Unit 9:

The Sahara Desert is said to be the largest desert in the world. It is located in the northern Africa and occupied approximately 10 percent of the African continent.

From the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Sahara Desert stretches across Africa to the Red Sea and down to the highlands of Ethiopia, covering an area of 9,065,000 square kilometres, 1,610 kilometres wide and about 5,150 kilometres long from east to west.

The Sahara is one of the hottest regions in the world, with arid land, dry climate. In the hottest months, temperatures can rise over 50°C, and temperatures can fall below freezing point in winter. A single daily variation is from -0.5°Cto 37.5°C. The Sahara is also extremely windy, which creates dust devils which can make the temperatures even hotter.

The surface of the desert ranges from large areas of sand dunes to stone plateaus, gravel plains, dry valleys and salt flats. People can find some tablelands with an average elevation from 400 to 500 meters. Very few forms of animal and vegetable life can be seen in the Sahara. Plants and animals of the Sahara are more threatened by desiccation than the fauna and flora in other parts. The main trees can be seen are cacti, date palms and a form of Acacia.

In the vast area of sand and wind, people can find some species of mammals such as desert antelopes, gazelles, foxes and jackals. Besides, there are some species of birds and reptiles.

The Sahara Desert is not well-protected. Unless people take appropriate measures to preserve, the flora and fauna of the Sahara is critically threatened with extinction.

Unit 10

There are a number of measures that should be taken to protect endangered animals. First, people should organize different activities to raise people's awareness of the urgent needs to protect these animals. For example, they hold international conferences, seminars and forums about the great importance of ecology and biodiversity. At the same time, they should appeal for government agencies in the world to contribute to the programmes of protecting and preserving plants and animals that are driven to the verge of extinction. In addition, people should contribute to the fund of preserving the earth's valuable natural resources for the future generations. Besides these, governments should enact laws to ban activities that can damage or destroy the nature. If these measures are taken, our planet might be a peaceful and beautiful place for all kinds of beings to live in.

Unit 11

I have recently read a novel "The Sea Wolf", which was written by Jack London. The story is set on a pirate's ship on the Pacific Ocean. There are three main characters in the novel. They are Wolf Larsen, Van Weyden and Maud Brewster. A literature researcher Van Wayden and a female writer Maud Brewster were caught in a storm and rescued by a sealer owned by a cruel captain Wolf Larsen. On its way, the ship was caught in another storm and thrown on a deserted beach. They spent days in lack of food and suffered from severe cold. Facing a lot of dangers and cruelty, in the end, Weyden and Brewster defeated Larsen's inhuman actions. Their bravery and courage brought the true love and happiness to them. Through the whole story, it can be said that the true love and charity can defeat the cruelty. In a word, the true love always wins. The book is very interesting as it evokes in our depth a human feeling about the strength of love.

Unit 12

1. Set yourself in vertical position.

2. Stand with your feet apart, raise your hands above your head.

3. Bend forwards, fingertips touch the ground.

4. Bend again, fingertips touch the ground between the feet.

5. Finally put each arm back to the first position.

Unit 13

To celebrate the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union's Foundation Day, our School's Sports Club recently played a friendly football match with Hanoi School's Football Team. The match was held on February 28th, at 4:00 pm at My Dinh stadium.

It was a nice day. In the first half, our team played pretty well. They tried to keep the ball away from the goal and as near to our rival's as possible. By a combination of passing and dribbling, the opponents gave a shot into our goal. Fortunately, our goalie could catch the ball. All the stands seemed to be exploded with merry and exciting shouts. And all the schoolboys and girls jumped up and down cheering. In the second half, both teams played beautifully and skilfully and tried to score the goal, but no-one succeeded. Finally it was a draw.

When the game was over, all of us were happy to have a fair game. I think all the schools in the area should hold such a friendly game to tie up and promote the friendship and solidarity together.

Unit 14

If I were offered a job with one of the international organizations, I would choose WHO. I'd like to work for this organization for a number of reasons. First, I have an opportunity to reduce sufferings for the sick and the victims of epidemics with my colleagues and companions. We will save the lives of many people by taking part in many voluntary activities and doing charity work. Second, if I work for WHO, I will travel all over the world, use English at work and meet different people. Therefore, I will have more experiences and knowledge, as well as an exciting and meaningful life. Third, I contribute to improve the international health care, especially in poor countries like mine. If the health care conditions are improved, the people will live longer and happier.

Unit 15

The chart illustrates the average housework hours per week by married women in comparison with married men.

As seen in the chart, there is distinctive difference in the average hours of housework in households. In childless families, the gap of housework hours per week between men and women is not largely. Women do some 30 hours per week; meanwhile men's contribution in housework is about 20 hours.

In families of one or two children, however, the number of men's housework hours decreases to 15 hours, but women's number of housework rises even to 50. Undoubtedly, the cause of this rise is due to childcare.

And amazingly in households with three or more children, the equality becomes more distinct. Men work fewer hours than about 10 hours, but women's housework hours rise to 55 per week.

The chart shows that the inequality in housework between husband and wife should be resolved. It is important that women should be liberated from the unreasonable burden of familial responsibilities. And to get the target, men should do their share of housemaking.

Unit 16

Dear David,

I'm glad to hear that you've decided to spend your summer holiday in one of the ASEAN countries. So, I'd like to recommend you a wonderful place in Vietnam to you. It's Hue, our ancient capital in the central Vietnam.

Hue was the capital of Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty and is one of the cultural cores of our country. The city lies on both sides of the Huong River. In this ancient city, you can find palaces, pagodas and houses built on the same principles as the Forbidden Palace in Peking. Hue is also famous for its royal tombs, the tombs of the former emperors. It has been said these tombs are Hue's most spectacular tourist attractions. And another fantastic attraction to tourists is the boat trip on the Huong River, especially on the moonlit nights. You can spend and enjoy the quiet and peace of the night time on the boat listening to the poetic songs of Hue's singers. Besides these, you can also enjoy the quiet and poetic atmosphere of the garden houses of ancient architecture. Coming to Hue, you should not forget to enjoy Hue's specialities such as mussel rice and many kinds of cakes.

People in this old royal capital are said to be friendly and hospitable.

I think you should come and visit it. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Kim Hong