6. This coursedescribesa step-by-stepapproachto writing essays
for the IELIS
AcademicWriting Module Task 2 and for other similar essaytasks.It provides
exercises
to practisethe stagesindividually (Appendix A) aswell asgiving a list
of rypical essaytopics, and there are model essays
given in Appendix B. The
Answer Key providesexplanationsaswell asanswers.
ThePurpose
In order to be able to write good essays
it is first of all essentialto make surethat
you understandthe purposeof the task. It may seemobvious: the purpose is to
testyour abiliry to write essays
for university or collegein English. However, a
momenr's reflection will make it clear that the test task is quite unlike a university
essay,
sinceit is typically 1 to 2 pages
long and is written on an unprepared topic
in about 40 minutes. No university essayis like that. Even in universiry
examinations,where you may haveto write about two pagesin half an hour, you
areexpectedto havestudied the subjectin advance.
So let us considersomepossiblepurposesfor the English test essay.
These can be
saidto be:
a) to show that you are able to selectrelevantideasand information to
answera question
b) to show your knowledge and understandingof the topic
c) to show your abiliry in presentinga logical argument
d) to show your skills in organisingyour ideassystematically
e) to show your abiliry to usesophisticatedEnglish
f) to show your basicgraspof English grammar and vocabulary.
7. 2 Essoy
Writingfor English
Tests
These questionscan be grouped into 4 categories,
which reflect the 4 aspectsof
an essay:
'I.
Understanding the question (")
2. Knowing the subject (b)
3. Thinking skills (a & d)
4.Langaage skills (. & 0
How should thesebe ranked in importance?Here is what the IELIS Handbook
saysfor the AcademicWriting Thsk2:
In Task 2 candidates are presented with a point of view or argument or
problem.
Candidates are assessed
on their ability to:
. presentthe solution to a problem
. present and justifr an opinion
. compare and contrast evidence, opinions and implications
. evaluate and challenge ideas, evidence or an argument
The topics are of general interest and it makes no difference what subjects
candidates study. The issuesraised are interesting, suitable for and easily
understood by candidates entering postgraduate or undergraduate studies.
This showsthat your knowledge of the topic is not the main emphasisin this
test.That is not surprising--*fter all, you arebeing examined for your writing
abiliry in English, not for your knowledge.The main emphasisis in fact on your
abiliry to think and argue appropriately about a common issue.This is because
university studentsneed to be ableto to analyseand discussproblems and
solutions, and evaluateand express
opinions. University study is not simply
about presentingfacts.
In order to argueappropriately there are two stages
involved: a) understanding
the question clearly,and b) being ableto selectthe right method to presentan
opinion in a suitableway.This meansorganisingyour ideasand your language.
This book thereforedealswith thesethree stages:
I. Understanding the question
II. Selecting and Presenting IdeasAppropriately
III. Appropriate Language Use
8. TheQuestion
L Understonding
the Question
The first step in essay
writing is to analysethe essaytask which tellsyou what the
topic is, and alsogivesan indication of what kind of things you are expectedto
sayabout the topic.
Essaytopics have 3 components:
1) the instruction words, telling you what to do
2) the key words indicating the topic
3) the words restricting the topic, indicating what aspectof the topic you
are askedto focus on.
Wewill considertheseone by one.
L l TheInstructions
Look at thesetasks:
a) Describe the role of the fnternet in modern society.
b) Tbe enaironment is the m.ostimportant issttcin the utorld today. Discuss.
What are the instruction words?
9. 4 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
In a) it is describeand in b) it is discuss.Theserwo words indicate the two most
common rypesof essaythat one can write.
If you are askedto describesomething, then your essay
will mosdy present
facts
and not opinions. However, if you areaskedto discusssomething, then your
opinion is being askedfor, and you areusually expectedto eaaluate
something, or
to arguefor or againstsomething.At universiryor collegeyou areexpectedto be
able to discussproblems and ideas,rather than simply to report on facts,and so
the IELTS essay
questionpresents
a common situation or a present-dayissueabout
which people have different opinions, and asksyou to give your own views on
this topic.
Here is the rypical wording of an IELIS essay
task:
Present a written argument or caseto an educated reader with no
specialist knowledge of the following topic:
'Wb
liue in a technohgical age. Hotueuer, tecltnology cnnnot solueall the
utorldi problems. Thereforesornepeople argue that ue need to phce less
emphasison technologicalsolutions and more on other aalues.
To what extent do you agree or disagreewith this opinion?
You should use your own ideas, knowledge and experience to support
your arguments with examples and relevant evidence.
The first part of the instruction makesit clearthat
a) you need to presenta seriousargument in a formai sryle (for an
'educated
reader')
b) you are not being testedon your deepknowledge or understandingof
the subject ('with no specialistknowledge').
The last part of the instruction offersa suggestionabout what to include. ('You
should useyour own ideas,knowledgeand experience
to support your arguments
with examplesand relevantevidence.')
'We
will deaiwith this more in the next section.
Now let us look at the ouestion itself.This alsohastwo components:
a) the description of the topic, which is usually expressed
asa point of
view on a curfent situation and
b) a question askingyou what your opinion is.
10. Essoy
Writingfor EnglishTests 5
Part a) is generallyexpressed
in 1 to 3 sentences.
One or two sentences
may present
a statementor a question about a situation: ('7e live in a technologicalage,but
technology cannot solveall our problems').The secondpart will probably present
a conclusionthat somepeopledraw from this situation ('therefore
we should place
lessemphasison technology and more on other values').This is designedto help
you to think about the contents. (More about this in the next section')
Part b) asksthe question. This may be phrased as to utltat extentdoyou agree?
or
what isyour opinion?or doyou agreewith this?or words to that effect.
Now what is your task?
a) to presentboth sidesof the argument?
b) to either strongly support or strongly opposethe argument,
depending on your own personalopinion?
c) to partly support or partly opposethe lrgument, dependingon your
own personalopinion?
The correct answeris either b) or c).
The words to uthat extentmean the sameasltout murh. That is,your answerwill
express
one of theseattitudes:
a) I agreecompletely
b) I agreepartly and disagreepardy
c) I disagreecompletely.
Many studentsfeel that they need to presenta strong argument for or againstan
idea or proposition. This is not true. Even if the words to uthat extentdo not appear
in the quesrion,it is alwaysacceptableto agreeor disagreepartly with a proposition.
There is another point to remember here.Although it is usuallyeasierto write
what you actually believe,it is not absolutely necessary.
If you do not haveenough
ideasor examplesto support the sideof an argument that you want to suPPort,
you can alwayssaysomething like: on the one hand.,..., but on the other hand
and presentargumentsfor both sides.However,you should not simply contradict
yourself.That is, you should not sayI agreein one sectionand then I disagreein
the next paragraphs.That soundsasif you aresimply confusedor arenot expressing
what you think at all. Vhat you can sayis: Theseare someargumentsfor and
tlteseare someargarnenE agairrt, and soI only partly agree/ disagree,Or you can
say: Tbere are good arguments on both sides, but on tlte tahole I prefer the
11. 6 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
argumentsfor / against. (Of courseyou would not usetheseactual words. They
only summarisethe possibleunderlying meaningsin your essay.)
Remember,you are not being examinedon your opinions, but only on how well
you can expressand support someintelligent ideas,whether they areyour own
or not.
1,2 Keyterms
This is usually the easiest
part of the essayto dealwith. Normally the key words
deal with a familiar topic, such asthe Internet, or television,or technology in
general.This is becausethe examinersarenot testing you for your knowledge, but
rather for your abiliry to write well. Therefore the topics chosenwill be about
conceptsand issuesthat they expecteveryeducatedpersonto know something
about. Common topicsinclude:
Edtr..tiori
The environment
Information Technology
The media
Advertising / consumer issues
Social problems
Health
Lifestyles (including life in cities, traffic problems, quality of life)
Culture and society (music, art, literature, television etc.)
Foreign languages and travel
Sport
Scientific research (including genetic engineering, sPacetravel)
Ethical issues(right and wrong behaviour such as the treatment of
animals, law enforcement etc.)
Try to thinh of other topics that you hnow ltaue beenusedin preuious examina-
tions, or that you thinh might occur.
You can find sample questions on all of these topics in Appendix A.
In order to be preparedwith ideason such key concepts,it is necessary
to keep
up to datewith the major issues
being discussed
in the world. The editorial pages
of newspapersand newsmagazinesare important sourcesof such information, as
are current affairsradio and televisionprograms.
12. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 7
2,Anolysing
the Question
Understanding the question meansmore than understanding the instructions or
the words of the question.It meansrecognisingthe focus of the question, and
knowing what approach you should take to the topic.
This is, in someways,the most important aspectof writing the essay,
and requires
the most thought. You should thereforebe preparedto spend at least3 minutes
thinking about what approachto take to the question.
The handbook, you remember,explainsthat
Candidates are assessed
on their ability to:
. present the solution to a problem
. present and justifr an opinion
. compare and contrast evidence, opinions and implications
e evaluate and challenge ideas, evidence or an argument.
You will thereforeneed to decidewhich of theseapproachesis the one required
for any particular question.You will alsoneed to know when and how much to
usedefinitions and examples.
In this sectionwe will dealwith the following featuresof a discussionor
argument essay:
The Focus
The Context
Definitions
Examples
2,1Finding
the Focus
It is very important to look at the actual question words very closely.Students
sometimesjump to conclusionsabout what they should write by just looking at
the topic, and not at the focus of the topic. Consider the following questions:
a) Many people belieaethat the Internet is tlte most reaolutionary
new inaention of the last century. Do you agree?
b) The Internet has reuolutionised the modcrn uorld, but many
people argae that it has ako created neu problems and inequalities.
rl{hat isyour opinion?
c) The Internet could reuolutionise the tporld in future, if eueryone
could haue easyAccess
to all the inforrnation that is aaaikble on
the W'orld rYidz Veb.Do you agree or disagreeuitb this statetnent?
13. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
In eachof the abovethe topic is the Internet and its revolutionary role in the
world. Soyou must havea basicidea about what the Internet involvesand think
about what reuolutionise
means,i.e. makefandamental changes.
Howeveq eachone
alsoraisesa different questionand must be answereddifferently. It is necessary
to look at the remaining words carefully to seewhat is required:
a) is the most revolutionary new invention of the last century.
b) hasrevolutionisedthe modern world, but it hasalso creatednew
problems and inequalities.
c) could revolutionisethe world in future, if everyonecould haveeasy
access
to all the information that is availableon the'World Vide'Web.
You can seethat a) involvescomparing the Internet with other inventions, and
arguingthat it is, or is not, the most revolutionary.On the other hand b) expects
you ro acceptthat it is revolutionary,and to considerboth its benefitsand the
problemsit hascreated.Finally c) wants you to speculateabout the future, and to
considerhow much you believethe future benefitswill changethe world.
2,2Understonding
the Context
Remember that the IELIS Handbook saysthat the topics are of general interest
and it mahesno difference tahat subjectscandidates study,It goeson to saythat
The issues
raised are interesting, saitable for and easily understood by candidates
entering ltostgraduate or undergraduate studies.
