IELTS Academic Writing

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Lets practice Academic Writing and post it here;

Comments from candidates,IELTS examiners and language experts are welcomed. [b][/b]

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Page 52
Focus on IELTS
Sue O'Connell 2002
5th impression

Do young people today make good use of their leisure times?
Or do they spend too much time on playing video games and watching television,instead of taking part in more productive activities?

Leisure time can be well spent in many different ways.One popular option among the young is playing video games and watching television.While other activities like sports,social gathering and reading are available to them,many people feel that they spend too much time on these indoor games and screens and prefer them to be more active.In this essay,I will discuss my view on the issue to get positive results out of free time.

Nowadays, younger generation has greater choices of leisure facilities than previous one. Among such facilities are television and video games. Some social experts and families are concerned about health of teenage overindulge on these activities. This is supported by some reports that sitting too long in front of television could lead to problems of eyes and back. On the other hand, some medical experts believe that some video games can improve the dexterity of the player and this could help his or her future career like operating doctor or pilot. In addition, watching television keeps young audience inform about what happens around locally as well as globally. That would enhance teenagers' inquisitive mind and encourage them to keep eyes on challenging local and international issues. While such benefit is welcomed, there also are dangers of exposing them to violence, crimes and explicit scenes on some television series which can have negative impact on younger personalities.

Alternatively, there are many activities which have positive results in term of social, physical and educational values. For example, walking, jogging and trekking in a recreational park improve their physical strength and give an opportunity to observe nature and environment. Furthermore, spending time with family, relatives and friends outdoor enriches their social lives. As a result, they would be more interactive and responsible socially. Finally, one could simply be entertained by reading at home or playing some music.

In conclusion, how much time should we spend on each activity during extra time is debatable. Each has its own merit so long as individual does not involve excessively. In my opinion, young and adult alike should choose sensibly on type of activity and time spent to get most benefits out of their free time.

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Task 2:

The government spends about GBP 220 million a year supporting museums and galleries in the UK, and a similar amount subsidizing the visual and performing arts.
This is huge sum to spend on minority interests, and the money would be better spent on more important things.
It should be up to people who enjoy cultural attractions to pay for them.

What are your views?

Words:
Government/authority/people/individual/payee
Spend/subsidize/pay/public fund/budget/taxpayer money/expenditures/resources
Interest/advantage/legacy/historical/cultural/aesthetic value/educational/aspiration
Important/crucial/central/critical/key/considerable/priority
Enjoy/consume/watch/go to/relax/like/love
Centres/Hall of fame/collections/exhibition/paintings/playwright/poet

Opinion/View:
Important things/health/education/scientific research/transportation
Benefits: help maintain and propagate cultural values/heritage and legacy/indirect income from cultural tourism/help creative/to relax/recreational/leisure pursuits/subjects/ study
Drawbacks: suffer other sectors/extravagant spending/inappropriate use

Paragraph plan:
Intro/against/for/conclusion

Check:
Collocation/phrasal verbs/links/correction/allotted time

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Go:

Recently, UK government spends substantial amount of budget to support and subsidize museums, galleries, and visual and performing arts. Some people see such expenditures as extravagant and they prefer the authority to spend more on other crucial sectors like health care and education. They suggest that payee should be the one who fancy these cultural attractions. In this essay, I discuss my opinion on who should be financially responsible for the future of arts, museums and galleries and why.

First of all, it is a conventional wisdom that public money should be well spent to benefit a society. To achieve such goal, the budget is allocated across different sectors and priority is given to important sectors. For example, significant proportion of budget is spent on health care, education, scientific researches and public transportation. This is welcomed by most citizens as these things obviously have important implication on each person. On the other hand, arts and culture of a society may be seen as minority interests that belong to a particular class or small percentage of a community. Those who held such a view would express that payee should be these people who pursuit artistic attractions. Although it seems logical to spend less on culture of a nation or a region, there are other important aspects of arts and culture that could be beneficial to a community.

There are many reasons why culture is important to a particular nation or region. Firstly, pieces of music, orchestra and painting are cultural heritages and legacy from one generation to another. For example, the National Gallery in London houses the historical collection of western European painting, while encouraging access to the pictures. Great pieces like those of Leonardo Da Vinci would not be reachable to ordinary citizens without a government support for these galleries. I feel that the places could not be sustained by contribution of individual enjoying them alone. Furthermore, family and children could visit to the museums to relax their mind, stimulate creativity of the young, study history and get aspiration. This means these centres also have educational value that can not be easily learned in classrooms. Finally, these places and arts catch the tourists’ eye which promotes cultural tourism and eventual national income.Therefore,investment in them is not futile.

All in all, I think arts, museums and galleries also have public interests and value too. Thus these cultural attractions should also be supported and subsidized by a government along with other critical area like health care and education.

09 09 09
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TASK 2

The costs of medical health care are increasing all the time. Governments are finding it difficult to balance the health care budget. Should citizens be totally responsible for their own health costs and takeout private health insurance, or is it better to have a comprehensive health care system which provides free health services for all?

Discuss.

