Traveling and students.

In some countries, young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.

It is clear that traveling is the oldest means of acquiring knowledge. So what could be more useful for a school graduates than traveling abroad combined with work there?

First of all, most students, done their living certificates, have never stayed outside their parental home longer than one or two weeks. At the same time the majority of young people starting university studies leave their homes and parents for at least 3 years. Finding themselves in unfamiliar surrounding among strange people, they realise how helpless and defenseless they are. Thus, traveling may help to beat the feeling of helplessness and to gain or improve social skills. After a year’s trip overseas students become more confident and independent. They make friends faster and easily settle down in a new environment.

Upon leaving abroad young people broaden their minds and improve their knowledge about other cultures and social ways of life that also will be helpful in residing within international communities, as many of university hostels are. Such students quickly find means to resolve existing household issues and problems at work.

The next advantage is that these students working for a year after finishing school as earning money for future educational and living needs as have a spare year in order to decide what exact careers they are going to choose. Therefore some of them after working at in their desired industry may change their minds and find the more appropriate option or ensure themselves in an already made choice. However, some people do not want to travel for some reasons. For example, traveling one cannot enjoy the comfort of his home. Also, the possibilities of robberies and losing of baggage should be taken into account.

To sum up, although traveling or work is a good way to get educated, get impressions, nice memories and many friends, it needs extra precautions in order to have a safe journey.

Cooperation or competition?

Some people think that a sense of competition in children should be encouraged. Others believe that children who are taught to cooperate rather than compete become more useful adults.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Parents always expect more from their children and in order to help them to be the best, parents may be inclined to promote different ways of education such as competition or cooperation. Both methods have their benefits and drawbacks.

It is undoubtedly clear that competition forces children to make more efforts in order to gain desirable things or marks, hence improves their skills and abilities. Competitive young people are very determined and strong-willed. However, the excess of competitiveness may bring harm to youth. For example, children with an excessive sense of competition aim only for a win. They cannot accept failure and that in turn may push them to lie or cheat.

However, youngsters with an inclination to cooperate very often become good team players in adulthood, who are able to solve problems and disagreements existing in a group or at a work place. They will easily lead a working team and drive it towards a stated target. There is no doubt that students who prefer cooperation usually yield to competitive ones in speed of task performance. However, the latter easily compensate for it in accuracy of performance and diversity of task answers.

To sum up, although both methods of child's development have their advantages, as I see it, the best answer lays in moderation of competitiveness and cooperation. Thus, such a child will overlap disadvantages of one method with advantages of another.

Undergrounds in London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington, Kyoto and Los Angeles

The table below gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

This table shows data about the undergrounds in London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington, Kyoto and Los Angeles in terms of dates of opening, length of routes and number of passengers.

It is noticeable that the oldest railway system of the six given was opened in London in 1863 while the newest system, the Los Angeles underground, was founded almost a century and a half later in 2001. Four other undergrounds were started in the 20th century : two of which were Paris and Tokyo at the beginning and the other two at the end of the century.

When we compare the lengths of the railway systems we can see that length of route almost corresponds to date of genesis. The longest is the London underground at a route of 394 kilometers. The next one is Paris with the length of the system being half of that in London. The shortest system is in Kyoto at 11 kilometres. Although Los Angeles is the most resent, it almost 3 times as long as Kyoto’s one at 28 km.

A close examination of the number of passengers reveals that the most popular are the ones in the Tokyo and Paris with 1927 and 1191m passengers per year respectively, while the less used are Kyoto and Los Angeles at 45 and 50 million respectively.

To sum up, the table show us that the length of undergrounds mostly depends on the dates of opening, however the numbers of passengers were not relevant to the dates but possibly to the population of cities.

The charts below show the main reasons for study among students of different age groups and the amount of support they received from employers.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

These two charts indicate the number of reasons for study according to the age of students with additional information about employer’s support of students of different age groups.

According to the first chart the percentage of students, who study for their career, steadily decreases with age starting from 80% for group of under 26 and reaches almost 20% for group of over 49%.However the percentage of those who study for interest increases in moderation from 10% to 70% for the same groups respectively. It is noticeable that only in the group 40-49 the percentage of students for both study reasons are level at 40%.

