Tài liệu High school english essays tuyển tập 120 bài luận tiếng anh cực hay không thể bỏ qua – chủ đề đa dạng lv từ cơ bản đến nâng cao

TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ High School English essays TUYỂN TẬP 120 BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH CỰC HAY KHÔNG THỂ BỎ QUA – CHỦ ĐỀ ĐA DẠNG Lv TỪ CƠ BẢN ĐẾN NÂNG CAO TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ Work is the only route to happiness. Discuss. The ideal put forward to young people has, traditionally, been 'mens sana in corpore sano', and this implies a proper balance between work and play. Yet to achieve happiness, that coveted but elusive state of total fulfilment, requires more. It is true that mankind in general, though with exceptions, has a built-in instinct for work. The vast gulf separating humanity from its physical origins, the animal world, is due to millennia of cerebral and physical activity. Yet there are other equally powerful instincts in the human make-up. The desire, in most cases, to form life-long emotional attachments; the instinct, again in most cases, to start a family; the making of friendships; the search for a fulfilling occupation, to name the most obvious. In some countries there are a privileged few who are born into possessions, money and position, so the need to work in the normal sense does not apply to them. Yet it is noticeable that these people generally find some worthwhile occupation. This may be anything from estate management to patronage of some charitable institution to participation in the pop scene. This again indicates that to follow some kind of occupation, whether useful or not, is a genuine instinct. History supports this view, and literature has produced many sayings expressing the value, perhaps the necessity of work. 'Satan hath some mischief yet for idle hands to do'; 'our best friend is work' (Collin d'Harleville); 'to youth I have but three words of counsel - work, work, work' (Bismarck); 'sow work and thou shalt reap gladness' (Proverb); 'work won't kill but worry will' (Proverb). For most of us work is both a necessity and source of fulfilment. We need a regular income, just as our country needs part of the wealth we create and claims through taxation. The fulfilment of the instincts mentioned in Paragraph 1 cannot be achieved without money. The right use of money is of course important; Charles Dickens made the point that to live sixpence below one's income led to happiness; to live sixpence above led to misery. The definition of work is wide, ranging from manual labor to the highest forms of intellectual activity. We are not all suited to every kind of work. I would be of little use as a manual worker, since my skills in that direction are limited. Conversely, not all manual workers could do my work. Among other things, I write a little. I was once asked 'What motivates you to write?', the questioner expecting some high-falutin answer. I was tempted to answer 'Money!' In fact the best writers have all taken this view. Only the second rate prattle about artistic fulfilment . So, the worthwhile student spends his or her early years developing the skills which will lead to gainful employment; not to amass money for its own sake, but for what money can do. As life goes on, money becomes less important, though at any stage it only assumes importance when one has too little of it. Realistically, during the current worldwide trade recession, the sad problem many people have to face is unemployment or redundancy. One hopes that this will soon pass. Some countries have training and re-training schemes to prepare their work-forces for the end of the recession. The fact that lack of work is so frustrating highlights the TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ motivations for work already mentioned. In any discussion of work its dangers must not be overlooked. It is possible to be so obsessed with work that other highly important human considerations are neglected, with disastrous results. The workaholic neglects his or her family. This may lead to separation, divorce, and or problems with growing children, not to mention damage to human relations generally. Trollope had a character, the Duke of Omnium. He was a most worthy and honorable character, became Prime Minister, worked indefatigably for the parliamentary acceptance of a decimal coinage. His wife and family, all admirably provided for, let him down consistently in various ways. His human sympathies had atrophied. The love of money, work's product, may become even more dangerous. Charles Dicken's character, Scrooge, is an example. Another is Silas Marner, who did not reform his outlook until his store of gold coins had been stolen, and until he was confronted with the human need to bring up a small child. So in general terms the topic-statement has to be supported, but with all the provisos mentioned. Like any other human instinct, its expression must be wisely handled. TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ Science can never provide a final answer or things, it is only a way of studying them. Do you agree? It is somewhat rash to assume that the only role of science is to answer the question 'How?'. That was true in the days of Newton, when an educated person could have a grasp in outline of all human knowledge. Science then filled some of the gaps left by the deliberations of the philosopher and the theologian. Since then, it has far outstripped the contributions of both. Philosophy has degenerated into historical study, and has no modern contribution to make. Theology has made no advance since the Middle Ages. The mantle of seeking answers to man's most fundamental questions has fallen on science. Whether these questions will ever be answered is an entirely different matter, but there is no other way ahead. So the topic-statement is fundamentally wrong. By science, of course, is meant physics, which is fundamental to all studies - chemistry, biology, astronomy, indeed all macro and micro investigation. Physics has identified the laws which keep the universe in a state of equilibrium, and today seeks a unified theory to account for the space-time continuum necessary to the existence of that equilibrium, and the various other dimensions beyond the four known which are postulated. So science moves towards the first philosophical question, Is there a unified theory, or are events