With internet, there is no need for our museum ?

ĐỀ 17/1/2011

With internet, there is no need for our museum. Agree or disagree?

AGREE (support  internet)

-         Being convinient : availability, no transportation, no service fee

-         Facilitating people to search, collect data and study and supporting scientists to restore history

DISAGREE (support museums)

-         Discerning the greatness of a civilization by watching and touching objects

-         Understanding history and being greatful to ancestors

-         Creating a mysterious world for visitors, especially children.

Museums have been existent until this moment, but some people claim them as unnecessary, especially in the technology – dominated world with the prevalence of computers. Others, however, still realize their undeniable merits and insist on their survival. I strongly agree with the latter view.

It is undeniable that the internet is creeping ubiquitously into our world in most areas of life, even in the domain of the past. Museums are believed to have little say when people just stay at home, surf the net, and the entire world of quintessence unfolds before their very eyes without physical movements to the museum nearby and payment for this service as well. However, can people really discern the greatness of a civilization without their glance at real objects and direct touch on them? Images on the internet are useful to provide us quick information, yet by no means can they reproduce the real world of the old days via the machine – like window. Only by visiting museums of different countries around the world can modern day people perceive deeply the glory of the yesterdays and learn to appreciate what ancestors sacrified for our today’s sustenance. In other sense, the internet serves as a mean to arouse people’s curiosity to rush to museums, rather than thwart the existence of these places. Not until visitors have opportunities to journey themselves through websites do they have the urge to explore beautiful destination, touch and contemplate themselves among flows of extraordinary things righ there in museums, as there goes a saying “seeing is believing”.

Internet is now also leveraged as an effective tool to color our museums surprisingly. To facilitate people’s journey through varied time-lines in the large museums where they can get lost easily, the tool of searching information and categorizing fuctions available at these places are beneficial. To many historians and reseachers, internet is, too, regarded as a reservoir for them to dig deeper into histories of a variety of nations worldwide to collect enough data and refer a host of sources for their studies in a relentless effort to recreate the histories, say, wars, to the original state, by dint of which a touch of reality is added to museums and makes it more appealing to visitors. At the same time, it is the usage of other cutting edge innovations, along with the support of the internet that experts can restore legendaries or myths of the long forgotten past, for instance, mummification, and give a sense of adventure to children. In other words, museums and internet are complementary to each other to enrich our world.

In the final analysis, no matter how advanced the internet grows, museums are right there, and they can coexist to shed more light on the past to satisfy inherent curiosity of human kind.

-         Curiosity (n) tính tò mò, hiếu kỳ = inquisitiveness (tò mò, tọc mạch)

 (adj) curious = inquisitive = nosy (tò mò, tọc mạch)

-         Mummification (n) phương pháp ướp xác

-         Leverage (n) tác dụng/lực của đòn bẩy (v) be leveraged : được thúc đẩy

-         Categorize (v) phân loại = classify

-         Coexist (v) chung sống, cùng tồn tại

-         Relentless /ri’lentlis/ (adj) : tàn nhẫn / không ngừng = ceaselessly = incessantly

-         Legendary (n) truyện cổ tích

-         Complementary = complement (adj) bổ sung, bù

-         Dominate (v) chi phối, thống trị, vượt trội, chiếm ưu thế

-         Contemplate (v) thưởng ngoạn, nhìn vào cái gì và suy ngẫm

-         Thwart (v) cản trở, phá ngang = obstruct (v) =  be an obstacle to sth = block (v) = bar (v) = impede (v)

-         Sustenance (n) thức ăn, sự nuôi dưỡng, phương tiện sinh sống

-         Merit (v)(n) sự xứng đáng, công lao

Discuss the validity of old buildings or new ones ???

Old buidings:

-         The reservoir of glorious past of a nation

-         Derelicts and run-down houses : nightmares to people

-         Symbolic of the unique architecture: panacea for modern people

New buidings:

-         Accommodate more people for a better life

-         Attract more investors because of good infrastructure

Ancient buildings are relics of the past and should be preserved, in the view of some people. Others, however, believe that the appearance of modern buildings will open a new horizon for the development of a nation. My essay will discuss the validity of both sides.

The ancient houses are, first, believed to be the reservoir of the glorious past of a nation. With their existence along each road, it is undeniable that no sooner does young generation grow up than they become proud of their country’s admirable old-day history through the image of roof, ceiling and walls. Philosophically speaking, like a person who clings to the past to reflect, views the present to enjoy and contemplates the future, a city itself entails an inextricable link of these three time axes to revise, thrive and fly. Nevertheless, in case of derelict old houses, such experience of living in these shelters could be a nightmare to quite a few people, for instance, Hanoi people who are suffering a low-quality life in ancient streets. It is a common scene to some that three to four households have only one toilet system with their wall painting layers bound to peel off and their ceilings sagging owing to weathering.

Another rationale is that these old houses are symbolic of the unique architecture and serve as a mental panacea for hurry-sickness city-dwellers. Hardly can the modern day people recreate such beauties as that by famous architects of yesterdays who utilized the past materials, and for that reason, some streets adorned with second-to-none buildings are ideal destinations for the visitors world-wide to savor themselves in the sense of serene old days. To those who are sucking in a life of craze, the tiny old houses resemble oases to ease their stress. Opponents have their points in the belief that as a result of the explosion of population, so crowded do streets turn out that these old, unsafe and dirty houses should be demolished to give way to skyscrapers to accommodate an ever-increasing number of people who flock to the city in hope of a better life. Also, not until the cities are paved with modern buildings and wide roads do investors from other continents pay greater attention, which, in turn, generates a huge amount of profit for the entire nation.

