Phrases for the Integrated Essay

Naming the source

● According to [the text/professor]…

● The [text/professor] says that…

● The [text/professor] states that…

● In the [lecture], it was said that…

Listing

● …, for one.

● First,… Second,…

● The first point that the professor makes is… , The second point [he/she] addresses is…

● Besides that,…

● Moreover,…

● What’s more,…

● Next,…

● There’s also the fact that…

● Furthermore,…

● Additionally,…

● Finally,…

Giving examples

● For example,…

● For instance,…

● [The professor] provides the example of [noun]…

● [The professor] elaborates on this by explaining…

Reporting the professor’s opinion

● [The professor] believes that…

toefl.magoosh.com 7

● [The professor] disagrees with the text in that…

● [He/she] points out that…

● [He/she] refutes [this point] by noting that…

● [He/she] contradicts [this point] by saying that…

● [He/she] explains that…

Showing a contrast

● On the other hand,…

● Meanwhile,…

● In contrast to [the lecture/the reading]…

● However,…

Clarifying

● That is,…

● In other words,…

Sample Essay

In contrast to the reading passage, which emphasizes the qualities of Rococo art that led to its

critical dismissal, the lecturer focuses onredeeming characteristics of the style. The professor

disagrees with the text about the significance of the art’s aristocratic audience, subject matter,

and use of elaborate decoration.

The passage explains that Rococo art was often created for aristocratic buyers who ignored

the poor, but social changes in Europe created an environment that was hostile toward those

who catered to the ruling class. However, the professor points out that most art throughout

history was actually created for wealthy patrons; Rococo art is not totally unique in that regard.

What’s more, she mentions that Rococo artists sometimes worked on public places, like

churches, which were clearly not designed for the wealthy alone.
The second point that the professor makes has to do with the subject matter of Rococo art.

According to the text, Rococo style was interested in simple leisure and decoration rather than

deep philosophical ideas. However, the professor contradicts this by sayingthat Rococo

artists put subtlety and sophistication into their work. She gives an example of a painting that

depicts three people whose relationships can be inferred just by the details of their facial

expressions and postures. She believes thatthis shows unexpected depth.

Finally, in contrast to the reading passage’s claim thatRococo style is too elaborate, the

professor reminds the students that this is a purely subjective point. Others appreciate the

more difficult techniques and experimentation used in the paintings.

toefl.magoosh.com 8

Independent Essay

The second TOEFL essay is “independent,” which means it requires no outside information.

You only write—no listening or reading first. That means you write about your own ideas and

opinions. Of course, phrases to express opinions are very important. You also must explain

your opinions, so you have to give reasons and examples. It is important to clearly note that

you are giving an example or reason when you start to do so.

I recommend structuring your essay into four paragraphs: introduction, reason one, reason two,

and conclusion. Although it is possible to write a good essay with another structure, this

structure is easiest to follow, and that allows you to spend more time thinking about your

vocabulary and grammar, which are very important.

Whereas the integrated essay can look like a list, with “first,” and “second,” at the start of each

paragraph, it’s better not to list so clearly in the independent essay. Good writers don’t need to

list every time they write! Try to use other transitions, like those given below.

Phrases for the Independent Essay

Expressing your opinion

● I am of the opinion that…

● I believe that…

● The statement in question is [true/false/sensible/problematic] because…

● I [agree/disagree] with the provided statement because…

Giving Examples

● For example,…

● Take, for example, [noun].

● For instance,…

● If…., say,…

● …, such as…

Introducing a reason

● This is primarily because…

● The reason for this is that…

● After all,…

Moving on to another reason

● What’s more,…

● Moreover,…

● Additionally,…

toefl.magoosh.com 9

● There is also the fact that…

Adding emphasis

● In fact,…

● Of course,…

● Indeed,…

● Clearly,…
Making a statement based on a reason

● Because of that,…

● As a result,…

● For this reason,…

● Due to that fact,…

● As such,…

Showing a contrast

● On the other hand,…

● Meanwhile,…

● However,…

● In contrast,…

Clarifying

● That is,…

● In other words,…

Concluding

● Essentially, …

● To put it briefly, …

● In all, …

● As mentioned,…

Sample Essay

Some people suggest that affording children over fifteen the right to vote would lead to a

better society. After all, the more voices are heard in a democracy, the more legitimacy

elected leaders have. Be that as it may, I believe thatsociety would actually be worse off if

fifteen-year-olds were allowed to vote. Teenagers are too immature to vote, and often simply

copy the preferences of their parents.

First and foremost,fifteen, is simply put, not very old. Children at that age lack the emotional

maturity needed to make intelligent decisions when voting. They often feel passionately about

a topic one day only to have their interest fizzle out the next; clearly, that causes problems

when the decisions made affect people throughout society. Moreover, fifteen-year-olds lack

the sophistication needed to distinguish between truly valuable causes and those that are

toefl.magoosh.com 10

merely exciting. Politicians would simply speak to the emotions of the younger voters during

speeches, and teenagers might vote for frivolous policies, such aslonger school vacations.

However,voting should not be taken so lightly—no choice, arguably, could be of more

importance.

I also believeit would be a mistake to allow fifteen-year-olds to vote because they are likely to

simply copy the preferences of their parents. For example, during elections, voters are often

influenced by economic factors, such as promises to provide tax breaks, the expansion of

social aid programs. But fifteen-year-olds are not economically independent. Their financial

situations depend on those of their parents. For this reason,their parents would influence

them to vote to most help the family financially, which is not honest democracy. To make

matters worse, politicians would realize that families usually vote in the same way, and start

emphasizing policies helping families at the expense of other interest groups in order to get

their votes. For instance, politicians might promise to raise money for schools by taxing

businesses. This would effectively give parents a disproportionately large influence.