When we compare support that employers extend to working students we can see that 60% of students up to 26 years get time off and help with fees. The percentage of employer’s support declines in the two next groups, halving at group age of 30-39,while slightly recovering in the following two groups, reaching 40% for student over 40.

The chart above shows the different levels of post school qualifications in Australia and the proportion of men and women who held them in 1999.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

This chart display the percentage of post-school graduates in Australia according to gender and qualification levels in 1999.

According to the chart the men is higher in skilled vocational diplomas,postgraduate diplomas and masters degrees,whereas women dominated in undergraduate diplomas and bachelor's degrees.

When we compare levels of post-school qualification we can see that the highest level of males was in skilled vocational diplomas,at about 90%,nine times more than that of females.While the lowest one was in undergraduate diplomas at around 35%,almost half of that of women at the same level.The smallest difference between genders existed in bachelor's degrees,where it was less than 10% in favour of women,who slightly exceeded 50%.The percentage of females in undergraduate diplomas and males in postgraduate diplomas were equal at 70%.However,the percentage of men in undergraduate diplomas was higher than that of women in postgraduate diplomas 35% and 30% respectively.

To sum up,the biggest difference between genders was in skilled vocational diplomas,while in others levels the percentage fluctuated from 30% to 70%.

Happiness

The meaning of the word happiness has so many uses and is so ambiguous as the meaning of the word "love." For centuries people have tried to understand what it takes to be happy, how to find happiness and do not lose it. The answers to these questions are not simple. Ask different people what a person needs to be happy and everyone will respond differently.

Why do people define happiness in different ways? To understand why this is so, it is enough to think about what kind of people live among us. For example, neighbour: a lonely grandmother; a mother of many who work hard; dad saving up for a long time in order to buy a foreign car; young girl dreaming from childhood about dancing and becoming a famous dancer; her brother nervous because of the regular session. All of them are ordinary people who live among us, but they have different dreams. Grandma certainly wants to be with her family; the mother wishes her children grow obedient, healthy, and good people; the father - finally to buy a long-awaited car; the girl - to become a talented dancer, and her brother - to pass successfully his session as soon as possible. The dream makes people happy.

 One once has noticed that when wants something for a long time, and suddenly the dream is becoming reality, they feel like the happiest in the world! It was this moment that we can assume happiness. Thus, happiness can be defined as the realization of dreams and desires that everyone has their own. So when we think about how often and how much people dream or want something and we will understand why one cannot give full definition to happiness.

To be happy people often need not just one, but several different things. Despite the fact that happiness is very subjective, let's try to define what is needed for happiness to most people.

Love, friendship, family. A person should not be one. to be happy Many people need a loved one such as own mother, beloved husband, loyal friend. Having close friends and loved ones, a person becomes truly happy, a loneliness gives joy to none. Think about how little it takes to be happy! Embrace of a loved one, mother's support in difficult times, a friend who knows how to cheer in sadness. Sometimes a good gesture and friendly conversation are enough to feel happy, to understand that you are not alone, that there are a number of those who are dear to you and who loves you.

Financial well-being. People have to worry about making money, because money provide comfort, stability, possibility use of different goods in our world. How much money do a person need to be happy? The answer is, again, subjective. The homeless will have enough money for which he can rent a house and buy a meal. The woman who are used to the constant luxury will need much more in order to buy exclusive and beautiful goods.

It often happens that a person wants to earn more, he is promoted, salary increases, he becomes happy for a moment, and then he dreams about bigger amounts of money. And then more and more... For these people, the answer to the question of how much they need to be happy, will never be accurate, because they will always want more money.

The pursuit of ever greater material well-being - is not the way to true happiness. One can pack their house with the latest technology from top to bottom, to fill closet with the most fashionable clothes, to stuff  with the most expensive makeup... One can spend a whole life with temporary pleasure of the new purchase, and at the end of their life to remain lonely and miserable. Because, this person was too busy making money, they did not have time to communicate with family and friends, he had no time to create a family, and expensive things not give warmth and friendly support in the end.

Undoubtedly, the material well-being is an integral part of the happiness of the modern man, but it is important not to become a blind slave of fortune, because the temptation to make money and then constantly spend them, subjected many people.

Health One does not need a lot for happiness - they begin to understand it when get ill. Health is such that you do not appreciate it and do not notice when it is all right. But as soon illness overcomes, a person realizes that they cannot be fully happy when are sick. Old people and patients with severe, incurable diseases know the value of health and can tell about it. As long as the person is healthy, he is full of vitality and can do a lot more to try to live a long interesting life. Taking care of their health, people will someday realize how important is a role of health in their life.

 Self-development Life - is a constant movement, search, development. We are also subjected to these laws of life: we grow physically, getting smarter, grow spiritually, understand the world. It is important to be interested in life, in the knowledge of the world, self-knowledge. New hobbies, unusual travel, meeting of new people, development of new skills and obtaining of knowledge, spiritual development are very important for a person. They make life of person more interesting, give new experiences and ideas, which lead to desire to live an feel happy. Can there be a happy person who is not interested in and is not keen on about anything and just sleeps, eats and drinks? This is not life, but existence, which does not exactly bring happiness.

The male and female happiness. Happiness is also different on gender, but the subject is so vast that it is difficult to see in a single article.

What a woman needs to be happy: to love and be loved, to be surrounded by family and friends, to feel attractive and interesting, to have children and pets, to develop her talents and gain self-realization in life, to have good fitting job and interesting hobby.

What does a man need to be happy? Man lives in constant competition, so in order to be happy he needs success at work, in personal life, in friendship: good work and high income, loving and understanding woman, loyal friends and happy children.

Of course, the answers to these questions are primitive and are sufficiently general, but again - happiness for each one is different, so to determine once and for all what is needed to be happy for all women or all men, would be wrong.

The main sources of power in Ukraine

There are a few different types of sources of power in Ukraine.Among them are hydro power plants,heat power stations and nuclear power stations.

Ukraine is heavily dependent on nuclear energy.It has 5 nuclear power station with 15 nuclear reactors which generate about half country’s electricity.20% of the total energy produced by the country is exported to neighboring countries.

Uranium and coal for the fuelling of nuclear stations is mind by Ukraine itself and it imports oil and gas from Russia,as well as the main equipment for reactors.Nuclear energy development started in 1970 with construction of the Chernobyl power plant which was considered to be the biggest of all stations in Ukraine.Nowadays Rivno power station is in the first place of the largest nuclear station in the country.

Nuclear power is,probably,the easiest method of energy production and have many advantages.The amount of energy that forms during the burning of 1 kilo of uranium is equal to that of 2500 kilo of coal.20-30 tones of nuclear fuel,that is concentrated and transportable,works for several years.Nuclear plants can be build in any place where they are required to be.The construction of the station is as cheap as electricity itself.The process of electricity generation is not accompanied by environmental pollution.

Despite being the quickest way of extracting energy nuclear stations have negative impact on their surrounding,for example the emission of deadly radiation into atmosphere as result of breakdowns,as happened in 1986 at unit 4 of the Chernobyl power station.

Fossil fuels and problems associated with them

From the beginning of the time man’s life has been depending on fuels of many kinds.At first people used wood,leaves and hay.But with time we are explored the earth and began to consume fossil fuels such as coal,petroleum,natural gas,etc.Nowadays,fuels are continuously following human progress and it is impossible to separate them from civilized life.

Despite many advantages we have plenty of problems that are caused by inefficient usage of fuels.In the first place it causes environmental damage.The burning of coal sends ash into the air and other harmful materials,which in tern create smog.Another type of fuel ,natural gas,is important for industrial needs as it can be delivered in a compressed form in any volume proportional to any spot around the planet.It is commonly held belief that as a result of combustion of natural gas,carbon dioxide and some poisonous gases are released.Where the first mentioned above has an impact on Global warming and the second falls as acid rain destroying crops.The last type of fossil fuels,that some people call the only reason for wars,is petroleum also known in everyday life as oil.

A few experts claim that cars fueled by petroleum are a major source of carbon monoxide emissions which cause health problems for humans ,right up to heart attack and lung cancer.In addition to this the spillage of oil on the surface of water from mobile oil platform and oil tankers has a most catastrophic effect on the aquatic world and its inhabitants.With the spread of fuel on the top,a dense layer of dangerous substance emerges.This thick layer prevents aqua dwellers from breathing and as well as that it can suck in birds which are landing on the top of the water.

Unfortunately fossil fuels trigger many arguments.However it has been forecast that we are running out of them.Of course,it will not happen in near future but eventually we will no longer be able to rely on them to power our economies.

