IELTS Essay Writing TipsCompiled by Max Sean, Instructor, IELTS

The writing task 2 in the General Training module is always a discursive essay question that requires you to write about a contemporary social issue. You are given a point of view, an argument or a problem, and are asked for your opinion. The following are some of the typical tasks that you might be required to do:1) Discuss advantages and disadvantages of something.2) Outline the reasons for a problem and suggest solutions.3) Express views on an issue.4) State whether you agree or disagree with a view.5) Take a side in an argument over an issue.Essay TipWhen you have to discuss two different views, you have to: 1) Present both views.2) Evaluate the strength of the arguments on both sides.3) Challenge the ideas you disagree with and support the ideas you agree with by providing examples and evidence.4) Remember that you don’t have to totally agree with one of the views. Express your own opinion, whatever it is.A good way to make your writing more academic and stylish is to use some noun phrases in your essay. Noun phrases give the reader more information about a noun. For example, with the nouns prices or the Internet, you can make the noun phrases rising house prices or the invention of the Internet.--------------------You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.It is generally believed that the Internet is an excellent means of communication but some people suggest that it may not be the best place to find information. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.Write at least 250 words.Model answerUsing the Internet has become a normal part of everyday life for many people. They use it to book airline tickets, or to access news about world events, or to follow the fortunes of their favourite football club. Millions of people across the world belong to social networking groups where they keep in touch with their friends and if they live away from them, their family. In my opinion these are all good ways to use the Internet.When it comes to finding out information there are some very good sites where it is possible to check, for example, someone's biographical details or statistics about global warming. However, information from the Internet should be used with caution, because although there are many reliable sites, such as academic journals and well-known newspapers, there are also unreliable ones, so it is important to check where information originates from before using it.Some students use websites which offer ready-made assignments. This is not a good idea, even if you ignore the fact that it is cheating, because such websites may

contain factual errors or biased views. In a recent case, a student found herself in serious trouble when she submitted an essay from one of these sites only to discover that it was about Austria, not Australia, but had an error in the title.Nevertheless, it is nowadays possible for people all over the world to study or do business on an equal footing, in a way that was unimaginable only a few years ago. On the whole I believe that the Internet is an excellent way both to communicate and to find information, as long as it is used intelligently.

(278 words)----You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.Celebrities make a very good living out of media attention and have chosen to live in the public spotlight. They have no right to complain when they feel the media are intruding on their privacy. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?Write at least 250 words.Model answerBeing famous should not mean that you give up all right to a private. Although a lot depends on the reason why a person is famous, everyone should be able to enjoy a certain amount of privacy.I believe it is useful to draw a distinction between those who have sought a career in the public eye and those who have not. Prominent performers in film, television and music, for example, have clear chosen a career path that potentially leads to fame. In fact, for many of them, becoming as widely known as possible is a key ambition. Since they have invited the public to focus their attention on them, they should not be too surprised to find that people are interested in gossip or scandal about their private lives. Public attention is not something that you can turn on and off at will. Having said that, even those who seek fame still deserve the protection of the law and the media should be prevented from harassing them.Other public figures, on the other hand, have not chosen to be famous. Members of royal families are born into fame, as are the children of celebrities. Ordinary people in the news often become well-known through no fault of their own. It is my opinion that the media have no right to intrude into these people’s private lives. I would even go so far as to say that I support an extension of the law to guarantee their privacy. The media should be prevented from reporting on things that should be private matters.As the media continue to become more and more powerful in our society, so the question of privacy becomes more important. Everyone deserves a private although perhaps some deserve it more than others.(294 words)---You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.Some parents buy their children a large number of toys to play with. What are the advantages and disadvantages for the child of having a large number of toys?Write at least 250 words.