Essentially,there is a good reason that virtually no country on the planet allows people who

are so young to vote. They have yet to mature into responsible tax-paying citizens. As

mentioned,their interests are fickle, and not aligned with what is best for society as a whole. It

would be a mistake to give them influence in the democratic process

Some people like to travel outside their country. Others would rather
travel to tourist spots in their own country first, before travelling
abroad. Which do you prefer to do and why? Include specific details
and examples to support your choice.
Over the past few decades, the international tourism industry has gone
through a boom period. Cheap air travel, in particular, has allowed ordinary
working class people to travel to more international destinations than ever
before. In this essay, I shall refer to a number of sociological studies to show
why – contrary to popular opinion – domestic travel should initially take
precedence over international travel.
To begin with, people’s knowledge of their own countries and culture has
grown increasingly sketchy. This is largely because foreign brands, television
shows and cultural objects flood local markets. For example, The Asian
Cultural Society found that Japanese teenagers knew more about American
television series than 19th Century Japanese woodcuts. It should, therefore,
be clear that citizens need to know much more about their own countries,
and that visits to local cultural centres should occur before visits to other
countries.

Secondly, people reap high economic benefits if they are well-travelled in

their country of birth. This is because local travel, in particular, opens up
business opportunities. For example, the Korean Society for
Entrepreneurship found that 40% of successful start-up companies were run
by individuals who had travelled extensively in Korea and sniffed out small
openings in developmentally neglected areas. Seen in this light, local travel
can also be of vital economic significance
To conclude, although few would argue outright against foreign travel, there
are certainly reasons why domestic travel is initially preferable. In the
future, as some of the hype surrounding foreign travel dies down, these
reasons will no doubt appear more attractive and conspicuous.

In some countries, the number of shootings increase because many

people have guns at home. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Give specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
Across the globe, many individuals own guns for self-defense and
recreational purposes. Gun-related mortalities in households – in particular –
throw the ethics of such forms of private gun ownership into sharp relief. In
this essay, I shall appeal to crime statistics to argue that a person is at a far
greater risk being shot if there is a gun in a household.
Firstly, it is intuitively obvious that having a gun in a household endangers
children and teenagers. This is because minors do not have the requisite
knowledge or maturity to handle guns safely. For example, the US
Department of Justice recently revealed statistics showing that 150
American children and teenagers die each year because of accidents relating
to household guns. Therefore it is incontrovertible that household guns lead
to additional shootings.
Secondly, household guns become especially dangerous when couples have
violent arguments. This is because male sexual rage, in particular, often
results in deadly aggression. For example, The International Crime Bureau
recently produced statistical evidence that, if a man discovers his wife
having an affair, he is twice as likely to kill her in a fit of jealous rage if he
has easy access to a gun. Therefore, once again, household guns correlate
positively with additional shootings.
In conclusion, there is undeniable evidence that having a gun in a house
leads to further shootings. Given the strength of this evidence, in the future,
more legislation needs to be put in place to limit private gun ownership.

Obesity is a serious problem in many countries, especially in rich

countries. Discuss ways to solve the problem. Provide specific
reasons and examples to support your answer.
With the advent of urbanisation and the rise in popularity of fast food, there
have been accompanying issues with rising obesity rates – especially in
developed countries like Britain and the USA. After providing a careful
analysis of why obesity has risen so sharply in these countries, I shall
suggest a number of ways in which the obesity epidemic can be ameliorated.
To begin with, it should be unsurprising that fast food is incredibly popular in
wealthy countries (like Britain and the USA). Due to the high levels of
development in these countries, consumers possess more money and can
therefore consume vast amounts of fast food without seriously diminishing
their income. For example, the American Dietary Association found that,
compared to the average Indian household, the average American
household’s budget for food is six times larger per month. Consequently, it
is to be expected that obesity rates are much higher in countries with larger
amounts of wealth.
Despite the severity of the obesity problem, however, there are a number of
ways in which developed countries could battle it more effectively. Firstly,
developed governments could put far more pressure on fast food outlets to
provide healthy alternatives to hamburgers, french fries and soft drinks.
Secondly, public exercise initiatives could be advertised and promoted far
more vigorously. Lastly, modules that inform teenagers about healthy
dietary requirements could be taught at schools.
In conclusion, although obesity is a serious issue in the developed world, if
the above steps are taken, the situation will surely improve in the coming
years.
Some people think that keeping pets is good for children while
others think it is dangerous and unhealthy. Which opinion do you
agree with? Discuss both options and give examples.
In recent times, pet related injuries and fatalities have sparked heated
debates about whether it is healthy for children to be around pets. In this
essay I shall argue that such dangers are overemphasised and that children
receive substantive psychological benefits through having pets.
To begin with, although exotic pets (e.g. snakes, spiders, apes, etc.) have
been known to occasionally hurt and even kill children, such incidents are so
statistically rare as to be negligible. This is because the overwhelming
majority of children have non-lethal cats, dogs, fish, rodents and rabbits for
pets. For example The Child Safety Institute found that over 90% of children
owned the aforementioned pets, and professed that they had never felt in
the least bit endangered by them. Seen in this light, it is clearly unfounded
to claim that pets present any physical danger to children.
Secondly, pets can impact positively upon child psychology. This is because
young pet owners frequently empathise with their pets and perform a
diverse range of actions to maintain their wellbeing (e.g. feeding, grooming,
administering medicine, etc). For example, the Cambridge Developmental
Psychology Unit found that children who had grown up with pets were 30%
less likely to bully others and to resolve conflicts through aggression.
Consequently, it is undeniable that a child’s pro-sociality and mental health
can be improved through exposure to pets.
In conclusion, the cited evidence provides strong support for the view that
children owning pets is a good thing. In the future, as more laws are
introduced to ban the ownership of illegally acquired exotic pets, this
viewpoint will no doubt surge in popularity.

