Topic 1: Does increasing travels between countries enable people to learn different cultures or to

Topic 24: The leisure industry is growing rapidly. The active role of modern technology in 
people's leisure lives nowadays has made them less creative. Do you agree or disagree?
(the way of thinking), (bound to their desks), (social life) (practical experience),
(replace manpower), work out solutions to problems under different circumstances)
(receive information passively),(resource);
 
(the ability to read and visualize images in three-dimensional space), (improve one's ability to cope with 
change);
 
(educational and intelligence-enhancing); (obey rules), (music files), (albums), ( video clips)
Nowadays, leisure time activities are set to play a larger part in people's daily lives than ever 
before. There has been a perception that nowadays people could not derive the same pleasure as 
they did from the entertainment of yesteryear, as technology has made them less creative. This 
view is open to debate.
The maturity and popularity of network technology, together with the expansion of the 
software industry, has given today's entertainment seekers many opportunities to share pleasure, 
and enhance their intelligence. In the past, people could only play chess, cards, or other similar 
games with their friends. Now they can challenge other players via the Internet, professional or 
non-professional, familiar or unfamiliar. Some online games, by simulating real life conditions, 
enable players to exercise various tactics in dealing with difficulties. They improve players' 
abilities as well.
Technology also enables any person in a contemporary society to become enlightened and 
empowered and exhibits a high degree of creative power. Creativity stems primarily from 
knowledge. In the past, one's knowledge developed slowly or even stagnated throughout much 
of his/her life, simply because the access to information was limited. The situation has been 
subject to dramatic change, with the advent of modem technology. By gathering information 
from a variety of sources, modem people can adopt, adjust and restructure different strategies to 
address an issue. Even in doing simple jobs, such as gardening, dressing, people can expand their 
creative energy and add new varieties, regarding it as a means of self-expression.
Some people might argue that watching TV, a common leisure activity, has seriously 
hampered the viewers' development in creativity. Their argument is based on an assumption that 
TV viewers are passive when absorbing information presented by TV and respond with no active 
thinking. However, there is evidence that television programs are becoming increasingly 
educational and instructive. For example, quiz shows encourage critical thinking, while 
educational channels, such as Discovery, broaden watchers' knowledge. While advertisements 
bear aesthetical and ideological values, talk shows display the art of languages.
What have been discussed above refutes a prevailing notion that modem technologies stifle 
people's creativity and make them passive and mechanical entertainment seekers. Modern 
technologies, as shown in above discussion, have made people more creative, and also given 
them more enjoyment in leisure activities.
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1. Debate=dispute=argument=heated discussion
2. Together with=accompanied by=coupled with=combined with=alongside
3. Intelligence=intellect
4. Professional=proficient=trained=skilled
5. Non-professional=inexperienced=amateur
6. Unfamiliar=strange=unusual
7. Simulate=replicate=imitate
8. Empowered=competent=authorized=capable
9. Stagnate=stand still=languish=remain unchanged
10. Restructure=reform=reorganize
11. Bear=have
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