国際教養AO入試 TOEFL Reading reference, Japanese consent, rush hour and militarism

日本人が「通勤地獄」から抜け出せない、歴史的な背景

ITmediaビジネス online  6/27(火) 8:19配信
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20170627-00000030-zdn_mkt-bus_all

国際教養AO入試 TOEFL Reading reference, Egg of Columbus

The Surprising Link Between Egg Shape and Bird Flight
For the first time, scientists have taken a closer look at how bird eggs are shaped—and made some unexpected discoveries.
National Geographic June 22, 2017
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/bird-eggs-shapes-flight-evolution/

鳥の卵の形はなぜさまざまなのか、驚きの関係が明らかに
National Geographic   6/27(火) 7:20配信
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/article?a=20170627-00010000-nknatiogeo-sctch

国際教養AO入試 TOEFL Reading reference, Japanese democracy, Japanese society

堀潤と若新の論破禁止ゼミ‏ @yuruinews_loung
【入会受付け中！】学生＆「ゆるいニュースラウンジ」メンバー（審査有り）の方は1ヶ月3,240円 https://lounge.dmm.com/detail/270/ 男性＆新規の方は5,400円 https://lounge.dmm.com/detail/271/ どちらも入会後1ヶ月間無料！お試しOKです！ #論破禁止https://twitter.com/yuruinews_loung

「ちゃんと議論できない」日本社会への処方箋
東洋経済ONLINE    6/23(金) 6:00配信

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/article?a=20170623-00177582-toyo-bus_all&p=1

国際教養AO入試 TOEFL Reading reference, Romanesque Architecture

Characteristics of Romanesque Architecture

Concept.com   Created by Boundless
https://www.boundless.com/art-history/textbooks/boundless-art-history-textbook/romanesque-art-19/romanesque-architecture-125/characteristics-of-romanesque-architecture-534-1919/

国際教養AO入試 TOEFL Reading reference, climate change and business

Too Hot to Fly? Climate Change May Take a Toll on Air Travel

Excess heat in Phoenix grounded more than 40 flights in recent days, and
scientists say a warming climate could also mean more turbulent rides.
By ZACH WICHTERJUNE   The New York times   20, 2017    

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/business/flying-climate-change.html?ref=todayspaper

Pre-TOEFL Reading, Summary (L. 10)

Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann was the friend of Felix Mendelssohn and the e          stic friend and teacher of Johannes Brahms and many other younger c         s. He was the first to write music about children and the e           ces of childhood. He was an i      se, s    tive man who could have been a fine writer if he had not been a composer. He was born near Leipzig in 1810. His father, who was an e    tor and p    shier, wanted him to be a l   yer. He o    tly studied law, but what he really wanted to be was a pianist. His i          ce made him use a m         cal d    ce to exercise and s     then his fingers and the i          ment injured one of his fingers p           tly, ending his dream of becoming a concert pianist. After the injury, he d    ted himself to composing and writing. With a group of musicians and writers, he f    ded a musical magazine, for which he wrote a     les to express different points of view about music, using names of i            ry characters he created. He also p         ted good music and the other arts and defended them against una          tive people.

TOEFL, iBT, Independent Writing, Which is more important for success: the natural ability you are born with or hard work? - rewrite -

Writing Topic

Which is more important for success: the natural ability you are born with or hard work? Explain your opinion, using specific reasons and examples.

☆Let’s Think

What is success? Perhaps it means achieving an above average goal like winning a difficult game or becoming rich. It also may mean becoming a respectable adult. How are these two words, the natural ability you are born with and hard work, related to success? Thinking of some so called successful people would help answer this question. For example, Barak Obama and Muhammad Ali are probably two of many successful people who were born with great abilities and worked hard as well. Which of these two elements were more important in their success?

☆Hints for Points

Natural Ability

1.    Successful people appear in all social classes in any kind of society.  

2.    Heredity plays a decisive role in one’s performance.

Hard Work

1.    Competitions are held among talented people, of whom one working hardest will win. e.g. athletes

2.    Talent has a limit but hard work has not limit.  e.g. the story of the rabbit and the turtle.

☆Sample Essay Structures

Sample 1

【Introduction = Outline】In my opinion, genetic factor is the most important in success.

【Point 1】Bigger people are much better than smaller people under the same conditions in most sports.

【Point 2】It is often the case that a genius grows up in the worst environment

【Pint 3/follow-up】Of course, to win a competition, hard work is necessary, but when two people make the same amount of effort, the more talented one will win.

