Writing Feedback / The Early Admission Scheme - article [2]

Hi, Sarah,

This is my tenth practice. This article may be strange for you too as it is about a local educational issue. Anyway, please give me some feedback.

Thanks!

Question: There has recently been an increase in the number of Secondary 6 students granted early admission to university on the basis of their outstanding Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination results. Write an article for your school newspaper from your perspective as a Secondary 7 student. Give your views as to the benefits and drawbacks of the Early Admissions Scheme for secondary schools, Secondary 6 students who have been admitted, and for students doing the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination.

The Early Admission Scheme: Good and Bad

The Hong Kong Advanced Level Examinations (HKALE), is coming very soon. As a candidate of this year's, I need to study very hard for this infamously difficult exam. However, there are some students who can enroll in the local universities without taking this exam. It is not because they are gifted students, but they had got 6 As or more in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) with above average language skills. Though the Early Admissions Scheme, they can enjoy campus life one year earlier than their normal peers. Yet, this scheme not only affects them but also secondary schools and students like me.

In one hand, secondary schools with 'jumpers' can more efficiently use their resources. With the outstanding students who leave their schools after their Secondary 6, the standards of the students in the classes would be less varied. Therefore, the teachers can teach their students with less concern that some of their students are not beneficial to their lessons just because the lessons would be too simple for them, as the teacher need to concern the majority of their students.

In the other hand, those schools would lose the chance to gain more honor from the students. The students who can get 6As or more in the HKCEE are likely to get outstanding results in the HKALE too if they need to take it. Lucky to other secondary schools, as the jumper's absent to sit for the HKALE, the chance for their form 7 students to get outstanding results is increased. That explain why traditionally famous schools do not usually produce students with outstanding HKALE results.

For the jumpers, there are benefits for them. Firstly, they need not spend so much energy to prepare another public exam. Secondly, they can save their money which would originally be used in their form 7. Thirdly, they can save one year from finishing the secondary levels.

However, there is potential downside for them. They may lose half year's secondary schools life and several months' break time, of which normal senior secondary students will have. Some precious experience would be lost, including shots of graduation photos, fighting for another public exam together with their peers or just things that would happen in their daily school life.

In addition, some of them may have problems in their campus life. Having the ability to get many As in HKCEE does not necessarily mean that they can also get good grades in HKALE, because the two exams are very different in its scope and difficulty. Plus they have one-year-less experience in education. It would be hard for them to keep up with their university classmates.

For students like me who need to sit in the HKALE, I admit that the less outstanding students taking to the exam, the more opportunities for me to get a good grade. However, it seems to be a paradox and whenever the grades that are easier to get, the grades required to be admitted by the local universities is higher, as the space for local students to enroll in the universities remains changed. The only thing different is that I need to take two public exams and they just need to take one.

The implementation of the Early Admission Scheme comes with benefits and drawbacks. The students who have been admitted in their form 6 must be greatly affected by this scheme. There may be some downside for them, but at least they have the freedom to choose. For normal students like me, the effect of this scheme is too little. So, students, just go for your future!

Writing Feedback / Hong Kong for mainland tourists - article [2]

Hello Sarah,

This is my ninth practice. I used a point of view of a travel magazine for Hong Kong readers to write this article so that you may feel strange. Anyway, please give me your sincere feedback again. Thanks in advance!

Question:
You are a reporter for a travel magazine which has just conducted a survey to collect opinions about Hong Kong from visiting mainland tourists. Write an article giving a broad outline of the survey results. You should report on the tourists' impressions of Hong Kong and Hong Kong people, including the negative as well as the positive aspects. Also suggest measures that can be taken by the Hong Kong Tourism Board to enhance Hong Kong's competitive edge as an attractive destination for mainland tourists.

Hong Kong for mainland tourists

Under Individual Visit Scheme, people from the mainland are easier and more convenient to visit Hong Kong. With more and more of Chinese provinces are involved in this scheme, mainland tourists have become one of the most important visitors that Hang Kong's tourist industry hinges on. Because of this, our magazine has conducted a survey, interviewed 1011 mainland tourists at several tour spots, to find out what are their feelings about Hong Kong and Hong Kong people. The following paragraphs will show you what the results tell us and what our Tourism Board can do to polish up our image as an attractive destination for mainland tourists.