ultimately random? The answer to this question, if ever found, leads to the far more fundamental question, To what extent, if any, is God (the Creator) limited by his own creation? The determinism of Laplace is now seen to be totally beside the point, and belongs to a mechanistic view of the universe which can no longer be sustained. Today, science is moving rapidly towards a chaos theory which takes into account God's freedom of action plus the predictable results of laws already known to us, and also unpredictable events. It is interesting that whereas the old scientific determinism either limited to the Creator's function or precluded the necessity of a Creator, or saw the Creator as totally detached from his creation, science today is begin forced into a belief in God. It also moves towards an acceptance that the scientifically unknown area, the God - mankind personal relationship, is not only feasible, but likely. So science has become much more than a way of studying things. Whether science can get beyond this point is a matter of conjecture. At a shrewd guess, science may well establish the possibility of eternal life , without being able to advance any more proof than could the old-time theologian. World religions have always said that such a belief depends on revelation and personal faith, and it may well be the Creator's intention to keep it that way. Faith, at least, would be greatly devalued if it could ever become the subject of scientific proof, whatever that may be. Another answer, again stemming from the chaos theory, is to the co-existence of good and evil. If there is a Creator, it follows that evil, at least as understood by humanity, must have been allowed to enter the world-scene at some point, but deliberately. Redemption from its consequences is another result, and history is the record of the struggle between the two forces. This, says science, although leading to apparently random results, such as the little child stepping under the bus, or a death from cancer, is not random at all. All the same, it may stem from 'chaos', if this is seen in conjunction with a belief in the indestructibility of the human personality. So, say the faithful, 'God not only creates, He cares', and science today is not disposed to reject this possibility, the two approaches may converge on the same point. The processes of the universe are TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ incredibly diverse and complicated, so why should the possibility of life after death be ruled out? Such a belief is an essential corollary to any concept of justice in the Creator's character. This is not justice merely in the sense of retribution. The early Jews believed the Creator got so fed up with humanity that He destroyed them in the Flood, but made a fresh start with Noah's family and the paired livestock! Divine Justice is part of the concept of Divine Love, which postulated creation, with mankind as it's highest sentient form, as an expression of that love. So the great world religions have this at least in common with modern science; there is a benevolent Creator who offers post-earthly life in some other dimension in exchange for the human response of kindness and observance of a revealed moral law. Justice, therefore, moves into an eternal setting. A religious scientist will find no essential disharmony between his or her faith and the scientific outlook. The great questions of life have satisfying, if unprovable answers. Some of the inadequacies of religion, such as early church doctrines of the cosmos, and strictly Bible-based theories of the origin of species, have been corrected by scientific investigation without detriment to the central core of belief. Where science, or more precisely the scientist, inevitably falls short is in the application of an essentially simple moral code to the complex issues raised by scientific advance. Genetic manipulation is a case in point. The whole question of in-vitro fertilization is highly controversial. All that is on the local scale. On the grand scale the Creator may, or may not allow the discovery of a unified theory of the universe which will provide answers to supplement, rather than displace the answers already provided by the higher religions. TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ Modern methods of transport have transformed our world into a village. Is this a blessing or a curse? In some respects the topic-statement is true. Modern transport, especially by air, allows people to circle the globe in a few days, or hours, if an aircraft such as Concorde is used. Thus we have learnt to look upon distance as nothing. I can get to Paris from south-east England quicker than I can get to central London. So, the world has become a village? If so, the comparison ends there. In no respect does the world resemble a village community. Those who support the one-world movement no doubt share a great ideal but are, in fact, flying in the face of history, of present facts, and of any likelihood in the near future. Modern travel merely underlines the differences between races and nations. Rather than broaden the mind, travel confirms national prejudices. It may well lead to a greater international understanding, but to understand does not mean to agree, or to forgive. Modern travel may allow great athletes to meet every four years in friendship to discover the medal winners, but it would be naive to suppose that the Olympic Spirit had anything to do with the reality of international affairs or could possibly have any effect on them. Of course modern transport cannot be blamed for the state of today's world. Like atomic energy, it is neutral, and the blessing or the curse results from the way in which it is used. First, the benefits. Before the invention of the electric telegraph, news of a natural disaster in, say, an eastern country could only reach the west by steamship, so that by the time help reached a stricken area, it was too late to be of much use. Today, information by satellite, both in reports and pictures, is instantaneous. Response time is correspondingly quick. Modern transport planes can carry food, water and medical supplies to where they are needed in a matter of hours. So the modern jet aircraft can help enormously in relief work. It has also proved of great benefit both to the business world and to tourism. Within certain weight-limits, it can be used