Sample Writings

Sample Writing 1

My Dream Job

My dream is to become an astronaut (宇航员). Sounds a challenge, I know, but, as we learn from the three dream pursuers we have read about, it is wise to reach for the stars. It’s just that I want to do so literally. It’s my ambition. I know that this will require careful choice of courses and endless hard work, but I have the motivation and perseverance to do well in my studies. In the end, it may well be that I have to do just a small part here on Earth in our space program, but I know that that is the area I want to work in. I’m hooked on it. And who knows, one never can predict with certainty. Hopefully one day I’ll make it all the way and journey into space. (137 words)

 Sample Writing 2

Subject: Hellofrom university!

Dear Mom and Dad,

Lovely to receive your email. As you canguess, I’ve been really busy, what with finding my way around campus andexploring different courses. We have been allowed to attend lectures on a rangeof different courses before making a final commitment on those we are going toundertake. No doubt all part of making us begin to take charge of ourlearning!1 But we have to choose before the end of the week. Then it will begetting down to hard work with weekly assignments and seminars, many on things completelynew to me. Don’t worry, I’m not complaining. In fact, I’m sure I’m going tolove it here and still in disbelief about my good fortune. And I promise toremember your good advice about everyone making mistakes and try to be not tooembarrassed when I make them myself.

My room-mates are great fun. As soon as Iset foot in the dorm I knew that we would all get along fine.

Anyway, I must go now, as some seniors areabout to put on a performance and we are all invited. Give my love to Auntywhen you see her!

 

Lots of love,

Anna

(202 words)

Sample Writing 3

War causes immense human suffering. Take World War II, for example. It is claimed that worldwide it caused a total of 61 million casualties, including 40 million civilians. In our own resistance to Japanese aggression, China suffered over 35 million casualties, with 300 thousand Chinese killed in the infamous Nanjing Massacre alone. In Europe, 6 million Jews perished. While some managed to flee the Holocaust in time, many did not. Children were not spared. Along with their parents they were delivered to the slaughter in cattle trucks to serve Hitler’s insane image of an Aryan master race that would take control of the world. Throughout every continent those who survived the horrors of war had to bear deep emotional scars. (120 words)

Sample Writing 4

Winston Churchill, the great British statesman, was not an outstanding student. Quite the opposite. His performance on many subjects at school was so bad that he was enrolled in the lowest class. Yet he claimed that this gave him a significant benefit when it came to his career. For at the time all the pupils in the higher classes at his school were required to spend an enormous proportion of their time learning Latin and Greek; this was off limits for the lowest class, which was made to spend the time on English lessons instead. Thanks to that the young Winston developed a deep love of his language that was to give him an unrivalled ability to capture in words the resolve of the British people to defy Hitler. As he put it when asked about his famous wartime speeches, “The nation had the lion’s heart. I had the luck to give the roar.” (154 words)

Sample Writing 5

There are many things we can do to help conserve clean water supplies. First, we can help keep our water sources clean by persuading people not to throw dirty things into rivers or wells. Besides, since all of us use water every day, we can stop wasting water and learn to do whatever we can to save water in our daily life. Rest assured, it’s not complicated. For example, we should remember to turn off the water as often as we can when doing dishes or taking showers. We should also buy toilets that use less water, and use other water-saving equipment. Perhaps, when we foresee a heavy rain, we can even try to preserve some rainwater and use it to water our plants later. Don’t think these efforts are too small. They all help to make our water resources last longer. (142 words)

Sample Writing 6

For my part, I am all in favour of a digital-free vacation. In the absence of digital devices, there would be no distractions: no short messages, no constantly checking on what stuff my friends were posting on Weibo or WeChat, no ending up reading my emails all the time. I am sure it would pay off. For I would be able to focus all my attention on marveling at sights, observing and thinking. If I wished, I could even at times write down bits and pieces of what I see and think about in the old-fashioned way, with a pen and a notebook. I am sure that when the vacation ended, I would have gained all I had hoped for and come back feeling an altogether happier person. (128 words)