Advances in technology have strong impact on preventive, curative and palliative aspects of health care.This results in newer treatment options along with increasing costs and consequent funding challenge in health sector of a society. Therefore, budget issue is a pressing problem for individual as well as government in different regions. In this essay I will discuss about who should take main responsibility for medical service.

Some would argue that each individual must take care of their own health and pay for any health problem from their own pockets. This would encourage every person to be responsible. One option to take such duty is to take part in private insurance. On the other hand, private insurers could be part of profit industry. If so, each citizen spends his or her hard earned money for a basic human right, that is, appropriate free health care. Therefore, paying every penny for the total expense of individual's health service is unjust. Furthermore, this could deter poor members of a particular society to enjoy healthy lives.

Some may say that government is totally responsible to provide free universal health care for every citizen. It is reasonable for a government to provide such service as health is a basic human need. The authority could fund health budget by taxation. In addition, residents of such country will get less financial burden for their health. They are expected to lead happy and healthy lives so long as a country has the economic might to support a free health care system. In contrast, medical procedures and treatments are increasingly advanced in recent years and become more expensive. It means public fund may not sufficient enough to support some costly medical interventions in a society. Such situation is evident in different parts of the world especially in developing regions.As a result,they will be the most vulnerable and suffer from ailments miserably.

All in all, I think citizen or government should not face the challenge of expanding medical bills separately. They need to share the responsibility. Who should take a greater share should be decided by each community.

09 09 09
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TASK 2

( Question from Cambridge IELTS 5,Test 1)

University should accept equal numbers of male and female students in each subject.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

BRAINSTORMING:

1-Why should be equal in numbers?
Could it be practical to get a uniform number of graduates, what would be the implications? Rigid application could be counterproductive.
Disproportionate numbers, so what?

2-Is there different aptitude and abilities between each sex?
There may be but need to be investigated rigorously. We know from personal experience that boys and girls are different.

What about individual preference?
She should be the one who choose what she studies.

3-Uni should not discriminate against a particular sex. It does not necessarily mean that number should be equal.

Who should decide :Uni or prospective students?Need to develop idea on the subject and make suggestion for action.

Give an opportunity to get what one wants.

September 11,2009
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TEST 2,Cambridge IELTS 5
TASK 2

In some country young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies.

Discuss the advantage and disadvantage for young people who decide to do this.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Advantage:

Get through real life working environment
Explore the world, Observe different culture, help develop Vision, Mission
(Cross contextual learning)
Expand social life

Disadvantage:

Time spent
Money
Distraction from academic study

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Task 2

Most schools offer some type of physical education program to their students. Why is physical education important? Should physical education classes be required or optional?

OUTLINE:

WHY?

Physical well-being is as important as intellectual
Academic performance alone is lest likely to benefit to individual.
Unless one has physical fitness

Physical education is soil to grow
Professional athletes, sportsperson, defense personnel
Even an executive need physical vigor to accomplish his work

Weak body could harbor ailments
Will increase the number of absent days at work
Become less productive
Reverse is true for the healthy and strong

For these reasons, physical education is required
But should be cater to individual need

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16 Sep 2009

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TASK 2

High school graduates are advised to travel or work for a period before they begin their tertiary education in some country. There are some pros and cons for prospective university students doing so. In this essay,
I discuss about positive and negative implications of traveling or working before higher education.

There are many advantages of taking temporary jobs and going around the world. Firstly, students could get hand-on experience by joining some work force of their interest. For example, I volunteered to work in a local red cross where I got first aid training following completion of high school. Then I was captivated by being involved in emergency response team and which later help understand my study in medical college. In addition, young people could expand their social life by interaction with other members of an organization or working partners. This in turn helps to develop effective communication and social skills, which is important for later personal and professional development. Similarly, traveling makes an individual to meet people from different walk of life and culture. I think such experience is valuable for prospective university students who will study in and serve to multicultural communities.

On the other hand, one should also be aware of the disadvantage. Obviously, a student who decides to travel and spend some time without academic study will later be in a different class to his or her classmates starting university study straight away. The students should see this time lag, but if they spent time well, could catch up their fellow. Moreover, there is a chance of being distracted from academic study, particularly when lose the aim of traveling or working before university. Objectives of such activities should be clearly set in their mind. Lastly, as students have to spend money travel over extended period, this could mean extra burden for them and families. One solution would be getting some cash by working and then to travel.

In conclusion, there are some risks of traveling and working before studying in tertiary education. However, I feel that such seemingly negative effects could be mitigated by the benefits one get through by doing so.

WORD Count
Words : 358
Lines : 36

® HL 22 09 2009

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I just back from Speaking Test today!

On hindsight,it's not tough but you know exam is an exam.

I was well composed in part 1.

All about my daily routines,adverts ,reading and further studies.It's fine,I felt it from examiner's expression.

Then part 2 about help one received.
Situation,who helped you ,how and why it was important.
I was struggling a bit.

On final part,related to the YOUNG and OLD who need help,in which part of their lives,how and why.

When the examiner told me it was over,WOW!I was anticipating more questions.

That's ielts.Those minutes define your future plan.
What I learned was I need a little more effort to switch myself on Practical Mode.