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Practical IELTS Strategies 4

IELTS Writing Task Two [Academic Module] 2nd Edition

Copyright © 2013, 2017 by Andrew Guilfoyle & Bookman Books Ltd All rights reserved,

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher

ISBN 978-957-445-714-4

Published by Bookman Books, Ltd 2017 3E, 60 Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei 100, Taiwan English Editor: Lynn Sauvé

Administrative Editor: Emma Liu Printed in Taiwan

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Table of Contents

RAS

About this Book iti About the IELTS Writing Test vii

About IELTS Writing Task Two x

The IELTS Band Descriptors xii Tip 1 Tip 2 Tip 3 Tip 4 Tip 5 Tip 6 Tip 7 Tip 8 Tip 9 Tip 10 How Much to Write 2 Exercise 1

Which Task to Do First 5 Read the Question/

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Varying the Words 8 Gũ

Tip 11 The Essay Introduction 70 Exercise 27, 28, 29 Tip 12 The Essay Body 84 Exercise 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 Tip 13 The Essay Conclusion 93 Exercise 37, 38, 39 Further Tips Tip 14 When to Be Certain 104 Exercise 40, 41, 42 Tip 15 Organise Your Paragraphs 110 Exercise 43, 44, 45, 46 Tip 16 Include Specific Support 118 Exercise 47

Tip 17 Read the Question/

Fulfil the Task (II) 123

Exercise 48, 49

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_———— About This Book

So, you have Book Four of the Practical IELTS Strategies series Let us first be sure we know

the meaning of those two key words

connected with real situations; right Practical =

or sensible; likely to be successful

Strat a plan that is intended to achieve a particular purpose;

rategy =

sỹ the process of putting a plan into effect in a skilful way

This book—Book Four—is for Task Two of the Academic Module of the IELTS Writing Test This is not a grammar book; not a test practice book: not a vocabulary book, although all of those elements are here Overall, this book is practical and strategic, exactly as those definitions tell us The real situation is the IELTS test, and the particular purpose or plan is to give you the highest score that you can achieve

My other ‘Practical IELTS Strategies’ books are:

Book 1: Reading Book 2: Speaking

Book 3: Writing Task One [Academic Module]

Book 5: IELTS Test Practice Book

Now, it is very important at this stage for you to trust me and for this to happen you need to know two facts The first concerns my credentials In order for you to trust someone who writes an IELTS preparation book, they must be fully qualified to do so Please look at the back cover of this book, and read my credentials carefully The second fact concerns why | wrote these books Let me begin this by saying that students of English often come to me and ask, ‘How do | pass

the IELTS test?’ This i

band scores However, | know what the students mean They mean how do they achieve the band

s the wrong question—you do not pass or fail the test: you just receive

score they need—usually 6.5 or 7.0 overall

So what do I say to these students? I usually say that there are no magic answers to obtaining higher band scores in the IELTS test It is a test of English language ability, so, of course, you obtain higher scores by having higher ability The best way to raise your ability is simply to practise your listening, reading, writing, and speaking However, no matter how good your English may be, it is certainly possible for you to be unprepared, unpractised, and to try to do

parts of the IELTS test in the wrong way, and thus to receive a result lower (or far lower) than

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Writing Task Two This is why there is

so much “IELTS Preparation’ material available, and my students often have, read, and use some of it, but does this material always provide the best advice and approaches? The answer is no Students should know that there are no magic answers, and that practice and preparation are important to achieving a high IELTS band score, but they clearly want and need some practical and strategic approaches showing how, and they are too often relying on unsatisfactory material to find this

So that is why | wrote these IELTS books In short, these books are the answer to that question

about how to ‘pass’ the IELTS test The answer is to follow the tips in these books In this one, there are twenty tips and over forty exercises Each tip builds on the previous Each tip is solid,

proven, and supported There are answers to all exercises All the knowledge is summarised and

demonstrated at the end to make a clear and achievable framework This book is how you ‘pass’ the test So, let us then begin on this road

Some Words

To help you in understanding this book, let us first look at some of the more uncommon words that will be used

A Do you know the meaning of the following? If not, look them up in a dictionary

to be absolute to be cohesive guts to reduce

an acronym a consequence to identify to refute an addition to convince to be lexical to be relevant

alcohol to be cosmetic a link to remind to be appropriate to counter to be logical a signpost

to avoid to distill to be mature to be specific to be awkward to be dull to memorise a structure

to ban evidence obesity style a category a fact to oppose to be urban

a chain to be flexible to organise to vary

a climate fluff to persuade violence

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Í ấn, 4oLk<(⁄i45 (30204 03/4