The question is alwaysbasedon an issue,or a problem.which you areaskedto
analyseand presentan opinion on. If something is considereda probiem or an
issue,it meansthar reasonable
peoplemust haveconflicting opinions on the topic.
You would not, for example,expecta question like this: Somelteoph considerthat
murder is urong, Tb rahat extent do you agree?since there is not much to be said
in favour of murder. In other words, it is not just some people who think that
murder is wrong, but basicallyeverybody.It is not an issue.However,look at this
question: Somepeoph think that murderers should be executed.To uthat extent do
you agree?Here the question is about what to do about murder, and that is very
controversial!Therearevery strong opinions about this on both sidesand you
needto be awareof theseto dealwith such a topic. (In fact it is unlikely that IELIS
will presentyou with very political or emotional issueslike this')
You therefore need to think, before you plan your own answe! why the question
is consideredto be an issueor a problem by the examiners.
'!?'hat
arethe different
14. EssoyWritingfor English
Tests
opinions that might existon the topic?*Vhat is the context in which this topic is
controversial?
That is to say,who arefie peoplewho areconcernedabout it and why?
It is alsonecessary
to interpret the underlying meaning of a question.Sometimes
the wording can be quite different berweentwo questions,but the underlying
conceptsare the samebecause
of the context.
IASKI
In the following questions the wording is different but the underlying
meaning is sometimes the same. Test your ability to interpret topics by
identifring which of the following basically ask the same question. (In each
casethe statement would be followed by a question asking for your opinion.)
a) Tbrtiary education is of greater benefit to tlte indiaidual receiuingit
tban to the societltas a ultol.e. h is therefore not dzsirabl"e
for goaert rnents
to spend the ttucPalers'money on supPorting studentsjust so that tbey
cAn earn rnore mone! in future.
b) Parents haue a greater influence on their childreni future success
than
schoobdo. Goaernmentssltould.thereforeprouide parent naining courses'
ratlter than
'teaclter
training courses'.
) Free tertiary education is essentialfor eaer! countr! since tertiary
graduates are tlte only quaffied and educated peoPle that can help
countries to ?rogress in the modern utorld.
d) Education is the most important sourceof children deuelopment,No
matter uhat their bacbground, if children ltaue good schookand
teacltersthey can progress,Gouernmentssltould thereforeput their
major resources
into scltool education.
e) Modern scienceand technologjtcan solaeeuironmental problems, suclt
aspollation and ghbal uarming, tf *t
"Ppb
mough resources
to researclt,
f) People tltrougltout the uorld are ignoring the dangers of enuironmental
pollution and of global utarming in the ltope that scimce and technology
canf.nd solutions. Tbis is not true. W'eall need to tahe responsibility for
the damage u)eAre causing and rnust change our life-styles.
a Answer Key
15. l0 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
TASK
2
Choose 3 questions &om Appendix A and consider what dre context might
be for them: what kind of people might be most concerned about the issue,
and for what reasonscould these topics be considered problematic?
(Discussin groups if you are in a class.)
2,3Defining
theTerms
Some books and teacherstell you that you must define the terms that you useso
that the readerwill understandyou. This is sometimestrue, but it is necessary
to
be sensibleabout it. For example,look againat two of the examplesgiven in2.1:
a) Many peoph belieuethat the Internet is the most reuolutionary neu
inuention of the last century. To uhat extent do you agree?
b) The Internet ltas reaolutionised the modern uorld, but it bas ako
created netaprobhms and inequalities, Do you agree?
Vhich of the following terms do you think need defining?
Internet; reuolutionary / reuolutionise; neut inaention; nlodern uorld;
dangers; inequalities; eas! access;
'World
Vide Yeb.
The "educatedreader"that the IELTS test asksyou to write for can be assumed
to understand these: Interneti neut inuention; modern urorld; easyaccess;
.World
Vide W'eb.
However, the term reaolutionary or reaolutionise can be interpreted differently,
and in fact you need to explain what you mean by it in question a) otherwise you
cannot answerthe question. However, that doesnot mean that you need to define
the terms directly.You will need to give an indirect definition of the degreeof
changeimplied, by showing how important you think the changesarethat have
been produced by the Internet, and whether thesechangesaremore important and
dramatic than other changes.
16. Essoy
Writingfor English
Tests 11
For question b) it is probably not necessary
to concernyourselfwith this term,
becauseyou need to focus on the problems and inequalities, rather than on the
degreeof change
. In this caseyou would be dealingwith indirect definitions of
thesetwo concepts.(See4.2 on p.20, for a discussionon evaluation in definitions.)
Now consideragainthe first sampletopic given in this book, and comPareit with
the samplegiven in the IELfS Handbook:
Y'eliae in a technological age. Houteuer, technology cAnnot solaeall the
world problems. ThereforesomepeoPle argue tltat we need tophce less
empharis on tecltnological solutions and more on other aalue*
Now look at the sampletopic given in the IELIS Handbook:
Presenta written argument or caseto an educatedreaderwith no
specialistknowledge of the following topic:
It is ineuitable that as tecltnologjt deuelopstraditional cuhures must be
lost. Tbchnologyand tradition are incompatible -
lou cnnnot haue both
togetlter.
You should useyour own ideas,knowledge and experienceto suPPort
your argumentswith examplesand relevantevidence.
Do the rwo topics askthe samequestion or not? Both areabout technology,and
in both cases
technology is contrastedwith something else.The focus in the first
question is on contrasting technology with otherualues
while in the secondquestion
it is contrastedwith taditional cubure.
'Whether
you treat thesequestionsas
basicallythe sameor not dependson your definition of *adition end of other
aalues.Both arevery broad terms) and can be interpreted in different ways,and
here it is important to take time to considerwhat they mean to the average
educatedreader,and what they mean to you. If you think of traditional cuhure as
dealing only with material objects, such asfood and clothing, then you will discuss
this in one way. If you also include socialactivitiessuch asmusic and danceand
theatre,then you may give a different answer.And if you include conceptssuch
asreligion and socialbehaviour, then you will be ableto considerboth questions
asbasicallydealingwith the sameconcepts,sinceother valuesin this casewould
be included tn traditional cuhure.
17. 12 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
It is up to you to decidehow broadly you want to considerthe definition of
traditional culture,but you must make your concept clearto your reader.in the
sameway,if you havethe first question to dealwith, you must indicatewhat you
mean by otlter ualues.
It is not necessary
to give a formal definition, which is very difficult to do. In other
words, you do not need to write: Tiaditional culture can be dfined as.....
Instead you can wrire something like: By *aditional cuhure I mean not only the
things that peoph mahe, lihe hand-wouen clntlt or ltouses,but abo their ceremonies
and performances,suchas mu.sicand dance.ln other words, you can give examples
to help you to define.
'W'hat
about the terms technology and technological age?Do they need defining?
Not really- again it would be enough to give examples'
TASK
3
Look at the above two questions again and think about their foculIf you
decide to define traditional cuhure more or less in the same way as other
ualuescould you write basically the same essayfor both?
Time: It is worfi spending enough dme on stage1 to €nsurethat your essay
answers
the question asit was intended by the examiners.If you spend2 or 3
minutes thinking about the topic, it may seemlike a iong time during an
exam, but it is time well spent if it helps you to write confidently and
appropriately.
18. Selecting
ond Presenting
ldeos
3,Finding
ldeos
In an essay
of 250 words, to be written in 40 minutes,you cannotbe too ambitious
about what you write. Some studentsmake the mistake of trying to express
very
deepideasand they never get pastwriting an introducdon to what would be a
long essay
if there was time. On the other hand, if you do not haveany specific
ideasat all you may find yourself sayingonly one thing over and over again in
severaldifferent ways.This is not the way to get a good score.Look at the
following example:
TheInternet hasprouided great benef.tsto modernsocietybecause
it hashelped
euerlone
in their work. It mahes
euerything
easier.
It hashelpedall sectors
of
society.
WithouttlteInternet,euerything
is rnuchmoredfficuh and tahes
a long
time.But sinceweltauetlteInterneteuery
hind of uork is muclteasier
to do.
Therefore
tlte Internet hasprouided great benefts to eaerlone.
This little
'bssay''says
almost nothing. There is virtually no information and there
are no ideas.If someonewhose English is not very accuratewrites like this, the
readerhasno ideasto think about and will only notice the grammatical and
vocabularymistakes.
Generallywhat you need is to havea basicproposition statement(e.g.one that
answersthe question to urhat extentby indicating a great deal, a linle, partly
(seeabove)plus about three points or examplesto support your argument.
19. V Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
Three is a good number (although it can be lessor more), sincethat givesyou a
5 paragraphessay,
which is about the right length:
Paragraph1 Introduction
2 Supportingpoint
3 Supportingpoint
4 Supportingpoint
5 Conclusion
The easiest
wayto find andorganise
ideasis to brainstorm.
3,I Broinstorming
In order to organiseyour ideasfor a topic, it is first of all necessary
to pin them
down. Most studentsfind that the bestway to dealwith this is to brainstorm
their ideasfirst. This simply meansjotting down any concePtsthat come into
your headassociated
with the given topic, in note form, and in random order
(i.e. in any order in which they occur to you).
Let us look at a simple example.The question may be:
Tlte Internet ltas reuolutionised tlte rnodern uorld, but it has ako created
netuproblems and inequalities. Do you agree?
7e need to find ideasfor both parts of the question -+he revolutionising effect
of the Internet, and alsoits problems. Wemight come up with the following:
banking online
shopping enrail chet-rooms
distence
educetion hacking informaiion
for reseetch
oirline
bookings concert
/ lheelrc
bookings PornograPhy
information
fot research business
comnuniceiion
sharing
infornration:
for policeetc./ and
for terrorists viruses
P00r
PeoPle
have
no access
/ lefi out
20. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 1 5
TASK
4
'Write
a brainstormed list of ideas relating to the topic:
Children gend far too much time in front of teleuisionand computer
screens.Their time should be strictly controlled.
Discuss your ideaswith someone else.You can also practise brainstorming
with other topics from the list provided in the appendix. The more you
practise, the easierit will be for you to think of ideas quickly during the
test.
ut Answer Key
3.2Finding
Moreldeos
If you arehaving difficulties thinking up ideasat the right level of generalisation
(seep.26 for a discussionabout this), then a good technique is to think of very
specific,concreteexamples,and then try to find a higher level of abstractionthat
the examplesbelong to. Let me explain this with a simple illustration. Imagine
that you are askedto write about this: The importanceof animak topeopleis not
alwaysrecognised.
Weshouldpa! rnoredttention to how we look afier and protect
animals.First you needto think about how important animals are to people.
Begin by thinking of specificanimals --+nyanimals,inciuding insects:
c0r{
mosquito sheep
kan
ga
roo butterfly
Now organisetheseunder a higher level of classification,e.g.
lion
cal
dog
DOMESTIC
ANIMATS
cow cat
dog sheep
WILD
ANlttlAtS
lion
ka
nga
roo
INSECTS
rnosqu
ito
butte
rfly
21. 16 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
Think again,and come up with a sub-division of domestic animals:
ANIMALS
WHOSE
PRODUCTS
WEUSE
c0w
sh
eep
PETS
dog
cal
Under insectswe haveharmful ones-srosquitoes, and useful ones-
butterflies,which help to pollinate plants.
