Today, a shopping pattern can be observed that a growing number of individuals utilise credit cards or bank loans without limitation to deal with personal debts that they can't afford. These consumers turn out to be so-called card debtors  due to impulsive shopping and inappropriate use if credit cards and loans. For example, quite a few consumers own a lot of debts and even go bankrupt just because they unwisely/irrationally make excessive purchases such as luxuries or mansions that they are unable to pay for. In light of such a phenomenon, as a result, some economic experts argue that the government  should enhance the criteria in an attempt to assist consumers reduce shopping desire and cut down on unnecessary expenditures so that those who are addicted to overconsumption can better manage their impulsive consumption, whilst others hold different/opposing views/beliefs.

Pros:

in terms of individuals/as far as individuals are concerned,

Test 2 Passage 3 Have Teenagers always existed?

Q. 27-30: D A B D

Q. 31-36

本文引用自elite09 - 2012雅思預測│菁英優質ALLEN老師陪你考英文

Yogurt Making

1. Provided is the diagram revealing how yogurt is produced. / Given is the diagram depicting the process of making yogurt. To start with, milk is heated up to 90℃(or 200℉).

2. The milk is maintained at this temperature for 10-30 minutes because the longer it is kept, the thicker the milk will be. / The milk is kept at this temperature in order to make it thicker.

Airline emissions scheme could lead to higher fares

Europe’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) extended to the aviation industry last week, requiring all airline carriers landing in the 27-nation European Union to monitor their carbon emissions.

Under the scheme, each airline is allowed a specified amount of CO2 emissions. If the airline emits more than that amount, it must purchase carbon allowances. If it emits less than its limit, it can sell its extra allowances to other heavy carbon emitters, such as other airlines, steel makers, refineries or power plants.

Airlines in Europe and around the world are squawking about the measure, saying that the scheme will increase costs -- which they intend to pass along to their customers by raising fares. The airlines say the scheme could add about one billion euros to their costs this year, tripling to nearly three billion euros by 2020.

有鑒於雅思閱讀類型取材多樣, 以後Allen會為同學不定期精選可能會考的文章供同學研究參考唷!

鯨豚類(cetacean)的考題一向是考官偏愛題材,請多方閱讀相關文章!

What are the most significant negative consequences of the massive expansion of car ownership?

One of the factors that distinguish developed from developing economies is mass car ownership. Cars undoubtedly have practical benefits for the individuals who own them. They allow for more flexible and autonomous travel. Like other consumer items, they can be used to express individual taste and identity. However, they also clearly have a number of undesirable consequences.

        One of these consequences is deterioration in people’s health. Urban pollution, which is largely caused by vehicle emissions, can lead to respiratory problems such as asthma. These health problems are more prevalent in cities, particularly among children and the elderly. Noise pollution caused by cars is another problem that can affect people’s health.

The charts show how much a UK school spent on different running cost in three seperate years: 1981, 1991 and 2001.

In all three years, the greatest expenditure was on staff salaries. But while other workers' salaries saw a fall from 28% in 1981 to only 15% of spending in 2001, teachers pay remained the biggest cost, reaching 50% of total spending in 1991 and ending at 45% in 2001.

Expenditure on resources such as books had increased to 20% by 1991 before decreasing to only 9% by the end of the period. In contrast, the cost of furniture and equipment saw an oppositetrend. This cost decreased to only 5% of total expenditure in 1991 but rose dramatically in 2001 when it represented 23% of the school budget. Similarly, the cost of insurance saw a rising trend, growing from only 2% to 8% by 2001.

以下為雅思常參考出題的網站，希望能對同學有幫助，最好養成每天都閱讀英文半小時的習慣，這些網站中的文章不論在長度、難度、題材上都接近真正的雅思考試。不僅為考試增加實力，也可為出國後大量繁重的英文閱讀打好基礎。同學們加油! An article a day keeps bad grades away~ 

科學生態類

www.animalbehavioronline.com 動物行為

Pie Chart Model 3

The pie chart reveals the kinds of fruit that primary school children prefer in New Zealand.

In general, the two most popular fruits are bananas and strawberries. bananas are the most popular fruit of all, because they make up the largest proportion of the pie chart, at 34 percent. Primary school students also like strawberries very much and they account for 27% of the preferences.  Oranges and apples represent 15 and 14 percent of  the chart respectively, so they are less popular than the first two. The least popular fruits in the survey are peaches and kiwi fruit.  7 percent of primary school children like peaches and merely 3 percent choose kiwi fruit as their preferred fruit.

1. 課本答案 Sample Answer:

Task 1流程圖

(A)段

Sample script

For the majority of people who long to live effectively in today’s fast-paced and technologically-advanced world, education, definitely, is crucial to their success. Countries around the globe apply a wide range of approaches to what should be taught to those who attending college. However, in view of the universal rise of unemployment rate, a growing number of people argue that college education should focus primarily on subjects related to a particular career as a useful way to reduce the number of the unemployed, whilst others believe that a general education plays a significant part in building students’ academic interest.

Paying more attention to social required skills, for some, is a great means for students to concentrate on their work and study on a certain field. They may not worry about subjects they are not good at. Moreover, they are able to get more familiar with and become proficient in their professional area, which can assist them find a job more easily. In this way, the unemployment rate can be expected to be lowered. For example, if a pupil expresses strong interest in medicine and biology, a school should help him  or her focus on these areas so that the pupil could make one of the best doctors in the country or even the world.

這是我幫新竹校Blog寫的一篇關於雅思考試的分享，跟同學切磋分享一下，不過限於篇幅，我只有略提關鍵，其餘的重點我們在課堂上都會提到，同學若想問題上課時問我即可:)

近年來出國留學的風氣方興未艾，越來越多的莘莘學子選擇負笈他鄉進修深造。不過，在一圓留學夢之前，同學們有一道必須先克服的關卡，便是IELTS (雅思)考試。IELTS測驗全名為International English Language Testing System，是有心留學英國及紐澳地區的同學必須接受的測驗。IELTS藉由四個階段—聽、說、讀、寫—的測試，來評鑒同學的整體英文程度。今天，我們便來聊一聊如何在IELTS的閱讀與寫作中得到高分的小技巧。

The table gives a breakdown of the different types of family who were living in poverty in Australia in 1999.

On average, 11% of all households, comprising almost two million people were in this position. However, those consisting of only one parent or a single adult had almost double this proportion of poor people with 21% and 19% respectively.

Couples generally tended to be better off with lower poverty levels for couples without children (7%) than those with children (12%). It is noticeable that for both types of household with children, a higher than average proportion were living in poverty at this time.

Bacteria also removed spilled methane from Gulf

– Thu Jan 6, 2:00 pm ET

WASHINGTON – A sudden bloom of bacteria after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill helped clean up the methane gas that was also released into the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new report.

1. 課本答案 Sample Answer:

Task 1流程圖

(A)段

[Model Essay]

This bar chart shows the figures with regard to imprisonment from 1930 to 1980 in the five countries as Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada.