No More Traffic Jams

There is nothing worse than being trapped in your car, waiting in the
middle of a traffic jam. It is frustrating, knowing that there is nothing you
can do and that you are going to be late to work. Traffic jams often occur
during rush hour or right after a large event because there are more cars
on the road than normal. Traffic jams can also be caused by car
accidents or road construction. They usually occur on major roads that
many people use to travel to work or school. Traffic jams are a problem
because they make people late for work or school, they can cause car
accidents, and they are frustrating. How can we reduce the number of
traffic jams? Possible solutions include carpooling or using public
transportation. The best way to solve traffic jams is by using public
transportation because it will be efficient, economical, and reliable.

First, using public transportation is efficient. A bus is a very efficient

way to move lots of people from one place to another using only one
vehicle. Instead of having one vehicle for each person on the road,
busses take many cars off the road as people ride together. Trains are
even more efficient at reducing the number of cars on the road. Because
trains have their own dedicated rail system to get people around, all of
the cars are eliminated without adding any more traffic to the roads. Not
only are busses and trains more efficient at carrying passengers, but
time spent on a bus or a train is more efficient for the passenger. This
encourages more people to use public transportation. It is easy to see
how efficient public transportation is and the impact that it has on
reducing traffic.

Another reason that public transportation is the best solution to traffic

jams is because it is so economical. People want to use public
transportation instead of driving their own car because they can save
money. Public transportation usually does not cost very much, especially
for people who use it often. There are discounts for seniors and students,
which makes it an even more economical way for these groups to travel
around town. Using public transportation also eliminates the need to pay
for parking, car insurance, and car maintenance, not to mention gasoline.
All of the expenses related to owning a car are replaced with one simple
fare. Because it is so economical, public transportation is a good solution
to traffic jams by encouraging more people to travel together and reduce
the number of cars on the road.

Finally, public transportation is the best solution because it is

reliable. Many people set up carpools to reduce traffic, but this is only a
temporary solution. Every time someone has a change in their schedule,
the carpool needs to be adjusted. For example, if someone has to go to
the doctor or sleeps in, the carpool will not work that day. If someone
changes jobs or transfers to a new school, the carpool will need to be
adjusted again. Public transportation, on the other hand, is more reliable.
The bus and train schedules don’t change every time that one rider
needs to go to the doctor. The schedules are set and people can plan on
them. People who use public transportation will find that it is reliable and
can help limit the number of cars on the road.

Because it is efficient, economical, and reliable, public transportation

is the best way to reduce the number of traffic jams. There are other
possible ways to address this problem, but using public transportation is
clearly the best. Traffic jams during very busy hours on the road can be
reduced and more people can get to work on time and avoid the
frustration caused by sitting in the middle of a long line of cars. Cities and
governments should consider ways to improve their public transportation
system and encourage more people to use it. If they do, they will surely
see fewer traffic jams on their roads and much happier drivers.

Conversation Confidence
Conversations happen everywhere: work, school, church, stores,
dates, and even the gym. Conversations are such a common part of daily
life that people often don’t think about how difficult they can be, or the
anxiety they can cause, if all of these conversations are happening in
another language. Many international students avoid participating in
conversations, especially with native speakers of English. This avoidance
is a serious problem for international students who study English
because participating in conversations is crucial for developing their
language skills. Avoiding conversations can also cause international
students to struggle making friends and make them feel more isolated.
While it is natural to feel nervous about participating in conversations,
international students need to find ways to be more confident in their
ability to participate in a conversation. International students can choose
from various solutions to stop avoiding conversations and feel more
confident.

One solution for students to develop more conversational confidence

is to learn about current, relevant news. Many international students
don’t join conversations because they aren’t sure what to talk about or
what other people would be interested in. The Internet makes it very
easy to find out what everyone else in the community is talking about;
with this knowledge, students can be prepared for conversations
because they know what people are generally talking about and can
even look up the vocabulary words they need. Students can start this
preparation by following a university’s social media pages or listening to
locallyproduced news. Learning about current events is an easy way to
be ready for a casual conversation.

Students can also prepare for common conversational topics if they

want to be more active participants in conversations. While almost every
conversation is different, there are some things that come up frequently,
and those topics can be practiced. For example, many people might ask
international students about their family, their country, their job, their
reason for studying English, or their hobbies. Students can practice
responding to these types of questions while they are working or
preparing dinner by talking to themselves. As topics come up in
conversations that they are not able to speak about, they can add those
topics to their list to practice. By thinking about and practicing responses
to common conversational questions, international students can have
more confidence to participate in conversations.

Another way to feel more confident is by listening to conversations.

This solution helps students hear how native speakers start (or end) a
conversation, as well as how they change topics. Examples of
conversations that are easy to find include television shows. These
shows, especially if they can be paused and replayed, can be helpful
because there is no pressure for the student to participate in the
conversation or to understand everything the first time. Other
conversations that are easy to watch happen in news broadcasts
between the featured stories. These conversations are a little more
formal than conversations in TV shows, which can be an advantage
because students can observe the similarities and differences between
casual and more formal conversations. This listening practice can really
help students overcome any anxiety about participating in conversations.