B Fill the sp

are given in Appendix 1

with one of the previous words Use the right tense and grammar The answers

= He’s a dangerous person You should him

Don’t give me lies, speculation, or gossip Just give me the

He was hit by the cricket ball right in his

He drank far too much last night, so he's feeling bad today It’s an interesting idea, but not at all to the problem

The weather in Melbourne all the time

areas often have more crime and pollution She hada _ operation on her nose

My mother me about women like you S © aN Ome wD

The on my bicycle broke

| found it difficult to him in the crowd

N | realised he had hurt his leg from the way he was walking

wo He’s boring — a totally person

+ I'm sure of it; I'm sure of it!

a | can see big problems with the of your argument

a | didn’t understand what he was saying He was not _ at all

yi Itried the butonly got 11 out of 20

œ I'd just like to you that | am your boss

© | want you to sort these applications into three N 5 I'm afraid that your behaviour is simply not

& He's very for a young boy

N N Look at this old table It’s got lots of dust and _— all over it

N wo Parts of your essay don't fit together well; it isn’t _ _—_ atall

DO + He my argument by saying my research was wrong

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vi

Writing Task Two

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ý cia About the IELTS Writing Test

Before looking at any tips, let us first make sure we know everything we can about the [IELTS Writing test itself This will also make the tips in this book clearer

We can perhaps best look at the test by doing the following quiz

IELTS Writing Quiz: True or False

1 The Writing Test is one hour TIF 2 There are four parts to the test TLF 3 There is a separate answer sheet TAF 4 You must make sure your answers are reasonably long T/F 5 You can write anything you want T/F

6 Grammar/accuracy is most important TLE

7 Writing in simple sentences is better TEP 8 Writing Task Two (W2) is more important than Task One (W1) T/F

9 Longer answers are always better than shorter ones TŒF 10 It does not matter which writing (W1 or W2) you do first TIF 11 Memorising long pieces of writing is a good idea TẾF

12 Neat handwriting receives better scores T/F

We can now discuss the answers

Question 1 is true The Writing Test is indeed one hour, but there are different tasks

Question 2 is false There are two writing tasks, which are known as Task One, and Task Two Since the test is one hour, it is recommended that you spend 20 minutes on Task One, and 40

minutes on Task Two As for Question 3, it is true There are two separate A4 Writing Answer

sheets, one for Task One, and one for Task Two

Question 4 is true, while Question 5 is false, of course Task One and Two are very specific and very different We can summarise them as follows

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viii

Writing Task Two

is a summary/description of a graph [line, bar, pie],

Task table of figures, or diagram/map

One - requires at least 150 words |

- is recommended to take 20 minutes Task

Two

- is an academic essay |

- requires al least 250 words

= is recommended to take 40 minutes

Question 6 is false Grammar and accuracy are certainly important, but there is much more to a good piece of writing The writing is actually judged on four categories, as shown,

1 Task Response

(Does the answer respond to the question relevantly and well?) 2 Coherence & Cohesion

(Does the answer make sense as a whole, and do all the sentences and paragraphs fit

together well?) 3 Lexical Resource

(Does the answer have mature and appropriate words?) 4 Grammatical Range & Accuracy

(Does the answer have a good range of grammar, and use it accurately?)

Question 7 is false Simple sentences may well be easier and therefore are likely to be more accurate, but to achieve higher band scores, the grammar must also be mature and show variety

As for Question 8, it is true Task Two is longer, and takes more time than Task One, so it must

be more important in determining your score; however, this does not mean you should not treat

Task One seriously — it is important also

Question 9 is false The word ‘always’ should tell us that the statement is unlikely to be correct Length by itself, of course, does not show how good an answer is A longer answer may well be quite bad; however Question 10 is true It does not matter which writing (W1 or W2) you do first, unless it can help you manage the test, or the timing, better [See Tip 2]

Question 11 is based on opinion, and my opinion is that memorising long pieces of writing is

most definitely a bad idea Tip 10 will look at this in more detail

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Writing Task Two

About IELTS Writing Task Two

Writing is a ‘productive’ skill It is different to listening and reading, where we receive the message In writing, we are producing it The first point to realise is that this gives us control over the message The second point to realise is a written text, by its nature, must give context, and, particularly in the IELTS test, a written text is formal in organisation, grammar, and words The third point is that the IELTS writing is a definite type of writing, and we can predict its

nature and requirements

The combination of these three factors (control of the message, writing’s natural complexity, and its predictable type in IELTS) mean that we can create many tips to help ourselves However, the disadvantages come from Point Two — writing is indeed complex, for both students and even native users of language, and, in the IELTS test involves handwriting