Now we can go back to our topic, the importance of animals to people, and we
can say:
1) someanimals areimportant to us directly because
we usetheir products
(e.g.cows,sheep,goatsetc.)
2) someanimals give us pleasureaspets (dogs,cats,birds etc.)
3) someanimalshelp usindirecdy e.g.by pollinating plants (bumerflies,bees etc.)
4) someanimalsarejust interestingand amracttourists (lions,kangaroosetc.)
And i[ after thinking all that in our brainstorming and classifying,we suddenly
think of horses,we may add the categoryof animab that uorh for zs (and then
rememberwater buffaloes,donkeys,camelsetc.). In your essayyou will then
write about thesecategoriesof animals,rather than about individual species.
This is a simple example,but the sameprinciple can be appiied to many topics
and it should help to provide ideasfor you to write about.
TASK
5
Practise brainstorming concrete ideas and then classifring them under
absffact headings as in the above example with the following topics:
a) Peopleshould not utorh too hard - th"y should remember the
importance of leisure actiaities.
b) Education is the ntost irnPortant possession
a lterson can ltaae.
,) Cirylife istoostessful.
a Ansuter Key
22. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests r7
3,3Using
Exomples
In all essays
you must give specificpoints to support your argument. Sometimes
a topic will be quite abstractand it is important to realisethat you need to use
examplesto support your point of view - and to make surethat you have
enough to say!The IELfS examination question itself specifiesthat You should
use your own ideas, knowledge and experience to suPPort your arguments
with examples and relevant evidence.
Look at this topic:
Youngpeoph are said to baue hst ntan! of the traditional aalues of the
older generation. This doesnot ntatter, becausethe old aalueshaue no
rebuance in the modern utorld. Wb need to deuelop a urhoh neut set of
ualues.Do you suPPort this statement?
M*y studentsmake the mistake of trying to write only in generalstatementsabout
a topic like rhis.That is difficult to do, because
you needvery abstract,philosophical
languageto do it well. It is much better to think of specificexamplesof valuesand
to usetwo or three of theseto illustrate and support your point of view.
3,4The"Whotif Not"Situotion
It can happen that you arefacedwith a question tiat you haveneverthought about
at all, and where it is difficult to think of concreteexamples.Remember,however,
that the examinersselecttopics which have been consideredcontroversialby many
people and that there is alwaysa socialcontext for thesequestions.Imagine, for
example,that you get a question about whether you think the governmentshould
fund more researchinto the causes
of cancer.All you know is that canceris
dangerousand kills many people. How areyou going to write at least250 words
on this question?
The first step is to think about why anyonewould suggestthis question.There
aretwo componenrsto the question:a) the problem of cancerand b) the question
of funding for research- who should do it? It may be very difficult for you to
sayanything sensiblein answerto the first question if you do not know any facts
about cancer.
However, the secondquestion should give you someideasto work with. Even if
you know nothing about cancerresearchyou can think about the uthat if not?'
situation. That is to say: rYbat if thegounnment doesnotfund this research?
Who should fund it? Should medical researchbe conducted by governmentsor
by private institutions? If it is funded by private institutions, who paysand why?
23. 18 Essoy
Writing
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Tests
Or perhapsno one will pay, and the researchwill not be done. On the other
hand, if the government doesfund this research,from what budget is it to come?
(Do not assumethat governmentshavean endlesssupply of money, asstudents
often do in their essays!)
If the government doesnot fund this research,can it
usethe samemoney for more useful medical work, such ashealth education to
prevent common diseases?
If you follow this line of thinking you will be able to write a greatdeal,without
having to know very much about canceror cancerresearch,
becausebasicallythe
question is about money: government asagainstprivate spending on health, or
the priorities in health spending in cases
where funds arelimited.
These kinds of ideascan alsobe brainstormed by jotting down notes on the
question part of your paper.The examinerwill not look at any notesyou make.
3,5Looking
of the OtherSide
Remember that if you are presentingan argument it is not necessary
to present
only the points that support your side of the argument. In fact, if you want to
be convincing and to give a balancedstatement,you need to look at what the
supportersof the other sidearelikely to say,and to give a responseto that. This
will alsogive you many more ideasto write about.
For example,look at this topic:
In euery city the car is hing of the road. Cars causedeath and injury and
air pollution and they mahe life dangerousfo, otlters. It is time to reduce
tlte number of cars in our cities and to encourageotlter mearu of transport.
There are alreadyfour argumentsgiven to support the statement.To theseyou
could add traffic congestion,roadsdestroyingthe landscapeand making it
unsafefor children to play outside their housesetc. Now what arethe counter-
arguments?You could suggestthat strict speedlimits can be implemented, that
car enginesare alreadycausinglesspollution than beforeand that researchis
likely to produce clean fuels in the near future, and that specialwalking paths
and bicycle paths are alreadyin usein some countries.
24. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 19
TASK
6
Make up a list of arguments that supPort tlte useof the car, and then try to
frnd counter-arguments against these. Be carefi.rlto make sure that the
counrer-argurnents do not introduce different arguments - they must
present directly opposing arguments to the ones given.
a Answer Ke!
4,Selecting
ldeos
There area number of conceptsthat you must be clearabout because
they are
involved in everykind of writing that you will do. You must be awareof the fact
that you will nearly alwaysbe dealing with problems and solutions, that above
all you areevaluating ideasand solutions asyou write, and that you must select
ideasthat are relevant, that are at the right level ofgeneralisation, and that are
ranked logically for the topic that you arewriting about. Wewill look at all
theseissuesnow, and then go on to discusstypical organisation Patternsin the
next section.
4,1Solutions
to Problems
Candidates are assessed
on their ability to present the solution to a problem,
the IELTS Handbook states.In fact, everytopic is really a problem. If it were
not a problem, it would not be worth talking about' So, for example,you might
be askedto considerthis topic:
Most cities sufferfrom nffic congestion.Wat do you thinh should be
done about it?
To dealwith a question that asksyou directly to think of a solution, you should
usethe brainstorming processGee3.1). Mostly, however,you will be offered
somesuggested
solutions,and will be askedto considerthem'
There are a number of waysof consideringpossiblesolutions to problems. In
every case,you will need to useevaluation. That is, you will need to evaluate
how good the possiblesolutionsarelikely to be. In the next section (Organising
Ideas)we will look at rypical organisationpatterns for dealing with solutions to
problem, but first we must discussthe most important aspectof all your writing:
25. 20 Essoy
Writing
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Tests
4.2Evaluotion
Thatever the task,whether it is problem-solving, looking at effectsor
consequences,
defending an opinion, comparing and contrastingevidenceor
ideas,you will need to evaluate.
Every essay
will involve an evaluation of ideas.That simply meansthat you need
to saywhether an idea or concept is good or bad, or better or worse than
another one. (SeeStage3 for the languagerequired.)
In somecases
the question involvesa definition which is an evaluation. In other
words, the key terms of the question involve an evaluation. For example,look at
this topic:
Modern technology ltas increased our mater;al taeahh but has decreased
our personal happiness.To uhat extent do you agree?
To be ableto discussthis you need to give at leastan indirect definition of what
you mean by happiness.
This cannot be defined in any objectiveway jt is a
concept that involvesvalues.
[Seealso 5.3 Comparisons]
TASK
7
Look at the following topics and decide which terms require an evaluation:
a) Tblnision doesmore harm tltan good, according to many nitics. Do
lou agree uith this?
b) h is orten ckimed that teleuision andfi.lrns encourageaiobnce.
'What
isyour opinion?
c) Computers haue imltroued the quality of our liues. Do you agree?
d) Peoplein modern cities liue under too much stressand something
should be done about it, Do you agree?
e) Tbornuch monEt is spent on sPort and not enough on serious cuhure
sucb as rnusic and art. This is mahing our societjtshallou',.
a AnsuterKey
26. Essoy
Writingfor English
Tests
Studentsoften make the mistake of overstatingtheir argument. An evaluation
should be realistic and reasonable,not exaggerated,
or over-idealistic,or based
on over'generalisations.
(See4.7 below.)
Selectingideasinvolvesensuringthat your points are relevant and at the right
level of generalisation.Beforewe can selectthe most relevantand appropriate
points, we need to do a preliminary organisationof ideas,asshown below.
4,3Clossificotion
of ldeos
After brainstorming, and having looked at the topic again,your next step is to
organisethe ideasthat you havejotted down. This involves classi$'ingyour ideas
into logical categories,
so that you can produce well-organisedparagraphs'
Generally,more than one systemof classificationis possiblebut there is usually
one very obvious pattern. Let us iook at the exampleswe usedbeforeand find a
simple pattern. What follows is just an exampleof how you might think about
classifyingyour ideas.It is there asa generalguideline, not asa model to be
copied directly in any way.
in 3.1 we looked at this question:
Tlte Internet ltas reuolutionised tlte modern tuorld, but it has ako created
neu problems and inequalities. Do you agree?
tVe then brainstormed the followine ideas:
banking online
shopping email chat-rooms
distance
education hacking infornetion
forreseatch
airline
bookings concert
/ theelrc
bookings Pofnog
rsPhy
information
forresearch business
communication
sharing
information:
forpolice
elc.ond
fortertorists uiruses
P00r
PeoPle
heve
noeccess
/ lefiout
21
27. 22 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
Theseideascan be classified
under the two categories
of positive and negativeeffects:
P0stTtvE
banking;online
shopping;
distence
educetion;
eirline
bookings;
concert
/ lheetrc
bookings;
business
communicetions;
emaih
infornretion
forresearch; chat-rooms;
police
etc.sharing
information
NEEATIVE
hacking;
pornography;
tetrorists
sharing
inforrnslion;
Poor
PeoPle
have
noaccess
/ leftout
However,
thisis still not a satisfactory
classification
to work with.
'We
canalso
classifrtheactivities
according
to 3 differenttypes:business
activities;
educational / research
activities;communication, and then we canend up with
thiskind of organisation:
BUSINESS
ACTI/ITIES INFORMATION
/ RESEARC|{ COMMUNICATION
Pos
itive:
business
communication
eme
il
sharing
info
chat-
rooms
police
shoring
info
Pos
itive: Pos
itive:
Negaiive:
haskers
Pornog
raphy
l'leg
alive: Negative:
n0access
forpoor
people terrorisfs
sharing
info
Once you havegot this level of classification,it is easyto write your essay
systematically.
You may not useall of the ideas,but you have a clearparagraph
structure for your essayto follow, and you can decidenext how much detail to
put into in eachcategory.
online
banking distonce
educetion
online
shopping info.
forreseerch
airline
bookings
concerl
bookings
theatre
bookings
28. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 23
4,4lypesof clossificotion
As we said before (4.2),becausethe essay
topic requiresyou to expressan
opinion, you will need to evaluatesomething.In order to do that you will
frequently find yourselfwith a classificationasabove,into positive and negative
features.
Another way of thinking about such topics is that you have to make a comparison.
You are comparing the positive features with the negative ones.