Some products can be made quickly by a machine. Other items take

a long time to be made by hand. As a buyer, which do you prefer and
why? Give specific details and examples in your answer.
Ever since the industrial revolution, mass produced goods have flooded the
consumer market. Although such goods have proved to be highly popular, it
is now becoming increasingly clear that handmade goods are more desirable
for modern, informed consumers. In this essay, I shall look at some of the
ethical and quality-based reasons for this re-evaluation.
To begin with, handmade goods can be made with far more care and
attention to detail than mass produced goods. This is because machines lack
a sensitivity that experienced craftsman evidently possess. For example, a
study by the International Consumerist Society found that handmade
furniture, musical instruments and jewellery were consistently rated as being
more attractive (by consumers) than their mass made counterparts.
Therefore it is clear that buyers prefer handmade goods for reasons that
relate to quality of workmanship.
Secondly, handmade production companies have far more ethical attitudes
towards the environment. This is because factories and chemical processes
heavily underpin mass industrial production. For example the British Green
Party found that the levels of toxicity and environmental damage outside
handmade production centres were paltry compared to the levels found
outside factories used for mass production. Consequently, since modern
consumers are more environmentally conscious than ever before, these
findings have clearly contributed to their preference for handmade goods.
In conclusion, there are compelling reasons for why modern consumers
favour handmade goods. In the future, as environmental issues worsen, this
preference will no doubt grow more pronounced.

Is it good for children to start using computers from an early age

and spend long hours on them? Discuss the advantages and
disadvantages.
In recent years, children, like adults, have become increasingly exposed to
computers. While some child psychologists have claimed that this is a good
thing, others have claimed that it has an overwhelmingly detrimental impact
on children. In this essay, I shall draw upon a number of studies in cognitive
science and industrial psychology that reveal the positive and negative
aspects of this phenomenon.
To begin with, clearly there are reasons why computers do not allow children
to develop long attention spans. This is because computers are packed with
many supposedly child-friendly games that require minimal levels of
concentration in order to be enjoyed. For example, a study by the New York
Child Learning Association found that children who read from picture books
were 50% less likely to get distracted than children who played educational
computer games. Therefore computers almost certainly have a negative
impact on young children.
However, since the world has become heavily reliant on computers, there
are also clear advantages to exposing children to computers. This is because
children with such exposure will stand a better chance of finding
employment. For example, after being interviewed by Yale psychologists,
over 70% of young office workers admitted that they had spent long hours
on computers in their middle and late childhood years. Therefore it is clear
that computer exposure can be beneficial to children.
In conclusion, there are advantages and disadvantages to early computer
exposure. However, if, in the future, the quality of educational gaming is
increased, there is good reason to believe that these negative consequences
will fall entirely away.
Some people think women should be given equal chances to work
and excel in their careers. Others believe that a woman’s role should
be limited to taking care of the house and children. Which opinion do
you agree with and why? Include specific details and examples to
support your choice
The question of women’s rights has always sparked heated controversy.
While some traditionalists claim that women should focus on the upkeep of
their homes and children, more liberal minded people have claimed that
women should have the same rights as men. In this essay, I shall refer to
sociological studies that vindicate the liberal view.
To begin with, it is false to believe that a woman cannot have a job and raise
her children effectively. This is because part-time and online work obviously
gives women the time and space to care for their children. For example, the
Organisation for Child Care found that mothers who did part-time or online
work spent as much time with their children (after school hours) as
housewives. Therefore, it is incorrect to claim – as traditionalists do – that
having a career compromises a mother’s ability to care for her children.
Secondly, mothers who work also gain the means to invest more in their
children’s education and personal development. This is because an additional
source of revenue enables parents to send their children to private schools
and extra-mural classes. For example, a Harvard study found that parents
were 50% more likely to invest in these services if both parents had
separate sources of financial income. It is therefore clear that being a
working mother can facilitate, rather than impede, good parenting.
In conclusion, there is strong evidence that women can have jobs and be
good mothers. Seen in this light, it is clear that the traditionalist view is
largely baseless, and that it will continue to decline in popularity.

Some people believe that international sporting events are the ideal
opportunity to show the world the qualities of the hosting nation.
Others believe that these events are mainly a large unjustifiable
expense. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Global athletic events such as the Olympics, the World Cup, the Extreme
Games and even the American Super Bowl are incredible opportunities for
countries. These iconic spectacles can provide a country with an economic
avalanche of benefits or expose it to a public relations disaster. This essay
will look at both possibilities, using Russia and the United Kingdom as
examples.
Firstly, it is important to bear in mind that simply hosting the event and
having the world’s media attention cannot guarantee a positive promotion.
This is because, although the country is receiving enormous amounts of
publicity, the media will often report controversial news as well as the good.
Take the Winter Olympics in Socchi, Russia, for example. The media
spotlight was shining brightly on the athletes but also highlighting the
polemic legislation regarding homosexuality. Therefore, despite the
international recognition to be gained, the country can also face a possible
backlash.
Secondly, the expense of building the infrastructure necessary to hold these
events can dwarf the benefits, unless they are fully amortized afterwards.
This is largely due to the fact that stadiums, Olympic parks, ski runs etc. are
expensive to construct and require large capital expenditure, often by the
public sector. In the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002, the
council commissioned a stadium for athletic events which was later adapted
and sold to the local pre-eminent football club, Manchester City. Therefore
with proper, fair, economic management of such buildings and facilities the
cost can be recuperated.
To conclude, a host city or nation has a lot to gain from these events but
only if they are economically administered correctly and the country has no
controversial issues for the media to pull out of the closet.