The band score is decided by the IELTS examiner This person uses a set of descriptions for

each score These are not available to the public There is, however, a public version of these

‘descriptors’ available at www.ielts.org By referring to these, we can know that the writing score is scored under four categories, as we saw in the IELTS Quiz One of these is called “Task Response’ because in Task Two you are responding with reason and opinions on an issue You

y

are writing an ess

These public version IELTS descriptors also allow us to work out ourselves that the Task Two categories can all be divided into two or three sub-categories, as follows

Category Sub-category

4 Answers the question fully and relevantly Task Response 2 Gives a position or opinion

3 Gives and develops ideas

1, Organises the writing, showing progression

Coherence & Cohesion 2 Makes the sentences and parts fit together

| 3 Organises paragraphs well

| 1 Uses a range of words

Lexical Resource

2 Uses those words accurately Grammatical Range 1 Uses a range of grammar & Accuracy 2 Uses that grammar accurately

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extended, supported, appropriate, mature, and shows fewer signs of repetition or errors

One important point to understand is that you need to achieve a// sub-categories to achieve the matching IELTS band score For example, to achieve an IELTS Six for ‘Coherence & Cohesion’, the writing must 1 show organisation and progression, and 2 have the sentences and parts fit together, and 3 use paragraphs well, a// according to the IELTS Six description All categories are connected, and we must look at them all

Now, let us begin traveling on the journey through the tips to help you in Writing Task Two

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Writing Task Two

The IELTS Band Descriptors

Band Nine — Expert User

Has fully operational command of the language: appropriate, accurate, and fluent,

with complete understanding

Band Eight — Very Good User

Has fully operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic

inaccuracies and inappropriacies Misunderstandings may occur in unfamiliar situations Handles complex detailed argumentation well

Band Seven — Good User

Has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies,

inappropriacies, and misunderstandings in some situations Generally handles complex language well, and understands detailed reasoning

Band Six — Competent User

Has generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings Can use and understand fairly complex

language, particularly in familiar situations

Band Five — Modest User

Has partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most

situations, though is likely to make many mistakes Should be able to handle basic communication in own field

Band Four — Limited User

Basic competence is limited to familiar situations Has frequent problems in understanding and expression Is not able to use complex language

Band Three — Extremely Limited User

Conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations Frequent

breakdowns in communication occur

Band Two - Intermittent User

No real communication is possible except for the most basic information using

isolated words or short formulae in familiar situations, and to meet immediate needs Has great difficulty understanding spoken and written English

Band One — Non User

Essentially has no ability to use the language beyond possibly a few isolated words Cambridge English Language Assessment© UCLES 2013

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Tip 1

How Much to Write

The Task-Two Answer Sheet is designed as shown.*

[Space for Personal Details] [Space for Admin Details] | Exercise 1

+ What is the minimum number of words for Task Two?

+ How many words per line do you write?

+ Thus, at least how many lines should you write for Task Two? Now think about the following

1 Agood piece of writing must be paragraphed

2 An IELTS writing task will have several paragraphs, perhaps about five for Task Two

The modern way of paragraphing is to leave a line between paragraphs (since it looks

clearer)

3 A good answer will be a little longer than the minimum word length

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cas 36

Thus

* add seven lines to the number of lines for Task Two, to allow for the paragraph breaks and extra length

* Now, count this total number of lines on the writing answer sheet in the previous diagram * Now, mark the point on the second page at which you end

Task Two requires a minimum of 250 words Most people write about 10 words per line If you write more than this, perhaps you should #o¢ The writing paper itself may lead you to not leave wide margins on the left and right side of the paper However, having wide margins makes the writing look more readable, and this is important (thus, the previous Point 2)

So, with 10 words per line (and wider margins), there would be 25 lines Adding seven lines for paragraph breaks and extra length gives about 32 lines for Task Two Counting these through the writing answer sheet gives the result, as shown

[Space for Personal Details] Task 2 Se \ Using ⁄ wider margins

[Space for Admin Details] Well over the Task-Two length requirement

Easily enough, for Task Two, passing the middle of the second page shows that you should be

above the word limit In the IELTS test you do not need to count words (since this wastes times),

but you should write your Task-Two answer to at least pass the middle of the second page We

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Writing Task Two Start Test 1 Begin your first task [Task One or Task Two] °

