the number one natural wonder of Vietnam.

2. Talk about your hobby

There are countless things that I love in this world. But the thing I love most is reading book. I started this bobby when i was 8 years old. I often reading books whenever and wherever I can. I read news, story books and novels and especially have passion for discovery books. Reading is an incredibly inexpensive hobby that provides so many benefits. Book help me widen my knowledge of the world. When I am sad or disheartened, I often mix myself with book. I realize that the life has many meanful things than i thought and i need to try my best for my bright future. Book also bring me more motivation and joy of life. All of parents want to give their children a quality education. I think the best method is let them read book, regardless of any kind of books, as long as those book are wholesome books. I have no intention of of this useful hobby. In future, I want to read and more book.

5. Talk about your favourite sport

I would like to talk about a sport that I particularly enjoy and have been practising for a few years. It is basketball. For me, this is not only a sport or a physical exercise but also an ideal way for me to relieve of stress and to make new friends.

I first knew about basketball when I was a little kid through a video game called NBA 2k8. However, at that time I did not play badminton at all, partly because I was not an active kid who was aware of the critical importance of physical exercises. When I went to high school, a lot of my friends were a big fan of basketball and my high school offered big playgrounds for sports activities, therefore I practised basketball much more often.

I usually play basketball in the weekends and watch NBA on the nights when my favorite team, the Los Angeles Lakers play. I often go to sports centres with a number of my classmates for basketball matches. Sometimes we even participate in local league, didn’t accomplish anything big but it was extremely fun.

For me, basketball is a good way to help me pursue a healthy lifestyle. It is also an affordable type of sport as you do not have to buy a lot of specialised sports materials. Finally, playing basketball enables me to develop a number of important and non-academic skills such as discipline, team-work, problem-solving and co-operation.