for overseas trade worldwide, and the vast extension of available markets is largely due to the modern aircraft. And where business has to be done in person there are no real delays. The aircraft has extended foreign travel, once the prerogative of the rich, to those of average income levels in most countries, and tourism has become a major world industry. The aircraft and the helicopter both have important search and rescue roles. Ships in distress can be readily located and given help. The helicopter has several roles, apart from its use by the police for searches and traffic control. Many lives have been saved in mountainous areas and at sea by speedy removal to hospital, by immediate attention by paramedics; a jet plane can carry a suitable human organ half across the world when a transplant is urgently needed. Modernized and high-speed rail systems are likely to prove of benefit to many countries from the travel and trade points of view. To take Europe as an example. Tariff barriers in the EEC have now come down, and Europe, including Britain, has become a freemarket area. In 1994, England will be linked to Europe by a channel tunnel, and Paris or Brussels will be reached as quickly as by air. Already, goods to and from Europe, and indeed worldwide, are transported in standardized containers, which are picked up and TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ moved rapidly in heavy lorries to their destinations along new networks of motorways. The motorways also greatly ease long-distance car travel. At sea, modern oil tankers carry their vast burdens worldwide. Yet as with any other advance, all is not sweetness and light. In the case of the jet aircraft, one needs only to mention the spy-plane, the bomber, the fighter, the assault helicopter, all of them potent war weapons, and a curse to millions of helpless people worldwide. The potential for nuclear, nerve gas, chemical and HE bombing is a curse which hangs over all our heads. The need for ever larger airfields means the destruction of tracts of countryside. Noise and oil-pollution make life a burden to those living nearby. In some countries, over-concentration on high-speed and inter-city trains has led to the severe neglect of existing networks and ordinary passenger rolling stock. In smaller countries such as England, there are now far too many cars and traffic jams in the large urban areas, providing an almost unsolveable problem. Ease of travel allows football hooligans and other undesirables to cause trouble overseas. Every improvement in transport facilities helps the criminal as well as the bona-fide traveler, particularly where immigration controls are relaxed. Immigration itself becomes an increasing problem. And at sea? All is well with the oil-tanker until it runs aground in a storm and deposits thousands of tons of oil along the shore-line. So there is a case to be made of the more leisurely times, to some, the good old days . Modern transport has reduced the world if not to a village, at least relatively to village size. Whether the village will ever become a happy community is another matter. TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ Work is the only route to happiness. Discuss. The ideal put forward to young people has, traditionally, been 'mens sana in corpore sano', and this implies a proper balance between work and play. Yet to achieve happiness, that coveted but elusive state of total fulfilment, requires more. It is true that mankind in general, though with exceptions, has a built-in instinct for work. The vast gulf separating humanity from its physical origins, the animal world, is due to millennia of cerebral and physical activity. Yet there are other equally powerful instincts in the human make-up. The desire, in most cases, to form life-long emotional attachments; the instinct, again in most cases, to start a family; the making of friendships; the search for a fulfilling occupation, to name the most obvious. In some countries there are a privileged few who are born into possessions, money and position, so the need to work in the normal sense does not apply to them. Yet it is noticeable that these people generally find some worthwhile occupation. This may be anything from estate management to patronage of some charitable institution to participation in the pop scene. This again indicates that to follow some kind of occupation, whether useful or not, is a genuine instinct. History supports this view, and literature has produced many sayings expressing the value, perhaps the necessity of work. 'Satan hath some mischief yet for idle hands to do'; 'our best friend is work' (Collin d'Harleville); 'to youth I have but three words of counsel - work, work, work' (Bismarck); 'sow work and thou shalt reap gladness' (Proverb); 'work won't kill but worry will' (Proverb). For most of us work is both a necessity and source of fulfilment. We need a regular income, just as our country needs part of the wealth we create and claims through taxation. The fulfilment of the instincts mentioned in Paragraph 1 cannot be achieved without money. The right use of money is of course important; Charles Dickens made the point that to live sixpence below one's income led to happiness; to live sixpence above led to misery. The definition of work is wide, ranging from manual labor to the highest forms of intellectual activity. We are not all suited to every kind of work. I would be of little use as a manual worker, since my skills in that direction are limited. Conversely, not all manual workers could do my work. Among other things, I write a little. I was once asked 'What motivates you to write?', the questioner expecting some high-falutin answer. I was tempted to answer 'Money!' In fact the best writers have all taken this view. Only the second rate prattle about artistic fulfilment . So, the worthwhile student spends his or her early years developing the skills which will lead to gainful employment; not to amass money for its own sake, but for what money can do. As life goes on, money becomes less important, though at any stage it only assumes importance when one has too little of it. Realistically, during the current worldwide trade recession, the sad problem many people have to face is unemployment or redundancy. One hopes that this will soon pass. Some countries have training and re-training schemes to prepare their work-forces for the end