Dear Mary,

　　You said in your letter that many of your classmates wore fashionableclothes, but you couldn't afford them so you felt very depressed. There are dif-ferent views on people's clothes. The followings are my ideas:

　　Firstly, you shouldn't put too much emphasis on physical appearance.

　　Remember that the most important task for you today is to concentrate on yourstudies. No matter what you wear, you will really look your best when youcome out first in your examinations.

　　Secondly, you should understand that it is a fine virtue to live in fru-gality. Just as a famous saying goes, "Frugality is the mother of virtue."

　　Since your family can't provide you with enough money to buy fashionableclothes, it is all the more necessary for you to try to lighten the financialburden of your family. And you will find the virtue of frugality benefit youa lot in your future life.

　　I hope you understand what I mean. Hope you will take a positive attitudetowards life and will be happy again when you read my letter.

　　Yours,

　　Anne

　　四級英語作文預測題：提高生活方式

　　For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay onthe following question. You should write at least 120 words but nomore than 180 words.Nowadays, food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improvedthe way people live?

　　Food Preparation Methods Improve Our Lives

　　The twentieth century has brought with it many advances. With thoseadvances, human lives have changed dramatically. In some ways life is worse,but mostly it is better. Changes in food preparation methods, for example, haveimproved our lives greatly.

　　The convenience of preparing food today is amazing. Even stoves havegotten too slow for us. Microwave cooking is much easier. We can press a fewbuttons and a meal is completely cooked in just a short time. 　　People used tospend hours preparing an oven-cooked meal, and now they can use that time forother better things~ Plus, there are all kinds of portable, prepackaged foods wecan buy. Heat them in the microwave in the office, and lunch at work is quickand easy.

　　Our life pace is fast, but people still like good food. New food preparationtechnology has given us more choices. Today, we can prepare food that is moreconvenient and of greater variety than ever before.