Some people think that all children should learn geography in

school. However, some others think that it is more important to
learn subjects that are more relevant to life. What is your opinion?
With constant modifications to the school curriculum and constant changes
in society, the question of whether to maintain or drop geography is an
interesting topic. I believe there would be severe consequences if geography
were to disappear, mainly due to the understanding and open-mindedness
that is derived from such studies.
Firstly, with evermore complex geopolitical strategies being played out, it
can be considered extremely valuable to be able to identify the locations of
these events without checking on a map. Religious and border conflicts are
among the most common sources of news events, and a lack of knowledge
as to where these events are taking place can be considered ignorance. For
example, areas such as the Middle East are constantly in the news.
Therefore, by being merely aware of their location in the world, readers or
viewers can greatly increase their understanding of the conflict.
Secondly, making geography compulsory in schools would most likely
encourage students to travel later in life. This is because geography can
bring to light options you may not have known existed previously. For
example, historically England has been the top destination to learn English.
However, in recent times students have learned about more economical
options such as Malta or Ireland. Therefore, without a sound geographical
knowledge of Europe, these options could have been overlooked.
To conclude, removing geography from the school curriculum would reduce a
student’s ability to fully assimilate global events in the media. Furthermore,
removing the subject could indirectly reduce the number of perceived
options available to students.
Today, the quality of life in large cities is decreasing. Discuss the
causes and solutions.
The global phenomenon of urbanisation from the beginning of
industrialisation to the present day has brought opportunity and prosperity,
albeit at a cost in the quality of life. With an increasing city population, the
complexity of the challenges also increases. The causes and solutions for this
are outlined below.
The causes for the decrease in the quality of life are paradoxically the
prosperity endowed on such metropolitan centres. Their growth is largely
due to the increased opportunities on offer, which in turn increases the
cities’ attractiveness; essentially they are trapped in a positive
self-reinforcing cycle. However, this eventually leads to a decrease in the
quality of life as the city can experience overcrowding, exorbitant property
prices and increased vulnerability to terrorist attacks. For example, the
density of London makes it a more efficient place to attack, when compared
to a smaller city, such as Bradford. Therefore, due to continuous growth and
prosperity, urban citizens, especially the less well off, often experience a
lower standard of living.
Considering the solutions, greater investment in public transport would ease
traffic congestion, as would bike lanes. In theory, this would reduce air
pollution and possibly improve the well-being of the population if they
adopted a more active lifestyle and cycled to work. To counter violent
terrorist attacks, cities could embark on CCTV installation, so as to closely
monitor for threats. For example, it is said, the CCTV in London has foiled
many potential attacks, and therefore greatly increased the security of its
citizens.
To conclude, a wealthy city attracts large population inflows, which then
increase pressure on existing infrastructure and security. Various solutions
exist to mitigate such drawbacks, but nevertheless a definitive solution has
yet to be found

Many governments in the world spend large amounts of money on

art, which helps to improve the quality of people’s lives. However,
governments should spend money on other things rather than art.
Do you agree or disagree? Give your opinion.
Societies with a heritage in the ‘arts’ have long been considered culturally
sophisticated and advanced. However, with the recent financial crisis this
lavishness and expense should be questioned. Tax-payers’ money has to be
spent practically rather than on cultural endeavours. Firstly, not everyone in
society appreciates art, and, secondly, employment should take precedence.
Art can bring quality into one’s life if you are interested. In society,
art-lovers are typically in the minority, and other activities, such as sport,
are more popular. Take football, for example. Across the globe it is obvious
that there are more people watching matches in stadiums than looking at
sculptures or paintings. This fact shows that it is impossible for art to bring
quality into a community if galleries hold little interest for the people.

Secondly, the resources diverted to such projects come from the public and
should be spent in a way that benefits them. Commissioning or purchasing
art is an insult to tax-payers who endure high unemployment, such as those
in Newcastle, UK. This city suffers from historically high unemployment, yet
the council commissioned a large sculpture called ‘The Angel of the North’.
Financing a job creation project would undoubtedly have been more practical
for the local community.
To conclude, I believe that it is an untrue to assert that art brings quality
into one’s life and I agree that the money should be spent elsewhere. This is
because art expenditure only benefits a small minority and the expense
involved should benefit the majority. Ideally in the future, governments will
recognise that the quality of a person’s life derives from a decent
opportunity in life, not a sculpture.

Some people believe that children’s leisure activities must be

educational, otherwise they are a complete waste of time. Do you
agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and include any
relevant examples from your experience.
To derive a double benefit from anything is considered a bonus and this is
especially the case when discussing leisure activities for children. Fusing
both education and entertainment into one activity is a goal of many
educators; some would even believe that failure to do this makes the activity
pointless. Drawing from examples in Sweden and reviewing games, such as
Pokemon, I firmly believe that all activities should have an educational
value.
Leisure activities are a perfect time to take advantage of the receptiveness
of a child’s mind, and some countries are adamant about this. Take Sweden,
for example. For many years, they have legally stipulated that all children’s
toys sold in the country should have some educational value. In addition, for
such a rule to be passed, it must be upheld by scientific research. Therefore,
the advantage of incorporating an education element into toys is
scientifically proven.
On the other hand, across the UK, children are wasting their time collecting
and learning the statistics of each creature on each Pokemon card. If,
however, these cards had been intertwined with more educational data the
child could have simultaneously gained a more practical education. Due to
children learning large swathes of irrelevant and useless information, it can
be argued that the time would have been better spent with real facts and
figures on the cards.
To conclude, scientific evidence from Sweden and fantasy games such as
Pokemon with little educational value are two clear reasons why children’s
leisure activities should have an element of learning involved.

Women can do everything that men can and they even do it better.
They also can do many things that men cannot. But it is a fact that
their work is not appreciated as much as men’s, although they have
to sacrifice a lot for their family and career… It is said: “A woman’s
place is in the home.” What do you think?
Women and men have had different roles in the community since the
beginning of history. Under modern conditions, these differences are slowly
converging. However, due to the genetic inheritance and socio-demographic
components, differences do exist.
Firstly, men are undoubtedly better adapted genetically to performing
physical tasks. Therefore, the assumption that women can match men in
everything is clearly flawed. The difference between their physical abilities is
clearly demonstrated in the sporting arena. Take, for example, the Olympics
or any international sporting event. It can be clearly seen that, in these
competitions, the genders are separated due to inherent differences between
the sexes.
Secondly, it has been argued that women are less appreciated in society due
to their traditional role in the home. This statement is true to a certain
extent because it largely depends on the society. In certain traditional
societies in Africa, women working are frowned upon and are seen as
neglecting the family, whereas in Afghanistan, in general, women are
allowed to do little else but stay at home, being a housewife. Consequently,
a woman’s value is largely dictated by her society, culture and history.
Nevertheless, to state that her place is in the home is widely considered
sexist in modern western societies.
To conclude, differences do certainly exist; however, these are largely
through nature. Also, the role women may have is usually dictated by other
factors, such as religion or society, not ability.

