Golden No.21 Work in the office or at home

Q.Some people prefer to work in the offices. Others would like to take the work to home. Which do you prefer and explain why.

A. I prefer working in the offices more than working at home because I can concentrate on my work. There are PCs and documents needed to accomplish work efficiently in offices. I can also communicate with my boss and colleagues if I don't know how to proceed with my work. On the other hand, it is difficult for me to do the work at home since my children would interrupt me. Additionally, taking the work home could be dangerous in terms of information security management. The security software of the PC at home is weaker than that in offices. If the confidential documents were released, I would be fired.

Beautiful Flowers

For the first time in a long time, I went to Tottori Hanakairo on May 2nd, which is a flower corridor in Tottori prefecture. It has so many kinds of flowers and we can enjoy them the whole year. Since it was such nice weather that day, there were plenty of people wherever I went. Most of them were there with their family and enjoyed looking at flowers. I, too, walked around with my family because Tottori Hanakairo was so huge. When I found some tulips, my mother came to mind. She passed away 19 years ago, but I remember she loved tulips. So, I try to bring tulips with me every time I pay a visit to my mother's grave. As it has often rained at this time of the year, I could hardly ever enjoy taking a short trip. However, I was very lucky to have a great time this year.

TOEFL Integrated Writing (Urban Planning)

The lecture and the passage both discuss congestion pricing, a policy that charges people for driving at busy times of the pay as a way to solve the air pollution issues and the traffic congestion. While the passage says that congestion pricing is an effective methodway, the lecture takes the opposite position.

The passage says that congestion pricing urges people not to drive their cars and to use public transportation. According to the passage, this leads to the reduction of air pollution. The lecturer argues against this opinion saying that public transportation is not extensive, so all the people cannot use buses and trains. Next, according to the passage, it makes faster commuting times, because drivers will decrease during peak times. The lecturer, however, points out that if this system is brought in, many people will use public transportation. Hence, it is possible that buses and trains will be too crowded to be able to arrive at the destination in time. Lastly, the author of thenpassage believes that the congestion pricing is fair and beneficial to everybody, because people who pollute the air are is punished. The lecturer, on the other hand, insists that since there are people who cannot afford to live near public transportation lines and they cannot help driving their cars, congestion pricing is not always equitable.

There are many issues surrounding congestion pricing. The passage and the lecture both refer to some of the issues.