For example:
'Monqr
cunnot buy happiness'it is often ckimed. But uitlt monry you can
buy most of the things tltat are necessary
for happiness:goodfood;
accomrnodation etc. No urondzr rnostpeople uant to mahe as much monry
aspossible. Do you agree or disagree?
Sometimesyou may be askedto speculateor suggestalternativesto an existing
situation. In that caseyou will be comparing the situation that existsin the
world with what some people think should exist. [See5.3 Comparisons]
For example:
'W'e
are surrounded by aduertising. Somepeople thinh that this isgood
becauseit giues us a choiceas consurners,but otlters argue that it rnahes
people selfishand greedyfor more and more goods.Do you thinh thne
should be lessaduertising?
Sometopics only require you to considerthe consequences
of something, i.e' a
cause-effectrelationship,aswell asgiving an evaluationof the effbcts.[See5.2
Consequences]In eachof thesecases
you still need to classifr the ideasthat you
have according to the type of features involved, aswe did above.
Wewill deal with eachof thesetypesof questionsmore later.Now try your skill
at classifyingfeatures.
29. 24 Essoy
Writing
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IASK8
Consider the following topic and then look at the brainstormed ideas which
follow and organise them according to both causeand effect and the type of
features involved:
Indurtrialisation is leading to tlte destuction of the earth as a homefor
humans and anirnab. Tb uthat extent do you agreetltat this is true?
factories air pollution weste
disposal cats
rubbish
- plaslic
etc. water
pollution fishdying
deforestation sninals
endangered lackof fresh
water
a AnsuterKey
TASK
9
Do the samewith the following, but usean evaluationclassificationscheme,
aswell asappropriatecategories
of features(asin the examplen 4.3):
Many modernchildren spenda great deal of time sining in /iont of a
teleuisionor compaterscreen.This is extremelyharmful for their
deuelopment.
Therefore
parentsshould.
snictly lirnit the time that children
spendthis utay.Do you agree?
entertainneni educational
informetion netvs films
general
knowledge music sport rvestes
tine
conmunication
through
comPuter homework
notdone
notenough
erercise:
harrns
bodies hetms
eyes nosocielising
/ friends
advertising
rnekes
people
buy
unnecessary
things
a AnsuterKe!
30. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 25
4,5Selecting
Relevont
ldeos
After brainstorming and while classifring your ideas,it is necessary
to eliminate
any points that arenor relevant.At this point it is useful to look at the question
again,to make surethat the ideasthat you choosearenot only on the topic, but
alsorelevantto the question.
TASK
IO
Imaginethat for the abovequestionthe following list of points havebeen
brainstormedfor the negativeasPectof TV and computer use:
bad
fortheeyes children
rnay
forgel
toeal don't
dohomewotk
wasie
time nophysical
exetcise notenough
sleep
computer
games
oreexpensive children
don't
leatn
to becreative
argurnenis
inlhefamily
aboui
whaf
towetch
Which of the abovepoints would you sayareirrelevantto answeringthe
question?
a AnsuterKey
31. 26 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
4,6Levelof Generolisotion
One basison which to selectrelevantideasis to ensurethat you choosepoints at
the right level of generalisation.In other words, it is necessary
to eliminate small,
trivial points or examples,and at the sametime not to try to tackle conceptsthat
aretoo broad for such a short essay.
For example,if you were askedto write on the topic:
Tlte enuirownent is one of the most imltortant issuesin the uorld today,
but gouernments Are not doing enough about it. Tb u.,hatextent do you
thinh that indiuiduab can help to protect the enaironment?
you might think of the following ideas:
recycling
weste
nateriel nol
seving
electricity ed
ucalion
aI
keeping
theyard
ofyour
house
clean
restriciing
use
ofwater using
more
throwing
rubbish
around
campaigns
forthepublic
reducing
use
ofpeckaging
public
transport
If you look at the question again you will seethat, on the one hand educational
campaignsfor thepublic is too broad a concept jt is not something that
individuals can normally undertake, while on the other hand heEing theyard of
your hou.se
cleanis too trivial. That is to say,it is not something that is going to
help to protect the environment in general,it is simply something that everyone
should do anyway.The other points are at the right level of generalisation,and
you would need to work with these,by classifringand ranking them. (See4.3
and 5.1.)
Now testyourself on the following:
32. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 27
TASK
I I
Consider this topic:
'Money
cannot buy happiness'it is often claimed. But urith moneyyou can
buy most of the things tltat are necessary
for ltapltiness: good food,
accornrnodation etc, No tuonder tltat ntostpeoPle raant to mahe as much
rnone! aspossibh. Do you agreeor disagree?
Here are some brainstormed ideas for this topic:
t0R
healthy
food
isexpensive good
house
ingood
entlironment
good
entertainmenl
good
doctors cen
give
money
to PooI
PeoPle
iransport:
ot{n
cer otYn
aeroPlone ttevel
setupbigproject
likeartgallery
orsports
stadium
foryour
city
AEAI
NST
could
garnble
money
ewey high
taxes
children
could
argue
ebout
inheritance can't
buy
friends
definition
of'happiness':
sPiritualily cen't
buy
love
'Which
of the above points would you eliminate becausethey are too broad
or too specific or too far off the main idea to be relevant?
a Answer Key
33. 28 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
4,7Overgenerolisotions
ond Exoggerotion
Generalisationsare necessary.
fle cannot make any sensibleconclusionsabout
anything without generalisingfrom specificexamples.Especiallyin your
introduction, topic sentences
and conclusion (SeeStage3) you will need to
generalise
. However, there is a danger of over-generalisation. Over-generalisations
(or sueepinggerueralisations
as they are also called) do not help your argument,
becausethey give the impressionthat you arenot very thoughtful. Consider
theseexamples:
i) Euerybodyuses
the Internet nowadays.
ii) No-one cAnrun a business
witltout information tecltnology.
iii) Any business
can besuccessfulifit uses
modern information tecltnologt.
These are clearlyover-generalisations
or exaggerations,
and would not help your
argument. An essayis not a political speechor a form of advertising!
TASK
12
'Which
of the following are reasonableevaluations and which are over-
generalisations or exaggerations?Put a mark against any of the following
which are not reasonablestatements. You may find it easier to discuss this
with someone.
1. Tbleuision
hasa teniblt tfrn onloung minds.
2. Thedestructionof our enuironmentis the mostseriousissueuteface, because
uithout enoughcleanair and water ue cannot liue.
3. Unhssgoaernments
sfiictly controltlte useof the Internet uorA terrorism
will desnoyusall.
4. Examinations can lead to high leuelsof sness
and euensuicide in students.
5. Indusny causes
mostpollution and thereforeneedsto be made responsible
for
preaenting it.
6. Improuedpublic transport is a muclt bettersolution to trffic problems than
building rnoreroads.
7. If thegouernrnent
prouidesbetterpublic transport thereutill be no rnore
nofrt congestion
in our cities.
8. Peoplewho clairn that nuclearenergJ/
is cleanare ignoring the dangersof
nuclearaccidents.Radiation is not'clean'.
34. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 29
9. Nuclearenerglis theonlypossible
solutionto ourenergJ/
needs
in thefuture.
10.If eueryone
learnstospeak
Englishthenall thepeople
in theworlduill be
ableto understand
each
otherandthenu)ecAnliuein peace
uith each
otlter.
a Ansuer Kel
TASK
13
Read the following essaysand think about which one is more satisfactory.
Pay special attention to generalisations and exaggeration'
t
17.
Modern technologlthasimprouedthe utorld in tltree ueryimportant uals. It has
giuenpeoplemoretime, it hassauedenormousAmountsof human energ)/,
and it has
made it possible
for eueryone
to communicateuith eachother easi$t.
Time and ffirt hauebeensaued
in the utorhplnce
and in theltorne.In manufacturing
for example,it is no longernecessar!
to spendhourspknning and designingproducts
because
computerscan do this quickly. Farmersdo not needtoplant their ltaruest
slorulyby hand; theycan useequipment lihe light aircrafi for souing seeds
and large
haruestingmachinesto do the worh quichly.Houseutiaes
canspendmoretime u)ith
theirfriends, while the utashingmachineand the dishwashertaashthe clotltesand
the dishes
for them.
In the sametpa! energ!is saued.Thereis no need
for hardphysical u.,orkAn! more,
because
rnodernrnachinescan do it all. Because
of modern technologlt
peoPlecan
rekx, tultere beforethey had to uork uery ltard.
Another great improuementhasbeenin cornmunications.Because
of communication
slstemssuchastelephones,
fax machines,mobilepltones,teleuisionetc.,and the useof
satellites,xaecdn hnotanthat is happeningdt an! time in all parts of the utorld. This
leadsto better understanding,sothereis no need
for u)drs,and countriescan help
eachother.For example,if thereis an earthquakein onecountry,PeoPlein otlter
countriescanfnd out about it immediately and sendhelp to tlte uictims.
For all thesereasons
the raorld is nout a much betterplace than in earlier times,
because
of the aduantagesbrought b1'modern technology.
35. 30 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
B,
Euerytone
thinks that the uorld ltasbeenimproued through modern technology,but
this is not true because
nouadaystltereare no morenaditional shillsand euerybody
is
becomingtlte same,no mltter uthat country theyliue in, and aboueall thereAreno
morespiritual ualueslefi.
In the oldendays,uhen peoplehad to rnahetlteir oun buildings, and tlteir outn
clothes,and their own entertdinment, theyhad many naditional skills and ualues.
Eaclt areahad ix own styleof architecture,for exdmple,and peopleutereproud of
their crafismanship.Nout all houses
are made of concrete
and glassand steeland thel
all look tlte same,no matter wltereyou are.All ouertlte utorldpeoplewear the same
mass-produced
clothesand theyeuenwatclt tlte samemass-produced
entertainment on
their teleuisions
sets.Youcan hear the samepop songsin euer! countr! in the utorld,
and localpeopleno longerproduce their outn taditional cuhuralforms of musicand
dance.Eueryorue
doeswhateuerthe ldtestdancefashion is.
Tltis meansthat peopleall ouerthe world are becomingtlte same.Euerybodysees
tlte
same
films and ltearsthe samemusicand sotheyall start to think tlte same.AII thEt
taant is moreof the sAmeconsumer
goods,no mdtter utherethry liue. Tltis meansthat
tlte utorld is losingits spiritualualues as utellas its diuersityof cubure. In tlte end,
no-onewill hauean! neu or indiuidual ideasbecause
modern communication
tecltniques,
sucltassatelliteteleuisionand the Internet, mean tltat uteare all
brainwashedin the sameud! by the big mubi-national ou)nersof the massmedia. In
otlter words,tltqt can control us.
Modern technologymakes
peoplelazy and greedlt
for moreconsumergoods,and so
theylosetheir spiritual ualues.Theybecome
selfsh and losetheir religion and do not
euencareabout the membersof their outnfamilies. Thq, put their small children into
nurseries,their sichpeopleinto hospitalsand their oldpeopleinto oldpeople'shomes
and tlten thryforget about them. Modern technologlcan look afier tltem, thqt think.
It is time westoppeduanting moremodern technologjt
and taent bachto traditional
ualues.
a AnsuterKe!
36. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 31
5.Orgonising
ldeos
5,I Ronking
ldeos
Once you haveselectedyour points, you need to decidein what order to present
them. This is important to show that you are in control of your material, and
that you understand the relativeimportance of eachof the points you are
making. In this secrionwe will dealwith different patternsof organisation,but
first of all you need to be awareof the need to rank ideasaccordingto one of the
foliowing methods:
a) from the most important to the leastimportant
b) from the most common to the leastcommon
c) from the most generalto the leastgeneral
d) from the earlier to the later (chronologicalorder)'
There are other systemspossible,but theseare the most obvious ones.
There are a number of common organisationalpatternsthat you will find: cause
and effect (consequences),comparisons, alternatives, and speculation, in
addition to the problem-solution and evaluation schemasthat we have already
discussed.
5,2Consequences
The most obvious way of discussinga problem, in any situation, not just essays,
is to look at the causesof (or reasonsfor) the existenceof the problem, and then
to considerwhat consequences
or results (or effects)theremight be if certain
solutions are tried. For example,look at this statement:
Parents should contol the amount of time that children spend in front of
teleuision or cornputer screens,
This is a suggested
solution to a problem and you would be expectedto give
your opinion on it. To do so you would need to a) discussthe consequences
of
too much time being spent in this way by children and b) discussthe consequences
of parentstrying to control it.
37. 32 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
In many cases
a term meaning causeor effect or result is given in the topic
itself For example there might be this statement: Modzrnisation is leading to tlte
destruction of the natural enaironmenr. In this caseyou will need to think of
examples,asdiscussed
above.
Often you will be given more detailsin the question itself. Here is an example:
At present uterely on oil for most of our energ! needs.Houteuer,oil is a
fossil fuel and causesair pollution, and it uill eaentualfu run out. Nuclear
energ! is the only practical and clean source of enngy for the utorld. Do
you agree?
Here you aregiven two causes
and two effbctsfor oil: a) burning a fossilfuel
causes
air pollution, and b) fossilfuelsare finite and asa result there will be
none left one day.So you alreadyhavetwo negativeeffectsto think about:
pollution and lack of energy.Now you must considerthe consequences
of using
nuclear energy.The positive consequences
are alreadyimplied: it doesnot cause
air pollution and it will not run out. But are there other negativeconsequences?
Obviously, or we would all be using it. So, what arethey?Once you have
thought of theseyou will haveplenry to write about. That doesnot mean that
you have to opposethe question.You can list the benefitsof nuclear energyjust
mentioned, and you can then identify the negativeconsequences
and expiain
that thesecan be solved,or that they arenot asseriousasthe negativeconsequences
of using oil. Remember,it is your choice,whether you support or opposethe
statement,totally or pardy, but evenif you support it you should not ignore the
problems.Apart from anything else,you would not havevery much to write
about if you ignorethe problemson both sides.[See3.5]
Remember that whatevereffectsor consequences
you decideto write about, they
must be relevant,of the right level of generalisation,and ranked accordingto
how significant they are.
TASK
14
Think of as many negative consequencesof using nuclear energy asyou
can.
a AnswerKel
38. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 33
5,3Comporisons
The IELIS Handbook asksyou to be able to compare and contrast evidence,
opinions and implications.
In fact, if you think about it you will seethat evaluation is a kind of comparison,
or that comparisonand contrast is a kind of evaluation.
'When
you evaluate
something, aswe saidbefore,you arecomparing the situation as it is with an
ideal situation. At the sametime, when you are comparing or contrasting rwo
things you areevaluatingthem againstsomeother setof criteria. For example, in
the abovetopic we areaskedto compareoil and atomic energyassourcesof
energyfor our use.To do that we must havea setof standardsor criteria to
evaluatethem against.What could thesebe?Look at this analysis:
A perfect sourceof energywould fulfil the following criteria:
a) be cheapto produce
b) be plentiful
c) be easyto use
d) be cleanto use
e) be safeto use
f) never run out
Now if we want to compareoil and nuclearenergywe simply match eachof
theseagainstthe criteria, and we find that oil is better than nuclear energyin a),
c), e), while nuclearenergyis better in the other criteria. However, that is not
enough. 7e alsoneed to rank the criteria accordingto importance. In other
words, we may agreethat nuclear energyis cleanerto usethan oil, but it is much
lesssafe,and for many people the safetyfactor is far more important than the
problem of air pollution. Besides,aswe sawabove,it is possibleto provide
counter-arguments,such asthat technology can make oil cleaner,but it can
never make radio-activity safer.So, at eachstepof the way you can consider
additional criteria for evaluation.Of coursethere is no time to go into a subject
asdeeply asthis in a test essay,
and there is no need to, but it is important to be
aware of how any kind of analytical thinking will always involve some form of
evaluationand comparison.The more carefullyand clearlyyou can identify the
criteria by which you judge or evaluateor comparesomething, the better your
thinking and your judgementswill be.
39. 34 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
5,4Alternotives
Sometimesyou haveto think of alternativesto an existing situation. Look at
this topic againfor example:
In euery city the car is hing of the road. Cars causedeath and injury and
air pollution, and mahe life dfficuh and dangero^ fo, others.It is time to
reducethe nurnber of cars in our cities and to encourageotlter meansof
trans?ort. Do you agreeuith this opinion?
Here you need to look at alternativemeansof transport, and evaluatethese.Be
carefulto be realisticin your discussionof the alternatives.Considering other
forms of transport is very like looking at the consequences
of a poliry and, aswe
said above,it is necessary
to look at the situation honestly,and to acknowledge
the problems that exist on both sidesof the argument. Studentswho make
exaggerated
claimsarenot writing good essays.
TASK
15
Vhich of the following alternativemeansof transport would be worth writing
about in an essay
that answersthe abovequestion?
buses
helicopters
motorised
three-wheelers
bicycles
underground
trains
motorbi
kes
moving
footpaths irams
elevated
trains
/ monorails
5,5Speculotion
In some cases
you may be askedto think about an alternativethat doesnot exist,
i.e. to speculateabout what might be. Here is an exampleof a topic like that:
As tltere is increasing unemployment in tlte utorld, uthile at the same time
those utlto haaejobs are tuorhing harder and ltarder, it uould be better to
haae afour-day uorhing weehfor eaerlone, and so to createmorejobs.
Yhat isyour opinion about this suggestion?
Again, you must think about the possibleconsequences
of this suggestion,and
you must evaluatetheseagainstthe criteria that you think aPply when talking
about work and leisure.Once again,you should try to be realistic,and not
exaggerate
with your suggestions.
40. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 35
TASK
16
Study the following list of points that have been brainstormed in relation to
the topic given above. First, decide which points should be eliminated
becausethey are irrelevant, or exaggerated, and then classifr the remaining
points under suitable headings. Finally' rank the points in order of
importance.
I. Eueryone uould earn hss rnonEt - taould not haue enough to liae on.
2. Peopleearning hss monqt taould Eend less,and this uould reduce
dernandfor goodsand seraicesand mahe tlte economyshrinh.
3. More time auay from utorh rneansmore time for thefamily and friends.
4. More free time means lnore opportunity to do things lihe sport, art, music.
5. More free time meanspeople a.rernore bored drinhing and
gambling.
6. Employers uould haueproblems naining and managing and paying
rnorepeolrle.
7.
'Vhat
about teachers?Vl'ould scltoob only operate on 4 days too, or uould
some teachers only u.,orh I d"y a uteek?
8. If someoneou)nstlteir oun small businessand has to utorh 6 or 7 daysit
is not fair for otlters to be uorhing only 4 days.
9. The unemployed are usually not qualified people, so the! could notrtil
thejobs anyuay tltat uould be created.
10. Imagine tltat you do a job for 4 daysand then someoneebe comesand
doesit after you and they do not hnou, u,hatyou ltauein mind and they
spoil it all.
a Ansuer Ke!
41. 36 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
TASK
17
Finally, look at the following topics and decide which type of organisation
pattern is mainly required in each caseicomParison;consequences;
eualuation; examples;specuktion.
1 .The enuironrnent is one of the most imPortant issuesin the uorld today,
but gouernmentsare not doing enough about it. Tb uthat extent do you
thinh that indiuiduals can help to protect the enaironment
2. Most pollution, especiallyair and ruaterTtollution, is caused by industry.
If raeutant to protect tlte enuironrnent ue should mahefactories and
other forms of industry pal for all thepollution that tltey cause. That is
the only uay to mahe sure that the oranersutill mahe a seriousffirt to
reduce thepollution that tbry cause.
To uhat extent do you agreeuitb this opinion?
3. Tb besuccessful
in education it is more important to be a good student
tltan to haue good teachers.
W'ouldyou suPPort this staternent?
4. The increasing role of English in the taorld today means that the
learning of othn knguages is being neglected. This utill ltaue serious
resuhsfor tlte continued useof theseknguages and their cuhures.
'lVhat
isyour opinion on this staternent?
5. Tbbaccoand alcohol are d.rugstltat causead.diction and heabh probbms
Should they be made ilhgal, l;he otlter drugs? Or should all drugs be
hgalised?
rYhat do you thinh about theseideas?
6 .'Ve hnou, tltat many hinds of animals feel pain and emotional sffiring
jrct as ltumans do. h is therefore necessar!to suPport animal rights as
raell as ltuman rights,
Do you agree?
a Answer Key
42. Writing
6,Using
theRight
Grommor
Vocobulory
ondSVle
Now that you haveselectedand organisedyour content you can focus on the
actualwriting. This involves using the right grammar and vocabulary for eachof
the sectionsof the essay
-that is, the introduction, body and conclusion --+s
well asmaking surethat the overall style is appropriate.
6,I Grommor
No matter how good your ideasor your outlining skills are,if you do not have
sufficient control of correct English you cannot communicate your brilliance.As
we saidat the beginning, the basiccriterion for assessment
is your command of
English, not the contents. Grammar is the infrastructure of your writing, and if
that is weak,then a cleversuperstructureof ideaswill simply make the whole
essay
collaDse.
The most important preparation you can make for your test essay,
therefore,is
to ensurethat you have a good graspofthe essentials:
the tenses
the use of the passive
correct use ofparts ofspeech
correct clause structure (with subjects and finite verbs)
43. 38 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
Although many peopleworry about the correctuseof the articleand of prepositions,
thesearelessimportant than the aspectsmentioned above.They are more difficult
to masterand errorsarelessdisturbing becausethey usually do not interferewith
understandingof meaning.That doesnot mean that you should ignore them, but
make sureyou haveyour priorities right!
A sentencelike this:
# Thedruebp of cheapabernatiueenerg sources
uill probably besurcessed
in fuare
is much worsethan:
# Druebpment of cheapabernatiaeenerg sourceu.,illprobably succeedforthefunre.
(The correcr senrencewould of course be: The deuelopmentof a cheapabernatiue
energ)lsourcewill probably succeed
in future.)
TASK
I8 DIAGNOSTIC
GRAMMAR
TEST
Try to identifi' the errorsin the following text. The Answer Key will let
you know which aspects
of grammaryou may needto study more.