of the recession. The fact that lack of work is so frustrating highlights the TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ motivations for work already mentioned. In any discussion of work its dangers must not be overlooked. It is possible to be so obsessed with work that other highly important human considerations are neglected, with disastrous results. The workaholic neglects his or her family. This may lead to separation, divorce, and or problems with growing children, not to mention damage to human relations generally. Trollope had a character, the Duke of Omnium. He was a most worthy and honorable character, became Prime Minister, worked indefatigably for the parliamentary acceptance of a decimal coinage. His wife and family, all admirably provided for, let him down consistently in various ways. His human sympathies had atrophied. The love of money, work's product, may become even more dangerous. Charles Dicken's character, Scrooge, is an example. Another is Silas Marner, who did not reform his outlook until his store of gold coins had been stolen, and until he was confronted with the human need to bring up a small child. So in general terms the topic-statement has to be supported, but with all the provisos mentioned. Like any other human instinct, its expression must be wisely handled. TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ "In order that economic development and progress can take place, a country must industrialise". Discuss Industrialisation is the application of scientific knowledge to man's economic, agricultural, and other wealth-generating activities. In other words, it is the conversion of the 'know-why' of science into `know-how' for industry; it is the practical application of man's inventiveness in the improvement of his well-being and the increase of his wealth. Industrialisation depends on four essentials: the right idea, the right method of putting it into effect, the right moment in time, and availability of the right materials. Machine invented with the help of scientific know- how are used for quicker and easier production of wealth. Therefore, it is only sound commonsense to say that the economic development and progress of a country are dependent on its industrial growth. There was a time when countries depended entirely on agriculture. Before the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain too was an agricultural country. Had it not been for the wealth she was able to amass from her colonies, she would not have become a wealthy nation depending on agriculture alone. America at first had an economy rooted in agriculture. With the invention of machines and with the advent of industrialisation, she made use of machines even for her agricultural activities, apart from setting up factories and manufacturing articles for sale. Before machines were invented, the articles required for use by man were handmade. These articles were not produced in bulk. But machines helped man to produce articles in large numbers. Today machines are used virtually in all spheres of life. Agriculture, especially in Western countries, is highly mechanised. There are machines to plough the land, sow seeds, hoe and weed. Pesticides are often sprayed by aeroplanes and helicopters. Fertilisers produced in bulk in factories are used for the healthy growth of plants. All these facilities afforded by mechanisation double our agricultural production; this means increase in economic wealth and prosperity. Industrialisation means growth of industries and better utilization of natural resources. Steel is produced, oil is refined and other products are made with almost no physical effort. Giant turbines are installed for the production of electricity. Human beings need not do more than just push buttons, pull levers or supervise. All this means that more work can be (lone by fewer people in less time and with less effort; and the production too is much more. It is industrialisation that makes it possible for giant networks of communication to span land, sea and air. The telegraph, radio, television and telephone carry messages from one end of the earth to another almost as fast as the flight of human thought. The train, the aeroplane, the ship and the car carry vast numbers of people from one place to another at an incredible speed. The growth of human knowledge and information has been greatly facilitated by the development of machines. The printing press had be- come so highly mechanised that TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ books, magazines and newspapers are produced at great speed. All the developed countries of the world have been highly industri- alised. Great Britain, Japan, France, the United States of America and Germany, just to mention a few of the advanced countries, are regarded as wealthy nations because they are highly industrialised. Industrialisation means enough manufactured goods to export, apart from self-sufficiency at home. Exporting products means earning money. A country that is not industrialised remains backward and poor. This is what has happened to the underdeveloped nations of the world. Not only that these nations are not scientifically and technologically advanced but they are dependent on the rich nations for their very existence. Even if these nations are politically independent, economically they are not. Industrialisation not only means self-sufficiency in essential items and progress in terms of material wealth, knowledge, communication and transport, but also shows strength. A highly industrialised country is militarily strong; it can manufacture its own sophisticated weapons, and will not have to depend on stronger and more advanced nations for help in times of emergency. Economic development is assured once the country becomes indus- trialised. But more than economic development and wealth, industrialisa- tion marks progress. The standard of living of the people in general increases with increasing industrialisation. We have only to look at the agricultural workers and the factory workers, and contrast them to realise how the latter maintain a better standard of living. A nation's prestige, her position in the comity of nations, her economic development, her progress in terms of communication, and transport, and her military strength are all tied up with her industrialisation. TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ "Reading