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】 Rather than sanctifying diligence, we had better know ourselves and try to make the best of given conditions for a better and happier life.

Sample 2

【Introduction = Outline】This is a difficult question to answer because “nature versus nurture” in terms of success is an age-old inquiry. However, I think hard work plays a larger role in success than innate ability.

【Point 1】 The story of the rabbit and the turtle teaches us that a hard worker can beat a talented opponent in the end.

【Point 2】Gifted people do not seem to work hard, but actually they do. They just enjoy hard work and often do not realize that they might be working twice as much as the others.

【My Opinion】No person with inherent ability can be successful without working hard.

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】I believe industriousness is more important for success than innate quality.

♦Your Sample Essay Structure

【Introduction = Outline】

【Point 1】

【Point 2】

【Point 3】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

単語メモ  成功（する・している） success n.   succeed v.  successful  adj.

生まれつきの才能  talent   natural ability  innate ability  inherent ability  ability that one is born with

勤勉 hard work（名詞句） working hard（動名詞句） diligence  industriousness

Cf. work hardly ほとんど勉強しない

TOEFL, iBT, Independent Writing, It is more worthwhile for a university to spend money on improving facilities than on hiring high-quality professors. - rewrite -

Writing Topic

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. It is more worthwhile for a university to spend money on improving facilities than on hiring high-quality professors.

☆Let’s Think

This question is made up of a comparison. It compares the importance of facilities and professors for a university. Also, the statement uses the word “worthwhile” not “important”. Does it mean that even though high-quality professors are important, improving facilities is more worthwhile to a university?

Let’s think about the relation between research facilities and faculty (professors) in studies by analogy. Professors can be to facilities what the software is to the hardware of a system. Just as good software performs exquisitely even the hardware looks miserable as long as its specifications are above some level, so do good professors achieve good results even if facilities for their studies are not perfect. At the same time, if the hardware is old and worn out, of course, nothing can make it do even a basic task.

At the same time, university facilities include those not only for studies but also for students such as dormitories, gyms, and cafeteria. They may need to have features that many people are attracted to.

For what purpose does the university exist? Why do people go to university? What does the word “worthwhile” mean?

If you like, answer these questions before you organize your thoughts.

1.     What are the merits of spending money on facilities?

2.     What are the merits of spending money on high-level professors?

3.     For what purpose does the university exist?

4.     What does the word “worthwhile” mean?

5.     Is spending money on facilities more worthwhile than on high-quality professors in realizing the answers to Questions from 1 through 3?

☆Essay for Ideas and Expressions

Both facilities and professors are important for a university to conduct studies. However, if the statement that it is more worthwhile for a university to spend money on improving facilities than on hiring high-quality professors is based on the idea that university is a business and thus its purpose is to make profits, I cannot agree with it because in my understanding the reason for existence of university is to promote and protect studies.

The university should provide a good environment so that professors can do research without worrying about funding for their studies. However, spending more money on facilities than on hiring good professors is putting the cart before the horse. Universities cannot exist without good researchers. While studies cannot be done well without good equipment, abundant information that the sophisticated machines can provide is useless without a person who knows how to use machines and how to interpret information they produce. Also, many professors are not only top level researchers but also very good teachers. They are some of the best, or at least most interesting, minds students meet in their whole lives: human beings with amazing brains and often unforgettable personalities. It is professors that protect, improve, and increase the knowledge the university has and raise the next generation of researchers and well-educated citizens that support important studies.

On the other hand, in the perspective of university as a business, spending money on the facilities might also be crucial. Universities need to attract as many students, their customers, as possible. Students who are purely interested in the subject they are going to major in and choose a university with renowned professors in the field of their interest might be minorities. A larger percentage of the young may want to pursue a good quality of life rather than an academic success and would be more concerned about the level of facilities related to their college life than those of professors. For example, students who live away from home might take good dormitory facilities into consideration in choosing a university that they should attend. Students who enjoy sports would choose the university with sporting facilities.

                                            

However, the main purpose of a university is research and education. Talks about making money should be the last of its priority. Although reality may put pressure on allocating more of its budget to other things than hiring high-quality professors, if it gives in, it is not really entitled to be called the highest educational institution. Instead of trying to attract many students or trying to increase its capital by buying equities, the university should spend money to protect its faculty.

The university is a place for studies and studies depend on high-level professors. Therefore, it is not worthwhile for a university to spend more money on its facilities than on its faculty. Good professors are more important for a university than anything else, including making a short term profit.