First of all, mainland tourists especially like our harbor view. The risky On Ping 360, the world's smallest Disneyland, or the rather popular Ocean Park, are all defeated by Victory harbor. At night, the skyscrapers' beautiful lights, harmoniously combining with the special effects by green lasers, making an unforgettable view for the tourists, and truly convinced them that Hong Kong is a modern city.

What's more, Hong Kong is a shopping paradise for mainland tourists with a special reason. The selling of fake products is rampant in the mainland's marking. Mainland people lost their confidence in buying things in there, especially when they want to buy technologies, jewelry and health products, and prefer to buy them in Hong Kong instead. 'I believe in the efforts of the Hong Kong tourism Board which assure that we can buy genuine products' said one of the respondents. He also cited the easy way to indentify which shops are more trustful, although they have little information of it, was by checking whether there is a 'confidence label' stuck on the glass of shops' front door.

Additionally, mainland tourist thought that Hong Kong people are civilized. Some of the visitors expressed that they seldom queue for a bus, follow traffic lights, and sometimes litter in their own town, but they did not see these things happen in Hong Kong and found it good to follow the lifestyle.

However, some mainland tourists expressed their disappointment about Hong Kong's environment. The tourists found that the roads in Hong Kong are often busy, crowed, and full of exhausted fumes, which made them feel uncomfortable to breathe and deterred a few of them from visiting our city again.

Also, mainland tourists found it hard to communicate with the local people. They expected that it would not be difficult to ask some locals for directions in Putonghua. Unfortunately, the circumstance was the opposite. Some even thought that the shop staff in Hong Kong could only poorly use Putonghua to answer their questions.

To enhance our competitive edge as an attractive destination for Mainland tourists, there are some suggestions for the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Firstly, they should urge the government to adopt further measures to improve Hong Kong's air quality and promote greening in the community by conducting more research about damage of the problem has inflicted Hong Kong's tourism. Also, they should promote and subsidize the study of Putonghua for encouraging people better their Putonghua Language skills.

With the goodness of Hong Kong, it has already been an ideal place for Mainland tourists to visit. However, there is room for improvement. With the improvement, Mainland tourists would have a perfect experience of visiting Hong Kong.

Writing Feedback / voluntary work - helping poor elderly people or newly arrived pupil [2]

Hello again,

This is my eighth practice. Please give me feedback. Thanks in advance.

Questions:
Your school has decided to take part in a voluntary work project in one of two major areas: helping EITHER poor elderly people OR primary schoolchildren newly arrived from the mainland. Your class teacher is collecting opinions from the class in the form of essays written by students.

Write your own essay, outlining your personal preference and stating at least three reasons to support your choice. Give your essay a title.

We Can Provide More and Learn More - I Prefer Poor Elderly People

Poor elderly people and primary schoolchildren newly arrived from mainland both deserve to be helped. But when it comes to be a must to choose one of the two areas to be our voluntary works, I would consider which one needs our help more, which it is more viable for us to help, and from which we can learn more. After comparing them by the above criteria, I would like to say 'poor elderly people' would be a better choice.

Firstly of all, poor elderly people need our help more. Rarely are the poor elderly having people to visit. Although the government would sometimes send volunteers and members of social security staff to visit their home, they are still getting not enough help, from cleaning their flat to just talking with them. It is because they often have few relatives and are difficult to do those for themselves. In the contrary, primary schoolchildren newly arrived are having various ways to be helped. For example, they often have their parents or other relatives who can help them. Also, their schools should already have enough resources such as teachers, counselors, and special classes to help them to adapt the new environment.

Moreover, it is more viable for us to help the poor elderly. Helping the poor elderly needs labor forces and talks. We can visit the home of the elderly, give them a talk or use our hands to do something they are physically difficult to do. It will only spend us several hours and may use us some energy, to which we can afford. However, if we choose the children to be our voluntary works, we need to spend more time, because adaptation problems cannot be solved in a single or even several voluntary works, provided that if we cannot help them in this way, I think we have few reasons to target them to help. For that we are already Form 7 students who need to take part in A-level examinations several months later, I would say that I cannot afford a continued voluntary work project at the moment.