* Task One past the top part of the second page (by 20 minutes) [See Book 3] 2 PIN * Task Two past the middle part of the second page (by 40 minutes) Ụ 3 Go to the other task; begin writing 0 4 Finish this task at the recommended point 0 5 Divide the time left into two halves J

6 Check/correct/add to/improve the task you have just finished (with one half of the time left)

Ũ

7 Check/correct/add to/improve the other task (with the remaining time)

End Test

Note

If you still have some time, you need to make a judgement about whether your answer will be improved, or not, by extra writing, since this may take away the chance to sufficiently complete the other writing task

For Task Two, if your extra writing will consist only of fluff [See Tip 10], or a memorised and repetitive ‘formal’ conclusion [See Tip 13], or both, then your answer is rot improved at all, and you should finish the sentence, and move to the other task [See also Point 4 at the end of

Tip 17.] However, if your extra writing will consist of more ideas and support, or a well-written

conclusion, then the answer is improved

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ich Task to Do First

There are three ways to think about this I will call them Arguments 1, 2, and 3

Argument 1: Do Task One First

This argument says that Task One is shorter, requires less words, and so you will finish it quicker

This gives you a good feeling, which will help you in the second task, Task Two You should do _ Task One first because it was made Task One for this reason One comes before Two; the ‘easier’ _ task comes before the ‘difficult’ one

This argument — Argument | — sounds simple enough, but too simple, since it is affected by:

1 the next argument, Argument 2,

2 the fact that Task One is not always easy or straightforward for all students

Argument 2: Do Task Two First

Task Two requires nvice the time as Task One In the one-hour test, you are recommended to

spend 1/3 of the hour (20 minutes) on Task One, and 2/3 of the hour (40 minutes) on Task Two

Mathematically, then, if you receive Band Score Five on Task One, and Six on Task Two, your

score is likely to be:

(1/3 of 5) + (2/3 of 6) = 1.67 + 4 =5.67

This would certainly be put down to 5.5, since you cannot receive quarter scores

|

However, if you achieve Band Score 5.5 on Task One, and Siv on Task Two, the maths gives an

overall score of Six So, if the difference between your Task One and Task Two score is half a band score, it is your Task 7iwo score which will determine your overall score

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Writing Task Two

but it is affected by the fact that the maths that we did only works if

1 the difference between your Task One and Task Two score is half a band score, 2 you are good enough at Task Two to score a reasonable score As we found out, if the

difference between scores is one full band score, then it makes no difference which task you do first

Argument 3: Do the Easier Task First

If we do the easier task first, we:

1 make efficient use of the time, by completing the writing task quicker,

2 gain a good feeling, which will help us for the next writing task

So, this argument, Argument 3, suggest if you feel more able to do Task One, do Task One first Similarly, if you feel more able to do Task Two, do Task Two first

This is a strong argument, but it is affected by:

1 Argument 2

2 the difficulty in knowing which task you are naturally better at Remember also, this may

depend on the exact tasks on the day you do the IELTS test, meaning you need to spend some time examining them both, since their content and nature may affect your decision

about which one is likely to be easier for you Conclusion

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Tip 3

Read the Question/Fulfil the Task (I)

Preliminary

Sometimes students make mistakes right at the very beginning of the writing task — mistakes —

which immediately lower the score no matter how good the writing is Students do not read or

answer the question well

The IELTS band descriptors are quite clear about this The public version reads:

Task Response: 1 Answers the question fully and relevantly

5 | 6 7

addresses the task only partially; addresses all parts of the task

the format may be inappropriate | although some parts may be addresses all parts of the task | | in places more fully covered than others

Extracted from the complete IELTS Writing Task 2 Band Descriptors (public version) |

As these descriptors suggest, a piece of writing may be very good, but if it is not relevant to the

question, or does not completely answer that question, it will be scored lower Well, first you

need to find the question, right?

Part One: Finding the Question

Straight into an exercise

7 Exercise 2

Look at the following Task Two question

City centres are very crowded with cars They often cause a great deal of pollution

Cars should be banned from all these centres

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this?