Improvements in health, education and trade are essential for the

development of poorer nations. However, the governments of richer
nations should take more responsibility for helping the poorer
nations in such areas. To what extent do you agree?
Undoubtedly the governments of developed nations should share the
responsibility of helping less fortunate nations. Different measures exist,
ranging from market access to direct financial payments or even medical
assistance. This essay will explain why certain measures are inherently
better than others.
Firstly, the most effective way to assist less developed countries is not
through health or education ‘hand-outs’. This method is flawed and only
offers temporary relief from long-term challenges; also this assistance can
be cut at any moment, leaving the country stranded. For example, economic
help from the UK to disadvantaged regions in Africa has gradually been
reduced since the onset of the financial crisis. Although some parts of the
continent may be better educated or in better health, the benefit was
short-lived, thus leaving the countries of Africa to look for other donors.
Commerce is, without doubt, the most effective type of assistance that can
be given. If the less developed country has the opportunity to develop trade,
then it can build strong capabilities that will serve it in the long term. These
strengths can develop the local economy and are more reliable than
education or health. For example, while trading with the richer country, the
government can search for other foreign markets to trade with. This would
offer more stability and diversification for the nation.
To conclude, assistance is definitely necessary for the poorer regions;
however, ‘hand-outs’ are short-term solutions. The optimal solution is to
offer market access so the region can produce goods and thus generate a
regular income.

Most schools are planning to replace sport and exercise classes with
more academic sessions. How will this change affect children’s lives
in your view?
The debate between where to allocate valuable teaching resources probably
started with the first educational institutions. In present-day society, the
conflict continues and rightly so. In my opinion converting sports classes to
more traditional subjects has two significant advantages. Firstly, it is a more
effective use of a student’s time. Secondly, in the future, academic skills will
be more useful.
Switching time spent on sport in a school to time spent on more academic
activities is a wise and cost-effective solution. Firstly, academic studies are
inherently less expensive to organise than physical education. For example,
to play almost any sport, one has to invest in the appropriate equipment,
ranging from shorts and t-shirts to rackets and balls. Furthermore, excess
time is spent in the changing rooms or washing afterwards. In more
traditional subjects, students merely enter the classroom and are learning
within minutes.
Secondly, it can be argued that sport is an activity practised naturally by
children, especially boys. In every school at break-time, many children
engage in energetic activities, whereas hardly any are studying algebra,
biology or physics. As these subjects are less popular, more resources
should be allocated to teaching them. In addition, academic skills are
arguably more important due to the small number of people in society
currently using sport skills in a work environment. Thus, focusing on skills
demanded by the labour market would benefit students’ lives dramatically in
the future.
To conclude, young learners going through school would end up much better
prepared for life by avoiding sports tuition. Furthermore, they would have
taken full advantage of their school years through more time spent learning.

Crime is a big problem in the world; many believe that nothing can
be done to prevent it. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give
your own opinion.
Crime is unquestionably one of the most prevailing and worrying aspects in
any society, and its prevention should be taken seriously. Crime prevention
can be achieved in various ways, firstly through a sustained honest presence
in the community and secondly through international cooperation.
A local presence by incorruptible law enforcement authorities may be costly
but the long-term investment will pay dividends in the future. A safer region
would encourage trade, investment and set an invaluable example for
younger generations. For example, crime has dramatically been reduced in
the Favelas around Rio de Janiero in Brazil. This was achieved largely
through the government committing large funds of money to stationing
police headquarters in and around the slums. These financial expenditures
greatly benefited the community.
Secondly, due to its severity and the global impact that crime has in some
areas of the world, global cooperation is critical. Operating in a parochial
way would incur significant financial losses and render any expenditure
futile. For example, Somali pirates in Africa have spread terror among many
ocean transport companies in the area. Only through large-scale
international cooperation was policing the area possible. Therefore, crime
reduction can be attributed to a joint effort between countries.
To conclude, illegal activities are a costly and dangerous fact in the present
global economy; through large-scale government investment, however,
prevention is an attainable goal. Also, by spreading the expense through
international cooperation, the resources invested can be significantly more
effective in reducing criminals’ impact abroad.

Should education and healthcare be free of charge and funded by the

government, or should it be the responsibility of the people to pay
for these services? Discuss the above and give your opinion using
examples.
A healthy and educated society is the backbone of any successful country;
deciding who is to provide this, however, is a sensitive topic. I strongly
believe the government should be held responsible for providing these
services for two reasons. Firstly, the entire society benefits and secondly the
whole population is paying for the services. However, if one prefers extra
services they should be prepared to pay for it themselves.
Firstly, education is largely considered a basic right. A population unable to
calculate, read, write or even learn would be doomed in a competitive global
economy. Globalisation has increased competition and shifted the emphasis
to knowledge, information and science. A state education should, therefore,
be freely available to everybody. However, if people wish to purchase private
education, this should also be allowed or even encouraged. Private education
reduces the strain on public services and provides a source of tax revenue
for the government, in effect, subsidising state education.
Secondly, health services must undoubtedly be available to all because the
entire nation is paying taxes and, therefore, should not be excluded from
any service. Take the NHS in the UK, for example; this organisation caters
for the entire population, and no private medical insurance is needed.
Unfortunately waiting lists can be long and service is occasionally slow;
therefore, some purchase private medical insurance for a faster service. This
reduces the workload of the public sector.
To conclude, I believe both healthcare and education are basic fundamental
rights, necessary for any advanced society and, therefore, the responsibility
should lie with the government. Nevertheless, if individuals require more
than the standard level, then they should be prepared to pay for it

Food is one of the fundamental needs of human lives, and from the ancient period till
this ultra-modern tech-time people have invented different ways to prepare and
customise foods. The improvement has definitely enhanced our lifestyle as we have
more time to do more productive things.

to begin with, the customs and ways people prepare foods and present to others vary
depending on the race, culture and country. But the most fundamental need of
preparing foods is to fulfil the very basic human need- hunger. Preparing foods was
very cumbersome in the past but with the advancement of human knowledge and
technology, men have created many devices and made many new ways of easily
making foods. The number of restaurants and fast-food shops are ever increasing
and that have omitted the need to prepare the food at all. The advanced technology
like a rice cooker, meal cooker and easy availability of ingredients nowadays help
people to prepare food in no time and that has improved the way of people’s lifestyle.
People now spend less time preparing foods and can utilise this time in other tasks
like professional tasks, reading, entertainment and spending time with family and
friends. Thus people get more productive and social because of the increased time
they have.

