Exercise O

Barbara was a very impatient young girl. She found it intolerable and highly unnecessary to wait until her teachers finished talking before she put up her hand and asked impossible questions. As a rule, she disagreed with them, on principle. For that reason, she was unpopular in the staff room: The teachers disliked her behavior. They found her impolite and disloyal.
However, her classmates sided with Barbara. They were dissatisfied with the teachers and found it unfair/unjust to treat her in an unpleasant was only because they disapproved of her immodest manners. After all, Barbara was an independent young girl, and even though they might find her intolerable at times, the teachers should remember that a pupil is often insecure and does not really want to disobey the teachers. It was just unnatural for Barbara to keep her mouth shut when a teacher disappointed her with an improbable explanation. She got so excited that she felt it would be dishonest not to voice her opinion in public.
So this was the general view of her classmates: The teachers might think that Barbara was immature, insecure, imperfect, incompetent, and what not. In her case, it was no doubt a disadvantage to be outspoken. She simply felt displeased with school; she thought it was an inhuman and inefficient institution. This observation was, of course, unpleasant, but, in Barbara's opinion, not totally unfair/unjust.

The Cold War

The Cold War was initiated by the Yalta conference, where Russia claimed control over great parts of Europe, according to their loss during World War II. The other leaders agreed that Soviet needed a solid compensation for their great loss. The issue they did not agree on however, was how the different countries best could be governed. Whereas Russia claimed communism to be the best way to organize society, the USA held on to the system of market economy.
Disagreements arouse as a result of the different ideologies. The states belonging to western Europe trusted the USA, and put their faith in market economy - laissez faire. These states also accepted the Marshall help, financial support from the USA, named after the foreign minister George Marshall.
Furthermore, the USA thought that communism was a dangerous threat to the American way of life and the USSR felt that the US wanted to control the world. The Cold War was fought using propaganda, industrial espionage and spies. The Soviet Union and the USA did not fight directly, but very often supported countries that did. At the same time both countries built up their nuclear forces. The space face between the two states was also a part of the war.

Grammar: It is/ there is/there are

It is a pity that he has lost his book. As far as I know there are five cutlets left in the refrigerator. Don't be disappointed, it is easy to correct your mistakes. In Africa, there are millions of starving people. There is no doubt about it. I think it is high time to learn this. It is great fun to play fotball. It is very hot in Africa. There is a new film on at the cinema. Peter says it is a good one. There are very few good films to be seen today. It is a mistake to think that it is easy to solve the problem. There are three apples on the table, but there is a hole in one of them. It is my fault. There is no excuse for what I did. Let us hurry: There is no time to lose! It is a long way to London. There is a great difference between the two books.

The Motor Vehicle - what else?

"In most modern cities traffic is becoming a very great problem. Private vehicles in large numbers fill the streets and make it very difficult for pedestrians to push their way through the streets. The cities are contaminated by carbon monoxide, and there are far too few parking places for all the cars. You may say that large cities are being poisoned and destroyed by motor vehicles. Public transport is an alternative: The problem is, however, that fares are so expensive that quite a few people feel they cannot afford to take the bus. In metropolises like Rome the authorities have realised that something will have to be done to encourage drivers to leave their private cars at home: Fares of public transport have been reduced to a minimum. The result is that a lot of people prefer to go by bus. Those cities which have a good underground railway system have succeeded in reducing the use of private cars to a great extent. Owing to the cheap fares it simply does not pay to take your own car to town. Some big towns have introduced toll gates in the hope of reducing the number of private cars. In my opinion, public transport should be made as cheap that people became independent of their private cars when going to work. On the one hand, you would make towns cleaner and far more pleasant. On the other, business would prevent many shops from having to close down. It is a pity that politicians cannot agree on reducing the fares of public transport. A current issue like pollution should not be left unsolved on account of political principles. Politicians should pay more attention to the welfare of the citizens."

Conjuncts and idiomatic expressions

I've chosen a few key words to use in my essay (conjuncts and idiomatic expressions). To gain more exercise, I've written a new essay on mugging. Here it is.

MUGGING

"In recent years, mugging in the underground has become a burning problem. On account of the polluted towns, a great number of people are dependent on public transport. For that reason, they are used to going by Tube most days of the week. In my opinion, the politicians should take this problem seriously. This is what happened to me one day when going to work:
I was sitting in an overcrowded wagon. Suddenly two boys, about fifteen years old, began to attack a group of fellow passengers. There was no ticket collector in the wagon, so we were just watching the scene, feeling sorry for the people who were abused, but not knowing how to get rid of the bullies. Under the circumstances, there was very little we could do to solve the problem. It is a pity that people who rely on public transport, should risk being terrorized by hooligans on their daily journey to work. I know I should have great confidence in the authorities. I am disappointed in them. They should not be suspected of negligence, and the public should have the right to look forward to going to work without being mugged by young criminals.
The two youngest actually seized the purse of an old lady sitting there quite helpless. For the sake of defenceless passengers, the authorities should try to solve this serious problem in the near future. They should not be suspected of ignoring the serious problem of mugging. I agree with those who demand that politicians give priority to this current issue."

First lesson: Conjuncts.

Here's an example of the use of conjuncts in an examn essay:

Back to the City

During the past few years, it has become more and more popular for certain groups of the population to move back to the centers. In spite of the fact that most big cities are contaminated on account of heavy traffic, quite a few people seem to prefer town life to living in the surburbs. It is mostly well-to-do people who are willing to move into the centers. There may be many reasons why they buy expensive flats. Preferably in the old historic parts: To my mind, living in the town centre may give a lot of people the opportunity of walking to and from work. They are not any longer dependent on public transport, or their private cars. Housewives may go shopping in a more relaxed way. Public parks are within easy reach. They have easy accsess to theateres, concerts, art exhibitions and restaurants.

There is no denying that a metropolis like London has a lot of good things to offer: It is city full of historic sights, it has a great number of public parks, charming old streets, tempting shop centres, interesting night life and a number of famous museums. There is always a price to pay for obvious advantages. For that reason, some people may find that the disadvantages of pollution and heavy traffic are compensated for by a more exciting way of living. It is a matter of taste, and for those who can afford to pay heavy rents, town life may seem worth paying for.