Furthermore, we can learn more from the poor elderly people. I admit that we can learn how to teach children from the voluntary works of helping the newly arrived children. However, if we choose the another choice, we could gain more from the experience. Firstly, we can learn how to break the gap of ages. For a youngster, one of the most serious problems they would face is how to communicate with their parents. I think the voluntary works could give them some cues for that. Secondly, we would learn how a poor life would be. Many of my classmates waste money for their new iPot nanos or PSPs, which are often unnecessary. They think that a comfortable or even luxurious life could be taken for granted. I think that after visiting the poor elderly, they would change their mind. Finally, students may study harder for not falling below the poverty line after seeing the poor and lonely states of life.

To bring this essay to a close, I would strongly recommend our school to choose 'poor elderly people' to be the area of the voluntary work project, because it is more suitable for a student to take part in.

Letters / Dangers of Seeking Help from Radio Programs - Letter to the Editor [NEW]

Hello,

This is my seventh practice. Please give me feedback again.

Thank in advance.

Question:
A Hong Kong radio station has recently started a program to help young people solve their emotional problems. You called the radio program host, Ms Wong, to tell her about a serious interpersonal problem that had been troubling you a lot. She offered you some advice, which you followed, but the outcome turned out to be disastrous.

Based on this experience, write a letter to the Editor of a youth magazine questioning the quality of the advice offered by radio program hosts who do not have professional qualifications in counseling. Share you views about the usefulness and dangers of such programs. Suggest ways in which young people can get good advice. Sign your letter 'Chris Wong'.

Dear Editor,

Being a young people could be difficult as they are developing and learning how to take their responsibilities. It would produce problems and require advice. That is one of the reasons why radio programs helping people to solve their emotional problems are so popular among youngsters. However, it seems that no people questions the quality of such programs. Having experience of seeking advice from a radio program, I would like to share my views on this.

Let me start with my experience. I had a serious interpersonal problem in school. Some of my classmates scorned me as I worked very hard at school. They sometimes even tricked me and I found it hard to have a friend at school. Therefore, I called a radio program host and told her about that. I followed her advice, telling my teacher about my classmates' behavior, hoping my conditions would change. However, as you can easy to guess, the result was devastating. They were punished and ignored me. Lately, I discovered that the host has had no professional qualifications in counseling; I really doubt the quality of the advice that such program hosts can offer.

Certainly, such programs can provide a way to share the sadness of our lives and help relieve our stress. People can call the radio hosts even if they have no friend. Also, if youngsters want to find a people to talk with, but teachers, family members, schoolmates and friends are not on their list of choice, such programs seem to be the only way to do that. And talks can sometimes heal people who are in anxiety.

However, there are dangers of such programs. Firstly, their advice could make people blind to follow. Many radio program hosts do not have professional qualifications in counseling. Thus, their suggestions could have many flaws. But simultaneously, their advice could be convincing and even make you compelling to follow because they must be good enough in speaking to be a host of radio programs. That illustrates why I told my teacher about my classmate's behavior and stopped asking other advice.

Besides, the hosts are difficult to follow your case. There is always a limit on calls to such programs. Only little portion of the calls could be answered. How could people have the luck to call the host twice or even more? Although some of the hosts would follow their cases and contact you at other days, how many people and times they can call back? I tried so many times to call the hosts for further advice, but not succeeded, feeling more anxious than ever. I do think that most of the emotional problems could not be solved one and for all. They require reviews and changes of approaches but such programs cannot provide.

Besides, the main concern of the host of such programs could be not to help you. There is a trend that mass media provide news that is attractive instead of meaningful, and so do such programs. Some of the programs are commercially oriented and therefore their hosts sometimes would talk with you in a way that could attract more listeners rather than the way to help you.

After my failure to follow the host's suggestion, I found alternative ways young people can get good advice. For a student, they can consult their school social workers. Thanks for my school social worker, my interpersonal problem was solved. She encouraged me to send sorry letters to the classmates and even persuaded them to work harder at school. School social workers are easily forgotten but are qualified and can provide continued counseling.

Besides, young people can also get good advice from their parents. It may be uneasy to do that for some youngsters but they are always trustful and take you into the most important consideration.

Finally, I hope that this letter could arouse young people's concerns about the dangers of such programs. Knowing that we cannot fully depend on the hosts' advice, they would find more suggestions and decide good actions for themselves. Thank you for your attention.