Quick food has become very popular which omits the needs of cooking and
professionals, students and business person are having those foods during their
lunchtime. This is a significant improvement in saving time and using it more
productively. Though the fast foods have some health issues, the ever-increasing
popularity of it shows needs to have more time in our busy life and saving this time
from the allotted time from cooking. The cooking machines help the housewives to
prepare the foods easily and they do not have to spend time in a hot kitchen to
prepare food. This is a leap towards a modern life where foods can be prepared
virtually anywhere and in few minutes.

In summary, the improved way of cooking helps people nowadays to save time and
cook in a more convenient place. This helps them to spend time on more important
things and lead a life without much hassle.

Most of the food items that were hard to prepare and restricted to experienced chefs are now easily
available off the shelf or are made easy to prepare with modern recipes. But like any other thing, this
also has its advantages and disadvantages.

Firstly, most of these foods are high in saturated fats and eventually leads to obesity. They cannot
become substitutes for our staple diet that is still not so easy to prepare due to nature of its cooking
methods. For example, for most of the Indians, the staple diet includes a combination of Indian bread,
pulses and curries. It is not possible to make it much easier even using modern equipment or
methods. Secondly, most of the easy to prepare food items either have a very little shelf life or they
need to be kept frozen (or both). Thus they cannot match the nutrition of freshly prepared traditional
home food.

Having said that, these easy to prepare food items are a boon to students or other people, who stay
away from home. They are definitely better than eating in restaurants or street food. Although not as
good as home food, they definitely purpose the purpose to get “home-like” food. Also, most of these
food items come with handy instructions and pre-mixed ingredients. With simple instructions, anybody
can cook most of the recipes now. This has life easier for many across the globe.

With the advent of easy availability of raw ingredients, it has not become much easier to cook recipes
at home that was previously possible to cherish only in high-end restaurants. For instance, the Italian
pasta, which requires many types of sauces, is now easy to prepare at home and all these sauces
are now just a call away from a local grocery shop.

In conclusion, this is a much welcomed and positive change and it has definitely improved our lives.

Over the past decade, the food industry had tremendous growth and improvements.
This, together with technological advancements, has made it much easier to prepare
food and cook at home.

Ready-made meals, which are bought frozen or canned form the shops, are the great
lifesaver for those who work since all that is needed is to defrost or open the can and
enjoy. Although this is a method of preserving all the goods, the freshly prepared food
is definitely better for health. Many of the vitamins and minerals may be lost during the
freezing or canning process.

Technology, on the other hand, has speeded up the food preparation process.
Kitchen aid tools such as electric choppers and grinders reduce the entire workload
and the food can be prepared in the blink of an eye. Not only it requires less effort
compared to the past, but it also saves time, which can be put to other tasks.

The other technological advancement that has helped with food preparation is
microwave ovens. This device benefits from short waves that can penetrate food
easily and thus cook or warm the food very quickly. In spite of being a huge
advancement and time and energy efficient, long-term studies and scientific evidence
are not supporting the use of such devices and they are being blamed for at least
minor risks if used on a long-term daily basis.

In conclusion, the process of food preparation has become much easier nowadays
and this has had both positive and negative effects on our lives. Every individual
should consider wisely how to prepare their food to ensure good health.

(Written by Narges Mahmoudi)

Model Answer 5:
Food is one of the fundamental needs of the people. People are slowly increasing passion
towards the taste of the food and some people are becoming crazy about the food. These people
always require different tastes and invent new and easy methods to prepare food. These new
inventions always change the lifestyle and let us discuss how it made the difference in our life.
Old is gold always. Certain people do not want to miss the raw taste and use the new machinery
like mixers or grinders. They want to prepare in old style without machinery and grasp the
complete taste of food. Still, my grandfather never uses machinery and enjoys the raw taste.

There is always another side of the coin. Nowadays, people are becoming busy and don't have
time to spend much for cooking food. So they started inventing new methods which made
cooking easy. People invented new types of machinery like gas stoves, induction stoves,
cookers, mixers and so on. All these inventions changed people's lifestyle. It saved people's time
and people started investing time in other activities. And these new inventions also produced
good taste and different varieties and caused a dramatic change in lifestyle. I always use all
possible machinery to prepare tasty food for my family. And especially in restaurants, chefs use
the latest technology to prepare tasty food and this has changed the lifestyle too. Nowadays
people can get food with whatever calories they want in their daily life

In conclusion, I prefer to prepare tasty food in easy methods using latest machinery.

(Written by Kumar)

Model Answer 6:
Compared with people in the past, we concern far less on the preparation of food today, thanks
to the development of agriculture and scientific technology. A fair amount of beneficial influence
is occurring to us consequently.
The first to be benefited are travellers. It has been much probable for one to carry out the plan of
a trip or expedition to remote areas. As a matter of fact, a diverse type of food are designed for
outdoor trips, for example, compressed biscuit. Without worrying about starving, a man can push
it to the limit wherever he would like to go -- Mount Everest or the South Pole.

For most common people, it has been realistic to put their energy mainly on other aspects, work
or interest, rather than what to have for meals. Some prefer working all the time in order to earn
as much money as they can. Others develop their interests or hobbies like sports, music
instruments, or photographing. Whatever people choose to spend time on, they feel their lives
are satisfying and fulfilling.

Attitude toward life matures as well. Humans are no longer bothered with the preparation of food.
Our focus now is to improve the standard of life: how to make things more effective? Thus,
numerous significant achievements have taken place recently in every subject. Sciences and
technologies, arts and humanities are swiftly striding forward and still accelerating. Therefore,
without concerning about food preparation, the pattern of human evolvement changes
fundamentally.

