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UnitOneMyfavouritesportSkiingismyfavoritesport,eventhoughIhaveonlyskiedforfourdaysinmywholelife!LastyearmyfatherpromisedtotakemeonaholidayifIdidwellinmyexams.WhenIgotstraightAs,Dadsaid,HowaboutaweekendattheBotanicalGardens?However,mymumsaid,No,youpromisedaspecialholiday.Ithinkyououghttokeepyourword.And,despitetheexpense,hedid.Mydreamwastoseesomerealsnow,sointheChristmasvacationweflewtoSeoul,SouthKorea,andthentookashuttlebuswhichrunsbackandforthbetweenSeoulandMujuResort.Asthebusclimbedthroughthemountains,wesawthesnowonthetrees.Iwasdyingtogetoutandplaywithit!Atlast,wereachedtheresortandquicklyscrambledoutofthebus.Nooneinmyfamilyhadevertouchedsnowbefore.Wewerealllikelittlechildrenwepickeditup,madesnowballs,andthrewthemateachother!Thenwecheckedinatthehotel.Ourroomoverlookedoneoftheskislopes.Theslopewasfloodlit,sowewatchedpeopleskiinguntil10p.m.Wecouldnotwaittotryitourselves.Thenextdaywehadourfirstskiinglesson.Werentedourskisuits,bootsandskis,andwentoutsideontothesnow.Wearingskisforthefirsttimemakesyoufeelverystrange.Suddenlyyoufindyoucannotevenwalk.Ourinstructortookusontoagentleslope,andshowedussomebasicskills.Inordertogoupahill,youhavetostandsideways,andgoupstepbystep.Youmustpointthetipsofyourskistogethersothatyoucanstop.However,thetipsmustnotcross,oryouwillfall.Youshouldnotskialoneincaseyoufallandgetinjured.Tobehonest,thatfirstlessonwasnotagreatsuccess,andIkeptonfallingdown!However,thenextdayIdefinitelyimproved.Ionlyfelloverafewtimes,andImanagedtodoafewlongerruns.Ifeltpleasedwithmyself,andtheinstructorcongratulatedme,soIfeltgreat.Althoughitwasverycold,Ispentmostofthatholidayskiing.Itwasthemostwonderfultimeofmylife.Nevertheless,itwasallovertoosoon.NowIhavedecidedtoworkpart-timethissummer,soIcanearnenoughmoneyforanothersuperskiingholiday.UnitTwoTutorialcenters1HelpfulIhavebeenstudyingatatutorialcentrefortwoyears.Thefeesareveryreasonable,andmycommandofEnglishhasimprovedgreatlysinceIstarted.Mytutorsareallqualifiedteachers.Theyaresincereandkind.Ihavebeenhelpedalotbythem.OneofmyteacherswasBritish.Atfirst,Icouldnotsayanythingtoher.However,laterIlearnthowtocommunicateinEnglishwithawesterner.IthinkthatthetutorialcentrehasgivenmealotofconfidenceinusingEnglish.MANDYZHANG2WasteofmoneyIhavestudiedatatutorialcentreforoneyear.However,IthinkthatIhavebeencheated.Thesetutorialcentresareonlyinterestedinmakingmoney,sotheyaccepttoomanystudentsforeachclass.However,theydonotwanttopayforgoodteachers.MyEnglishteacherwasauniversitystudentwhostudiedphysics,notEnglish!Veryoften,hecouldnotanswerourquestionsabouttheuseofthelanguage.Inmyopinion,itisbettertospendmoretimeonschoolworkthantowastemoneyatamoney-makingtutorialcentre.REXYANG3IgotosleepIhaveattendingatutorialcentrefortwomonths.Ihavebeenforcedtoattendbymyparents,butIdonotthinkitisusefulforme.Iamalwaysverytiredafterschool.SometimesIevensleepduringtheclassesintheevening.Furthermore,theteachersareveryboring.Theygiveusalotofsupplementaryexercisesbuttheyteachusnothing.Iusuallyreadcomicsduringclass.SometimesIgotoavideoarcadeinstead.Ithinktutorialcentresareuseless.SIMONLAN4GoodandbadIhaveexperiencedbothgoodandbadtutorialcentres.Inmyfirstcentre,Iwasinaverybigclass.MyteacherwasanAustralian.Hejusttalkedabouthistravels.Icouldlearnnothingfromhim.Ileftwithinamonth.ThenIaskedallmyfriendsfortheiradvice.Asaresultoftheirrecommendations,Ienrolledonacourseatanothercentre.Theteachersareexcellenthereandtheclassesaresmall.Wehavebeentaughtmanygoodtechniquesfordevelopingourlanguageandstudyskills.Therearebothgoodandbadtutorialcentres,soyoumustdosomedetectiveworkbeforeyouenroll.However,themostimportantthingiswhetheryouarewillingtolearnandtoworkhard.Thekeyfactorisyourself.GRACELIUnitThreeFashionMytopicisFashion.Fashionisimportanttoalmostallofus.Byfashion,weusuallymeanpopulartrendsinstylesofdress.Whenwegooutortoaparty,weusuallyliketowearfashionableclothes.Toillustratemytalk,Ihavebroughtalongfiveobjects.Myfirstobjectisthisblouse.Itlooksbeautiful,doesntit?Itsmymostexpensivepieceofclothing,andIloveit.Itcostme$200.Itmayseemveryextravagant,butIcouldafforditwithmyownsavings.Itwasnteasyformetoearnthemoney,butwhenbuyingclothes,Ithinkthemoreyouspendthebetterthequality.Soyousee,fashionisquiteimportanttome.However,ImnotaskeenonfashionasmybrotherGary.Lastsummer,hewonafreetriptoLondoninacontest.Theorganizerswantedtoshowhimsomefamoussights.Buthedidntappreciateoldbuildings.Hejustspentallhistimesearchingforthecoolestpairoftrainers!Forhim,fashionwasmoreimportantthanculture.Thesearethetrainershebought.WasitworthatriptoLondontobuythese?Well,Idontthinkso.Itwasawasteoftimeandmoney.Fashionisverybigbusiness.Changesinfashioncancreateorruinjobs.Asanexample,Ihavebroughtthisblondewigtoshowyou.Itbelongstooneofmymumsfriends.Inthe1960s,thesewereveryfashionable.Butafewyearslaterfashionschanged,andwomenworewigsmuchlessoften.Manywigfactoriescloseddown,andhundredsofworkerslosttheirjobs,whichwasterrible!Fashioncanaffectthenaturalworld,aswell.Imholdinganoldhatborrowedfromadramacompany.Itsmadeofbeaverfur.Thesehatswereveryfashionableabout200yearsa