Yours Faithfully,
Chris Wong
Chris Wong

Letters / Don't expel my classmates - letter to the principal (practice) [6]

Long time no see! Sarah.

This is my sixth writing exam practice. Please give me feedback.

Thanks in advance.

Question:
At an inter-class sporting event your team became involved in a dispute which led to an outbreak of fighting with the opposing team. You witnessed the entire incident and do not agree with your school principal's decision to expel two of your classmates.

Write a letter to the principal, Ms Lam, to explain how the fight arose and to ask for understanding and leniency with regard to your classmates' conduct. Suggest an alternative punishment and outline the most useful lesson students can draw from this experience. You can base the incident on any team sport with which you are familiar. Sign your letter 'Chris Wong'.

Dear Ms Lam,

I am one of your students from 7A. I heard the news about your decision to expel two of my classmates for fighting at the recent inter-class football match. As a witness of the entire incident, I would like to show my point of view to this, hoping you can take it into account and reconsider the punishment.

At the 7A verse 7B football match, I was audience, watching the match and cheering for the team of my class. All the players went to great lengths to score a goal. It caused many collisions. Trying mindlessly to take possession of the ball, an opponent badly hurt a 7A player. However, the referee gave no card to the player. It flared up pushes and shouts between the teams. Finally, it became unstoppable; John and Tom got into fight with the players of the 7B team.

John and Tom were wrong at the fighting. However, I think we should put ourselves into their shoes and understand why they behaved in that irresponsible way. Before anything else, the player of the opposing team badly hurt one of our players but showed no sign of regret. Plus the players are sweating and tiring; It would be easy for anyone losing their control, as we could see this kind of thing happens occasionally at professional football and even other games. Added to this, it is the last football match they would attend in our school; the dedication they would put into this match is understandable. They may take this game over-seriously and therefore act barbarously.

Besides, there are reasons compelling me to beg for your leniency for John and Tom. As we know, they are good students in their class. They never got a demerit before and always pay full attention in every lesson. And the results of their school tests and exams can prove their good-student nature. It is a loss for our school to expel good students just because of a single bad behavior. Also, expelling them before four months when they will take the infamously difficult A-level exam is too harsh. They would lose the chance to take the mock exams and return to school to seek help from teachers. Therefore, although the punishment per se may be appropriate, the infliction that the students suffered would be double.

I think it would be better to impose an alternative punishment. I would suggest keeping them at school for hours after school would be a productive one. On one hand, they would know that they must suffer the consequences of their conduct. On the other hand, it would not be detrimental to their study.

Although that unwelcome incident happened, students can learn a lesson from it. They would learn that barbarous actions are always unacceptable in a civilized place. No one should break this rule and resolve a problem by a fight. If they did it, they would suffer the consequences. Also, students would bear in mind that they should control they emotions in any case, otherwise, the result would be devastated.

To bring this letter to a close, I would like to beg for your understanding and leniency for John and Tom again. Please don't give up them!

Yours sincerely,
Chris Wong

Writing Feedback / Hiking safety - writing practice - article [NEW]

Hello,

This is my fifth practice. Please give me feedback.

Thanks in advance for your help, Sarah.

Question:
You are the chairperson of the school hiking club. Recently there have been several reports of accidents that have happened to people hiking on their own in remote areas.

Write an article for your school newspaper offering advice to students on safety measures that they need to take when hiking and what they should do in case of an emergency.

How to Enjoy Safe Hiking

Suffered injury when the weather was bad, John, a junior hiker, was found in a remote area after he got lost for five days. Mary, ended with her boy friend recently, went hiking alone to relieve her sadness, was found by a passer-by when she was bound to a tree. Recently, these similar hiking accidents happened increasingly, influencing people to find alternative ways to spend their leisure time. However, these accidents are preventable. There are several measures students can take to prevent them from happening.

First of all, students should do some research when they plan their hiking. They could go to the website of Hong Kong Observatory to check whether the day they want to go hiking is estimated to be good. In any case, they must change their plans if the weather is bad. In terms of where to go, they should go to news-searchable websites to find whether the crime rate in the area is low and the place is safe enough to go.