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Writing Task Two

Essay A Essay B

City centres seem to be very crowded with cars, and it may be a growing problem This essay will agree with this

People have too many cars, and they often work in cities This means they drive their cars to these areas, causing crowding This is made worse by the narrowness of many city streets Another reason cities are crowded is that the centres have many shops These shops need vehicles to deliver good, bringing in even more cars, or even trucks

City centres are popular areas, and particularly

crowded with cars These cause some pollution, but whether it is a great deal is certainly worth considering | think it is

One reason for this is that cars are often jammed in city streets, and they do not move fast This

means they remain still, emitting exhaust gases into the air for long periods of time

Some people might say that many cars do not cause much pollution because these cars are built to modern standards The trouble is, the ffect of thousands of cars togeth mall cit) My opinion is that the city centres are indeed oneS SAneee EMSE D9 Mư

spaces still creates a great deal of pollution,

very crowded with cars, and something must be p š 9 Ẹ

articularly on windless days and in narrow

done to solve this problem ệ y y

streets

IELTS essay questions often have ‘warm-up’ sentences which are simply statements of fact, There is no issue or argument about these statements, and you are not supposed to write about

them Thus in Exercise 2, Essay A, the student has jumped immediately upon the first statement — about city centres being crowded with cars It is an interesting statement — but it is just the

‘warm-up’ statement

This is a very common problem Students see a few key words in the question, remember a classroom discussion or essay they wrote, and then busily begin writing down all those ideas on the paper But are they answering the question? No!

We should not write about the task’s first statement [*City centres are very crowded with cz

rs]

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Part Two: ‘Distilling’ the Question

Sometimes the actual question is a little ‘over-written’, and needs to be ‘distilled’ or shortened to something more exact We should certainly use the key words from the question [See Tip 11, ‘Final Note’, before Exercise 29] However, if we copy everything down, we may:

1 write unclear and/or off-topic essays,

2 waste our time This is because if we copy too much of the introduction used in the question paper, then these words are not considered as part of our answer

“ Exercise 3

Can you find the statement that we should write about in the following essay questions?

1 There are many problems on earth needing attention, and there should be fewer missions into space

2 Crime rates are growing in many major cities, so capital punishment is necessary 3 Fossil fuels are running out, and nuclear power is the only practical alternative

4 Doctors have no right to withhold information, and must always be willing to tell the

patients the truth

5 The economy of a country should take priority, and the environment should be re- garded in second place

6 The popularity of large-screen movies is declining, and cinemas are dying out

Sometimes the argument statement mixes a little fact, as in Examples 1, 2, and 3 These three questions can be ‘distilled’ to whether you agree or disagree that:

41 there should be fewer missions into space,

2 capital punishment is necessary,

3 nuclear power should be used,

since |, there are many problems on earth needing attention, and 2 crime rates are growing in many major cities, and 3 fossil fuels are running out, are all statements of fact

Sometimes the argument statement writes the same opinion twice, in two different ways or perspectiv s in Examples 4, 5, and 6 These can be ‘distilled’ to whether you agree or disagree

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riting Task Two

4 doctors have a right to withhold information,

5 a country's economy is more important than the environment,

6 cinemas are dying out

Avoid Double Negatives

Distilling a question is important if it is written negatively, or in a ‘no’ form For example: doctors should not withhold information It would be confusing to use a ‘double’ negative by writing:

| disagree that doctors should not give information to patients It is much clearer to write:

| believe that doctors should freely give all information to patients

or even clearer

| believe that doctors should not withhold information, but freely give it to patients

See also Tip 11, Exercise 29, Example j-

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Tip 4 Identify Essay Type Let us continue with the next very important tip related to understanding the essay question “ Exercise 4

1 Whatis the difference between the first two of the following essay tasks (A & B), compared to the second two (C & D)?

2 How did you identify the difference? 3 How is the fifth essay task different?

Sample Essay Tasks

A The best way to reduce the number of traffic accidents is to make all young drivers complete a safe-driving education course before being licensed to drive To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

B The threat of nuclear weapons undermines world peace, but nuclear power provides cheap and clean energy Do the benefits of nuclear technology outweigh the disadvantages?

C A large number of deaths are caused by road accidents Why do so many road accidents occur? Make recommendations that would help to reduce their number

D Modern life is very stressful People have to manage their time and other resources very carefully How can they have less stress when they are so busy?

E Work is taking a more important role in people's lives Why are people working so much? Do you think this trend is good or bad?

The difference between the first two tasks compared to the second two is that the first two are argument Argument tasks require us to argue a point of view Question A is a statement which we must agree or disagree with (or take a position in the middle) while Question B asks a direct yes/no question Another example could be: ‘Do you think [X] is good or bad?’ or ‘Do you agree or disagree?”

