Environment

Time allowed: 40 minutes. Write one essay in English. First read the brief introduction to the issue and the three perspectives that follow it. Essay Task: Answer the question posed in the introduction in a single, well-organized essay. Make your own perspective on the issue clear and develop it, and analyze how your perspective relates to at least one of the perspectives given (it may agree with one fully or partly, combine elements of several, or differ from all three). Support your ideas with sound reasoning and specific examples, present them in a logical order, and write in clear, correct standard written English. The position you choose does not affect how your essay is evaluated. Planning Your Essay (optional; notes are not scored): What does a lawn offer that a yard of native plants does not, and the reverse? Whose interests are affected by what one family does with its yard? What would a fair neighborhood rule look like?

Lawns or Native Plants?

In many neighborhoods, the front yard is a mowed lawn of short grass. Lawns need regular watering and mowing, and they offer little food or shelter for bees, butterflies and birds. Some homeowners have begun replacing grass with native wildflowers, shrubs and grasses, but neighbors sometimes complain that these yards look messy, and some neighborhood rules require lawns to be kept trimmed. Should communities encourage homeowners to replace lawns with native plants?

Perspective One A yard is private property. Homeowners should decide for themselves how their yards look, and a community has no business pushing a family to give up a lawn it enjoys for games and picnics.

Perspective Two Lawns use water and fuel while giving wildlife almost nothing. Communities should actively encourage native plantings and change rules that require trimmed grass, because the benefits reach far beyond a single property line.

Perspective Three Neighbors share a street, so the appearance of each yard matters to everyone. Native yards can be welcome if they are planned and cared for, but communities should set basic standards so that "natural" does not become an excuse for neglect.