UnitOneMyfavouritesportSkiingismyfavoritesport,eventhoughIhaveonlyskiedforfourdaysinmywholelife!LastyearmyfatherpromisedtotakemeonaholidayifIdidwellinmyexams.WhenIgotstraightA's,Dadsaid,‘HowaboutaweekendattheBotanicalGardens?'However,mymumsaid,‘No,youpromisedaspecialholiday.Ithinkyououghttokeepyourword.'And,despitetheexpense,hedid.Mydreamwastoseesomerealsnow,sointheChristmasvacationweflewtoSeoul,SouthKorea,andthentookashuttlebuswhichrunsbackandforthbetweenSeoulandMujuResort.Asthebusclimbedthroughthemountains,wesawthesnowonthetrees.Iwasdyingtogetoutandplaywithit!Atlast,wereachedtheresortandquicklyscrambledoutofthebus.Nooneinmyfamilyhadevertouchedsnowbefore.Wewerealllikelittlechildren－wepickeditup,madesnowballs,andthrewthemateachother!Thenwecheckedinatthehotel.Ourroomoverlookedoneoftheskislopes.Theslopewasfloodlit,sowewatchedpeopleskiinguntil10p.m.Wecouldnotwaittotryitourselves.Thenextdaywehadourfirstskiinglesson.Werentedourskisuits,bootsandskis,andwentoutsideontothesnow.Wearingskisforthefirsttimemakesyoufeelverystrange.Suddenlyyoufindyoucannotevenwalk.Ourinstructortookusontoagentleslope,andshowedussomebasicskills.Inordertogoupahill,youhavetostandsideways,andgoupstepbystep.Youmustpointthetipsofyourskistogethersothatyoucanstop.However,thetipsmustnotcross,oryouwillfall.Youshouldnotskialoneincaseyoufallandgetinjured.Tobehonest,thatfirstlessonwasnotagreatsuccess,andIkeptonfallingdown!However,thenextdayIdefinitelyimproved.Ionlyfelloverafewtimes,andImanagedtodoafewlongerruns.Ifeltpleasedwithmyself,andtheinstructorcongratulatedme,soIfeltgreat.Althoughitwasverycold,Ispentmostofthatholidayskiing.Itwasthemostwonderfultimeofmylife.Nevertheless,itwasallovertoosoon.NowIhavedecidedtoworkpart-timethissummer,soIcanearnenoughmoneyforanothersuperskiingholiday.UnitTwoTutorialcenters1HelpfulIhavebeenstudyingatatutorialcentrefortwoyears.Thefeesareveryreasonable,andmycommandofEnglishhasimprovedgreatlysinceIstarted.Mytutorsareallqualifiedteachers.Theyaresincereandkind.Ihavebeenhelpedalotbythem.OneofmyteacherswasBritish.Atfirst,Icouldnotsayanythingtoher.However,laterIlearnthowtocommunicateinEnglishwithawesterner.IthinkthatthetutorialcentrehasgivenmealotofconfidenceinusingEnglish.MANDYZHANG2WasteofmoneyIhavestudiedatatutorialcentreforoneyear.However,IthinkthatIhavebeencheated.Thesetutorialcentresareonlyinterestedinmakingmoney,sotheyaccepttoomanystudentsforeachclass.However,theydonotwanttopayforgoodteachers.MyEnglishteacherwasauniversitystudentwhostudiedphysics,notEnglish!Veryoften,hecouldnotanswerourquestionsabouttheuseofthelanguage.Inmyopinion,itisbettertospendmoretimeonschoolworkthantowastemoneyata‘money-making'tutorialcentre.REXYANG3IgotosleepIhaveattendingatutorialcentrefortwomonths.Ihavebeenforcedtoattendbymyparents,butIdonotthinkitisusefulforme.Iamalwaysverytiredafterschool.SometimesIevensleepduringtheclassesintheevening.Furthermore,theteachersareveryboring.Theygiveusalotofsupplementaryexercisesbuttheyteachusnothing.Iusuallyreadcomicsduringclass.SometimesIgotoavideoarcadeinstead.Ithinktutorialcentresareuseless.SIMONLAN4GoodandbadIhaveexperiencedbothgoodandbadtutorialcentres.Inmyfirstcentre,Iwasinaverybigclass.MyteacherwasanAustralian.Hejusttalkedabouthistravels.Icouldlearnnothingfromhim.Ileftwithinamonth.ThenIaskedallmyfriendsfortheiradvice.Asaresultoftheirrecommendations,Ienrolledonacourseatanothercentre.Theteachersareexcellenthereandtheclassesaresmall.Wehavebeentaughtmanygoodtechniquesfordevelopingourlanguageandstudyskills.Therearebothgoodandbadtutorialcentres,soyoumustdosomedetectiveworkbeforeyouenroll.However,themostimportantthingiswhetheryouarewillingtolearnandtoworkhard.Thekeyfactorisyourself.GRACELIUnitThreeFashionMytopicis‘Fashion'.Fashionisimportanttoalmostallofus.Byfashion,weusuallymeanpopulartrendsinstylesofdress.Whenwegooutortoaparty,weusuallyliketowearfashionableclothes.Toillustratemytalk,Ihavebroughtalongfiveobjects.Myfirstobjectisthisblouse.Itlooksbeautiful,doesn'tit?It'smymostexpensivepieceofclothing,andIloveit.Itcostme$200.Itmayseemveryextravagant,butIcouldafforditwithmyownsavings.Itwasn'teasyformetoearnthemoney,butwhenbuyingclothes,Ithinkthemoreyouspendthebetterthequality.Soyousee,fashionisquiteimportanttome.However,I'mnotaskeenonfashionasmybrotherGary.Lastsummer,hewonafreetriptoLondoninacontest.Theorganizerswantedtoshowhimsomefamoussights.Buthedidn'tappreciateoldbuildings.Hejustspentallhistimesearchingforthecoolestpairoftrainers!Forhim,fashionwasmoreimportantthanculture.Thesearethetrainershebought.WasitworthatriptoLondontobuythese?Well,Idon'tthinkso.Itwasawasteoftimeandmoney.Fashionisverybigbusiness.Changesinfashioncancreateorruinjobs.Asanexample,Ihavebroughtthisblondewigtoshowyou.Itbelongstooneofmymum'sfriends.Inthe1960s,thesewereveryfashionable.Butafewyearslaterfashionschanged,andwomenworewigsmuchlessoften.Manywigfactoriescloseddown,andhundredsofworkerslosttheirjobs,whichwasterrible!Fashioncanaffectthenaturalworld,aswell.I'mholdinga。