is seeing by proxy" (Spencer). Is reading a substitute for experience? Robert Southey has written a poem in which he speaks about the companionship books have given him. He says: My days among the dead are past, Around me I behold, Where'er or these casual eyes are cast, The mighty minds of old: My ne'er failing friends are they, With whom I converse day by day. The poet says that books are his never-failing friends; in their company he derives delight, and seeks relief and solace while in sorrow. The poet's words in praise of books show that reading is a panacea for personal ills as well as for empathetic understanding and for vicarious pleasure. Wise men all over the world have extolled the value of reading. Bacon has this to say: "Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man," Lamb loves to lose himself in other men's minds. That is to say, he likes to enjoy himself in the company of books, which as Milton has described, are 'the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." In the words of Emily Dickinson There is no frigate like a book To take us lands away, Nor any coursers like a page Of prancing poetry. Spencer's observation, "Reading is seeing by proxy", underscores the importance of reading in a man's life. He sees the value of reading as a means to experience what the writer of a book has experienced himself. That is to say, the reader sees what the writer has seen personally from the book written by the latter. Books are of different kinds; some give us useful information and knowledge; some give us the personal experiences of their authors; some are imaginative renderings of experiences. What we call creative literature belongs to the third category. When we refer to reading, we have invariably in mind the reading of imaginative literature. In other words, by `reading' we mean reading novels, plays, poems, short stories, travelogues, autobiographies, etc. Imaginative literature is certainly different from books that are intended to pass on matter-of-fact, useful information and knowledge. The second category of books dealing with personal experiences such as autobiographies and travelogues is more akin to imaginative literature; for the books belonging to this category are 'the precious life-blood of master-spirits'. Both categories of books, namely, imaginative literature and literature based on personal experience, give us what the writers have 'seen' for themselves. The word 'seen' is placed within inverted commas because seeing is experiencing not only through our physical senses but also through our mind's eye. What the poet TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ imaginatively conceives is his experience; perhaps what he imaginatively conceives is based on personal experience. Wordsworth's poem on the daffodils or his sonnet, "Upon Westminster Bridge" are imaginative renderings of personal experiences. The point is when we read imaginative works we are lost in the worlds created by the writers and experience with them their experiences. Our own experiences are only second-hand, and therefore, vicarious. This is what Spencer means when he says, "Reading is seeing by proxy'. We may illustrate the above point with one or two examples. There is the famous novel, "One Day in the Life of lvan Denisovitch", written by Alexandar Solzhonitsyn. The novel is an imaginative rendering of the author's own experiences in a Siberian camp in the days of Stalin. This can be said of his other novels like Cancer Ward, First Circle, etc. The novels enable us to experience, imaginatively of course, what went on in Russia under the iron rule of Stalin. So too Pasternack's Dr. Zhivago helps us see vicariously the conditions that prevailed in Russia at the time of the Revolution and the events that took place in the wake of the Revolution. Reading novels enables us to understand the culture of a people. The Russian novels, the English novels, the American novels - all talk volumes about the peoples of the countries against the background of which the novels have been written. Charles Dickson's Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickleby, etc., and Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckloberry Finn, Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, etc. and Tolstoy's War and Peace, Anna Karenina, etc., to mention a few novels, are examples. Poetry is more intimate and personal than the novel or the drama. Poetry gives expression to recollections of experiences, present and past. Wordsworth has defined poetry as 'emotion recollected in tranquility' and as 'the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions'. What the poet deals with is his 'felt' experiences; reading poetry, therefore, enables us to 'see' what the poet has 'seen'. The poet's experiences may be mundane or spiritual. But his poetry opens up vistas for us. Yes, reading is seeing by proxy. But is reading a substitute for experience? What we have stated above is that reading helps us experience vicariously what the poet, the novelist or the dramatist has experienced directly. Vicarious experience is only secondhand experience; it is not first-hand experience. There is a world of difference between first-hand experience and second-hand experience; one is direct, and the other is indirect. For instance, reading a travelogue and enjoying the scenes described in it is not the same as seeing the scenes and enjoying them ourselves. Reading is, therefore, only a substitute for experience, and riot experience itself. But then we cannot go through every experience ourselves; we have got to 'see' and 'hear' certain things through the eyes and ears of others. TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ What qualities, in your opinion, make a book a "Best Seller"? A 'best seller' is a book whose copies are sold in thousands. There is an inner urge in the reading public to buy such a book. The general reading public are normally averse to spending money on books. As a result, most of the books just gather dust in the shelves; they do not sell at all unless the sales are pushed up through advertisements and other forms of media publicity. But there are exceptions; those exceptions sell like hot cakes as soon as they are published and continue to sell for years to come. The question is: Why do these books, just a few in number, sell well? The Bible is one of those books that are sold in