Model answer
Written by 8020 teachers. Do not memorise it — take the structure and the way ideas are developed, then speak about your own life.
I'd like to talk about Sơn Trà Peninsula, which is a forested mountain sticking out into the sea at the north-eastern edge of Đà Nẵng, where I've lived for the past six years. What makes it unusual is how close it is. From my rented room near the Dragon Bridge it's about a twenty-minute motorbike ride, and in that time you go from traffic lights and karaoke bars to proper jungle. The road climbs steeply, with the bay on one side and thick green slopes on the other, and near the top the air is noticeably cooler. If you're lucky you see red-shanked douc langurs, a rare kind of monkey with what look like maroon knee socks. I've spotted them four times, always when I wasn't holding my phone. I usually go on Sunday at around half past five in the morning with my flatmate Tùng. We ride up to the old banyan tree, walk for an hour or so, and then eat sticky rice out of a banana leaf while staring at the water. Tùng always says, 'Right, next week we bring a proper breakfast,' and we never do. Why do I enjoy it so much? Partly it's the contrast. I work in a call centre, so five days a week I'm wearing a headset and apologising to strangers, and up there nobody wants anything from me. Partly it's that the place still feels slightly wild; there are no ticket booths and very few signs. I do worry about that changing, because every year there seem to be more cafés creeping up the hillside. For now, though, it's the one part of the city where I can hear nothing but insects.