1. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Universities should give the same amount of money to their students' sports activities as they give to their university libraries. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

I disagree strongly with the idea that the same amount of money should go to university sports activities as to university libraries. Although playing sports is a wonderful way to learn about teamwork, strategy and reaching your goals, it should not be the principal focus of a university education.

Students need the most up-to-date library facilities available to get the best education. Many of those facilities are very expensive to buy and maintain. These include computerized programs and access to internet research databases that students can use to find information all around the world. If a university is only offering its students resources of a decade ago, it’s depriving those students of a tremendous amount of information.

Even the book and magazine budget of universities has gone up tremendously in last decade. More is being published on every subject, and every university wants to have this information available to its students.

It also costs money for universities to keep their libraries open. Students need to have access to all the libraries' research tools as much of time as possible. Because students are young and can stay up all night studying, many universities are starting to leave their libraries open all night during exam periods. This costs money, because the staff has to be paid extra to be there. It also costs money to run the building (electricity, heat) during that time.

Students at universities are only going to benefit from their education if they can get to all the tools they need to learn. Sports are secondary to the resources that students need from university libraries. For this reason, libraries should always be better funded than sport activities.

2 Many people visit museums when they travel to new places. Why do you think people visit museums? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

People love to visit museums when traveling to new places. I think this is because museums tell them a lot about the culture of those places. Museums are also fun. It’s almost impossible to get bored in a museum. Every museum will have at least one thing of interest to somebody.

When visiting someplace new, you can find out about the culture of that place in many ways. You can go to a movie or a place of worship or a nightclub. Another option is to sit in the park and listen to the people around you. The easiest way to learn about a place's culture, though, is by visiting its museums. Museums will show you the history of the place you're visiting. They’ll show you what art the locals think is important.

If there aren't any museums, that tells you something, too.

Museums are fun. Even if you're not interested in art or history, there is always something to get your attention. Many museums now have what they call "hands-on" exhibits. These were originally designed to keep children occupied while their parents were looking at exhibits. However, museums have found that adults enjoy hands-on opportunities just as much as children. These exhibits have activities like pushing a button to hear more about what you're looking at, creating your own work of art, or trying on clothes like those on the models in the museum.

People also enjoy visiting museums about unusual subjects. For instance, in my hometown there's a museum devoted to the potato. This museum has art made out of potatoes. It also tells all about the history of the potato, and sells potato mementos like key chains and potato dolls.

People enjoy visiting this museum because it's different. It’s not something they'd find in their hometown and the museum's curator enjoy talking about the Great Potato.

Museums are popular because they are about us. They reflect our creations, our values, and our dreams. No matter who you are or what you like, somewhere there is a museum that will amaze and interest you.