Jul 20

Sometimes we need to be a little bit expedient to get our tasks done, although that may cause collateral ramifications.

Even if the criminal tried hard to expiate for his sins, he did not receive any forbearance, or clemency from the jury since his iniquitous act is irrevocable.

The World Trade Center was obliterated and demolished in the September 11st terrorist attack. In retrospect, it is still a recollection redolent of mournful calamity. All the witnesses tried to expunge that sorrowful memoir from their mind.

The publishing company granted the author the privilege to publish her book, but on the condition that she expurgate all the ferociously and lubriciously detailed graphics.

My grandfather’s bicycle has been used for roughly 40 years and still remains extant. That is ascribed to his parsimony and frugality, or to be more limpid, his thrift.

Even though Thierry Henry has gone, he is extolled by a lot of Arsenal steadfast supporters all around the world. We, with our greatest esteem and idolatry, all wish you best luck at the new club – Barcelona.

Not until this morning did I know that Osama Bin Laden is a stalwart and fanatical supporter of Arsenal FC.

I think of a nostalgic recollection of myself rejoicing boisterously after receiving my letter of admission from Giang Vo Secondary School.

All the petty, or negligible trivia included in my essay seemed extraneous to the topic – it had surely been diverted from the main subject.

Arsenal’s style of playing a sort of ethereal soccer is so intriguing that I engross myself in watching them instead of finishing my assignments.

Fearing of hardships of life, the decided to lead a reclusive life. He extricated himself from competing – he kind of forsaking the fortitude he once owned when he was an ambitious businessman.

Except her gregarious facade, or veneer towards people, she was a lonely widow trying to dissemble her real discontent of life.

After dogged efforts to inspect this seemingly unfathomable case, the lawyer finally managed to work it out.

All the neighbours are very aghast of how come that lonely mother can be so fecund. She has born 13 children by far.

Only a few felicitous examples may brighten your essay.

The fervent man is a keen audience – He is so zealous in reading. He could sit for the entire day avidly digest one book after another. I believe he has wade through virtually half the library.

A feral, or undomesticated horse, can kill a horse neophyte at times.

The fetid odor deriving from the kitchen is really disgusting. I don’t reckon how can that noisome pong permeate into my house. What a stinking reek! In fact, I must say it is the most malodorous stench I have ever smelled in my life.

Jul 19

All the hardships I encountered recent days brought to me a sense of ennui, but I swayed myself that this world-weariness is just ephemeral and I will soon feel uplifted.

Though I reminded myself that a lot of practices are entailed to advancing my writing skill, different kinds of leisure activities diverts my efforts away from learning the SAT seriously.

Although I was a true neophyte in the field of photography, I was completely enthralled with her digital camera when I first saw it. In fact, I think it will enchant any person’s attention.

In the era of digital amenities and the Internet, my grandmother is still a staunch adherent of epistolary missives. After all, I don’t mean it is archaic at all since it depends on each person’s penchant.

I myself am the very epitome of dark horse, or in vernacular language, defeatist. I always give up what I planned carefully even before making any endeavor. Moreover, I was too indulgent and lenient not to reprove myself.

Where on Earth could you find that ethereal beauty of the girl? Common guys! She’s just an imaginative character in a film.

Her sanguine feeling of being soon cured out of this quandary vanished when the girl realized that profit is contracting towards the end of the year. This shrinkage eventually led to a bankruptcy.

Ngan Ha evinced a great jubilation when she received an admittance letter from her dream university. All her trepidation of a bad result instantaneously faded away.

All the volunteers receive great exaltations for devoting to the children in the hospital. Doctors and nurses all eulogize them for being very committed and industrious.

Outraged by the imperious arrogance tyranny of the despot, the slaves made a mutinous insurrection. This act, in reality, even exacerbated or aggravated the situation, for they have exasperated the tyrant.

This quick jaunt to the farm served as a refreshing outing for my parents to get away from inundating work.

Archaeology interns are usually sanctioned to join some excavations in their senior year to find out new artifacts.

This execrable shirt seems shoddy and sloppy since it looks garish and gaudy.

