Differentiate Between An Opinion and A Preference
Your independent speaking or writing task often asks you to express your opinion or preference. It is then essential for you to differentiate between an opinion and a preference.
An opinion is a position for or against a plan, action or argument. It requires objective and logical support. More explanation is required such as cause and effect and it must be persuasive, too.
For example:
Independent Writing Question:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Always telling the truth is the most important consideration in any relationship.
Independent Brief Writing Answer:
……
In any relationship of mine, I would wish that the person I’m dealing with is honest. Even though he did something wrong that I wouldn’t like, he had better tell me the truth and not to lie about it. Later on if I find out about a lie or hear the truth from someone else, that would be much more unpleasant. In that case, how can I ever trust that person again? How can I ever believe that this person has enough confidence in me to forgive him and carry on with the relationship from there. So, if cannot believe that person anymore, if the person doesn’t think I can handle the truth, there’s no point to continue the relationship.
Although I also consider that altruistic, understanding, thoughtful and loyal behavior from people important, an instance of these opposite behaviors would not upset me as much as dishonesty would. Among all the possible behaviors, dishonesty is the only one for me that terminates how I feel about a person’s reliability. Therefore, honesty would be my first concern and the most important consideration in a relationship.
A preference is a choice based on a writer’s taste (likes and dislikes) or personality. It could be objective or subjective. Though both need your logical explanation, you don’t need to convince or persuade someone. It is more descriptive.
For example:
Independent Speaking Question:
Some people like to watch the news on television. Other people prefer to read the news in a newspaper. Still others use their computers to get the news. How do you prefer to be informed about the news and why?
Independent Speaking Answer:
Although newspapers contain some information that’s limited to local interests and I like to turn to those pages, for the most part, I prefer to get my news on TV and on my computer. The problem with printed news is it takes so long to produce it that the stories could have changed or more important news could have happened minutes after the newspaper is delivered. So, I scan the local stories in the paper when I get home from work, then I watch international news on TV at night for the most current information, and the following morning, I click on one of the web sites that offer the most recent updates of the lead stories. That way, I’m taking advantage of the best aspects of all the news media, and I stay current locally and internationally.
References
1. ETS (2007). The Official Guide to The New TOEFL iBT. London:McGrawHill.
2. Sharpe, Pamela J. (2007). Barron’s TOEFL iBT (Internet-Based Test) 12th ed. Jakarta: Binarupa Aksara
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Whatever is the most annoying word
Whatever has been voted most annoying word in English conversation by 47% Americans. The informal response to indicate a lack of interest is consistently disliked by Americans regardless of gender, race, age, income, or where they live.
In second place came you know (25%) followed by it is what it is (11%), anyway (7%) and at the end of the day (2%)
Marist Institute surveyed 938 US adults by telephone from August 3 to August 6. The five choices included were chosen by people at the poll discussing what popular words and phrases might be considered annoying.
In order to be a good conversationalist is to always be aware of what you are saying and maybe to avoid those five words /phrases.
In second place came you know (25%) followed by it is what it is (11%), anyway (7%) and at the end of the day (2%)
Marist Institute surveyed 938 US adults by telephone from August 3 to August 6. The five choices included were chosen by people at the poll discussing what popular words and phrases might be considered annoying.
In order to be a good conversationalist is to always be aware of what you are saying and maybe to avoid those five words /phrases.
Melbourne in third World’s Most Livable Cities 2009
AUSTRALIAN cities hold three of the top 10 places in the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2009 Liveability poll.
Melbourne ranked third in the world, behind Vancouver in Canada and Vienna in Austria. Two other Australian cities are Perth at equal 5th and Sydney at equal 8th.
The highest-ranked Asian city was Osaka in Japan (13th) followed by Tokyo in Japan (19th), Hongkong (39th) , Singapore (54th) and Seoul, South Korea (58th).
Singapore is the most livable place in South-East Asia while Phnom Penh, Cambodia is the worst place (128th). Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Jakarta in Indonesia were placed 79th and 123th respectively
Pittsburgh is the highest-rated US city, in 29th place.
It analysed 140 world’s major cities based on 5 factors: stability, health care, education, infrastructure, culture and environment. The survey is conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit, a branch of The Economist Group, which publishes The Economist, a weekly magazine.
Top 10 cities
1 Vancouver Canada
2 Vienna Austria
3 Melbourne Australia
4 Toronto Canada
5/6 Perth Australia
Calgary Canada
7 Helsinki Finland
8/9/10 Geneva Switzerland
Sydney Australia
Zurich Switzerland
Melbourne ranked third in the world, behind Vancouver in Canada and Vienna in Austria. Two other Australian cities are Perth at equal 5th and Sydney at equal 8th.
The highest-ranked Asian city was Osaka in Japan (13th) followed by Tokyo in Japan (19th), Hongkong (39th) , Singapore (54th) and Seoul, South Korea (58th).
Singapore is the most livable place in South-East Asia while Phnom Penh, Cambodia is the worst place (128th). Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Jakarta in Indonesia were placed 79th and 123th respectively
Pittsburgh is the highest-rated US city, in 29th place.