ComputersAreAn essential
part of our liues.Because
allaspectsof modern
societyare fficted by them. Beforewe had coTnputers
all transactionsinuolued
storing and renieuing information u)ereuerytime-consurningand hbour'
intensiue.
The dzuelopofpersonalcomPuters
in particular ffict onPeoPle's
liuesbecause
small businesses
can eds!offird them and this makestheir tuorh morefficienry,
Now anyonewlto studyat uniuersi4tneedto learn ltou to usecomPuter.Most
lecturerexpecttltat essay
are ltped and in many subjectcalculation and other
task must alsobedone by computer.
In recentyearssofiwarepackagesbecarne
easierto useand soman! Peoplewho
think beforethat theyare too old to learn had actually beenable to learn to do
simple uord processing.
Schools
as utellascolleges
areprouided computercou.rses
in deueloped
countries,
but it is neededa big iruuestment
for suchequipment to maheauaikble to
many studentsand mostscltookin deuelopingcountriescannot ffird this.
6. Wecould not knou whatfuture deuelopments
therewould bein this area but
mostpeoPlethinh that comPuterstaould be euenmore wide-spreadin tlte
comingyears.
a Answer Ke!
2.
3.
44. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 39
6,2Vocobulory
While grammar is one leg, vocabularyis the secondleg for your writing to stand
on. But note that simple, correct English is better than experimentingwith
sophisticatedvocabulary and getting it wrong! You may try out unfamiliar
vocabulary if you havea helpful teacher,but not during a testlThere are certain
words and phrasesthat you can make a specialpoint of learning carefullybecause
they arelikely to be usedin most, if not all essays.
Make surethat you haveenough
vocabularv for eachof the common catesories:
Evaluation (e.g.benefit, unsatisfactory)
Consequence, cause,reason (e.g.outcome,produce,explanation)
modifiers (e.g.significant, majority)
connectors (under thesecircumstances,moreover)
grouping nouns (aspect,factor, feature)
The bestway to learn theseis to look for examplesin your readingand then copy
them into your own personalvocabularybook under the appropriateheadings.
Be carefulto copy whole phrases,not just singlewords, so that you learn the
correct use of the expressions.
The correct useof a word involvesknowing:
the exact meaning
the words that go with it
the grammatical features
For example:
causeand reasondo not mean the same
reasonis followed by for whTlecauseis followed by of
you giuea reason,and you generallysltoua cause.
due to is a preposition, and is followed by a noun or gerund, not
a noun clause.
In other words, vocabularyand grammar go together.It is not enough to understand
the meaning of a word, approximately,when you arewriting. It is essentialto
learn the accurateusageaswell.
45. 40 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
7,TheSections
of the Essoy
7,.lTheintroduction
The pulpose of the introduction is to let the readerknow
a) the topic
b) the aspectof the topic being dealt with
c) the stand (attitude) taken by the writer to the topic.
In other words, the introduction actually containsthe conclusion!
For example,if the topic is:
Many rnodern children spend too rnuch time sining in front of a teleuision
screen.This is extrerneb harmful to their deuelopment. ThereforeParents
sltould strictly limit the time that children spend in this uay. Do you
agree?
you should let your readerknow in the introduction whether your answeris yes,
I agree,or no, I disagree.
The restof the essay
then providessupport for your argument.
The structure of the introduction usually follows a common pattern.
'Io
introduce
the topic and explain why it is worthwhile talking about, you will normally need
a statementsomething like this:
Tbleuision
is socommonnolu that it is hard to imagine life without it.
That is, the first sentencetypically makesa generalstatementabout a situation.
The next statementthen narrowsthe topic down to a specificaspectthat he
writer will dealwith. For example:
Howeuer,as rnan! peoPlehauepointed out, mostchildren spendtoo muclt
time infont of the sueen,and this is harmful.
Note that the secondstatementoften containsthe word but or houteuer,
to show
that the writer hassomething new or different to say.For example,if the first
sentence
is:
Many peoplecornphin that children spenda greatproPortion of their liues
utatchingteleuision.
46. EssoyWritingfor English
Tests
then the secondstatementwould be more likely to presentthe opposite view,
suchas:
This may betrue in somecases,
but it is certainly not commonenoughto bea
serious
problem.
It is, however,not alwaysthe casethat the secondstatementcontains a but or
ltotueuer.
It may alsosupport and strengthenthe first statement.
Here aresome examples:
Tbleuision
hasbecome
somuclt a Part of our liuesthat man! PeoPledo not
realisehout many hoursthqt actually spendu.,atchingit, In fact, it has been
pointed out tltat mostchildren utatchfar more teleuisionthan isgoodfor them.
Here is another topic:
The enaironment is one of the most important issuesin the uorld today,
but gouernmentsare not doing enouglt about it. To uhat extent do you
thinh that indiaiduak can help to Protect the enuironment?
Peoplearegradually becomingAtaAreof thefact that uteare desnoyingour
natural enaironment.Weshould realiset/tat none of the otherproblemsthat
uteface Aremoreimportant than this one, but clearlygouernrnents
are not
tahing a lead in dealing utith the issue.It is thereforeup to indiuidual citizens
to do sometltingabout it.
Note: In the aboveexamplethe writer's conclusion is presentedin the third
sentence.
A statement,in this context, is not the sameasa sentence.
That is to
say,the writer's opinion is presentedasthe secondstatement,but not necessarily
the secondsentence.Seethe model essays
in Appendix B for more examples.
41
WARNING: Youmust avoid repeatingthe exactwords of the topic. If
you repeatthe words,you cangain no marks,sincethey arenot your
words. The examinerwill simply ignore them. If you paraphrase,
/ou :rre
displayingyour languageskills.
Look againat the examplesgivenabove,and seehow the first sentencein
eachcaseis a paraphrase
of the topic asit is given.
47. 42 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
TASK
19
The following are five introductions to the essaytopic:
Modern technologltltas increasedour material weahlt, but not our
happiness. To tahat extent do you agree uitlt tltis statement?
However, the sentenceshave been jumbled. Find the first and second sentences
which belong together in each case,to make five different introductions.
1. Euerycountr! in the world is aimingfor technologicaldeuelopment.
2. The mostimportant thingfor happiness,
houteuer,
is notltossessions,
but
relationships.
3. For mostpeople,tecltnologicaldeuelopmentrneansan improuementin their
life-style.
4. Their gouernments
are not mahing their peoplemorecontented,ltoweuer,as
inequalitiesin societycontinue to grow.
5. Modern technologtcanprouide enormousbenefts in termsof materialgoods.
6. It seems
clear ltoweuer,that this is an old-fashioneduieu, and that
technologicalinuentionsactually allow peopleto hauemoretime and leisure
to satisfiitheir spiritual needs.
7. Tbchnology
hasbrought many cltanges
topeoplesliues,not all of uthich are
beneficial.
8. Some
peopleclaim that modern technologltis harrning societyspiritual and
naditional ualues.
9. Infact, in many cases
peo?lehauesffired enormouslybecause
of thesechanges.
10. Howeuer uthile somePeoPleenjoyan easierlife, othersare ofien made
unemploledasa resuhof neuttecltnologlt,
and mostpeoplenowfeel insecure
and unhappyasa resub.
a Ansuer Ke!
48. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 43
TASK
20
Select the best pair of sentencesfrom the following to introduce the topic:
The Internet hasprouided great benefits, but at the same time it has also
created neraproblems and inequalities. Is it possible to control someof
theseproblems?
a) Most peoplewould like to ltaueaccess
to the Internet.
b) The Internet haschangedour liuesmoretltan an! other modrrn technologlt.
t) Tlte Internet hasgiuen both aduantages
and disaduantages
to our society.
d) The Internet is a relatiuelyneu phenolnenon.
t) In fact, uith the Internet it ispossibleto do many things.
f) Howeuer,the Internet can help terroriststo communicatewith eachother.
d At the sametime it hasreated An enormousgap betuteen
tltosewho haue
Access
to it and tltosetahodo not.
h) On the other hand it ltasneated some
problems.
a Answer Ke!
7,1,1
Grommor
ondVocobulory
intheIntroduction
The introduction will normally be in the present tense(e.g.peoplecompkin), or
the present continuous (peopleare gradually becoming aware),or in the present
perfect tense (peoplehauepointed out),
After your introductory statementyou need to connect the secondstatement (i.e.
secondor third etc. sentence)either by showing contrast,or by adding emphasis:
Contrast Connectors: but, houeuex neaertlteless,
by / in contrast, on the
otlter hand, in spite of this, uhile, uhereas, ahhough.
NOTE: IT ISVERYIMPORTANT TO USETHESECORRECTLY.
49. 44 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
Note: It is best to avoid starting a sentencewith But, sinceit is rather informal
to do so. Houeaer is the most common and the most usefulword. It can be used
for almost everysituation. Note, however, that it is often better to useit in the
secondposition in the sentence.
Avoid using on the contrary and take greatcare
with other connectors.
TASK
2I
Supply a suitable connector in the gaps in the following introductory
sentences:
a) Many peoplebelieuetltat nuclearenerg!is clean.
it ispotentially rnoredangerous
than any otlter technolog that we use.
b) TheInternet hasbrought manl oPportunitiestopeople.
it hasako increasedthegap benreenrich and poor peopleand societies.
c) Wehaueclearlygained many beneftsfom modern technologlt.
it can bearguedthat happiness
doesnot dependon material comforts.
a AnsuterKel
IASK22
'Write
introductions for the following topics, remembering tor
a) write a generd statement in your first sentence
b) indicate your qwn position or stand on the topic in the second or
third sentence.
c) paraphrase the words of the topic.
I. h isgenrally agreedthat the utorld.isfaring seriousmaironrnmul probhnx of
pollution, global uartning and the hss of resourcessucb asfresh utater. Some
people beline that these
problems can be solaedby technologicalinuentions
and dnelopments, u,hile othersfeel strongly tltat ue can only solaethese
probbms by consuminghss,and liuingsimpbr W-tryl"t..Vhat isyour opinion?
2. Many people feel strongly that heahh seraicesshould beproaid.ed by the
goaernment and should befreely auaikble. Others argue that only
priuatised heabh care canprouide good quality heabh seruices.Tb uhat
extent do you belieuethat heahh and medical seruices
should bepriuatised?
50. Essoy
Wriiingfor English
Tests 4>
7,2Ihe Body
The body will rypically consistof about three paragraphs,presentingpoints to
support your argument. You will haveworked out your ideasin the planning
stage,when organisingyour brainstormed ideas.Now it is simply a matter of
presentingone main point in eachparagraph.
A paragraphis like a mini-essay,sinceit is alsoa unit of writing. That means
that, like in an essay,
you must let the readerknow assoon aspossiblewhat your
proposition or statementis, and then support it. This is usually done with a
topic sentence.Let us look againat the classificationin 4.3 of brainstormed
ideason the question about the Internet.
The Internet has reaolutionised tlte modern utorld, but it has abo created
neu problems and inequnlities. Do you agree?