My uncle and cousin exhorted to go for a cultural exchange program, but I’m now in a true dilemma since I am too bewildered to inspect whether its benefits really outweigh its potentially high risks.

That self-important guy tried hard to make exigently facetious joke to mesmerize people’s attentions. He was self-righteous enough not to notice that his wit actually repulsed everyone else.

The salesgirl goaded me into buying a slapdash trouser for an exorbitant, or astronomical, price. Luckily, I am perspicacious and savvy enough not to fall into her trap.

Even though I tried hundreds times to redress her loss and promise to be steadfast from then on, the girl remained vindictive and rebuke me scathingly whenever I approach her.

I was finally exonerated from any guilt after the plaintiff couldn’t find any proof to corroborate his indictment.

Jul 18

I scrupulously perused that passage but still couldn’t reach the final answer for the SAT conundrum. The question itself is a little bit enigmatic.

The newly entered scintillating lady warmed up the whole congregation as she showed her clever and dazzlingly impressive perspicacity in her performance in the public.

I cannot withstand the scurrilous guy in the pub this morning who used a lot of coarse and vulgar words to flirt the scintillating young maiden.

Some people revere sensual pleasures – the strong feelings of corporeal gratification; Others think they are completely dissolute.

The girl’s sensuous eyes were so enticing that I couldn’t help pretending that I was looking at the adjacent man to help a peep at her.

Serendipity really came to me this morning when I inadvertently found an account info to access a huge online library while surfing the Internet.

My sinuous cat has a supple body that provides it the ability to be as serpentine as a snake winding.

Even in that boisterous revelry, I managed to maintain my sobriety, abstaining from any tempting invitations to drink alcohol from my friends.

For me, my grandmother is prototypical of the kind of solicitous people who are always very concerned and attentive about other people’s welfares.

Because I was uninformed about registering the SAT, I was late for the December test date. If I have spent time reading other test takers’ opinions, I shouldn’t have fallen into this quandary.

It came to me an epiphany how sophomoric I am. I once though I was mature till recently, when I suddenly realized my reaction skill in social situations is so poor, and that I am too bashful when dealing with strange people.

In remote areas of Vietnam, many people’s attitudes to life are very jejune. They are a little too myopic, taking frivolous care about their long-term future.

My plan of practicing writing skill has stagnated for over 3 months.

Some farmers just wish to vegetate a solitary life when they’re getting old, not engaging in any social activities.

In the Medieval age, a monarch has the sovereign power over the whole nation.

Too weak to be considered an Army, the South Vietnam Army was almost at once subjugated by the North soldiers.

The panorama of Sapa from its summit was a truly sublime perspective. It was so beautiful and impressive that it demanded all my concentration to the spectacle.

My mother is very perceptive. She is able to surmise me telling lies every time I begin to stutter when trying in vain to give an ostensible reason for having a bad mark at school.

I wish to become the surrogate captain of the men’s team after the real captain was diagnosed injured.

My complexion turned into a bit swarthy during my vacation to the beach due to the stifling weather there.

For most of the class time, Mr. Nghiem tells us some news that, though rather interesting, is tangential to the topic. They had scarcely any thing to do with our main purpose of preparing for the TOEFL test.

Dropping the perpetual habit of studying SAT words is tantamount to frivolously skimming through the material without any serious concern.

My sister finally got the temerity to ask her imperious and querulous boss for a salary increase.

I always tell myself to retain my temperance, not to be too extreme and rash when thinking or dealing with any problem.

I personally wish some day there will be a signal of extraterrestrial life existence.

My inherently torpid mind prevent him from doing anything, preparing for the SAT for example, seriously and enthusiastically.

In the future everyone should be more open-minded about people’s torrid affairs. They should regard it as one of the normal and essential lifelong activities.

A lot of tortuous roads on the journey took our family far more time than expected to move to the vacation site.

[Essay] Are Books More Important than Experience?

(Compare & Contrast)

I wrote this essay 4 days ago. Another TOEFL essay I coerce myself to complete. There is not much time left, particularly about 4 months from now till I sit the test. I know the chase of time to procrastinate is definitely over. Still, how painful to start!