To conclude, the benefits to both individuals and the whole human race is clearly demonstrated.
And I believe that food preparation will account for even less in our lives in the future.

(Written by Jifang Zhang)

Model Answer 7:
Advancement in the technology, such as microwave oven and rice cooker, has provided efficient
options for cooking food. This has reduced the overall time required for cookery. Thus it is
believed that this has enhanced the lifestyle of the human being to a greater extent. In this essay,
we will analyse how these methods allow people to spend their spare time practising their
hobbies and provide healthy food options for the young people.
To begin with, availability of new methodologies have minimised the cooking period making it
possible for them to utilise this span for enjoying the skills of their interest. For instance, using
rice cooker usually takes half the time when compared to the conventional gas cooking. This
example clearly shows that the individuals who prefer this cooker will manage to get some extra
idle time for them. Thus, it is obvious that this moment can be efficiently used for improving their
expertise as well as for the relaxing purpose.

In addition, students can cook food for themselves with the aid of these advance innovations and
hence, they can feed on the healthy home-made food. A good illustration for this is the utilisation
of microwave by the bachelors who have to stay away from the family for study or work purpose.
Usage of this microwave enables them to cook food quickly since very few steps are involved in
microwave cooking and thereby, they do not need to depend on restaurants for food. As a
consequence, the health condition of these young people is maintained since they will intake less
amount of artificial food.

From the above examples, the benefits of easy methodologies for preparation of the culinary are
difficult to debunk. It is thus hoped that more development will take place in regards to cooking
which will ease the life of the masses in the foreseeable future.

(Written by Aqeela)

Model Answer 8:
Unlike earlier times, cooking as a process has become compact and facile today. Now the
question is, has this affected our lifestyle? Or is it unbiased? Gone are those days when mother
used to spend hours in a hot kitchen for cooking nutritious food for her family members. Fast food
being the buzzword of today, all find little or no time to cook for themselves and family. As a
result, processed or easy to cook foods flood the market these days. However, this has brought
some dramatic changes to the quality of our lifestyles, though with a few health concerns as
discussed below.
In this era of globalisation, where work and time dictate your day, seldom does one find time to
cook a full course lunch or dinner. Since both parents work urban world witness more and more
children thriving on fast foods like burger, sandwich etc. It is natural that parents are not getting
enough time to cook more ethnic food for them; instead, they work more to earn more, thus
improving their lifestyle. People find more time to spend with family than before. An
exemplification would be that of a busy office lady late from work, prepares easy cook meal for
dinner and prefers to spend time from the kitchen with children. The improvement in the system
would be a stronger family bonding! Likewise, a student finds these easy foods a real boon
during their hostel days when both time and skill to cook are scanty.

Travellers are another category who admires easy to prepare meals, like cooking during a picnic
or a business tour would be cumbersome. This also facilitates more family picnics and outing
together. A quick breakfast like an egg sandwich would be the best buy for a student on that
given exam day! So would be it for a working mother on an office meeting day! So it is a matter of
fact, that the new trend in food preparation has had an impact on our lifestyle. It has helped us to
improve our quality of life.

Now turning on the coin, do these fast foods or easy to cook meals pose a health threat? Many
studies show a steep climb in the number of cancerous patients in the United States in recent
years. One main factor considered responsible for this is the frozen and fast foods. The burgers
and sandwiches come with a hand full of issues that can deprive you health wise. A majority of
fast food is prepared in oil with saturated fats that can cause problems to your body systemic
circulation. Consumed on a daily basis, it can lead you to cardiac problems even.

To conclude I would say that though it comes with a few health concerns, easy to cook trend has
definitely improvised our quality of life. Now much depends on our conscientious to use fast
foods only when it is an absolute necessity- for example on a busy day at the office!

(Written by Vineeth)

Model Answer 9:
Essay Topic: Nowadays food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved the
way people live?

Give reasons for your answer using your own ideas and experience.
Model Answer:
Thanks to advancements in terms of cookery and food preservation, many people have an easy
access to foods now. It is an irrefutable fact that kitchen appliances have become more
sophisticated and they would ease the cookery process. In this essay, I attempt to give some
reasons why these considerable changes enhance individual's lifestyle.

Over the past decades, the prepared food has become a major intake in our diet. It unbelievably
has become popular among people, especially the youth. However, some have a controversial
perception of it. Fast foods would help people to save their time in cooking. Therefore, people
tend to dedicate their time to their occupational assignments. In fact, it could help employees to
have more spare time to acquire professional skills rather than just merely waste their precious
time to cook.

Another crucial aspect of advanced technology to provide a faster way to making foods is that
families have more time for recreational activities. For instance, if parents allocate a significant
amount of their time to upbringing the children, it can make a valuable impact on the children's
personalities. It is invariably thought that children's need to have a sufficient food is important, but
the most substantial matter is that they must be reassured that their parent' affection is true.
Thus, spending the massive amount of time for bringing up the children would justify this notion.

Finally, I must assert that, despite some debatable arguments against advanced cookery, it has
altered our lifestyle in a good way. In my opinion, critics of prepared food unfairly exaggerate the
drawbacks of this practice. it is important to be neutral about this and weigh up the benefits and
boons of fast food in an unbiased way.

(Written by - Amir Hosein)

Model Answer 10:

Food has always been a priority for the human species and they have continually invented ways
to produce more food, more recipes, preserve them and make them delicious and healthy. The
development of technology has brought advantages, improving the way we live in general, and
the way we prepare our meal. So that it has brought more efficiency to our life.

Food is the primary need for any species from the smallest (micro-species) to the tallest,
strongest and the most intelligent - the human. It is completely incomparable the ways we used
to prepare food centuries ago with that of the modern era. For example, the human race was
denominated by nomads, moving from places to places in search of food, while men had to hunt
animals for meat. All of these are no longer applicable in the modern society. However, if we
compare food preparation and preservation with that of a few decades earlier, we are few miles
ahead of them.

