ROBERT LESLIE FIELDING
Be kind to everyone you meet.
You may never see them again.
Write to be read - be better than you need to be!
You will have to write an essay in which you are given a problem that requires some suggestions regarding two or three solutions.
Here are some examples.
Parking is becoming more and more difficult in certain parts of
In the centre of
If public transport was cheaper and more regular, many motorists might not feel the need to drive to the shops. At the moment, buses to the area are few and costly, while taxis are getting more and more expensive. Good, cheap and regular buses could solve the problem overnight, but nothing has been done yet.
The building of a multi-storey car park would mean more spaces for shoppers to park, and there could even be a small charge to deter anyone from leaving their vehicles overnight. Many malls offer free parking while shops remain open but clamp cars that are left after closing time.
It remains to be seen if any new initiatives will be used. One thing is sure; if nothing is done soon, businesses in the area could close indefinitely until the problem of lack of parking is solved.
276 words
Robert L. Fielding
Teachers sometimes complain that they have problems communicating what they want to say to students whose English is weak. What can be done to remedy this situation?
Learning anything in a university in which the language of instruction is not the students’ own native tongue presents special difficulties for both students and teachers. Many English teachers complain that their students’ English is too weak for them to fully understand their instructions, and likewise, many students complain that they can’t always catch what their teacher says to them. There are several ways to remedy this problem but they require time: teachers could talk more slowly, students could practice listening to English, or the language of instruction could be changed.
Talking more slowly to students does nothing to help their comprehension, although it must feel helpful initially. However, students’ comprehension would be seriously impeded in the long term were teachers to talk more slowly to their students all the time.
Students’ ability to understand what their teachers say to them would undoubtedly be helped if students were to do more practice listening to tapes and radio and TV broadcasts in English. Granted, this would be a fairly slow process, but students would most definitely benefit from such practice and their listening comprehension would improve in the classroom.
Finally, the language of instruction could be changed to Arabic, but this would not be any real solution as it would deprive students of the chance to learn English, which is one of the reasons why students attend university courses in the first place.
Since it is usual for students to struggle understanding their teachers when English is being spoken, this difficulty should be viewed as an integral part of their education, and rather than changing anything, students should accept their difficulties as a challenge and adapt to them, with help from their teachers, of course.
284 words
Robert L. Fielding
Water shortages are becoming more and more acute in many parts of the world. What can be done to reduce this problem?
The world is running low on reliable supplies of fresh water. Every day we read in newspapers that people are short of this most vital natural resource. The solutions to this pressing problem would require people to change their habits: consumers could be economical in their use of water, companies could be dissuaded from using too much, and national governments could step in with tariffs on water use.
The first of these suggested solutions is for everybody to use less water in their bathrooms and kitchens. Most people, for example, leave the tap running while they put toothpaste on their toothbrush, prior to brushing their teeth. This may sound trivial, but millions of litres are lost daily because of this. People need to be aware that they should not waste water.
Secondly, companies that use water in their production processes – papermaking factories, for example, should try to find ways of recycling water so that they use less. Non-drinking water is still valuable and equally scarce.
Finally, governments could charge for going beyond a daily limit set for each household. Of course, this would be unpopular at first, but it would surely force people to reduce the amount they use daily.
In conclusion, the problems created by water shortages could be successfully averted by these means: people should voluntarily use less, which would reduce the problem considerably, despite its apparent simplicity; companies should recycle the water that they have already used, which would also reduce the problem, and governments should set limits on daily water use, fining those who use more. These three ways could have a lasting impact on the desperate situation that already exists.
274 words
Robert L. Fielding
Carbon emissions, it has been said, are the main contributor to global warming. Polar ice caps are melting as a result, and climate change is adversely affecting the world. What can be done to solve this major problem?
As the world’s most populous cites are in imminent danger of being flooded due to the rise in global temperatures melting ice caps and raising sea levels, it is high time something was done to remove the main cause; carbon emissions. These come from two main sources: automobile exhaust and smoke from factories. Both sources need attention if the world is to be saved.
Many car journeys are needless and could be reduced in number if people could only realize the damage they were causing to the environment. Government legislation is needed to limit the use of cars on our roads. Taxes could be levied, for example, on journeys between certain hours: before and after rush hour in our major cities; public transport could be made compulsory and free to commuters going to and from work.
Manufacturing drives the economy of all the industrial countries, it is true, but many factories are inefficient in their use of fossil fuels and should be made to adhere to government guidelines. If companies were made to pay for the amount of air pollution they caused, they would quickly discover new ways to continue their business without burning oil needlessly.
Of course, these two remedies would both require more government intervention, and more involvement and awareness by the public before they could become effective. Limiting the use of cars needn’t necessarily be led by governments, but rather, should become a reality because of people’s awareness that their overuse of their vehicles is a major contributor factor to global warming. Similarly, companies could initiate their own schemes to use oil more effectively and more efficiently. Perhaps then carbon emissions would come down to more acceptable levels.
280 words
Robert L. Fielding
Many visitors to the
Every day in the newspapers of the
The first of these; the issuing of I.D. cards for everyone, is in the long process of being implemented. Since I.D. cards will only be issued to people with valid visas in their passports, anyone not having one will be unable to get an I.D. card. This will result in them being unable to do things like acquire a driving licence or register a car. Of course, this should go a long way towards solving the problem, but will most probably not remove it altogether.
Government officials checking company records and inspecting employees passports should be done, but isn’t, probably because such a scheme would overstretch resources in government offices. In any case, this would be a costly thing to do, and would not necessarily solve the problem completely.
Whichever method is considered, it is clear that something needs to be done soon. I.D. cards would go some way to addressing the problem, government checks would go a little further in deterring people from outstaying their welcome, and would deter people from staying here illegally. If nothing is done, this problem will not go away, it will increase in magnitude.
260 words
Robert L. Fielding