In the final analysis, each idea has its own reasoning, but in my opinion, the presence of old houses is essential to the survival of any city for their originality and unforgettable destinations of travel lovers.

-          Relic (n) : di sản , di vật

-         Reservoir /'rezəvwɑ:/ + of  : (n)  kho, nguồn dự trữ, tích trữ    - (v) reserve

-         Cling + to (v) : trung thành, bám lấy, gắn với, giữ mãi

-         Contemplate (v) : suy ngẫm, suy tính, dự tính

-         Entail /in’teil/ (v) : bắt phải, đòi hỏi, gây ra

-         Inextricable (adj) : không thể thoát ra được, không thể giải quyết được

-         Thrive /θraiv/ (v) : phát triển mạnh, thịnh vượng, phát đạt

-         Revise /ri’vaiz/ (v) : xem xét lại  - (n) revision

-         Shelter (n) : hầm, chòi, chỗ nương náu

-         Peel off /pi:l/ (v) bóc vỏ

-         Sag /sæg/ (v) (n) : sụt xuống, võng xuống, lún xuống – (adj) : sagging

-         Rationale / ræʃə'næl/ : nhân tố căn bản, cơ sở hợp lý

-         Panacea / pænə’si: ə/ (n) : thuốc chữa bách bệnh

-         Dweller /’dwelə/ (n) cư dân

-         Utilize /’ju:təlaiz/ (v) : dùng, sử dụng, tận dụng = use -  (n) utilization

-         Adorn (v) : tô điểm, trang trí, trang điểm

-         Savor /’seivər/ = savour (v) thưởng thức, nhấm nháp – (n) mùi vị, hương vị

-         Oases = oasis /ou’eisis/  (n) ốc đảo, nơi nghỉ ngơi thoải mái

-         Resemble /ri’zembl/ (v) giống như, tương tự như

Should government restore buildings ??

ĐỀ 27-07-2013

The restoration buildings in major cities throughout the world involves the enormous government expenditure. This money can bring more benefits if it is used to provide the new house and the road development. Do you agree or disagree?

Agree

- meet the demand of growing population

- save money

- old houses which are cramp, dirty and unsafe

- open new economic opportunities

Disagree

- attract tourists like ancient streets

- be symbol of cultural identity

- give people sense of serenity and peace

Whether governments should demolish old houses to widen roads and build new ones remains controversial. Some people think that this trend is possible to open new economic opportunities while others claim that old houses need to be preserved thanks to their precious historical value. I partly agree with the statement for the following reasons.

First, the appearance of old houses magnetizes flocks of tourists. With ancient houses symbolizing historical heritage of nations, visitors from all walks of life desire to set foot here to dig deeper and admire their beauty. Ancient streets in Hanoi or Hoi An are telling examples of places attracting thousands of tourists annually and generating a huge amount of profit. Nevertheless, it can hardly be denied that not all old houses are of such

economic value like that. In reality, due to weathering, these houses become derelict, cramp and extremely dirty, which endangers people's lives in neighborhood. Reports indicate that there have been people dying because of sudden collapse of old houses, especially in unpredictable weather condition.

Second, young generation need to witness old houses to be reminded of their glorious past history and unparalleled architectural styles by predecessors. In times of globalization where the young are often mislead and affected by external cultures, the existence and restoration of ancient houses is crucial to cultivate in them patriotism for nations and effort to build their countries. To some, being thrown in the hustle and bustle of big cities, they find old houses as an ideal escape and meditate themselves under the shadow of the serene and peaceful past. However, with regard to growing population, particularly, in inner cities, it is essential for governments to widen roads and construct skyscrapers. Old houses, despite their undeniable beauty, hardly accommodate a large amount of population while some of them apparently stand in the way of community development for their unsuitable location. For instance, an ancient house in my neighborhood which stood right next to the railway three years ago caused danger for people inside and has just been removed. For another example, in areas where there are no schools for kids, but old churches and residential areas, it is a wise decision to omit one of ancient buildings.

In brief, considering the location, safety, rarity and demand of community, governments will decide whether to demolish old houses or preserve them

-         Expenditure /iks'penditʃə/ (n) : sự tiêu dùng, phí tổn

-         Cramp (adj) /kræmp/: gò bó , tù túng

-         Serenity /si'reniti/ (n) : sự thanh bình , sự thanh thản

-         Magnetize /'mægnitaiz/ (v) : lôi cuốn, hấp dẫn = attract (v)

-         Flock (n) : đám đông, bầy , đàn

-         Heritage (n) : tài sản thừa kế, di sản

-         Symbolize (v) : tượng trưng cho, là biểu tượng của

-         Derelict /’derilikt/ (adj) (n) : vô chủ, bị bỏ rơi

-         Unparalleled (adj) : vô song, không gì bằng, chưa từng có

-         Glorious (adj) :  vẻ vang, vinh quang , huy hoàng – (n) : glory

-         External (adj) : ở ngoài, bên ngoài

-         Patriotism /'peitriətizm/  (n) chủ nghĩa yêu nước, lòng yêu nước

-         Hustle (n) (v) chen lấn, xô đẩy, sự nhộn nhịp hối hả

-         Busle  (n) (v) hối hả, vội vàng, rộn ràng

-         Meditate (v) trầm ngâm , trầm tư + on/upon sth

-         Accommodate (v) : cung cấp, làm cho phù hợp, thích nghi

-         Apparent /ə'pærənt/ (adj) : rõ ràng, hiển nhiên

-        Omit (v) : bỏ quên, bỏ qua, lơ là, chểnh mảng