tanya

Hello, Ruslan. Well, here we go again… Introduction makes a good impression: your point of view is clear. But it (intro) would be even more impressive if you’d briefly mention your supporting ideas. The fist paragraph is nice; you even used a personal example, which is very beneficial! Always try to do that, even if you don’t have any personal experience in the given field, make one up! But there is a little problem with the first para: you kind of gave a reason, but you didn’t state it clearly. When I read your explanation and example, I understand what you were trying to say, but no one wants to guess, right? So, you should have said something like this: face to face communication is important, cause it’s easier to make a good and long lasting impression talking to someone personally. OK, let’s move on to the second para. Things are getting worse here. This section simply doesn’t contain any supporting idea to you opinion. It doesn’t answer the question: why face-to-face communication is better? Try to think of something like this: body language and face expressions help you to communicate better. Or consider any other reason that makes sense. Good conclusion is crucial for a high score! Yours is too short. But, it is a great beginning for a conclusion! Add a couple of sentences and it will be great. You just need to restate all of your ideas. That’s pretty much it, good luck to you!

Hi, Ruslan. Let me say a few words about your essay. To be honest with you, it is off topic (that is my opinion). Let’s start with the introduction. You are supposed to state your opinion (which you did) and mention the reasons, why you think so (which you didn’t). The first paragraph is good, you give a reason. But the second one doesn’t say anything about another reason, supporting the main idea, it rather illustrates the first paragraph. The conclusion is very short and doesn’t belong to the topic at all! You need to restate your opinion and your reasons, but try to do it in a slightly different manner. And one more thing: simply question=simple question; didn’t answered=didn’t answer. Sorry, if I was a little harsh on you. Don’t give up, keep trying. Practice makes perfect!

Hey, guys, is anyone here an electronic gamer? Lets talk games!!!

Hello, wonderx. Your essay makes a good overall impression. But there are some grammatical mistakes. Here is my review: Your reasons are convincing and the essay is well formatted, but try to restate your ideas in the conclusion. That will make your good essay even better. Good luck!

I think, the answer is D. Using should be changed to used (we need a passive voice).

The answer is A. Organization is singular, not plural. You are confused because of the "daughters", but that is just the name of the organization. We can change "The Daughters of the American Revolution" to "it" and then it makes sense: It is a women's organization dedicated to research about the Revolutionary period. Women's is perfectly correct (as well as men's and children's).

Hi, sininho! Your essay is nice, but I have a strong feeling, that you gave just one reason to support your idea and discussed it (the reason) in each para over and over again (correct me if I'm wrong). If only you could think of another one! My suggestion is - personal responsibility (talking to a real person can make him or her feel responsible for your satisfaction, that way you have a better chance of solving your problem). If you like this idea, you are free to use it in your essay. Good luck!

17. Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons to develop your essay. Some people think that they can learn better by themselves, others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Probably, it depends on a person’s specific mental features and way of thinking. Personally, I prefer to study with a tutor. The purpose of studying is gaining knowledge, learning something new, unfamiliar to you. This is not an easy process, especially when you are on your own. Sometimes, even very often, you got stuck and can’t get it without an explanation. That is when an experienced, understanding teacher comes in. He (or she) is very helpful in such situations, explaining everything in detail. One might say, that a good book would do a trick, but I disagree. You cannot ask a book, even a good one, a particular question, the book has no ability to explain the material in different, simpler words. Moreover, a teacher corrects the mistakes, which otherwise could be left unnoticed. For example, when I prepared for this section of the test, I had an online tutor helping me by pointing out the weaknesses of my essay. Also, it is vital to have a teacher to listen to your speech when studying the phonetics. Knowing your weak points is crucial, so I would most definitely use an advantage of having a teacher by my side. In conclusion, I cannot stress enough the importance of a teacher in the process of studying. They make the most difficult subjects clear, they correct the errors we make and give us the motivation and encouragement so much needed in difficult situations. In my opinion, teachers make learning easy, interesting and enjoyable for most of us. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. :o

Hi, tiggerwoman! I liked this one. To be more precise, I liked the ideas, the content, but not the form. [xx(] First of all, there is no introduction. You need to start with the general statement, like such: Some students (and teachers) prefer lectures, which could be very interesting. Now you should state your opinion: I would choose a class where students do some of the talking. At this point you must introduse a couple of sentences (or one well developed sentence), supporting your oppinion: Finding it difficult to concentrate on one person for a long time, I'd rather participate in the discussion. There you have your introduction!!![bounce] The body of the essay is OK. But where is the conclusion?!! Instead of it you oppose your initial point of view. If I were you, I'd cut out the last para. you simply don't need it, you have enough of supporting ideas. Write a conclusion instead. Restate your opinion and supporting ideas. Here is my rough version of one: Though some lectures where the teacher does all the talking might be very interesting, personally, I believe that it is more educational and even entertaining for the students to participate in the debate. Such an experience would be very helpful for the exams and could make you feel more confident and professional. (All the ideas are yours, I 've just arrenged them into a conclusion.:o). I wish you good luck with your test. Hope to hear from you later.