large numbers. What is the reason for the Bible to be a best seller? The Bible is sacred to the Christians, and there are many Christians in the world; every Christian home will generally have a copy of the Bible. The Bible tells the story of the Jews, and of the birth and death of Christ, the Saviour. Besides, the Bible contains holy teachings which, though more honoured in the breach than in the observance thereof, are sacred to the Christians. If the reason for the abundant sale of the Bible indicates anything, it is this: a book whose content is sacred to thousands and thousands of people becomes ipso facto a best seller. If the religious character of a book boosts up its sales, it may so happen that the nonreligious, blasphemous character of a book also can increase its sales. We have the classic example of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. To the devout Muslims The Satanic Verses is an irreligious book written with the obvious intention of attacking Islam and its founder Prophet Mohammed. The devout Muslims raised a hue and cry against the book and its author; the book, they say, is for burning. A top religious leader made a call for the 'liquidation' of the author of the book. All this arouses the curiosity of the reading public; everyone who hears about the book desires to have a copy. The book becomes a best seller. It is the controversial nature of the book that makes it a best seller. It is not religion alone that makes a book controversial; political commitments, sociopolitical compulsions and prejudice and perceptions arising from loyalties to one political system or the other also do. For example, Pastermack's Dr. Zhivago and Alexander Solzhenitayn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitchgained popularity enough in the West to become best sellers because of the controversial nature of the books and of the implicit criticism of Stalinist Russia contained in them. In other words, the controversy generated by the novels was primarily responsible for the sale of the books soon after they were published. The international recognition won by the books also accounted for their popularity. In order that a book should be a best seller it should be able to attract the attention of the people. We have seen that the controversial -- religious, political, or socio-political -character of a book may make it a best seller. But more than this, it is the uniqueness of a book that makes it popular, and therefore, best-selling. The uniqueness of a book arises from the originality of its theme and treatment. Saul Bellow's Herzog and Mr. Samler's Planet can be cited as examples. Perhaps it is the uniqueness of Gitanjali that not only earned Rabindranath Tagore his Nobel Prize for Literature but also made the book a best seller. It is the uniqueness of a book that makes it a classic, that makes it universally appealing. TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ Homer's Odyssey, Shakespeare's plays, especially his tragedies, and Tolstoy's novels like Anna Karenina and War and Peace are examples of world classics that continue to be best sellers. Other qualities associated with a book that is a best seller are its sensational nature and the strident note of social protest inherent in its theme. Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead -- a war novel --, James Baldwin's Another Country, J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and Alan Paton's Cry, The Beloved Country are examples. Another quality which appeals to the ordinary reader is the psychology of sex dealt with in a book; perhaps it is this quality that makes the books of Harold Robins, Ayn Rand, etc. best sellers. Nabakov's Lolita became a hot cake because of the overdose of sex in it. This is again the reason why Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover became a best seller once copies became freely available. There is no one single quality that makes a book a best seller. But no book can be a best seller unless it attracts public attention. A book catches the eye of the reading public because of its uniqueness, its distinctiveness, arising from its theme as well as treatment. Joyce's Ulysses, Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, etc. attracted the attention of the reading public because of their uniqueness. A book also gains its distinctiveness from the universality of theme, from the fact that it caters to certain basic psychological and spiritual needs and urges. For some sex may be the dominant urge; for some others yearnings for spirituality may be the urge; there are other urges and needs like one's eagerness to know more about human nature, about the exotic aspects of certain cultures, etc. A book that satisfies some of these basic needs and urges of man can be a best seller provided it has literary excellence in terms of theme, treatment and innovative technique. TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ "Material progress is meaningless if it does not go hand in hand with moral and spiritual progress." Comment. The word 'progress' generally unfolds before our mind's eye worldly achievements in terms of money, prosperity, physical comforts and amenities. Worldly achievements constitute our material progress. Usually every one of us aims at material progress economic prosperity, professional success and more money accruing from it, etc. But is it enough that we achieve only material progress? Has material progress any meaning if it is not accompanied by our moral and spiritual progress? Most of us crave for progress and work for it. But the kind of progress that we work for is only material progress and worldly success. We are over-enthusiastic about repeating spiritual slogans and doctrines, but are not keen on practising them. We pray to God, not for spiritual regeneration, but for worldly success. We are like Claudius in Hamlet; our souls remain below; our words go up. Our feet are on the rungs of the ladder of worldly success with our eyes turned upwards and with our mouths watering for the bunches of ripe grapes. Actually, our religious protestations, prayers and practices are only a means to an end; we seek God's intervention to help us in our worldly success - in our material progress. We do not pray for the betterment of our souls. We are down- right hypocrites even when we pray. We do not pause even for a moment and ask ourselves: "What does it matter if we gain the whole world but lose our souls?" Material progress alone is not enough; it should go hand in hand with spiritual progress. Then only can we become developed, well-integrated individuals. As Carl Jung says: "Out of the fullness of life shall you bring forth your religion: only then will you be blessed." It is not that material progress is not at all necessary; it is not that we should take to asceticism, austerity and poverty, and live like sages. We should achieve material progress; we should enjoy the fruits of science; affluence and prosperity should be achieved, and we should work for prosperity. But prosperity should not blind us to 'the fruit of the spirit'. Our prosperity should help us evolve ourselves into spiritually mature persons. 