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Writing Task Two

12

The second two tasks are discuss

ion or discursive These require us to discuss a topic (rather than take a position) They have question words such as ‘Why’ and ‘How’ (as in Essay Question C & D respectively) or direct requests, such as ‘Make recommendations’ (as in Essay Question C), or ‘Give suggestions’

Be careful, since argument essays can sometimes use the word ‘discuss’ For example: Smoking should be banned Discuss this issue

Here we have a controversial statement, but there are no question words such as ‘what’ (would

be the benefits?), or ‘How’ (could this be done?), and there are no discussion instructions such as ‘explain’ the best way to enforce this, or ‘recommend’ methods to convince smokers to stop Clearly then, the essay instruction ‘Discuss this issue’ can only mean, discuss it by arguing whether you agree or not — that is, take a position and argue the point It is an argument essay Similarly, the question may specifically give two opposing views, and say:

Discuss both these views, and give your opinion

Since an opinion is necessary, this is an argument essay Again, ‘discussing’ sides can only be done by arguing them Thus, this essay is an ‘argue both sides’ essay

The last Task (E

word ‘why’ asks you to give reasons for a trend — that is, di

yy Task E) is a combination of both discussion and argument The question

ss, and the yes/no question asks for your opinion — that is, argue

This means there are actually four types of questions, as follows 4 Argument Questions (give an opinion; argue a side)

2 Argument Questions (give an opinion; argue both sides)

3 Discussion Questions

4 Mixed Questions (discuss, and give an opinion/argue a side)

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Tip 5

The ‘Exam Attack’ Approach

Before we look at definite advice on how to organise an IELTS essay, it is important to spend

some time considering different writing styles Look at the following exercise

Exercise 5

1, Which of the following 50-word paragraphs (A, B, or C) do you like best? Why?

A Cars should be banned and eliminated from cities Not only should they be banned, but also not tolerated, and thrown from the lives of all urban dwellers Such removal from society allows for cleaner air, purifying what we breathe, purging an evil from society and a burden from our existence

B | think cars should be banned from cities One reason for this is to improve the air quality, which surely would follow Another reason is to reduce car accidents, and this in turn would save society a great deal of money These reasons alone are sufficient to justify removing

cars

C Cars multiply as flowers do As flowers are thought of as good, if they grow over a farmer's field so thickly to replace the rice, then their beauty is not considered Animals can eat flowers, but not always — so farmers, animals, and flowers must have a proper balance in this world 2 Which of the following lines (1, 2, or 3) best shows the way each paragraph makes its point? 1 2 3 nd we | 3 Which of the paragraphs do you think would be best in an IELTS test, and in western universities?

Each paragraph — A, B, and C — has good points Paragraph A makes its point in a pattern like

Line 3 —a series of similar structures The point is clear and repeated in similar ways with some force and interesting images Paragraph B makes its point like Line | — a straight line It makes

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14

Writing Task Two

a clear point at the beginning, argues it logically, and repeats it at the end Paragraph C makes its point like Line 2 —a spiralling line The point is not so clear, but the writing is creative and

makes the reader think about the subject in different ways

Some people think that Paragraphs A, B, and C are typical of Arabic, Western, and Asian writing styles respectively Each of these paragraphs could be good writing in the right situation: however, in the situation of an IELTS test, and in western universities, it is the second paragraph, with straight-line logical sequence, which is judged as better We can clearly sce this by looking at the public version of the IELTS band descriptors, which advises us to:

* present a clear position

* sequence information and ideas logically

* present, extend, and support main ideas

* present a clear central topic within each paragraph

So, it is the straight-line logic of the second paragraph that we will work towards in this book This might be difficult or unfamiliar to you, for example, if you do nor like giving a direct opinion, or arguing it strongly, or disagreeing with others, or if you prefer long and imaginative sentences mixing together many ideas But to repeat, in an IELTS test, the direct and straight-line model is the one you will need to become used to if you want to achieve higher band scores So, let us now look at argument essays and how to organise them using this straight-line logic

There are two common essay models, known as ‘For & Against’ and ‘Opinion-led’ (as shown in

the next exercise) Now remember, IELTS argument essays usually require us to: 1 give our opinion,

2 look at both sides of the issue

The first requirement is usually stated in the question The second requirement is sometimes stated (meaning we should do it [Tip 3]), but even if it is not stated, a mature and better-written essay should do this anyway [See Tip 9] But how?

