April 2006

Popular events like the Football World Cup and other international sporting occasions are essential in easing international tension and releasing patriotic emotions in a safe way.

Every four years, the whole world stops to watch international sporting events such as the Olympics and the Football World Cup in which athletes show their best performance to make their country proud. These sporting occasions have proved to be helpful in easing international tension in difficult times when powerful leaders were trying to control the world’s economy and other governments were fighting over the land.

The Olympic Games are one of the best examples which prove how sporting events can bring nations together, at least temporarily. From the ancient History, when Greeks and Romans would interrupt battles to participate in the games, to the more recent international disputes, when athletes from Palestine and Israel would forget their differences, compete peacefully and even embrace each other after an event. Moreover, these popular events have called the world’s attention to the terrible consequences of wars; thus some leaders have tried to reach agreements to end their disputes and live peacefully.

Similarly, international sporting events show benefits in some developing countries which live in a daily internal civil war. For example, Brazil has a high rate of unemployment, lack of education, hunger, crime, poverty and corruption which leads to an immense embarrassment of being Brazilian and a low self-esteem. However, when the Football World Cup starts, the Brazilian squad, which is considered the best team in the world, provokes an amazing feeling of pride in their country. Most people seem to forget all their problems and even the criminal activity decreases. They paint roads with the national colors, wear the Brazilian team shirts and buy national flags. Moreover, the competition brings families and neighbors together and even rival gangs watch the games and celebrate peacefully.

In conclusion, popular sporting events play an important role in decreasing international tensions and liberating patriotic feelings as history has shown.

This is a great essay, the ideas, language, structure of paragraphs and sentences, and your grammar show a good command of the English language. In my opinion it is Band 8. Keep up the good work.

As computers are being used more and more in education, there will be soon no role for teachers in the classroom. Do you agree or disagree?

There is no doubt that education and the process of learning has changed since the introduction of computers. The search for information has become easier and more entertaining, and connectivity has expedited the availability of data. Though systems have made computers more intelligent, they have not yet become a substitute for the human interaction in the learning process. In my opinion, what can be expected is a change in the teachers’ role, but not their disappearance from the classroom.

Nobody can argue with the fact that the acquisition of knowledge is more fun and easier with computers. The mere activity of touching and exploring this device constitutes an enjoyable task for a child. This, accompanied by a relaxing attitude and interactivity of software, usually contributes to a better grasping of new knowledge. At a higher educational level the availability of digital books, simulators and other academic materials provides the student with an ever accessible source of information, that otherwise would not be at hand.

But, besides the increasing complexity and behavior of intelligent software, which is usually embedded in the academic digital material, the need for human interaction in the learning process will always be present, at least in the foreseeable future. There is the necessity for a human being to be able to determine what the needs of each individual are. The expertise of a teacher in how to explain and adapt complex concepts to different individuals can hardly be mimicked by a computer, no matter how sophisticated its software is.

As computers are becoming a common tool for teaching, teachers should be more aware of their role as guides in the acquisition of knowledge rather than transmitters of facts. They have to be receptive to the changes that are taking , keep updated and serve as problem solvers in the learning process, thus allowing students to discover the for themselves.

To summarize, in my personal view, teachers play and will continue to play an important role in the classroom, especially at the primary school level. No matter how capable computers become, there will be no replacement for human interaction, but in the interaction takes place.

This is an excellent essay! Are you a native English speaker? Well done. The only problem is that this essay is too long, 365 words instead of 250-265 maximum.