The drawbacks of using solar power as a sourse of energy

Using solar energy to generate electricity is one of the greatest achievements of mankind.It is known that solar power is one of the cleanest methods of energy production as solar panels simply convert the energy of the sun into energy humans can use.Despite all this advantages,the use of solar power can sometimes have unforeseen disadvantages that might make solar panels useless.

Firstly,there is the cost of the equipment.Solar panels are not cheap,because they are made up of fragile materials.As a result,they must constantly be maintained and often replaced.So,we have touched on a second disadvantage.Which is that when the solar panels break down,you can not just call the power company.You need experienced energy technicians,whose services are quite expensive or you must be a handyman yourself.

Thirdly,is the location:where solar panels are installed.Wet climates will corrode the external metal parts of the equipment,and exposure to cold temperatures reduces the battery life.Also,hail can damage the glass parts of solar system.Moreover pollution and clouds can reduce the efficiency of photovoltaic panels.In addition,during the night your expensive solar equipment will be useless,which is very important for countries with the dominance of night hours.

Fourthly,finding space for both batteries and solar panels can be disadvantage,especially in those areas where space is short or expensive because the single panels are not adequate power producer on their own.

Lastly,you must consider proper disposal of the panels and the batteries when they are broken or at the end of their life,because they contain very toxic materials such as lead and sulfuric acid.

To sum up,the disadvantages of solar panels that I mentioned above are decreasing with advances in technology.But who knows,how soon everyone could afford to obtain a personal solar panel.

How far do you think mental work replace physical work in the next 20 years?

Technological advance has changed our life,our pace of life and even our altitude to work.For the last century physical work slowly but surely has been disappearing ,while mental work gradually is reaching a peak.

Now it is difficult to imagine the worker digging with shovel or the farmer sowing seeds by hand.Robots and machines are replacing man in factories and plants.Computer programmes and software are reducing the number of the workers in banks ,shops ,different agencies and service-providing firms.Clearly,two main reasons for this are to prevent workers from injuries or even sometimes to save their lives in highly dangerous situations in productions as well as to reduce labour costs.Despite the fact that the physical work is really exhausting ,it is very often low-paid.So ,it is not a surprise,that almost all parents endeavour to provide all possibilities for their child to get higher education.Moreover ,due to an increase in the number of educational facilities and career opportunities ,people are attracted to mental work.In addition,opportunities such as getting education on-line in a short time have become more accessible to more people.We can get a degree easily enough just sitting at a computer.

Nowadays,having such modern technology people are able to work without leading their homes.Having only access to the Internet,they are capable of communicating with the entire world.Current technology has evolved greatly allowing investigators to catch criminals quickly as tracking devices are imbedded in every phone.

In conclusion,technology may replace all physical jobs allowing mental work to take over.I reckon ,in the future the human brain will create machines which will perform all physical work currently curried out by human kind.In my opinion,it is quite possible that people’s wishes and technological development may lead to the complete elimination of physical work.

Weak sex

The idea of this expression came from ancient times,when clearly-defined role division existed.The men were the bread winners and the women were keepers of hearth but didn’t have any rights in social life.

This stereotype of gents at work and ladies staying at home is pretty common in Ukraine.A lot of girls get higher education with the belief that it will never be necessary,as they going to be housewives after their weddings.In turn this unemployment means a heavier dependence on their husbands that can be considered a weakness.According to another opinion ,men are stronger and hardier than women physically and that causes division between weak and strong sexes.My next point is that the women talk about feelings and relations more often.This is believed to be a display of weakness.

In my opinion ,women want to be the weaker sex themselves.Probably it is easiest way to control and regulate the mind of men.That is why,they frequently say about necessity in a strong shoulder to lean on.But it is well known that in comparison to the male ,the female is more energetic and can multi-task.

Road transport in European countries

The bar charts below give information on road transport in a number of European countries.

These 3 bar charts show the overall amount of kilometers per year traveled per person using different types of transport and commuting time per day in 6 European countries.

When we compare the figures for kilometers traveled behind the wheel we can see that they are almost the same for each country about 10,000 kilometers, with the highest in Denmark and the lowest in Spain, 12,000 and 9,000 kilometers respectively.However,it is surprising to note that the amount of travel by bus,tram,metro and bike remains the most for Denmark and exceeds 3,000 kilometers per year,whereas in Italy,the next in line ,almost halves,and other countries are times less.