"Exercise 6

1 What are the differences between the following two essay structures? 2 Which do you think is better?

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(Gira bi och te oa eds ấu ‘For & Against’ Essay Opinion-led Essay

Introduction Introduction (with your opinion) One side (with reasons) First Reason

Second Reason No time left 1

Other side (with reasons)

No time left 2

Other side (+ countering)

Y

Conclusion (with some counter- Conclusion

ing and your opinion)

If we ran out of time at Point 1, the ‘For & Against’ essay would not have an opinion, and be totally one-sided Without the opinion, the essay would be weak, leaving the reader wondering what the writer really thinks In addition, it would be obviously not complete, and rather strange In contrast, the opinion-led essay would have a clear opinion, and support for that opinion, making a coherent whole (although it would be one-sided, which would lower the Task Response score, but only if the IELTS question asked you to look at both sides)

If, as is far more likely, we ran out of time at Point 2, the ‘For & Against’ essay would be balanced, but still lack an opinion, and similarly be weak The opinion-led essay would still have the clear opinion, and support, and now be balanced So, if we accept that you, as a student of English, may run out of time, which essay organisation is better in an IELTS test?

Tip 5 is the suggestion that an opinion-led essay is a better ‘exam-attack’ approach, since even if we run out of time, it still creates a strong, coherent, and purposeful piece of writing There are also other reasons why it is good, and these will be discussed in Tip 17

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Tịp ó

Planning and Organising

Preliminary

How do we begin? Many students, realising that time is important, immediately begin writing

their essays, hoping the ideas will come as they write This usually leads to the sort of answers (and problems) shown in Tip 3 These problems can all be avoided by spending three to four minutes planning the essay before we write, and this is Tip 6

Planning an essay leads to clear and logical organisation The IELTS band descriptors are quite

clear about this The public version reads:

Coherence & Cohesion: 1 Organises the writing, showing progression |

5 | 6 # | |

presents information with some | arranges information and ideas logically organises information organisation but there may be a | coherently and there is a clear and ideas; there is clear

lack of overall progression | overall progression progression throughout | Extracted from the complete IELTS Writing Task 2 Band Descriptors (public version)

Part One: Planning an Argument Essay

Let us look at the original (argument) essay question

City centres are very crowded with cars They often cause a great deal of pollution

Cars should be banned from all these centres

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this?

There are five steps in this planning process, as follows

| Step 1 |

- Argument questions divide into two opposing or opposite sides, so quickly draw up the following |

table

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Step 2

Yes/Agree/True (., should ban )

tá wa

No/Disagree/Not true ( shouldn't ban )

Now, fill in the table Why should cars be banned in town centres? Why should they nor? Remember, these reasons are very important These points will become the essay body paragraphs’ fopic sentences Your whole essay will be based on these as the main points to support your opinion

Match the following two columns 1 Your main 3 points need to be logical relevant strong honest concise wide in scope , Which means

Three Factors for Obtaining Ideas

A they apply to, or affect, many or most people B they are not repetitive; every word is meaningful

and counts

they makes sense; they are based on the real world

D_ they can convince the reader

E they clearly link to the specific essay question

(not just the general topic)

F you actually believe in them

I The question says to ‘use your own knowledge and experience’ Do this Think about the real

world Does it actually happen in the real world? If so, there must be good reasons for this

What are they? For example, should we ban cigarettes? Most students would immediately say 'yes', but in the real world, we do not! Why not? Perhaps

governments receive large amounts of tax revenue from cigarettes, many people want to smoke,

it would be politically impossible to ban this product,

many people think it is a case of free will and civic freedom,

the ‘slippery slope’ argument applies [Can we then ban coffee? Tea?], is it not practical to enforce such a ban,

a ‘black-market' would simply emerge, increasing the crime rate

By thinking of the real world, you might realise that, despite what you first believed, there are stronger and more mature points for the other side

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Writing Task Two

| 2 Do not think about small numbers of people If you want your reasons to be strong, they must cover /arge parts of society As we discussed in the previous exercise,' reasons need to be “wide in scope’, that is, they apply to or affect many or most people |

| ' Answers: 1C, 2E, 3D, 4F, 5B 6A |

For example, you should not argue against missions into outer space because they are dangerous for astronauts [the men in space], since this danger is only for afew people It is much stronger to

suggest that, for example, viruses from space could be brought back to Earth, causing widespread

epidemics, being dangerous to many people Then give examples of killer viruses, such as AIDS,

SARS, and HIN

Similarly, if you argue that dogs should not be banned in cities because dogs are needed to help the blind (which affects just a few people), the reason is not strong enough However, if you argue that dogs are needed as protection, both personally and against burglars/home invasion (which affects many people), the argument is much stronger Then give examples of how useful dogs are in this respect