Added to this, students should bring complete equipment when hiking. A map and a compass can help you to lead the way and prevent you from getting lost. A stick can help you steady walk onto bumpy ground of remote areas and keep you from suffering injury. Water and food supply energies and power. A fully-charged mobile phone paves you the way of finding help. A whistle, which seems trivial but surprisingly useful, can be the fastest way to find help and an effective way to alert someone who is acting suspicious.

Furthermore, Student should find company when they go hiking. Going hiking alone is not only drying and boring, but also dangerous. Most of the accidents happen to people with no company. It is because solitary people will find it hard to get an instant help. Also, the fewer, the weaker; robbers tend to rob these people.

The last measure students should take is to inform their families when and where to go hiking. By this kind of act, students can get help even if they are not able to find help. Also, helpers can help them more effectively and efficiently.

Prevention is better than cure. Measures should be taken before unfortunate events happen. However, accidents can still happen whatever we prepared. There two things that students should do in case of an emergency.

First and foremost, students must stay calm and remain rational if they face unfortunate event. They should not let their sentimental thinking control themselves. For example, if you are being robbed, you should not oppose to the robber. Safety is always on the top priority. The only thing you can do is to try to remember the robber's facial features and clothing and report them to the police after the robbery.

Secondly, you should find help. Use your equipment to find help. You may also be able to find some indicator board, which was set by the government in remote areas and was written with location reference. It helps others to locate your position and go to help you more rapidly. Yet if you have no equipment, just do everything you can do to attract others' notice and get help. For example, let out your scream.

Hiking provides us a chance to get away from our bustling and hustling city and inhale fresh air. As a mild exercise, it suits all ages to do. Therefore, we should not throw away the apple because of the core. By taking the measures and knowing what to do in case of an emergency mentioned above, students will be safe to enjoy hiking.

Writing Feedback / crime of tricking old people- writing practice essay (letter to editor) [NEW]

Hello again,

Might I ask for another feedback?

Thanks a lot!

Question:
In your housing estate, a gang of criminals has been tricking old people into giving them money. On behalf of the Owners' Association of the estate, write to the Hong Kong Post about an incident that took place recently. Describe how the old person was tricked, what the victim lost, and explain some of the measures your association has taken to protect people from being tricked in future. Sign your name 'Chris Wong'.

Dear Editior,

Our housing estate is well-known for its peaceful living condition for the elderly. Unfortunately, crimes related to cheating the old people are rampant since one month ago. A gang of criminals has been using a spiritual treatment to trick several old residents of ours into giving them money. I would like to write this letter, on behalf of Owner's Association of ABC Estate, to describe an incident happened recently on how the criminals tricked an old woman and explain what remedies we have taken to protect our residents from being tricked in future.

The incident took place on September 30th around eight o'clock morning. An old woman, aged 70, went out and did her regular exercise at ABC Leisure Park. During the exercise, she heard three middle-age women talking about a spiritual treatment helper who can help people realize their dream. The old woman believed the gossip and asked for details. Then, she accompanied the three cheaters and found the helper in a temple. The helper told them to bring all the money they have to show their sincerity and promised that they can get tack back them after the treatment. The victim went home and took all the money back to the temple. The helper used a red pocket to store the money and gave her a spiritual treatment. After that, believing that the dream will not come true if opening the red pocket before home, as the swindlers said, the victim took back the pocket without opening it and went home. At last, she found that the money had been replaced by newspapers and lost $30000, which she had saved over 10 years.

In order to prevent people from being cheated again, we have taken a string of measures to inform the elderly about the crimes. First of all, we have made posters to advertise the crime. One kind of the posters has the mug shots of the criminals, telling the resident to report to the police if they saw any of them. Another kind of posters describes how people were tricked and tell them how to realize a cheating. Additionally, we have sent letters to every household of our estate. We inform them about the crime and urge the younger to take a further look to their parent's behavior, especially when they suddenly need much money.

Besides, we have cooperated with the police to tackle the crime. We hold a meeting with the police on how to cope with the crime more effectively and efficiently by strategy patrol concerting by our safety guards and the police. And they are also urged to keep watching for the elderly and anyone suspicious. Then, the police have organized an ad hoc committee for the crime.

The elderly deserved a peaceful environment to live on. Our estate cannot tolerate criminals tricking the elderly again. Hoping that by the concerting efforts of our the residents, the police and our association, our estate can be retrieved to be an ideal place to the elderly.