Dear amitush! I also have some recommendations. Please, try to use your vocabulary, otherwise your essay will look flat. Don't apply one and the same word for three times in one paragraph, use the SYNONYMS! For instance, you can (and should) substitute the word "learn" for "find out", "discover", "gain knowledge of". I know, It is very difficult, but mind your spelling!!! It is critical for the high score. Kide=kid One more thing. Here is your sentence: If we will learn from the past, we will avoid the same mistakes in the future. It is so inaccurate! No future tense in the subordinate clause of condition and time. Now the correct variant of your sentence: If we learn from the past, we will avoid the same mistakes in the future.:) No hard feelings, right?:p I'm just trying to help you out. Please, try once again with the same topic, don't give up. Good luck!!!

Hello, Tiggerwoman. I would like to comment on your essay. Honestly, I think you did a great job! I just wanna point out a couple of mistakes. Here we go. The question whether watching television is bad for children or not comes up frequently, for example in connection with acts of violence at schools, and with health problems. There are two major points to consider: The mental and the physical health of children. For both, you have to take account of the importance (to take in account the importance) television plays in a child’s life. I omit the next paragraph, since I havn't found any mistake in it. It is also undeniable that there is lots of physical violence and bad language in the media. Children are confronted with it in hundreds of shows, from cartoons to talk shows and the news. The border between what can be talked about or shown to the public has shifted a lot in the last decades, so that many things that would not have been seen before midnight ten years ago are now in the afternoon programmes. (This sentence looks incomplete to me. The border between what and what? I think you wanted to say: The border of what can be...... has shifted. Am I right?). Whereas they would not harm a grown-up person, they may give children wrong ideas about what is „right“ or „normal“, and about what you can do without hurting someone badly. The next two paragraphs are OK from the grammatical point of view. So all in all, I think that the amount of entertainment and information a child can gain from watching television does by far surmount the negative aspects. However, noone (none) should just „dump“ their children in front of the television without supervising them just to have more time to himself. But in this case, I think it is more the lack of attention than the television that harms the children. I also think that you should join the first two paragraphs into one, then you'll have a complete introduction. You are slipping of the topic in the fifth para ;)! We see an explanation of how the parents should supervise their kids watching TV. That's not what the essay about! In the first support par I would write about violence, explicit language, drugs and so on on TV, and then just add one sentence on the subject of supervising. Oh, yeah, one more thing. You MUST state your point of view in the introduction! In your case it would be: supervised TV is good and vice versa. Overall, it's a very good essay, great job (now, I'm repeating myself, it means, time to say bye-bye). See you on TestMagic.

Please, don't hesitate to comment.:o Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Grades (marks) encourage students to learn. Use specific reasons and details. Marks are meant to evaluate the depth of someone’s knowledge. Most of the students care about them; I did when I was at school. But do grades actually influence our desire to learn? Personally, I believe that they do! Generally speaking, students are concerned about their grades. In order to achieve higher score a person would try harder. For instance, when I was in elementary school, our teacher came up with the idea of giving a student a star for every “excellent” mark. We had a special board for those stars in the middle of the classroom, where everybody could see how many stars you have. There even was a competition among us: who gets more stars. I wanted to win so badly, that my parents and siblings have noticed my efforts. As the result, not only did my grades hit the A level, but I also grew exited about what I was studying. However, low marks can influence a student in the opposite way, they (marks) are discouraging sometimes. Did you ever have this feeling of being absolutely helpless after getting a low grade, though you have been cramming all night long? Some people are able to find some sort of inspiration in such failures, mobilize themselves and put their best foot forward. But not all of us are so mentally and emotionally strong. A number of students would feel sorry for the lost time and effort, lose all the interest in the subject and give up. In conclusion, marks do encourage most of us to learn, and one might say, that I am a living proof of it. But a student should never forget, that the actual goal of learning is not your grades, even the highest ones, but the obtained knowledge.

I try not to antedate the events anterior to his sudden demise. I hardly knew the guy, only once did I visit his antebellum brick mansion. Hoping to forget that tragic day, I will remember him, a man of unknown antecedents. Sorry, that's all I could come up with.:o What are your ideas? Did you try to use the words?

15. It is said that no potential frontier has such fired the imagination or challenged the ingenuity of humankind as has space. (the answer is: as space has). The word order is wrong!!![w00t]

Here is what I think about these sentences: 1. The prices at the chain stores are as resonable, if not more reasonable, as those at discount stores. (Hello, don't we need an article here?!). 2. As every nation, the US used to define its unit of currency , the dollar, in terms of the gold standard. (the expression "every other" has a completely different meaning. It means "every second; every alternate". So, for example, when we say "he comes every other day", we mean, that he comes Mondays, Wednedsdays, Fridays and so on, not every day, but every other day. I hope, I made myself clear.). 3. Until recently, women were forbidden by law to own property. ("to forbid somebody to do something", we don't need any preposition).

In tha second passage the answer is C. So, the correct variant of the sentence wold look like this: The migration route of the first humans to occupy North America took them across a land bridge that once was connecting (or, once connected) Asia with what is now Alaska.