Model answerIt is true that many parents purchase a multitude of playthings for their offspring. Whether or not this is a good thing for the child, is a moot point. On the face of it the advantages seem most apparent, but could there be a downside to this phenomenon of devoted parenting as well?Most people would consider children who have many toys to be the fortunate ones. Interesting things to play with stimulate many positives in the young boy or girl, such as optimum brain development, hand-eye coordination and colour recognition, apart from the simple joy of playing. Modern toys are designed to be educational as well as fun, and concerned parents carefully select products which might speed their child's acquisition of numbers or the alphabet.Is it possible that owning multiple toys could be in any way detrimental to a child? This is an unusual question, but there are some hidden pitfalls. For one, wealthy parents might spoil their son or daughter by showering him/her with toys, resulting in a negative effect on the child's character. For another, a growing child's concentration span may suffer if they are constantly surrounded by too many tempting objects, so that they become unable to focus on any one game for a decent length of time before being distracted. On the social side, older children may become targets of envy from classmates, if they are perceived as having far more possessions than their peers. Finally, the majority of toys today are made of plastic which commonly contains the chemical BPA, proven to be dangerous for infants to suck on or ingest.It is clear then that this situation is not as straightforward as it first appears. It would seem that one of the many duties of parents is to make an informed choice about how many toys they buy for their young ones.(310 words)---You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.In general, people do not have such a close relationship with their neighbours as they did in the past. Why is this so, and what can be done to improve contact between neighbours?Write at least 250 words.Model answerIn the past, neighbours formed an important part of people's social lives and they helped them when they had problems. Nowadays, people often do not even know their neighbours and in consequence they live much more isolated lives.There are a number of reasons why we have less contact with our neighbours. Firstly, our lifestyles are more mobile. This means people may change the area where they live quite frequently and this causes their relationships with their neighbours to be more superficial. Secondly, nowadays people often live and work in different places. This leads to people forming closer relationships with work colleagues than the ones they have with their neighbours. Finally, modern lifestyles make us spend more time inside our houses watching television, and when we go out, we travel by car. Consequently, we do not speak to the people in our neighbourhood so much.There are a number of ways in which I think contact between neighbours can be

improved. First of all, local authorities can provide communal areas such as playgrounds for children and community halls so that there are places where neighbours can meet and make friends. Next, I think that when new neighbours come to a street, the people living there ought to introduce themselves and welcome them. Lastly, people living in a street or small district should form neighbourhood associations and meet regularly to discuss the things which affect them.In conclusion, these suggestions will probably not make neighbours as important in our lives as they were in the past. However, they will help our relationships with our neighbours to become more useful and valuable.(270 words)--You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.Some people think that human history has been a journey from ignorance to knowledge. Others argue that this underestimates the achievements of ancient cultures, and overvalues our achievements.Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.Write at least 250 words.Model answerSome argue that people in the modern world are in possession of much more knowledge than people of ancient cultures. Others believe that this ignores the accomplishments of the past and places too much emphasis on present achievements.While it is undoubtedly true that modern technologies, such as the internet could not have been imagined in ancient cultures, it is a mistake to view these ancient cultures as ignorant. Few would argue that the builders of the Sphinx were mere primitive cavemen, for example. People at the time had the knowledge they needed to understand and deal with their world and in fact one argument that is sometimes put forward is that, even with all we know today, we do not have the technology to build the Pyramids of Egypt.Even if we do accept that modern society is richer in technological terms, it is undoubtedly poorer in spiritual terms. Our societies have become so complex that people often become victims to the lifestyles they lead and must face a whole new variety of widespread modern-day problems, such as stress and obesity which affect people in developed countries worldwide. Furthermore, the number of uneducated people still living in poverty with little opportunity to benefit from technological achievements suggests that our modern society is not so advanced after all.In my view, however, there is no comparison between what we can achieve today and what people even two hundred years ago could achieve as we now know so much more. The vast majority of people in developed countries are able to benefit from an education system, standard of living, healthcare and life expectancy that are so much more advanced than ever before. It is my personal opinion that although we must remember and respect ancient cultures, modern day achievements have brought us to the peak of human civilisation.(307 words)---