When we compare commuting times we can see that the amount of time spent by German and British commuting is nearly equal,at about 45 minutes,whereas the UK average time is less then 40 minutes.And the shortest time is spent by Italians and it only slightly exceeds 20 minutes.

To sum up,the most kilometers are traveled in Denmark on all types of transport,while the most time is spent commuting in Germany and UK.

UK residents abroad

The charts below give information about travel to and from the UK, and about the most popular countries for UK residents to visit.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features,and make comparisons where relevant.

The charts show overall numbers of visits abroad by UK residents and visits to the UK by overseas inhabitants over a 20-year period , with additional data showing the most popular countries visited by UK citizens in 1999.

According to the charts ,in 1979 the numbers of UK residents visiting abroad and foreigners who visited the UK were almost the same, about 10-11 million.Whereas after 20 years the difference was significant , the number of visits abroad was twice as much as that of overseas visitors, 52 and 26 million respectively.However , from 1979 to 1985 they both increased slightly , but for the next period ,from 1985 the first has increased sharply and the second has continued to rise steadily.

When we compare the number of UK people ,who went overseas in 1999,we can see that the most popular countries were Spain and France,at 9 and 11 million visitors respectively.And the least popular was Turkey,with a figure 4 times less then that of Spain.It is surprising to note that the number of people who visited the UK was just about 4 million.

To sum up,these charts illustrate the rises in the number of people traveling to and from the UK and the popularity of west european countries,the closest to the UK ,for UK residents to visit.

Japanese tourists traveling abroad

The charts below show the number of Japanese tourists traveling abroad between 1985 and 1995 and Australia’s share of the tourist market.

These charts illustrate the quantity of Japanese tourists traveling abroad over 10 years period and the percentage of Japanese tourists coming to Australia for the same period.

The number traveling abroad Japanese increased steadily from 5 million to 15 million over the described period .However the was a slight fall in 1991.From 1985 to 1995 the percentage coming to Australia went up slowly as well,but it exceeded a maximum 6% in 1993 and had slightly decreased by 1995.Over the 10-year period ,we can see a sharp decline in 1989 by 0.5% ,while in 1988 the percentage of Japanese coming to Australia almost reached 5%.But at the same time the number of Japanese tourists traveling abroad continued steadily.

To sum up ,the percentage of Japanese tourists traveling abroad and the percentage of Japanese tourists coming to Australia increased overall.

Generate electricity from wave power

The diagrams show a structure that is used to generate electricity from wave power.
Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information.

These two diagrams show a construction that allows electricity to be generated from wave power.

The structure is usually built by the sea on the side of the cliff or sea wall and consist of three main parts : a large chamber ,a vertical column and a turbine. The bottom end of the chamber is open to the sea and lets water in.The upper end is connected to the column, which is closed on the top. The turbine is installed inside the column and enables the generation of the electricity in two phases.

The first diagram shows how a wave comes into the chamber and push air in front of it in to the column.This current of air causes the turbine to turn ,hence electricity is generated.

The second diagram illustrates the next part of the process when wave retreats.The low water level decreases compression in the chamber ,so the air is sucked out of the column and turns the turbine again.As a result ,electricity continues to be produced.

In conclusion,we can see that this structure is useful as electricity is generated in both phases : entering and retreating of water.

A lock

These three diagrams show the movement of a boat along a canal over a lock.
The process involves a structure which is built on the canal to let boats move from one water level to another.The construction consist of two identical gates and a large section of the canal to take one or more boats.The gates have valves,called ‘paddles’ which are used for lowering the water level in the lock.
The diagrams illustrate that when the upper gates are open the boat moves into the space between the gates.Then, the upper gates are closed and the ‘paddles’ are opened and as a result, the water level decreases.When level inside the section and behind the lower gates are equal,the last gate is opened.And the boat can leave the lock.When the boat moves in the opposite direction from lower to upper water level,the lower gates are opened first. The boat comes into the section between the gates and they are closed behind boat.The ‘paddles’ of the upper gates are opened,so after some time levels behind upper gates and inside the section become identical.Then the upper gates are opened and the boat moves out of the lock.

