The chart below shows the results of a survey of people who visited four types of tourist attraction in Britain in the year 1999.

The pie chart compares figures for visitors to four categories of tourist attraction and to five different theme parks in Britain in 1999. It is clear that theme parks and museums/ galleries were the two most popular types of tourist attraction in that year. Blackpool Pleasure Beach received by far the highest proportion of visitors in the theme park sector. Looking at the information in more detail, we can see that 38% of the surveyed visitors went to a theme park, and 37% of them went to a museum or gallery. By contrast, historic houses and monuments were visited by only 16% of the sample, while wildlife parks and zoos were the least popular of the four types of tourist attraction, with only 9% of visitors. In the theme park sector, almost half of the people surveyed (47%) had been to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Alton Towers was the second most popular amusement park, with 17% of the sample, followed by Pleasureland in Southport, with 16%. Finally, Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland Windsor had each welcomed 10% of the surveyed visitors.

The bar chart below shows the proportions of English men and women of different ages who were living alone in 2011. The pie chart compares the numbers of bedrooms in these one-person households.

The two charts give information about singleoccupant households in England in the year 2011. The bar chart compares figures for occupants' age and gender, and the pie chart shows data about the number of bedrooms in these homes. Overall, females made up a higher proportion of people living alone than males, and this difference is particularly noticeable in the older age categories. We can also see that the most common number of bedrooms in a single-occupant home was two. A significant majority of the people aged 65 or over who were living alone in England in 2011 were female. Women made up around 72% of single occupants aged 75 to 84, and 76% of those aged 85 or over. By contrast, among younger adults the figures for males were higher. For example, in the 35-49 age category, men accounted for nearly 65% of people living alone. In the same year, 35.4% of one-person households in England had two bedrooms, while one-bedroom and three-bedroom homes accounted for 28% and 29.8% of the total. Under 7% of single-occupant homes had four or more bedrooms.

Sample #50

In many countries, sports and exercise classes are replaced with the academic subjects. Discuss the effects of this trend.

model answer:

Over the past few decades, academic subjects have become increasingly important in this fast-changing information-based society. Nowadays, there has been a growing debate as to whether it would be more effective to replace physical education classes with academic subjects. Despite the importance of sports, I highly believe that it is inevitable and more efficient to focus more on academic subjects for several reasons.

Those who argue that sports and exercise classes are needed in school base their case on the following arguments. First of all, sports are a good way to build character and develop personality. That is, there are necessary for learning about competition, cooperation, and good sportsmanship. In addition, as a majority of children these days are addicted to the Internet, they find it hard to leave their computer. Consequently, a growing number of children are becoming overweight or obese due to a lack of exercise. So, if schools foster an environment that deprives students of getting a proper physical education, it will have a long-term negative effect on children both mentally and physically.

Nevertheless, people should not ignore the fact that devoting more time and energy to academic subjects will benefit students more in the long run. The time devoted to physical education now would be better spent teaching students English. This is because speaking fluent English will give young people an advantage over other college applicants and job seekers in the near future. Besides, science will undoubtedly benefit youth more than physical education as well. The principles learned in science will provide the necessary foundation for solving and difficult problems that are sure to arise in students' futures.

In summary, there are high hopes that educators and parents exercise wisdom in teaching young generations.