English essay

Describe a village you know well I was born and have grown up in the country in a small village beside a beautiful river. My village is surrounded in a hedge of green bamboos. Most of the houses in the village are built of brick and have red tiled roofs. In the middle of the village there is an old pagoda with high trees around it. On the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, the villagers often go to the pagoda to give offerings to The God of Agriculture. On the right of the village flows quietly a clear and blue river. When I was young, I used to swim in the river with my friends. How can I forget the wonderful time on this river fishing or rowing a boat with my boyhood friends! On the left of the village lies the village green where village meetings are often held by village officials. On this ground covered with soft grass we used to fly kites on windy autumnal evenings. The majority of villages live on agriculture. They get rich thanks to their fertile rice-fields and their diligence. Harvest time is certainly the busiest and the merriest time of the year. During the harvest, the villagers often get up very early in the morning. They cheerfully go to their rice-fields to harvest the bumper crop – the fruit of many months of hard work. My villagers are very friendly and helpful. They are willing to offer mutual help in any case and always get on with one another harmoniously. My village is rather small indeed but I like it very much because I was born and have grown up there and spent my happiest childhood among the simple and hard-working villagers who always feel attached to their native land.
The advantages and disadvantages of television Nowadays many people all over the world spent most of their free time watching television; but since its appearance, television has brought to man many advantages as well as disadvantages. First, television plays an important role in our daily activities: it keeps us informed of all current affairs in the world. Events through television are more vivid than those through books and magazines. Second, television helps us enrich our spiritual lives. Our knowledge is broadened in many ways. Through language teaching programs, we can learn the language we like such as: English, French, German, Chinese, Japanese and so on. We can become skilful and clever at doing jobs, making cakes or arranging flowers through practical courses taught on television. Finally, television is a source of recreation. Humorous stories and funny films bring us minutes of relaxation after a hard day’s work. For me, sitting comfortably in an arm-chair to watch an international football match on television is more interesting than having to queue for tickets at a crowded stadium. Apart from its advantages, however, television also brings lots of disadvantages to viewers too. First, television viewers gradually become passive in their action. Television may be a splendid media of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other or with the outer world. The world seen through television is only the restricted one: It separates us from the real world. Second, television, with its fascinating power, makes people of all ages sink into oblivion: whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Pupils and students are so absorbed in television that they neglect their school activities. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and lessons unprepared. Housewives are so keen on watching television that they neglect their duties toward their husbands and their children. Instead of watching television, we may use the time for a real family hour. Without the distraction of television, we may sit around together after dinner and actually talk to one another to know and like each other better. Finally, the evil influence of television on the young generation is inevitable; it encourages them to commit crimes. Spectacles of sadism and violence on television lead them to robbery, theft, rape and murder. In a nutshell, television is useful to us when we know how to use it: Be careful not to overindulge ourselves in it and use it in a discerning manner.
The advantages of living in the country and the disadvantages of living in the city. Although I was born and brought up in the country, I spent most of my time in the city; however, a comfortable life in the city has never appealed to me at all. And the country with its advantages still has a call to me for good. First, the fresh and clean air of the country makes you feel healthier. How relaxed and pleasant you are when you can enjoy the pure air wafted with soft fragrance of areca and grapefruit trees in your garden! Therefore, you can take a stroll around the garden every morning and night. The stifling and polluted atmosphere of a crowded city, on the contrary, makes you suffocated and annoyed. It may breed neurosis and other fatal diseases to urban residents. Second, living in the country may feel safer while in town, the city dwellers are in state of continuously being afraid of committing violent deaths caused by careless drivers or