Back to the essay. Not a good one I believe. I still cannot surpass the time pressure. Length is another drawback. I can’t help being so verbose and fastidious whenever I discuss a problem.

Anyway, just keep practicing, Truong! Be sanguine.

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Topic Question: Are Books More Important than Experience? (Compare & Contrast)

I totally agree with the claim that “Not everything that is learned is contained in books”. In fact, although books are essential and huge sources of knowledge that we always highly appreciate, from my perspective, I believe that experience is more important, compared with the knowledge gained through books , for attaining is the only way to improve and give us a much more realistic and vibrant picture of our real life.

First, let’s take a look at some major pros and cons of books in providing knowledge. The most indisputable advantage of books is that they grant people gargantuan sources of information. Also, with the number of books surging day by day, books are more approachable than ever, making the process of researching much easier. However, books are so abstract and hypothetical, making all its information useless if not applied to practices. Besides, many people considered books a little stubborn and subjective, since information in a book, many times, can be biased due to the prejudiced viewpoint of the author. Moreover, because of their limitation and dependence upon particular areas, nations, environments and periods of time, books can soon be obsolete.

On the contrary, despite the fact that experience is a little bit more difficult to accomplish, it is palpable that experience is far more realistic to people. A lot of real-life lessons just cannot be achieved through textbooks, but only by experience. A girl, though peruses a cookery book carefully, is not likely to succeed in preparing dinner if she has never cooked before. And even helpful lessons would still be useless if not applied into practice. For instance, what a boy learned about electricity in physics textbook will have not much meaning unless he himself spends some time checking the electrical system around his house. Discernibly, practices are the most valuable ones that will lead to the best understanding of knowledge.

To conclude, books and experience has their own advantages as well as disadvantages. Whereas books provide us with gigantic knowledge deriving from various sources throughout the world and somehow easier to approach, experience, on the other hand, is much more practical and pragmatic, which can help us well-adapted to the changing world. Also, in my view, if we can apply as much knowledge from books as possible into practice and use them to serve our lives, it would even be far more beneficial.

COLLEGE PLANNING: Super-achievers often receive no financial aid

Q. Our son was accepted to Stanford, but received no scholarships. He had a 4.6 GPA and 2300 SAT. The only thing he was offered was a loan package. How do schools determine who receives academic scholarships?

A. There is a widespread misconception that if a student has a stellar transcript and test scores, there will be an automatic scholarship granted at virtually any university. This results in many disappointments every spring when students receive the award letter they’ve been so anxiously awaiting only to be followed by a financial aid “award” that consists of nothing more than a student loan for $3,500 and a parent loan for the balance.

Since you received a loan package, this tells me that you submitted your FAFSA form and I’ll assume that you filed the CSS/Profile form as well.

The fact that you received no grant money indicates that your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) was greater than the Cost of Attendance (COA) of Stanford (around $50,000). This disqualified you from any financial aid. For families whose EFC is less than the COA, Stanford is on a short list of only 75 colleges that offer 100 percent of need, most of this in grant money.

On the other hand Stanford offers virtually no academic scholarships. This is a common practice among the most highly-selective colleges like Princeton, Harvard and Yale.

For the 2005-2006 school year, only 12 percent of more than 20,000 applicants were offered admission to Stanford. The overwhelming majority of these applicants were super-achievers like your son.

Schools with academic standards as high as Stanford’s have chosen to be generous with their financial aid whenever there is demonstrated need, but to withhold it based on academics.

Families can avoid these disappointments with proper planning. I recommend that families learn their EFC during their student’s sophomore year of high school (www.learnyourEFC.org). If your EFC is higher than the college’s COA and the college is highly-selective, you should plan on writing a check for the entire cost.

The other option is apply to some private colleges where your student is in the top 5 or 10 percent academically. Many of these colleges will provide scholarships up to $20,000 or even more.

Fact of the week: A recent change on the FAFSA form allows parents with a family-owned business with fewer than 100 employees to not claim the business value as an asset.

July/August Seminars: Dana Point, Mission Viejo and webinar. For details and registration, go to www.getcollegefunding.org

BY TOM BOTTORF
Columnist

Source: Orange County’s News Source