TOPIC 141

TOPIC 141: A gift (such as a camera, a soccer ball, or an animal) can contribute to a child's development. What gift would you give to help a child develop? Why? Use reasons and specific examples to support your choice.

Essay 1

To enhance children's development, some parents select a fairy tale book as a gift; others choose a stuffed doll; still others pick a basketball up. Although every item has its value, personally I find a stereo advantageous for a child's growth to lean languages, music, and communication.

First, children can gain knowledge through language cassettes. For example, while listening to tapes of beginner English, children follow the directions to speak out simple words such as "A" means " Apple", "B" refers to " Bird" and " C" defines " Cat". With a "Rewind" button, children can repeat these basic vocabulary as many times as they want. Under these circumstances, repeated stimulation enables them to memorize quickly. So, a stereo can benefit children to study languages effectively.

Another contribution of a stereo for children's development is that children can learn the rhythm, melody and lyrics. Like " Elephants", the famous song tells kids why an elephant has a long trunk. Also, according to various rhythm, children can express feelings in different ways. To illustrate, romantic music like Celine Dion's " My heart with go on" has smooth and slow pace. It makes the listener tranquil. However, pop music like Michel Jackson’s " Thriller" thrills children.
So, music inspires children's minds.

Most importantly, a stereo allows children to communicate with hosts of broadcasts. For example, they can turn into talk show on 99.1 FM. There is a program called "Take a guess" at 9:00am on weekdays. Unusually, the host asks questions like " what is the largest animal in the world?" Every child can respond through a phone. If someone gets the wrong answers, the host would provide more hints and clues to children until they get the right answers. In this way, children can improve their imagination and creatively; in addition, they learn how to communicate with others.

All in all, little kids can feel frustrated playing tapes and CD's. Also, impatient children cannot stick with hour long or more cassettes. Nevertheless, I strongly think a stereo is worthwhile for children's development because it helps them become gifted in language, musician and speech.

(Essay ID: 294 )

Essay 2

When I was about 10 years old, my older sister gave me a present. It was my first real grown-up bicycle: a three-speed, yellow and black, shiny and new. I still remember how excited I was. That bicycle was very important to me over the next few years. If I wanted to give a gift that would contribute to a child's development, I would choose a bicycle.

Bikes are great exercise. They encourage outdoor play. Television and video games, which are the most popular children's activities nowadays, involve mostly sitting and staring. Riding a bike makes exercise fun.

Bikes are convenient transportation, too. Without a bike you have to depend on an adult to drive you almost everywhere. With a bike you can go farther. You can ride to your friends' houses. If your school is close enough, you can take yourself to school. You have control over where you go, and you 're not always waiting or begging for a ride. Now you can say "Can I go… ?" instead of "Please take me!"

To me as a child, a bicycle meant independence. Not only could I go farther, but no one was watching where I went. The road went past the park, the pond, the woods, the 7-11 store, and more. I saw the network of little neighborhood roads from a different viewpoint. Everything was much more interesting up close than it was through a car window. I could stop anywhere and look at whatever I wanted. Everything was my choice. Bike riding was active, not passive.

My bicycle gave me fun exercise, easy transportation, and freedom. For all these reasons, I think that a bicycle is a special present for a child.

(Essay ID: 17 )