Yours faithfully,
Chris Wong
Chris Wong
Chairperson, Owners' Association of ABC Estate

Writing Feedback / Should Tuck Shop Stop Selling 'Junk Food"? - practice essay (article) [2]

Hello,

This is my third practice. I wonder whether I have used a right style of article and I think it is complicated to use suitable tense in this writing. Please give me feedback! Thanks in advance!

Merry Christmas!

Question:
Your school principal has told the tuck shop to stop selling 'junk food', such as fish balls and soft drinks, in response to the government's campaign to promote healthy eating. However, this policy has evoked a strong reaction from some students who insist on their right to exercise freedom of choice.

You are a reporter for the school newspaper and have just attended a meeting between the principal and representatives of parents, teachers and students. Write an article for the school newspaper describing the viewpoints and arguments of the different parties. Give your article a title.

Should Tuck Shop Stop Selling 'Junk Food'?

A meeting has been launched between the principal and representatives of parents, teachers and students in the aftermath of a decision made by our school principal. She told the tuck shop to stop selling 'junk food' but some students insist on their right to decide whether they should buy it.

In the meeting, the principal restated that the policy is to respond to the government's campaign to promote healthy eating. She believes that school is the most suitable place to coincide with the government for the promotion, because people can change more effectively when they are young.

However, some students showed their disagreement on the statement. They argue that promotion is different from prohibition. The principal should promote the concept of healthy eating but not use the aggressive approach to stop student buying junk food at the school. They also think that the policy is ineffective as the policy cannot prevent students from eating junk food after school. Therefore, the school should provide an environment as same as society, in which 'junk food' is available for everyone to buy, and teach them how to exercise freedom of choice appropriately.

Teachers agree with the principal although they are also affected by the policy. They think that school is a learning place and it should have a higher-standard requirement for the students. Though the prohibition, students can learn how to get used to having no junk food. Also, Students spend most of their time at school; they can eat as less unhealthy food as possible by the policy.

Representatives of parents partly agree with the policy. They think that no parent wants their children eat too much junk food; the policy can help parents monitor their children and prevent them from misusing their pocket money. However, they think that the policy is going too fast to be accepted by the students. The policy should be launched step by step as it may be uneasy for some students to adapt and it has caused a strong reaction from them. Besides, some parents suggest that the tuck shop can launch some new healthy food, such as salad and fruits, as substitutes for junk food.

Unexpectedly, some students, most of them are girls, strongly agree with the prohibition. They think that the sale of 'fat food', such as fish balls and soft drinks, was always a temptation. They were tempted by the food even they didn't go near the tuck shop. They saw their peers eating it; then went to buy it. Therefore, they think that the policy help them a lot to prevent from the temptation as well as the 'peer-pressure' because no assess can they buy it at school.

At the end of the meeting, the principal approved the suggestion of the parents and promised to apply a moderate approach to respond to the government's campaign. She said she would tell the tuck shop to stop selling 'junk food' in phases and introduce new healthy food.

Letters / Infringing copyright - writing exam practice essay (letter to editor) [2]

Hello,

I chose the difficult side in this writing. Because I don't think a computer enthusiast who often downloads music and movies will write this kind of letter for his regret. Or do i go astray? Please comment on my writing, especially whether my content is consistent with the topic. Thanks in advance!

Question:
The government has successfully convicted a person of infringing copyright. The person has used internet technology to upload movies and allow other users to download them.

You are a computer enthusiast and you often download music and movies. Write a letter to the editor of the Young Post commenting on the rights and wrongs of downloading entertainment from the internet and whether you think people will continue to break the law when they risk being prosecuted. Sign your letter "Chris Wong".

Dear Editor,

The issue of people using computer software to download movies or other entertainments from the internet has aroused wide concern since a person was successfully convicted by the Hong Kong government of infringing copyright as he had used "BitTorrent" to share copyrighted movies to other users. Being a computer and entertainment downloading enthusiast, I feel compelled to write this letter and share my comment on the rights and wrongs of this subject.

Opponents of "P2P" downloading argue that people downloading entertainment from the internet is a kind of stealing. They persuade people to perceive that although the downloaded data cannot be touched and the owners' loss is questionable, the downloaders' behavior is the same as the thefts'.