This means that you may have to ‘widen’ your argument to make it stronger If you argue that cinemas will always be popular because of the deals they offer to people with credit cards (perhaps

| —* and in this age of electronic transactions, almost afl consumers now use these cards.’

small number), you should then confirm that this is acfvally a large number of people

| Think about this also when deciding your opinion If the issue i

|

Acountry’s education system should force all children to learn a minority language,

most students usually want to argue, ‘Yes’, based on the point that it can ‘enhance and preserve an interesting minority culture’ But then you must think, it is a minority culture (not a majority), meaning that the benefits are immediately only for a few Your argument is weak This

gives you two choices, |

a Widening your argument [so that most people can benefit from this investment in

minority culture]

b Changing your viewpoint to ‘No!’ [Costs too much; overloads school children, complicates and can divide society]

3 Think MESHL, as I will shortly explain This helps you consider a statement from many im- portant perspectives, and decide more maturely on an issue

For our ‘banning cars’ planning, we could write:

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ˆ : kaả '

Yes ( should ban ) No ( shouldn't ban .) + reduce pollution in city centres * very impractical, cost a great deal

* make city centres more attractive, with

* far too unpopular

more space

Step 3

Now, choose your side or opinion Remember, the IELTS writing task asks you ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree with this?’ I believe we should take a clear agree/disagree position, even if it is making the issue too simple We should do this because the benefits of | such a straightforward approach in planning and writing (as I will show) are far greater than the disadvantage of simplifying too much

Such an approach is also favoured by the band descriptors, which are quite clear about this The public version reads:

Task Response: 2 Gives a position or opinion

5 6 7

expresses a position but the

3 presents a relevant position

development is not always clear - presents a clear position although the conclusions may

and there may be no throughout the response

become unclear or repetitive

conclusions drawn |

Extracted from the complete IELTS Writing Task 2 Band Descriptors (public version)

A ‘middle’ position (‘I partly/partially agree’) usually makes no sense If, for example, you think something can be done, but only in special cases, then, in principle, you agree (and the ‘not in all cases’ comment could appear in the final thoughts as a warning or suggestion [See Tip 13: 3]) So, take a clear yes/no, should/should not, or agree/disagree position (although this can be expressed with honest uncertainty [See Appendix 11, Item k])

Thinking of the real world, and also what I believe, | disagree with the essay topic — that is, I think cars should not be banned from town centres — the right-hand-side of the table

Step 4

Now, look at that side and extend each point Draw arrows (—) to show the logic Think of:

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20 Writing Task Two

* examples, both generally and specifically Remember that the question directly asks you

to ‘include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.’

Specific examples — that is, using rea/ events or situations — can often be strongest Do you or someone you know have any personal experience with the issues? Think about ‘what if” — that is, if one point happens, or is true, what will probably happen or be true later that is better/worse As Tip 15, Part Four will say: “Go forward! Move ahead!’ All these points will become the essay body paragraphs’ supporting sentences, and need to show development and progression

Students often have difficulty with Steps 2 to 4 Tip 16 will give more help when giving support to the main points, but now I can give five ‘themes’ which can often help I will list them in what I think is the order of importance — most important to least important Think about whether doing or not doing something can have a positive or negative effect on: Money/Economy, Lifestyle, 2 8 4 Safety/Crime, 5 Environment

If we change the order a bit, we can make the ‘acronym’ MESHL, which might help you remember these themes Most main points can be linked in some way to these, and they make points strong because these themes are probably the five most important in our lives The next two exercises will prove all this

xercise 7

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Argumenfs in Favour Theme Banning cars in city centres > , 1 Money/Economy 2 Physical or Mental Health 3 Lifestyle 4 Safety/Crime 5 The Environment vD 9 D a o ® vU 9 iB = oO 2 2 a = ø 'Exercise 8

Now, to show how flexible and useful these five themes are, try using them again, but this time arguing agains? banning cars in town centres — that is, write possible negative consequences linked to each of the five themes Arguments Against Theme Banning cars in city centres > 1 Money/Economy 2 Physical or Mental Health 3 Lifestyle 4 Safety/Crime sjinsey eaneBen aiqissog 5 The Environment Possible answers to this and the last exercise are given in Appendix 2 ’ Exercise 9 Here are the three other argument essay topics that will appear in this book Do you agree or disagree that:

1 capital punishment is necessary and good [which is in the Summarising Exercise], 2 doctors should not be allowed to withhold medical information from their patients [which

is in the Final Writing Tasks, First Question],

3 economic development of a country should always be placed ahead of its environment [which is in the Final Writing Tasks, Second Question]

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