☆Sample Essay Structures

Sample Essay Structure 1

【Main Idea = Outline】 I agree/disagree with the statement that … because ….

【Facility】It is worthwhile for a university to spend money on facilities in that ….

【Professors】It is worthwhile for a university to spend money on professors because ….

【Decisive Reason】A university should spend more money on facilities/professors because ….

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】Because…, I think it is more worthwhile …..

Sample Essay Structure 2

【Main Idea = Outline】 I agree/disagree with the statement that … .The reasons are as follows.

【Reason to agree/disagree 1】First, ….

【Reason to agree/disagree 2】Second, ….

【Why the drawbacks do not matter】It is true that …, but ….

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】Since…, I cannot disagree/agree with the idea that ….

Your Essay Structure

【Main Idea = Outline】

【Point 1】

【Point 2】

【Point 3】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

国際教養AO入試 TOEFL Reading reference, human brain, thought, technology

Noam Chomsky Says Elon Musk's Neuralink Project Won't Really Work
Reclaiming motor function is one thing; connecting your thoughts to a computer is another.
Inverse Innovation   June 4, 2017
https://www.inverse.com/article/32395-elon-musk-neuralink-noam-chomsky

国際教養AO入試 TOEFL Reading reference, clean energy, environment

Clean Energy Takes Hold
Catalyst   Spring 2017   Published by Union of Concerned Scientists
http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/catalyst/clean-energy-takes-hold#.WUSFwWjyjIU

国際教養AO入試 TOEFL Reading reference, environment

＜ユニセフ報告書＞高１のエコ知識低く　３７カ国中３６位
 毎日新聞　　6/15(木) 5:00配信
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20170615-00000007-mai-soci

Pre-TOEFL Reading, Summary (L. 9)

The Civil Rights Movement

On December 1, 1955, a 42-year-old black s        ress named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white person and was a       ted for her action. Then a boycott of the city’s s        ted buses by black people began in Montgomery. The leader was a young m      ter, Martin Luther King, Jr. The Supreme Court declared the city’s bus s            tion laws u             nal. A b         h among southern whites began and King’s home was firebombed. The black community was brought to the b    k of violence, but R       d King insisted on a non       t response. He was c         ced that blacks could achieve e     ty only through peaceful c     l d            ce. He led voter r         tion drives among blacks, helped organize s  t-  ns at segregated lunch counters, and organized Freedom Riders to test f       l laws banning segregation in bus station facilities. Southern whites re       ted violently. In August 1963, the March on Washington was held. It was the largest civil rights d       tion in American history. King gave his most m      able “I Have a Dream” a       ss. He offered a v    sion of an America where l      ty and e      ty were realities for all citizens. In 1964, Congress p  ssed the Civil Rights Act and King was awarded with the Nobel P     e Prize.

国際教養AO入試 TOEFL Reading reference, TPP and RCEP

TPP vs RCEP? Trade deals explained
By Emiko Jozuka, CNN　　Updated 1733 GMT (0133 HKT) January 26, 2017
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9094139637570091888#allposts

Pre-TOEFL writing, Some young children spend a great amount of their time practicing sports. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this. - rewrite -

Writing Topic

Some young children spend a great amount of their time practicing sports. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

☆Let’s Think

The key words and phrases of this topic are “Some young children”, “a great amount of their time”, and “practicing sports”. Such children may play sports more than four days a week.

This topic requires you to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of children playing sports. It does not ask you whether you think it is good for children to spend much time on sports, but of course you may as well state your opinion on it.

☆Hints for Points

Advantages  (Ideas taken from a site https://www.families.com/blog/10-benefits-of-playing-sports)

1.    Playing sports is fun. It gives your child something to do and a group to belong to. They have a group of friends that has the same goals and interests.

2.    Physical activities are a good way to relieve stress and reduce depression.

3.    Sports help kids develop discipline. They learn to set goals and then work to achieve those goals. They learn that by working hard they can accomplish the things that they want to in their lives.

4.    Kids who play sports quickly learn that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. They learn to be a good sport in both situations. It also helps them learn to deal with disappointment and go on.

5.    Sports help develop teamwork and leadership skills. Kids quickly learn that they have to work together as a team to win the game.

6.    Regular exercise increases quality of life. Children who exercise are more likely to continue the practice into adulthood.

Disadvantages

1.    Injuries: Children who play sports are more likely to have severe physical injuries in games or as a result of over use of a certain part of their body.

2.    Stress: Young children may suffer from the trauma after negative events related to sports such as bullying from older children or undue parental expectations.