Even though many shares on the internet contain copyrighted materials, I don't think they should be seen as stealing. It is all right to borrow CDs, VCDs and DVDs from the library. Why it become wrong if we "borrow" them from the internet? I was used to borrow some popular music CDs from library for free. But the habit has been changed since I discovered that I could get them from the internet more conveniently. They both are a kind of borrowing without actually possessing their hard copies. It seems unreasonable if I will become a thief simply because of my lazy.

Some also believed that "BitTorrent" downloading can cause deterioration of the entertainment industry. Having advantage of speed and convenience, the downloading discourages people to buy entertainments. Fewer sales mean less income. Then the singers and movie makers will be less eager to show their creativity. The number of newcomers will decrease. There can be a vicious circle.

Nevertheless, their belief is questionable. Interestingly, the downloading can also be beneficial for the industry. The downloading can encourage consumers get in touch with broader products. Downloading becomes advertising. Additionally, according to a foreign research, there is no strong link between the attitude of buying a product and the availability of downloading it from the internet. It is because the potential buyers will buy the products even if they have downloaded them. For example, I have bought several CDs that I have downloaded their soft copies before. What really matters the sales most remains unchanged: quality.

More importantly, the downloading can provide a way to prevent customers from buying something unworthy. Sellers often mislead consumers to buy their products. They only provide limited and biased information to consumers. Why don't we acknowledge that the downloading is an unbounded way for customers to try a product and decide whether they should buy it?

Finally, I would say that although Hong Kong people will not continue to break the law and upload copyrighted entertainment, as the prosecution has already set an example to deter people from doing it again, entertainment downloading will be continued. It is because there is no case of people being prosecuted for simply downloading the entertainment. But more importantly, uploaders around the world will not be seriously affected by this single and local prosecution.

Yours faithfully,
Chris Wong
Chris Wong

Letters / My exam practice---"complaint letter on animal abuse" [3]

Hello,

Could anyone give me some advice on my writing? Structure, style, logic, grammar, usage etc.

Thank you very much

Question:
You suspect your neighbours are treating their pets badly. Write a letter to The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) showing your concern and give details of any incidents of abuse you are aware of. Suggest what could be done to ensure the welfare of the pets and say why these measures are urgent. Sign your name "Chris Wong"

Dear Sir,

I feel compelled to write this letter and show my suspense that my neighbours treat their pets badly. I am writing to give details of the incidents of abuse that I aware of and suggest some ways to help the pets at their most urgent needs.

The first thing holding my attention to the problem is the strange smells and animal sounds that come from my next-door. One month ago, my neighbours moved to the place; then, I often could smell some dropping-like stink and hear many different kinds of animal sounds, including dogs', cat's, birds' and so on. Sometimes, the sounds are unbearable. It is just like they are at their small cages and without anything to eat in a whole week.

The second thing making my suspense is that the room of my neighbours is often of no man. I only have seen the neighbours three times since they moved to the apartment. And I used to find them for their pet-noise nuisance, but in no time there is anyone there. What can the pets eat when there is no people to take care of them? I really doubt about it.

I tried to contact the proprietor, but received no response. Then, I strike out that very second way to call for your help. I think there are two viable measures you can do to rescue the pity creatures.

Before anything else, you can send some inspectors to investigate the abuse. Being an animal-care society, you must have a more professional approach to tackle the problem as well as providing a more authorized suggestion to the government if it is necessary. I will be available if there is anything I could help for the investigation.

Moreover, you can spread the abuse to the press if it is a must. Therefore, the owner of the room will realize the seriousness of the problem, though we may not be able to contact them. More importantly, the government may therefore resort to a quicker and more powerful measure, breaking into the door and seizing the cages, to cope with the cruelty.

The measures should be launched before it is too late. The animals will die if the actions are not taken. All lives are equal. We must not watch them die without doing anything. It is barbarous if the masters maltreat their pets with no food and over crowed living place, especially in that modern city in 21th centuries. Besides, the potential abusers may have violated the law of protecting pets. The government should immediately take legal action if it is so.

Finally, I hope that you will take a top priority to the potential abuse and realize the suggestions above to ensure the welfare of the pets. I think this is what your society really cares of. Thank you for your attention.

Please find attached the address of the potential abusers.

Yours faithfully,
Chris Wong
Chris Wong
(489)