Our brainstorming produced the following ideas:
BUSINESS
ACTIVITIES
Pos
itive:
online
banking
online
shopping
airline
bookings
concert
bookings
theetre
bookings
Negative:
hackers
PofnogfePhy
IN
FORIIIATION
/ RESEARCH
Pos
itive:
distance
education
info.
forresearch
Negotive:
noeccess
forpoor
people
COMMUNICATION
Pos
itive:
business
connunicetion
emeil
sharing
info
chat-
rooms
police
sharing
info
Negative:
terrorisis
sharing
info
First of all, we will look at which of the points we may want to delete.Wewill
want to keep the main categories:
businessactivities,information / research
(include education here,perhaps),and communication. Not all the detailsare
going to be worth keeping, but at presentwe areonly consideringthe topic
sentences,
so we can ignore that for now.
51. 46 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
Next we need to ranl<the ideasin order of importance. Perhapswe can start
with businessactivities,because
they arethe most widespreaduseof the Internet
at present,and then go on to talk about education,which is very important, and
finally discusspersonalcommunication.
However,we alsoneed to discussthe positiveand negativeaspects.
At this stage
we need to decidewhether to start with our three categories,
and list the positive
and negativeaspects
within each,or to start with the positive aspects,
listing all
three categoriesin a row and then to move on to the negativeones.Either
organisationsystemis possible.Here is a suggestionabout how to construct
topic sentences
for the first system:
Thereis no doubt that theInternet hasbrought about an almost unbelieuable
cltangein the utaybusiness
and banking is conducted.
Next, we must go on to the negativeaspects,
so our next paragraphcould begin
something like this:
Houteuer,sincethe Internet is not auailable to mostpeoplein deueloping
countries,it is clear that thegap betueenthe rich and thepoor countrieshas
actually u.,idened
enormouslysinceonline business
and banhing hauebeen
introduced.
If we continue like this, we would end up with 6 paragraphsin the body (3
categories
x positive and negative),which is too long for the test essay.
So, to
keep it shorter,and to havea little variery you could introduce the positive and
negativeideastogether in the next paragraph's
topic sentence,like this:
In educationand researclt
thesituation is similar: the Internet ltasmade
reuolutionary
cltanges
in these
felds, but thekch ofaccess
for poorpeople
and
poor societies
is creatingseriousinequalities.
Notice how if you havea point that appearstwice in your lists,you can useit to
link one paragraphto the next, asabove(widened
gap-+irnikr --seriotu
ineqrnlities).
Finally, we need to mention communication in general,which is alreadycovered
by someof the abovepoints, aswell aspersonalcommunication. Again, we can
link the concepts:
TheInternet basicallyinuoluescommunication, not only in business
and
education,as mentionedaboue,but alsofor personalinformation excltange.
52. Essoy
Writingfor English
Tests 47
Thereis, of course,
an almostendless
numberof waysof introducingthe same
conceptsat the beginning of eachparagraph.The main points to remember are:
a) the introductory paragraphintroducesthe main idea of the essay,
and
the topic sentences
introduce the main supporting ideas
b) the topic sentenceintroduces the main idea of the paragraph,and the
following sentences
provide supporting ideasfor it.
7.2,1
Vocobulory
inthe Body
Connectorswill occur throughout the body of your essay.
The most common
onesarethosethat areusedfor listing, and for addition, for consequencesand for
emphasis.The basiclisting connectorsare:
firstly; secondly; the thirdfeature etc.; finally; in conclusion.
These arethe most boring ones.Rather better arethe onesthat show addition:
both..,and.;aho; not only....but abo....; furthennore; rnoreoaer;in add.ition.
Note: Do not overusetheseconnectors.It is very boring to read one of theseat
the beginning of eachsentence
! Note alsothat it is better to put alsoin the second
position in the sentence,
not at the beginning.
The most common connectorsshowing effects,results or consequencesare:
therefore; consequently; for this retnon; as a resuh; becauseof this.
Note also:All of the abovemust start a new sentence-+hey cannot be used to
join clauses.
For example
#Not eueryone
hasAccess
to tlte Internet thereforeit diuides communities
is wrong. You can either usea semi-colon (;) or useand therefore.
Connectors for emphasisare useful and include:
in fact; tabat is rnore; in particukr.
When giving examples you can use:
for examph; for instance; suclt as.
Be carefulwith the latter: sucltascan NOT begin a clause.It is a preposition,
followed by a noun (or gerund). (A"d pleaseneveruse #suchlike, which is not
correct English!)
There areof coursemany other connectors.Make yourselffamiliar with the most
usefulonesand be carefulto usethem accuratelyor your logic will appearfaulty.
53. 48 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
7,3TheConclusion
The conclusion neednot be long. In fact, it can be asshort asone sentence.
A
good conclusionwill not be merelya repetition of the main topic statementof the
essay,
or of your proposition statementin the introduction, sincethat is rather
boring to readand doesnot showyour English skills.Nevertheless,
it should contain
somekind of a summary of the main argument or proposition of the essay.
It is
alsoa good idea to include a comment on the implications of your conclusion.
Il for instance,you make a recommendation, you can comment on what may
happen if your recommendationis followed. For example,(for the topic that
childrent viewing of television should be controlled):
Thereforeit is important to lirnit tlte amount of teleuisionthat children watclt,
otlteruise theywillsuffer educationallyand sociallyastheygrou uP.
Or: Therefore,if childreni teleuisionuieu.,ingis sensiblysuperuised
it uill albw
tltem to enjoycmain programsasu.,ellasto deuebptheskillsthat thry need.
Note the paraphrasesfor the word contro/.As with the introduction, if you want
to stay closeto the topic statementit is desirableto attempt to paraphraseit. In
somecases
you can evenavoid a paraphrasecompletely by summarising in a new
way. For example:
Children do not alwaysknout uhat is best
for them, and in this cAse,
Asin
many other cases,
tlteguidanceofparents is essentialf theydre to grou uP as
uell-balancedpeople.
In some cases
a conclusionmay considerpossiblefuture outcomes. For example:
T/teInternet hasalreadybecomeutidespread
and almost indispensable,
and it
can beexpected
that in future Access
utill become
cheaper
and easier
for eaerlone
in theuorld.
Or: Althoughatomicenerg!cAnneuerrt4nout, unlihefossilfuels, it is clearthat
other, less
dangerous
sources
of energtwill needto bedeueloped
for future
generations.
54. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 49
7,3,.l
Grommqrond Vocobulory
inthe Conclusion
Make surethat you know how to usevarious terms expressing
implications
correctly.Theseinclude:
otheruise; in this case; under thesecircumstances
followed by the future tense"
You will alsoneed the languageof speculation (seebelow).
For predictions you will need the future tense,of course,and it is important to
usemodifiers in this case,such as it is lihely that, in allprobability. (See8.1
below).
There are,of course,connectorsthat are typically usedfor conclusions.The first
one on the list is the most unimaginative, and it is better to think of a more
interestingone if you can.
In conclusion,finally, therefore, consequently,clearly, it is clear on the
uiltole, in otlter utords,generally speahing
Rememberthat you can combine thnefore with other connectors:e.g.It is clear
therefore,that..; Genera
lly speaking therefore.
Note: Bewareof the common error of using mare for emphasis.More is z
comParatlve term.
For example:
Peopleare moreinterestedin making Tnone!
I
doesnot mean
People
dre ueryinterested
in mahingmone!.
If you saytlrey ar:-mor€interested"
it should meanthat theyaremoreinterested
than before,
or rnoreinterested
in mahingrnonr!than somethingelse,but if
thereis no compatisonexpressed
or clearlyimplied, then rnore
shouldnot
beused.
55. 50 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
B,Style
There are two types of problems relatedto sryle:one is the effectof personal
writing habits, the secondis the result of cultural differencesbetweenyour
mother tongue or your educationalbackground on the one hand, and English
for academicpurposeson the other.
B.l Modifiers
One of the most important aspects
of languageuseis the appropriate useof
modifiers. This is because
it is in this way that you showyour understandingof
the value of the points you are making - in other words, you areshowing your
own reai understanding of the issues.
Look at thesestatements:
1. TheInternet hasmade life moreconuenient
for eaerlone.
2. Computersare theperfect toolfor education.
3. In somecases
rnone! ma! not increaseour happiness
all the time.
4. Oil is the bestsourceof energybut nuclear energl is much better.
5. 7iffic congestion
is an absolutedisasterin all cities.
6. Alternatiue energ)t
Probably seems
to bea possibleanswerto ourfuture
energl needs.
Can you seehow eachone is inappropriate?
The most common errorsin the useof modifiers are:
overgeneralisation
overemphasis or exaggeration
understatement
confusion
Modifiers should be usedto make your writing accurateand thoughtful. They
include adiectives,adverbs,modal verbs, phrasesand other parts of speech
showing degree,emphasisetc.
56. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 51
B,
2 Overgenerolisotion
As we sawin secrion4.7, overgeneralisation
isvery colrunon. To modify overgeneralised
statements,it is generallynecessary
to reducethe scopeof the statement,by
limiting the quantity or frequency or areainvolved.
Here are iust a few common modifiers for this:
feu.' Tnany rnost
sometintes ofrrn frequently
generally corwnon ruidcspread
8,3Overemphosis
Here the problem is not to exaggerate
the intensity of a statement.The writer's
attitude should show a suitable degreeof certainty.
Degreesof intensity areexpressed
by terms such as:
ratlter quite significant
considerable aer! dramatic
Degreesof certainty can be shown by expressions
such as:
maybe perhaps possible
definitely undoubtedly generally speahing
it is clear that
and all the modal verbs:
ma! might can
could should would
nast ought to
You can alsouseexpressions
that distanceyourself from the statement,such as:
somepeople beline it is generally agreed
according to most scientists it is said that
And in conclusions
it is usefulto modifi your statementswith tlteseexpressions:
Thereforeit seemsthat... h can be conclud.edthat
This indicates tltat
Certain verbs, for example, can also show varying degreesof strength or certainty:
people are / tend to be tltis suggests/ indicates / proues
x causes
! / x is a contributingfactor to y
57. 52 Essoy
Writing
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Tests
8,4Understotement
ond Confusion
7hile overstatementand exaggerationare more common, some studentsgo the
other way, and understatetheir case,or produce mixed and confusedsignals.
This usuallyoccurswhen studentsmix someof the modifiers inappropriately.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE VERY ACCURATE IN USING MODIFIERS.
Otherwise you can sound confusedand unintelligent. Look at theseexamples:
It is clearthat nurlear energ)/is lihely to beaposibb solution to our enngy needs.
Seueral
peoplehauedied of staruation because
of tlte seuere
drought.
Pnplc dependsignificantly on tlte oceans
for food.
Abernatiue energlt
probably seems
to be tbeAnstuerto our energyneeds.
The majorproblem in modern citiesmight beair pollution.
TASK
23
Go back to the examplesin 8.1 above,and those in 8.4, and modifr them
appropriately.
a AnsuerKe!
IASK24
Consider ways of increasing or reducing the strength of the following
statements so that they become acceptable.
a) Tbleuision
encourages
uiolence.
b) Ouerpopuktion utill possiblycauseman! ?roblemsin thefuture.
c) Our enuironmentis beingtotally destroyed.
d) Peopleare only interestedin moneythesedays.
e) Maybe the continuing destructionof the rainforestuill inueasetlte
greenhouse
ffict.
f) Students
uhogotostudy
abroad
could
perhaps
f.nd thattheymayltaue
someunexpected
ex^eriences.
58. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
8,5Woffle
Lack of ideasis likely to result in a badly written essay.
tVhat commonly
happensis that the writer either needsto fill up the paper with empty,
meaninglessexpressions(often referredto aswaffle), or there is a good deal of
repetition of the sameidea,or both. Here is an exampleof sucha pieceof writing:
Usuallypeoplein the world hauetheir outn ltabits of eating and eacltand
eueryculture hasits own custorns
aboutfood. Houteuer,because
of a new
international, world-widr comrnunicationsystetn,
PeoPlecan ltauecontactuith
eacltotlter arudsomanypeopleare learning about otherpeople customs
and
habits aboutfood. Generallyspeaking some
peoPleare becomingaccustomed
to
foodfom otherplacesasthe! get in touch with other cubures.
53
TASK
25
'W'rite
down the ideas expressedin the above paragraph in one short
sentence.
8,6Formuloic
ond Thoughtless
Writing
Many studentsappearto learn a basicstructure and a few basicexpressions
and
then attempt to apply theseto everyessay,
no matter what the topic or the
meaning. This can produce somestrangeresults.Look at the following examples
of mindlesswriting:
Noutadayssportsare likely to becommonthroughout the world.
Education hasbecome
an imltortant thing in the lastfeut decades.
A student who writes like this is not showing much intelligence!
There arealsoconnectorswhich are usedwithout thought, or overused.The
series:
Firstly.... Secondly....Thirdb.... Finally.... In conclusion
at the beginning of consecutiveparagraphsreflectsalazy mind, writing to a
formula.
59. 54 Essoy
Writing
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Tests
Then thereareclich6s,which are more commonly misusedby native speakers
of
English, but somelearnersalsothink that they arewriting good, idiomatic
English by using them. Clich6 are expressions
which havebeen overusedin the
language,and are generallya sign of Iazythinking.
Examplesinclude
eachand eaer! one, foodfor thougltt, at tlte end ofthe day,
last but not least, uithout a doubt, aswe know
It is better to avoid such exoressions.
Another word which irritates many English teachers(and examination markers)
is notaaday. It is seriouslyoverusedand is not at all necessary.
It is very easyto
simply leaveit out in most cases:
(Nowadays)Tlte Internet is utidelyused
for educationalPurPosel
8,7lmmoture
Writing
Lack of vocabulary and limited knowledge of grammar are other causesof bad
writing style.
Many studentshaveexceilentideasbut do not havesufficient vocabulary in
English to express
them. In such cases,
somestudentssimply usevocabulary
incorrectly,and becomeincomprehensible,but more commonly studentsin this
situation arelikely to write in a much simpler style than is suitablefor English
for academicpurposes.It is better to write simple, correct English than to try to
write sophisticatedEnglish and do it badly,but of coursea universiry or college
entry test essay
should not sound asif it waswritten by someonein primary
school!The sryleyou should aim for should be at leastthat of a good year9 or
year 10 student writing in their mother tongue.
Consider the following example:
Many peopleare utorried about the enuironment.And theythink ue shoulddo
somethingto makeit bener.For example,insteadof usingfossilfuels we can
usethesun'slteat to make electricity.Or we can usethe uind to make
elecnicity.And we can also usewater to rnake elecnicity.
There are no mistakesin the grammar of the aboveexample,but it is clearlynot
the way a university student would be expectedto write!
60. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 55
TASK
26
Rewrite the above example into one or two sentences,using more
sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structures.
8,8Culturol
Differences
inStyle
One of the major problems that somestudentsfaceis that their previous experience
in writing hasbeen in a srylewhich is not similar to that expectedin their test
essavs.
This mav be because
a) the type of writing they have done before is different, or
b) the sryleof writing valuedby the mother tongue culture differs from
the sryleexpectedin English.
Different
Types
of Writing
An essay
is not like a letter,or a debateor political speech,or a text-book. You
needto be awareof the differencesin srylethat eachrequires"
TASK
27
Consider the folowing statements and decide which are suitable in style for
an essay:
a) Dear lecturer,I want to tellyou rnlt uieus on theproblernswith the
enuironment.
b) Youmight think there noproblem in hauingyour hids utatclt W for afeu
ltours eachday, but looh out! Theycould be watching rubbish!
c) The air u.,e
dependon consists
of oxygen,nitrogen, carbon dioxide and
otlter gases.
d) Is teleuision(t curseor a blessing?
Should tueualue it or banish it fom our
ltornes?
Tlte ansuteris not easyto deterrnine!
61. 56 Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests
t) If *t allow the air to continue to bepolluted by car andfactory emissions,
ue
are lihely tofind moreand more of thepopulation sufferingfom ill heabh.
f) Thereare teleuision
Programsuthich are clearlyunsuitablefor children to
taatchand it is important to ensurethat youngpeopleareprotectedfom them.
c AnsuerKry
More difficult to dealwith arethe differencesbetweenwriting
"tl'lo
it different cultures'
From my experience it seemsto me, for example,that Japanese
studentsvalue
short, simple sentences,
often beginning with And, But or So.Iranians,on the
other hand, seemto havea tradition of valuing quite complex sentencestructures,
with very long subjecs.The following is an adaptationof an iranian student'swriting:
Encouragingand prouiding suitable conditionsfor public nansPortby the use
ofpublic uehicles
instead ofpriuate uehicles
is anotlter way of soluingthe
problem.
In Asian languagessuch asChinese, Korean and Thai it is alsooften preferable
to havethe main idea expressed
in noun phrasesat the beginning of a sentence,
rather like in the aboveexample.Unfortunately, this not only soundsawhvard
in English, but it is alsoextremely difficult to write such complex sentences
in
correct English.The original sentencewas, in fact, full of grammatical errors.
The way to avoid this is to turn the sentenceback to front:
Another ruayof soluingtheProbhm is to encourage
and prouide suitable
conditionsfor tlte useofpublic uelticlesinsteadofpriuate ones.
It is not possibleto give one kind of adviceabout style to all students.Many
textbookson essay
writing for native speakers
encouragestudentsto make their
sentences
lesscomplex.This is becausethere is a tendency for rypical English-
speakingschoolleaversto t{F to Put too much into one sentence.
However,if you
arenot a native speakerthis advice may not be appropriate for you unlessyou too
aretrying to put too much into one sentence.
Repetition of words and phrasesis another issueto consider.fhile in some
languagesrepetidon is used a greatdeal and quite acceptably,(such asIndonesian,
for example),in English repetition is not highly valued, and writers make great
efforts to avoid it.
62. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 57
TASK
28
Read the following two introducdons to a simple essaytopic and decide
what differences there are in style, and which, if either, is preferable.
Identifr as many stylistic details aspossible"
rYhat Are sotne of the dfficubies that peopleface uthen liuing in a neu
country?
A.
Vhen someone
goesto liae in another countr! he or shewillf'nd man! new
things that are notfamiliar. Someof thesenew tltings may bedfficub for him or
her to get usedto. I want to talh about threedffirent wals in which it may be
dfficuh for a Personto get usedto liuing in a neu.,
counff!. Thef.rst ua! that it h
dfficult is what ue ma! call physical, tlte secondutay is wltat we may call social,
and the third raayis uthat ue ma! call mental.
B.
Without a doubt the transferof an indiuidualforn oneenuironment to
anotlter must beaccompaniedby a certain dzgreeof dfficuhy, no matter utho that
indiuidual may be, nor utlteresheor he may hauecome
from or transfenedto. In
all human endeauours
it ispossible,and indeedofien desirable,to classifit
phenomenaaccordingto certain logicalcategories.
Sucha ckssif.cationfrequently
assists
in a betterperception of the ndture of thephenornenatltus obserued.
In this
cAse,
Abo, it is intended to categorise
common[t experienced
dfficuhies in migration
accordingto whether theyfall into thephysical,socialorpsychological
dornain.
a Answer Ke!
9, Proof-reoding
There is usually not much time left during a test to go overyour essay
and
correct any mistakes.In any case,you are probably under too much tension to
seemosr of them. However, there aretwo typesof error that it is relativelyeasy
to check for and both involve the final letter S.This is frequently omitted. If you
havetime, skim through your essayand checkwhether
a) your plural noruls end in
's'
b) all verbs in the third person singular, prresenttense' also end in
's'.
63. 58 Essoy
Writing
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Tests
TASK
29
Correct the following as quickly as possible:
Tltereare many kind ofpollution in our enuironment.Indusny cause
air
pollutionfom smohe.It alro createuAter pollution because
of the dumping of
toxic utaste.Car alsopollute the atmosphere
utith gasemission.Euen ordinary
citizen are responsible
for polluting the enuironment by throuing rubbish onto
road, beacltand otherpublic place.
10,Appeoronce
Theoretically,your handwriting and the layout and generaiappearance
of your
essayshould not influence the examiner.Perhapsthey dont. But in practicean
essay
which is neatly written and presenteddoesmake a better impression.Some
small points to remember:
a) Leavea good margin. Then you havespacefor correctionsif you want
to make them.
b) Start eachnew paragraphon a new line and indent it.
c) If you want to crossout something, do it with one neat line, not a hard
scribble.Do not usebracketsto enclosecrossedout words"
d) If you do not useRoman script in your mother tongue and have
difficulry with it -fractise. If you areliving in an English-speaking
country, the childrens sectionin your local library may havesome
books usedto teachchildren to write, which could help you.
Finally, now that you havestudied and understood everythingin this book, there
is no need to get nervousabout the test!
GOODLUCKI
64. Essoy
Writing
for English
Tests 59
AnswerKey
Stoge1
TASK
I:
a) andc) askthe samequestion,
but from opposingends;b) andd) both compare
the
roleof the homeandtheschoolin education;
e)and0 dealwith the samequestion
from opposingends.
Stoge2
TASK
4:
SeeThsk 10 on p.25 for an example
"
TASK
5:
a) Leisure activities: Physical: sport, exercise Social:friends, relations
Creative / Cultural: art, music, dance
b) Education: Better understanding:knowledg. - better decisions,better
life-sryle,wisdom;
jobs: satisfaction;pay pleasure:culture - books, music
c) City life: Environment: crowded, no nature, space;
Expectations: too much - time Pressure;
work pressure,transPort problems.
TASK
6:
Cars: convenisnl - door-to-door but: no exercise,
lower life exPectancy
fast: but: not in traffic jams
cheapen
but dependson costofpublic ffansport.Costhigh for socieqrair pollution!
TASK
7:
a) harmand good
b) This topic should ideally be discussed
without evaluation.Socialscientistshave
tried to find factual evidencefor or againstthis. In practice,you can only draw
conclusionsfrom what you assumeto be the case.
c) quality of life
d) too much. Stressis
a term most peoplewould understandthe sameway. But how
much is too muclt?
TASK
8
factoriesand carslead to air pollution;
rubbish and wastedisposallead to water pollution;
water pollution and lack of freshwater lead to fish dying;
deforestationleadsto animalsbeing endangered.