3.    Time-commitment: Some sports teams require teammates to spend too much time on exercise and they lose time to do other activities like reading books or playing in nature freely.

☆Sample Essay Structure

【Introduction = Outline】There are advantages and disadvantages for children spending a large amount of their time playing sports. I think it is good for them in general.

【Advantages】Sports help develop children’s mind and body and help their socialization.

【Disadvantages】Children can suffer from injuries or exhaustion. They might also be bullied.

【Your Opinion】There are more good points than bad points, and bad points can be taken care of. As long as children enjoy playing sports, I think it is good for them.

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】Parents can use sports as part of education of their children.

♦Your Sample Essay Structure

【Introduction = Outline】

【Advantages】

【Disadvantages】

【Your Opinion (optional)】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

TOEFL, iBT, Independent Writing, Should start school or kindergarten when they are still very young and should learn early in life to work hard at their studies? - rewrite -

Writing Topic

There are people who think that children should start school or kindergarten when they are still very young and should learn early in life to work hard at their studies. Others feel that young children should be more free and should spend a lot of time playing and enjoying themselves. Discuss these opinions. Which idea do you share?

☆Let’s Think

In Japan, children start kindergarten at the age of 5 and school at the age of 7. Do they need to start study earlier? Although there are individual differences in related factors such as innate ability and the environment like the family and community, how one spends the first few years of one’s life will significantly affect one’s life.

Studies show that most human-brain neurons are formed by the time we turn 6 years old. In addition to the genetic factor, the environment you are in during these early years will decide what brain you will have, in other words, what kind of person you will be.

The topic requires you to discuss two totally opposite opinions about early childhood education. Will there be any difference and if so what kind of difference will there be between people who received early academic training and those who did not?

What should children acquire during these years? What is the purpose of early childhood education? What does it teach children? What is given as education might be only a small part of what a child should learn, while it could be an essential initiation or kick start for an individual to do well in today’s society. What about the child’s feelings and human rights?

☆Let’s answer these questions to prepare for the discussion.

1.    What should people experience and learn when they are children?

2.    What is the purpose of early childhood education?

3.    What does it teach children?

4.    What is given as education might be only a small part of what a child should learn, while it could be an essential initiation or kick start for an individual to do well in today’s society. Which view would rather agree?

5.    What about the child’s feelings and human rights?

☆Hints for Points

♦Hints for points for agreement

1.    Early childhood education can allow children to make a head start in studies. Learning will be easy and fun for them at elementary school while many of other children who did not receive early childhood education have difficulty in learning to lead and hate sitting in class. The earlier the start, the better they learn.

2.    Except for geniuses, who will teach themselves sooner or later, human beings are animals of habit. If they are not disciplined to work hard, they will be lazy all through their lives.

3.    In modern society, where traditional communities are gone, children need school as substitute for community. At school, they can interact with adults and other children and learn things that children in the past learned from people in their community such as folk songs, old jokes, games, and other things, which will be their lifelong asset.

♦Hints for points for disagreement

1.    Some children who received early childhood education and now go to a prestigious high school say that they have not really appreciated it. They have always had a feeling of loss. They miss their lost childhood. They say they wanted to play more. They were always envious of other children playing in the park when they had to go to a cram school. They always feel as if they lack something important as a human being because of this lack of experience of ordinary childhood. (This idea is based on a response of a former student of mine.)

2.    I doubt whether the best environment in which a young child to prepare for the years to come is school or kindergarten because they are artificial. The world, nature and society, is complex and dynamic. Children should be exposed to them so that they can learn them directly. They should touch the earth, catch insects, or interact with many kinds of people before they start studies.

3.    Children should play as much as possible because play is their work. Playing helps acquire things of fundamental importance in life such as attentiveness to others and self-confidence. It also teaches children manners and social skills. Playing in nature will give children primordial fulfilling feelings that make them affirm life. The free time one had in childhood will give one power to work hard in later years.

☆Sample Essay Structures

Sample Essay Structure 1

【Main Idea = Outline】 I share the first/second idea that … because …

【What young children should learn】

【About the first and second ideas】

【My idea】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

Sample Essay Structure 2

【Main Idea = Outline】 I agree/disagree with the first/second opinion that … because …

【Reason to agree /disagree 1】

【Reason to agree/disagree 2】

【Why my choice outweighs the other choice】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

Your Essay Structure

【Main Idea = Outline】

【Point 1】

【Point 2】

【Point 3】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】