'The fruit of the spirit' is a phrase used by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians. By 'the fruit of the spirit' he means 'love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, generosity, faith, mildness and chastity'. The qualities listed by Paul are observable human qualities. He gives us another list of qualities which make us less than human. These qualities may be called 'the fruit of the flesh' and these are envy, hatred, idolatry, sexual immorality, selfishness and so on. A spiritually evolved person is also a spiritually mature person and he shows authenticity, compassion, responsibility, discipline, self-respect, realistic sense of guilt, and co-operative as well as creative approaches to human relationships. He is a man of compassion, integrity and truth. Spirituality should not be confused with otherworldliness. It is, as the Bahai faith says, enlightenment, which is the result of knowledge, faith, steadfastness, truthfulness, uprightness, fidelity and humility. It is the same as the Buddha's way which is to do good, avoid evil, and purify one's own heart; it is the same as the five constant virtues of Confucian- ism: benevolence, righteousness, TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ propriety, wisdom, and sincerity. Material progress becomes meaningful only when it goes hand in hand with moral and spiritual progress. A poet says that it is not in renunciation that we attain spirituality, but in involvement: Deliverance is not for me in renunciation, I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight. Thou ever pourest for me the fresh draught of thy wine of various colours and fragrance, filling this earthen vessel to the brim. My world will light its hundred different lamps with thy flame and place them before the altar of thy temple. No, I will never shut the door of my senses. The delights of sight and hearing and touch will bear thy delight. Yes, all my illusions will burn into illumination of joy, and all my desires ripen into fruits of love. The poem says that we need not 'crucify the flesh' in order to become spiritually mature. What is important is to combine our passions with 'the fruit of the spirit'. If we kill our passions, we will be sterile in more ways than one and that is not conducive to healthy spiritual life. The dynamic factors of mature spirituality - courage, love, and wisdom - are intimately interconnected. Courage is acting on the basis of love and wisdom and taking reasonable risks. Love is nurturing oneself and others with courage and wisdom. And wisdom is a healthy balance of reason and intuition, and is always open-minded. The achievement of material progress should not be at the expense of our spiritual development. Healthy spirituality is an ongoing process; it' helps us develop an integrated personality. A mind that is obsessed with material progress forgets human values. We become less than human. We should become well-integrated individuals by cultivating spirituality in the midst of our preoccupation with the pursuit of material progress. TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ How could a scientist defend the view that science has failed mankind in view of the large number of problems created? Science has created problems for mankind. Science is a blessing all right, but it is not an unmixed blessing. Science has made life easier and more comfortable. Science has made it possible for us to communicate with each other readily and quickly and it has made travel easy and fast. Machines have enabled man to save hours of manual labour. But science is responsible for the present-day arms race and the threat of nuclear war under which mankind exists today. In view of the threat of total annihilation of mankind posed by nuclear advancement, there is the fear that science has failed mankind. How can a scientist defend this view? It is a fact that science has given us the spirit of objectivity and positivism that is necessary for the development of human knowledge. But it is also a fact that this spirit, when carried to unreasonable lengths in an unimaginative manner, militates against the original intentions. The scientific method thus becomes misused. The spirit of positivism is exaggerated to such lengths that anything that is not proved by crude laboratory experiments is dismissed as superstition. A complacent world believing in the creation of man by God was shaken when Darwin came out with his theory of evolution and the origin of the species. Science makes us forgot that there is "much in philosophy than dreamt of in heaven and on earth." The scientist would say that the most diabolical use of science has been in the cause of promoting the baser human instincts and that it is politicians and statesmen who are to blame for this. Man uses science and technology for purposes of aggression; he uses the discoveries of science to win wars. In the past men used only bows and arrows and swords to fight with one another. But today thanks to science, he ha. at his disposal guns, planes, ships, submarines, missiles, etc. The race for weapons has led him to the discovery of nuclear weaponry. He can even carry on biological and chemical warfare. In the Vietnam War harmful bacteria were used among peasants to spread diseases. Chemicals were used to destroy acres of food crops. This is an instance of how scientific knowledge can be abused. The monopolisation of knowledge and machines has led to the subjugation of one class by another and of a poorer nation by a richer nation. The mass-produced consumer items have captured the market, thanks to machines. This