A mobile phone

 What it is

 Who got it for you

What functions did it have

 How you used it? I remember the first mobile phone that I got wasn’t exactly a mobile phone. It was called a “小靈通”. The main difference between a mobile phone and a 小靈通 was that 小靈通s could only be used in the city where you are registered unlike mobile phones which offered roaming. I couldn’t call people in other cities with my 小靈通. So basically you can think of it as a mobile version of a landline in the city. My mom got it for me just as a way to keep in touch with my family and friends. The XLT I had was blue, and the functions were really simple, there was no camera, no internet, no apps and pretty much no interface. It felt like a electronic dictionary with a call function and a text function and it was something that I had around but I didn’t use a lot because it just lacked so many functions and because of the limitations, I didn’t find much use for it.

可串思路：

 A broken piece of equipment

 Something you bought that you don’t usually use

 A gift you received when you were a child

 A product from your country

 Something you saved money to buy

 An old object in your family

 A Family Celebration You Attended

 Describe a family celebration that you attended.

 You should say:

 where this celebration was held

 why it was held

 what you did at this celebration

 and explain why you enjoyed this celebration.

 A family celebration that I’ve attended was my grandma’s 70th birthday. My grandma is a lovable person and she raised me so we have a really close relationship. My grandma is a wonderful lady and she is really good at cooking. For her birthday we had a big meal in our yard, we put out a long table and she invited friends and family, there were like about 20 people. My grandma made different dishes from different countries and all of them tasted really authentic. There was like, sushi, curry, salad, pasta and steak. She knows how to cook all kinds of food and that’s what makes her so amazing. I think the meal was great because of her cooking skills, you know for a foodie like me, she’s a goddess. What’s more, the fact that it was an outdoor meal in your yard, on that day the sun was shining and the atmosphere was wonderful, all the great food, the weather and the people really made it so special.

可串思路：

 An occasion you were busy

 A positive experience

 A time you helped someone

 A time a neighbour helped you

 An important event

 Describe an event that had a big change on your life

 What it was

 What you did

 What happened

 Why was it a big change for you

 An important event that had a big change in my life was doing some volunteer work in 2008. I was part of a group of high school students that volunteered to help out in the reconstruction efforts after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. So many people died and many towns and villages were destroyed. They were short of hands so we went there to help take care of orphans. At that time I was like 17 years old so I didn’t have a lot of experience but I still wanted to challenge my self to do this task. Before going, we received some training regarding how to communicate with the kids and give them proper counseling. It was a big change for me because it helped me to see the world from another perspective and you know the conditions were really bad and I had to cope with all the difficulties of staying there. It was a rewarding experience for me and I learned to cherish everything and I learned about the importance of not taking things for granted.

可串思路：

 A successful thing a friend did

 A positive experience when you were a teenager

 Something you shared with others

 Something Special from a Holiday  ( A souvenir)

 Describe something special you brought home from a holiday.

 You should say:

 what it was

 when and where you went on this holiday

 what you did with it after you brought it home and explain why you thought it was special.

 Something I got when I was on holiday was a model airplane. I got it at the airport when I was little, like when I was 7 years old and I remember it was the first time I traveled by plane. My mom got it for me after I saw it at a shop in the airport and I kept on begging her to get it for me. When I was young, I was fascinated by airplanes and I was so excited when my parents told me that we were gonna go on vacation by plane. This model airplane is a model of the Boeing 747 which is a large jumbo jet. The one that I got was really big, it had the Air China logo on it and it’s made of metal. It was actually kind of heavy for me to hold it when I was a kid and I remember playing with it in my hand and making sounds like a plane. I imagined by self flying this plane everywhere, it was one of those great childhood moments. Even now, I still have it in my room and I feel that this model plane brings back great memories of one of those firsts in my life.

 可串思路：

 A gift you received when you were a child

 Something you saved money to buy

 A famous person

 Describe a famous person who is not from your country

 Who it is

 Where they are from

 What achievements they’ve had

 How you feel about him/her

A famous person who is not from my country that I know about is Chris Tucker. He is a famous African American actor and I first knew about him from a famous movie called Rush hour which also had Jackie Chan. After seeing the movie, I started to like Chris tucker because I think he is so hilarious. I started to search around for his films and I found that all of them were pretty funny. Most of his roles revolve around comical elements in the film.  Not many people in my country knows about Chris Tucker, but for me his exaggerated performances really caught my attention. Chris Tucker is a good definition of a person who can add humourous elements to just about anything. His facial expressions and his witty remarks gives people a deep impression. What impresses me most about him is his ability to bring happiness to people and the fact that he started out as a comedian and eventually worked his way up to Hollywood is a great accomplishment.

可串思路：A comical actor

 A Law

 Describe a law you know about in your country

 What it is

 When this law came out

 Why this law was made

 How you feel about it

 A law that I know about in my country is the one-child policy. This law states that couples are only allowed one child and this is a means to control the rapid growth of population in China. If people have more than one kid, they have to pay a heavy fine. This law first came out in 1979 and was still used until recently. Now there’s a new law that states if the male and the female are both from single child families, then they’re allowed to have more than one kid. Personally I’m not very supportive of this law because I feel that it’s really nice to have a sibling in the family. This creates better family relationships and they’ll be a better balance in terms of the way parents treat their kids, you know single child families cause problems like parents spoiling their children, people become selfish and self centered. So I’m really glad that the government is making adjustments to this law.