It analysed 140 world’s major cities based on 5 factors: stability, health care, education, infrastructure, culture and environment. The survey is conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit, a branch of The Economist Group, which publishes The Economist, a weekly magazine.
Top 10 cities
1 Vancouver Canada
2 Vienna Austria
3 Melbourne Australia
4 Toronto Canada
5/6 Perth Australia
Calgary Canada
7 Helsinki Finland
8/9/10 Geneva Switzerland
Sydney Australia
Zurich Switzerland
Monday, October 12, 2009
Group of Eight Aussie Unis in top 100
Times Higher Education on 8th October 2009 published world ranking presenting Australia's Group of Eight research universities are all placed in the global top 100.
Harvard once again claims the No1 world ranking, while Cambridge leapfrogs Yale to take second place.
The Australian National University fell one place, from 16 to 17. The University of Sydney gained one spot to tie for 36th with University of Melbourne which got better two places on last year’s ranking. The University of Queensland also climbed in the rankings, from 43 to 41, as did Monash University, from 47 to 45, while the University of Adelaide leapt from 106 to 81. The University of NSW dropped two places, from 45 to 47. And while the University of Western Australia slid one place to 84th.
Universities are ranked in six categories: peer review (40%), employer review (10%), staff-to-student ratio (20%), citation-to-staff ratio (20%), proportion of international staff (5%), proportion of international students (5%).
The top 200 world universities can be accessed on http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/Rankings2009-Top200.html
Top 20 World Universities
2009 rank 2008 rank Institution Country Overall Score
1 1 Harvard University US 100.0
2 3 University of Cambridge UK 99.6
3 2 Yale University US 99.1
4 7 University College London UK 99.0
5= 6 Imperial College London UK 97.8
5= 4 University of Oxford UK 97.8
7 8 University of Chicago US 96.8
8 12 Princeton University US 96.6
9 9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology US 96.1
10 5 California Institute of Technology US 95.9
11 10 Columbia University US 95.6
12 11 University of Pennsylvania US 94.2
13 13= Johns Hopkins University US 94.1
14 13= Duke University US 92.9
15 15 Cornell University US 92.5
16 17 Stanford University US 92.2
17 16 Australian National University Australia 90.5
18 20 McGill University Canada 90.4
19 18 University of Michigan US 89.9
20= 23 University of Edinburgh UK 89.3
20= 24 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Switzerland 89.3
Harvard once again claims the No1 world ranking, while Cambridge leapfrogs Yale to take second place.
The Australian National University fell one place, from 16 to 17. The University of Sydney gained one spot to tie for 36th with University of Melbourne which got better two places on last year’s ranking. The University of Queensland also climbed in the rankings, from 43 to 41, as did Monash University, from 47 to 45, while the University of Adelaide leapt from 106 to 81. The University of NSW dropped two places, from 45 to 47. And while the University of Western Australia slid one place to 84th.
Universities are ranked in six categories: peer review (40%), employer review (10%), staff-to-student ratio (20%), citation-to-staff ratio (20%), proportion of international staff (5%), proportion of international students (5%).
The top 200 world universities can be accessed on http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/Rankings2009-Top200.html
Top 20 World Universities
2009 rank 2008 rank Institution Country Overall Score
1 1 Harvard University US 100.0
2 3 University of Cambridge UK 99.6
3 2 Yale University US 99.1
4 7 University College London UK 99.0
5= 6 Imperial College London UK 97.8
5= 4 University of Oxford UK 97.8
7 8 University of Chicago US 96.8
8 12 Princeton University US 96.6
9 9 Massachusetts Institute of Technology US 96.1
10 5 California Institute of Technology US 95.9
11 10 Columbia University US 95.6
12 11 University of Pennsylvania US 94.2
13 13= Johns Hopkins University US 94.1
14 13= Duke University US 92.9
15 15 Cornell University US 92.5
16 17 Stanford University US 92.2
17 16 Australian National University Australia 90.5
18 20 McGill University Canada 90.4
19 18 University of Michigan US 89.9
20= 23 University of Edinburgh UK 89.3
20= 24 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Switzerland 89.3
Australia is the safest study destination
Australia was chosen by foreign students as the safest study destination, according to the global survey conducted from September 12 to October 6, 2009 by IDP Education.
Almost 40 per cent of respondents ticked Australia as the safest country when asked to select from a list consisting of five countries: Australia, the US, Britain, New Zealand, Canada.
However Australia was not considered as a top study destination for a quality education. They believed the US offered the most well-known education system. On this measure, the US ranked most highly (42 per cent), followed by Britain (28 per cent) and Australia (15 per cent).
The IDP Education surveyed 6000 students from eight countries: China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Almost 40 per cent of respondents ticked Australia as the safest country when asked to select from a list consisting of five countries: Australia, the US, Britain, New Zealand, Canada.
However Australia was not considered as a top study destination for a quality education. They believed the US offered the most well-known education system. On this measure, the US ranked most highly (42 per cent), followed by Britain (28 per cent) and Australia (15 per cent).
The IDP Education surveyed 6000 students from eight countries: China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.
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