has resulted in the craftsmen and weavers going out of job. Multinational corporations from the richer nations sell old and hazardous drugs in the Third World. Some of these corporations are engaged in the manufacture of deadly gas and the leakage of this gas, as it happened in 1984 in Madhyapradesh in India, can kill thousands of people. The activities of some companies are a blatant violation of the very spirit of science which seeks to improve the lot of mankind through its discoveries. The scientist cannot be blamed for this. It is man's greed that is responsible - he wants profit at any cost. It is true that science has improved man's living standards. But this has been achieved at a great cost to human fellowship. The old community feeling has been lost. In the past there was co-operation among people; today co-operation has given way to competition. The culture of material acquisition and possession has grown to such an extent that the TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ worth of man is measured in terms of wealth and possessions, and not in terms of character, intelligence and achievement. As Paulo Friere, the Latin American educationist, says: "To be is to have". Men today strain hard to possess status symbols, and not to develop spiritually. Science has come to, mean materialism and material progress. Science in a way is responsible for the destruction of spiritual values. But the scientist cannot be found fault with for this. Man's spirituality is at stake because of his materialistic tendencies. Man's dependence on science has made man a slave to machines. He cannot live without mechanical aids. Man who has invented robots may be controlled by them. All the things scientists have invented can be put to misuse. Many keen observers and writers have been calling our attention to the loss of a sense of values and to the resulting deterioration of large segments of contemporary society. They tell us that we have been living under the illusion that more motor-cars, laboursaving devices and the like will bring happiness and usher in a better life. Without a strong sense of values and of direction, however, the human spirit tends to weaken or deteriorate. Technical devices can liberate man from drudgery and open up new possibilities for cultural development. They can also have a dehumanising effect and be potentially dangerous if there is no self-discipline and dedication to enduring values. Frederic Lilgo in The Abuse of Learning establishes the point of view that Hitler's Germany was a nation of highly trained specialists who were only interested in facts and were confused about values and that, as a result, moral paralysis set in. The crisis today is due to the over-emphasis on science and technology at the expense of cultural values. The steady increase in the crime rate, especially among juvenile offenders, can be attributed to this lopsided emphasis on science and technology. TUYỂN TẬP NHỮNG BÀI LUẬN TIẾNG ANH HAY THEO CHỦ ĐỀ "Man's economic and social activities have always. been conditioned by his physical geographical environment. " Discuss this statement. It is very difficult to say exactly what is covered by the term 'economic and social activities'. The term has to be understood in the context of man's economic activities and of his social activities. That is to say, though economic activities and social activities impinge on each other and are interconnected, those two types of activities have to be considered separately for the purpose of discussing whether they have always been conditioned by the physical geographical environment. The term 'economics' is derived from the Greek oikwnene - 'household' - and every housewife performs an economic act when she decides how to spend her family budget. Even Robinson Crusoe on his desert island had to allocate his time between fishing, planting crops, or building his house and how to ration the limited supplies he had salvaged from his ship. Robinson Crusoe, however, lived in a very simple economy. Until Man Friday appeared, he had to do everything himself. Today economic activity is specialised and co-ordinated through markets in all but the subsistence economies in the least developed parts of the Third World where families grow their food and make what else they need. In economic terms a market is not only a particular place where people buy and sell, such as a fish or fruit market, but also includes all those who are in contact with sellers and buyers of particular goods and services and can bring them together. What is important to note is that any economic activity aims at production of wealth to meet man's needs. In his primitive days man hunted and found food for himself; food to him was wealth, and that was what he needed. He depended on his environment for the kind of animals he could hunt for food. Later, when man began to till the soil, he cultivated only those plants that the soil of the region in which he lived was suitable for. So, he grew rice, wheat or other cereals, depending on the nature of the soil where he pursued his agricultural activity. As years passed by he found that certain items which he did not have he would be able to get from other places through a system of barter. That is to say, his economic activity got linked with the economic activity of people from other regions because of the scarcity of certain items he was in need of. The barter system gave way to selling and buying for money. From what is said above it is clear that man could pursue his economic activity in his early history only with the help of what was available or what could be made available to him from his environment. This is by and large true today too. The resources available in a country determine its economic activity. For example, in the Gulf countries the main economic activity centres round production of oil. India which has extensive land remains primarily an agricultural country; this is so with countries like China and Russia. In India itself, depending on the environ- mental conditions that vary from region to region, the agricultural activities present a diverse spectrum. For example, in Bengal and Kerala rice is produced whereas in the Punjab wheat is grown; so also, in many parts of Maharashitra and the Uttar Pradesh sugar cane is grown. This variety is due to the differences in climatic conditions and the character of the soil.