[Regina J] Writing Practice Test 801746

The bar chart illustrates the totle number of Olympic medals won by athletes in twelve countries. It is apparent that the U.S.A has the leading position in the quantity of medals, more than twice that of the second place country, Soviet Union.

The U.S.A. has nearly 900 gold medals while Soviet Union has half of the number. For the rest ten nations (the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Australia, Hungary, East Germany, Japan, and China) won around 200 to 250 gold medals.

Similarly, the American athletes also won the most silver medals and bronze medals, accounting for 700 and 600 respectively. Soviet Union, the U.K and France has the similar number of silver and bronze medals, which is around 200 to 300. The other eight countries have less than 200 medals in both kinds individually.

Generally speaking, no matter what kind of medals, the U.S.A. has the most quantity of them. This nation has more than 2300 medals in total, while Soviet Union, the U.K., and France are in the category of owing 500 to 1000 medals. Germany and Italy has nearly over 500 medals. The rest six countries fall in the category of less than 500 medals, with Japan has the least number.

With more attention given on education nowadays, some people argue that children shouldn't have assignments from the school while others disagree. Both sides have their strong reasons.

For those individuals who think school shouldn't assign homework, one of the reasons would be that children should have more time to explore the world by themselves after school time. In China, children have an average of five subjects in school. According to the data collected by the Ministry of Education, students spend around three hours in finishing their homework at home. As a result, they don't have extra time to develop their interests or strengths. Another reason is that homework assigned by teacher can't meet each individual student's needs since everyone has different strengths or weaknesses in learning.

For those people who stand for the other side of the argument, firstly, they think that homework can help children review the knowledge learned in school. The old saying, "Practice makes perfect" is the truth that be proven by many people. This applys on students as well. Homework can help students transfer their shorterm memory into longterm memory so that they can present their knowledge in the exam. Secondly, homework is a way for parent-teacher communication. By checking homework, parents would be more aware of what their children are learning in school. They can be involved into children's education.

Personally, I agree with the second point of view that it is crucial for children to have homework. Besides the two reasons from the previous paragrah, homework is a good assessment tool for teachers to evaluate students' learning. By checking the performance in the homework, teachers could better know students' understanding on new knowledge. As a result, they can tailor the lesson plan that responds to students' weaknesses. In the meanwhile, it can also be used for students to do self-assessment. Understanding the knowledge doesn't necessarily mean knowing how to apply the knowledge. By doing homework, students can assess themselves to decide if the new knowledge should be reinforced.

Generally speaking, homework does play a necessary and important part in children's learning because it helps students do revision, involves parents into education and demonstrates a way for assessment. It is a communication media among teachers, parents, and children.