I. Read the topic questions and discuss with your partner what their purposes are. 1.

Nowadays, teamwork is becoming very important in many aspects of our work and home lives. Some people believe that the success of a team depends on the mental attitude of the whole team rather than leadership by strong individuals. To what extent do you agree with this opinion? 2. Many tasks that used to be done by hand, such as factory and farm work, are becoming increasingly mechanised. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this trend and give your opinion about whether the advantages outweight the disadvantages. 3. Many animal species around the world are endangered, and each year we lose more species as the remaining animals in a population die. Discuss the possible causes of species loss, and suggest some ways that we might be able to preserve some of these vanishing species. 4. The percentage of the population living in urban areas has greatly increased in many countries. Discuss some reasons for this change and some of its consequences for urban planning. II. Match the above topic questions with their types of essay: 1. Discussion Essay: Advantages & Disadvantages 2. Discuss Essay: Problems & Solutions 3. Discuss Essay: Causes & Effects 4. Argumentative Essay III. Match the topic questions with their types. IV. Practice brainstorming Topic: The percentage of the population living in urban areas has greatly increased in many countries. Discuss some reasons for this change and some of its consequences for urban planning. 1. Discuss with your partner about the reasons and consequences. 2. Read the two response essays & Discuss with your partner Which one would gain a higher score? Why? Response A:

Most countries have experienced a significant movement of population to urban areas over recent decades. There are several reason for this shift, which has put pressure on the infrastructure of many cities. The main reason why people move from country to city areas is the increased opportunities that city living provides. Employment prospects in most country areas are limited to agriculture, and these are significantly reducing and becoming less attractive as farming becomes more mechannized, and as people see the prospects of earning more money and making a better life in the cities. As a result, in Vietnam, many young rural people move to urban areas to work in clothes manufacturing or orther industries because they see this as a way to help their families. Young people often find country life very boring, and they leave because they want to experience the excitement of city living. However, the increased number of urban dwellers has put huge pressure on cities in many areas, and urban planners need to take this into account when designing infrastructure such as roading, housing developments and sewage systems, and facilities such as hospitals and schools. If cities are allowed to grow without any plan or vision, this can result in slum areas and in traffic gridlock as commuters struggle to travel to work. It could have more serious consequences, too; if basic public health issues such as the provision of clean water are ignored, this could provide conditions for outbreaks of diseases such as cholera or dysentery. In conclusion, continues movement to cities would seem to be inevitable and urban planners need to research and plan for the consequences of this population shift. (277 words) Respose B: In many countries, a large proportion of the population in the country is moving to the cities, because they cant get jobs in farming areas, an so their incomes are decreasing. Rural people see that they have a much better chance of getting a job in bigger population areas, so many of them travel to the cities to find work. In many coutries areas, farms are becoming bigger and there are more machines to do the work. Because there are more machines, people have fewer jobs, and cannot get a lot of money from the jobs. Farming people often struggle to make a living, and they sometimes cannot feed their family. They think that if they send their children to the city, their children will have a better life. Consequently, many young people travel to the cities to find work, often in clothes factories or the other factory jobs. Sometimes, many people go to the city with their whole family if they cannot make a living any more on their small farms. They hope that they will find work in the city and they will become richer. For example, this is happening a lot in Vietnam, and the big cities are getting bigger all the time because the country people come to live and work there.

This change of living place has a lot of effects on this cties. Cities become bigger, and often there are poor areas in cities which are full of poor-quality houses for the country people. In conclusion, when country people come to the city, this creates a lot of poblems for the cities. (267 words)