In conclusion,we can see that this structure is useful for moving boats along canals with different levels of water on both sides:upward and downward.

Prizes given by TV

A group of TV companies was surveyed to discover trends in the type of competition prizes given in the period 1990-2002.Cash prizes were excluded from the survey.
By far the largest percentage of prizes given in 1990 were connected to the home(fully fitted kitchens and household goods).These accounted for 50% of prizes in 1990 but had fallen fairly sharply to 30 in 1996 with a dramatic drop to 9% in 2002.It is possible that as consumer goods became more affordable over the decade,they became less attractive as prises.This can also be said of expensive cars where the number offered as prizes dropped by a half over the same period.
In contrast,extended travel(luxury cruises and round-the-world tickets) rose significantly between 1990 and 1996 and has increased sharply since then to account for approximately 60% of the total in 2002.The number of second homes given away doubled between 1990 and 1996 but has only risen slightly since then perhaps confirming that people prefer to travel rather then stay in their country of origin.
The opposite trend can be seen in the number of prizes which offer the chance to meet a famous person where the figure fell by a third between 1990-1996 and then dipped dramatically to 1% in 2002.
The popularity of designer clothes as prizes has fluctuated during the decade,rising steeply between 1990 and 1996 and then falling to half the 1996 level by 2002.
Over the last 12 year there has been a shift away from consumer item offered by TV companies towards prizes promising a more luxurious life away from a home.It could be argued that the popularity of prises is in direct relation to the standard of living and media promotion of items as desirable or non-desirable. 

Sources of news

The graphs below show where people first got their news,both about the world and about local events,between 1987 and 1997.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features,and make comparisons where relevant.

The graphs indicate sources of world and local news for people in the United Kingdom between 1987 and 1997.
In 1987 65% of people got their world news from television,almost 2.5 and 7 times more than that from other two sources,newspaper and radio,respectively.Whereas only 19% of those who lived in UK got local news from television in the same period.But the main source of regional news for people was print media,at 56%.Radio,as source of both types of news was nearly the same from 9% to 12% and remained stable during the time depicted in the graph.As well as this,the percentage of people who got their world news from television almost didn't change for 1987-1997,with just a slight fall in 1989 of 5%.The percentage of people using newspaper as source of local information decreased to 40% over the 10 years,while the number of inhabitants getting local news from television significantly increased and nearly reached that of newspapers in 1997.

School spendings

The three pie charts below show the changes in annual spending by particular UK school in 1981,1991 and 2001.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features ,and make comparisons where relevant.

These three pie charts illustrate the changes in yearly expenses by a certain UK school over a twenty year period from 1981-2001.

According to the charts,between 1981 and 2001 the percentage of spending on insurance increased from 2% to four times as much,whereas by 1991 it only had gone up by 1%.The spending other “workers” salaries felt by almost half with a steady fall from 28% in 1981 to 15% in 2001.

When we compare the spending on resources such as book we can see significant decline from 15% to 9% I 1981 and 2001 respectively.However in 1991 the percentage of spending reached 20%,which is twice more than that in 2001.The expenses on furniture and equipment in 1981 was 3 times as high as that in 1991,10 years later.But it rose by almost 500% from 1991 to 2001.The percentage of spending on teachers’ salaries remained almost equal about 45% over the 20 years,with the biggest increase up to 50% in 1991.

To sum up,the most significant changes were linked to insurance,resources and furniture devisions of pie charts.

Pencil making

The following diagram shows how pencils are manufactured.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features,and make comparisons where relevant.

This diagram illustrates the production of pencils,which consists of two manufacturing departments.

According to the diagram the pencil leads are made of ground graphite,clay and water.All component are mixed into the graphite dough.This mixture is poured into a forming press which makes a graphite rod.Then the rod is cut into pencils leads and left to dry.Once they are dry,the leads are put into an oven and heated to a temperature of 800C.The next stage of pencil making is the preparation of pencil cases.The diagram shows that wooden bars are sawed into thin slats.Then,the grooves are cut in each slat,into which the cool leads are inserted.Both,the wooden parts and the leads are covered with glue and then another slat is mounted on them which contains grooves.This "sandwich" of slats is sawed into sticks,which are smoothed and shaped by a shaping machine.Finally,as fast as the machine creates smooth finishes,the pencils are ready to use.