A final way to overcome the habit of avoiding conversations is to

refine language skills and prepare questions. By improving their
vocabulary, fluency, grammar, and pronunciation, students will not only
be more confident in conversations, but they will look forward to them as
an opportunity to practice. Many students are hesitant to speak because
they do not want to make mistakes, so by refining their language, they
can reduce that concern. However, students should not wait until their
language is perfect before they speak. An easy way to start is to listen to
questions that people ask and create some grammatically correct
questions to ask in a conversation. These questions can be practiced
and memorized to make sure the language is correct. With these
questions and continued improvement in their language skills,
international students can be more actively involved in conversations.

In conclusion, students have many options to solve the problem of

avoiding conversations. Choosing to work through one of these solutions
will help students improve their English skills and help them build
stronger relationships with others. They will be able to take advantage of
the time they spend studying in the United States. Since conversations
are part of everyday life and can’t be entirely avoided, it is better to
conquer the fear through preparation than to limit self-expression.
Whether students are talking to a supervisor, a classmate, a roommate,
or a date, they will feel empowered to be better conversational partners.
Endangered Species

Until a few hundred years ago, species became scarce or died out because of natural causes. For
example, there may have been a major climate change. Today, however, species become endangered
mostly because of human activity. The main reasons are habitat destruction, wildlife trade, overhunting,
and competition with domestic animals and animals brought into their habitat from elsewhere.Habitat
destruction is the most serious problem for species in the wild. Most animals and plants can live only in a
certain area, or habitat. If their habitat is destroyed, the species cannot survive.

People destroy plant and animal habitats in many ways. They cut down forests to build houses or make
room for farmland. They graze their livestock in the grasslands used by wild animals. Their livestock eat
too much grass, and the grass doesn't have a chance to grow back. Wetlands and swamps along
seacoasts are being filled in with land. Then people build new housing on them.
Tropical rain forests have more species of plants and animals than any other area on Earth. But the rain
forests are being destroyed faster than any other wild habitat. Some scientists say that all the rain
forests could soon be gone unless they are protected.

Wildlife trade is another problem. Animals are caught in the wild and sold to zoos or as pets. Some are
used for medical experiments. Animals are killed for their fur or other body parts. In many countries,
laws have been passed against hunting animals. But some people hunt anyway. They are called
poachers. Overhunting also puts animal species in danger when hunters kill too many of one kind of
animal. The animals cannot give birth to enough new babies to make up for those that have been killed.
Animals that have been overhunted include the Caribbean manatee, the Asiatic lion, and many species of
pheasant. Competition with domestic and nonnative animals is another problem that has occurred on
many islands. Domestic cats may eat birds and small mammals. Sometimes rats leave ships when they
come into the harbor. Then the rats spread over the island. And they kill small birds and eat their eggs.
Protecting endangered species. Many people are very concerned about protecting plants and animals in
the wild. Today, there are many ways wecan help keep these species alive.

Nations today pass laws to protect endangered species. In the United States, the Endangered Species Act
of 1973 protects endangered wildlife against anything that harms them or their habitats. Also, many wild
species are protected by CITES—the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (“fauna and flora” means animals and plants). This agreement forbids the trade of furs
and live animals of endangered species.

Some laws stop people from hunting too many of one kind of animal. Some of these laws forbid all
hunting of certain animals. Other laws allow hunters to kill only a certain number of animals. And there
are laws that protect plants from being taken from the wild.

Some animal species that are now extinct in the wild still live in zoos. They live in animal research
centers, too. Scientists at these zoos and research centers try to help these animals start new families.
They hope that someday these new families can return to the wild. Rare plants are saved by being grown
in large gardens called botanical gardens. The seeds are saved in special seed banks for future planting.

It is an undeniable fact that most of the creatures are now on the verge of extinction because of the
catastrophic human activities. The main causes include the loss of habitat and hunting of animals for
various purposes. The solution to this problem will require participation by individuals ranging from the
common people to the government officials.

To begin with, the major reason of some animal species becoming endangered is the damage caused to
their natural habitats. For activities such as road and house construction and making way for fields,
deforestation has been carried out by the authorities and the farmers respectively which has drastically
impacted the count of wild animals.

For instance, the giant panda species have been declared extinct despite the establishment, since 1963,
of 14 panda reserves in China. To combat this situation, the regime should chalk out conservation
management plans to build more reserves, promote reforestation and protect the forest boundaries.
This can substantially contribute in saving the creatures from getting disappeared from the planet.
Another significant cause of extinction of many animals involves animal poaching and hunting by
humans. Many people illegally use the skin and other body parts of animals for smuggling, which fetches
them a whopping sum of money. To illustrate, white tigers and black deers are hunted by many for their
skins and teeth, which has led to a shocking decline in their overall count. As a potential solution to
thisproblem, the government should implement stringent laws against illegal hunting of endangered
species and more importantly, people should also follow them diligently.

To conclude, undoubtedly, thousands of animal types have become either endangered or completely
extinct, mainly because of various environmental threats posed by the mankind, such as deforestation
and animal-hunting. Such an issue can be controlled to a considerable extent, if authorities introduce
heavy penalties against forest destruction and illegal animal hunting, and people also abide by the rules
actively.