Our needs to invest less time in cooking and more time for professional and family needs have
been possible because we have modern devices like the burner, microwave oven, rice cooker,
pressure cooker, electric heater, refrigerator and so on. With the help of the internet, anyone
these days can be a cook and prepare meal native to other countries. The advancement of
technology has brought a huge range of devices and many of them have eliminated the need for
a long and complex process to prepare a food or drinks. For instance, a coffee maker enables
anyone to enjoy a cup of coffee any time he wishes. With those appliances, we have more time
to relieve our daily stress, meet friends, do exercises or works, concentrate on our hobbies and
so on. We must thank the technology for a richer and easier life.

Some disadvantages of this trend are pointed out by a group of people and those demerits
should not be overlooked. Modern devices have negative environmental impacts and health
hazards to an extent.

To conclude, taking references from history, the way our century-old ancestors lived in the past,
our life transformed greatly due to the advancement of technology, especially in food-making
process. The human species has now more time to dedicate to useful activities.

Enviromental
Nowadays environmental problems are too big to be managed by individual persons or individual
countries. In other words, it is an international problem. To what extent do you agree or
disagree?

An essential problem of the 21st century is world pollution. Currently the environment is so
contaminated that urgent measures should be taken. A single individual cannot be blamed
for the world pollution, however every person should take care of his or her habitat. In
addition, it is vital that environmental issues are treated internationally.

Lately, many presentations, conferences and international summits are held to deal with
waste treatment, recycling, and soil and water contamination. For sure joint efforts and
consolidation can only help in the mutual war towards the ongoing environmental disaster.
For instance, governments should offer support to companies and organizations, involved in
manufacturing, industry or agriculture in order to find environment-friendly approaches.
These could be special law regulations, recycling programs, helping courses in order to
implement ISO certificates and many more.

However, the influence of individuals over environment should not be ignored. If we do

not confess that our planet is our home, we will never be able to take adequately care of it.
We have to contribute every day to the preservation of nature and environment. For example,
always remember to save energy by switching off lamps, computers and everything that we
do not use. Our next obligation is to separate waste and throw bulk only in the designated
areas. Driving vehicles can also be environment friendly. For example, we have to avoid
accelerating the engines too rapidly or using the air conditioning in the country, where it
would be better to save energy and simply open the windows.

To sum up, environmental problems should be handled by local and international authorities
as well as individuals. Every single person should take care of the environment, moreover we
have to bring up our children to be conscious citizens of a clean and preserved planet.

In many countries the proportion of older people is steadily increasing. What problems will this
cause for individuals and society? Suggest some measures that could be taken to reduce the
impact of ageing populations.

It is true that nowadays people in industrialised nations can expect to live longer than ever before. Although
there will undoubtedly be some negative consequences to this trend, societies can take steps to mitigate
these potential problems.

As people live longer and the populations of developed countries grow older, several related problems can
be anticipated. The main issue is that there will obviously be more people of retirement age who will be
eligible to receive a pension. The proportion of younger, working adults will be smaller, and governments
will therefore receive less money in taxes in relation to the size of the population. In other words, an ageing
population will mean a greater tax burden ofworking adults. Further pressures will include a rise in the
demand for healthcare, and the fact young adults will increasingly have to look after their elderly relatives.

There are several actions that governments could take to solve the problems described above. Firstly, a
simple solution would be to increase the retirement age for working adults, perhaps from 65 to 70.
Nowadays, people of this age tend to be healthy enough to continue a productive working life. A second
measure would be for governments to encourage immigration in order to increase the number of working
adults who pay taxes. Finally, money from national budgets will need to be taken from other areas and
spent forvital healthcare, accommodation and transport facilities for the rising numbers of senior citizens.

In conclusion, various measures can be taken to tackle the problems that are certain to arise as the
populations of countries grow older.

This essay covers the task requirements, however some problems of aging population get only a
brief mention. The linking of sentences in the second body paragraph is somewhat ‘mechanical’
and could have been improved. Information sequencing and organisation in paragraphs are done
well. The range of vocabulary and the fluency of its use, as well as lack of errors are impressive.
Overall, this is a good example of how to get Band 8 without writing a very long essay.
Many people believe that international tourism is a bad thing for their countries. What are the
reasons for this? What can be done to change this negative attitude towards international
tourism?

Many individuals think that foreign tourism brings negative effects to their countries. There are several
reasons for such negative attitude towards international travelers. However, a couple of solutions could be
adopted to handle this situation, as will now be discussed.

International tourists are often criticized for their contribution to the environmental degradation. It has
continuously been noticed that they throw rubbish in their surroundings irresponsibly, which increases the
amount of litter everywhere, despite all attempts to reduce waste produced by the local community. This
contributes to water, air and soil contamination.

Furthermore, foreign tourism has a harmful influence on traditional customs and indigenous practices of
host countries because many tourists are careless and insensitive about the emotions and feelings of local
residents. For instance, in India, some foreign travelers wear inappropriate clothes or expose too much of
skin when they visit sacred places, which leads to some negative attitude and irritation inthe local public.

However, this situation can be improved adopting different solutions which could be handled by the
government. The government should explain the benefits of international tourism which contributes to the
development of local residents. They not only spend money in shops and restaurants but also create jobs in
service industries, and this aspect could be publicized. Additionally, the government should increase the
awareness among the foreigners through different media such as roadside billboards and advertisements,
and tourists should be encouraged to get rid of rubbish correctly.

In conclusion, the inhospitable feeling that the local people have for international tourists can be explained
in many ways. However, in my opinion, the government’s involvement is essential to change the negative
attitude by citing various advantages of international tourism to their country and raising awareness among
tourists in order to protect local habitats.

This essay covers the entire task topic by exploring both reasons for negative attitude towards
international tourism and some possible actions to change it. The writer explains why locals may
resent international tourists and suggests what steps can be taken to transform the way people
feel about foreigners in their country. The information is well-organised by the use of
paragraphing, and the writer moves from one idea to the next effortlessly, with the help of
linking words. A wide range of vocabulary is used, including less common words such as
“degradation”,”inhospitable”, “habitat”, “awareness” and “sacred”. Instances of inaccurate word
choice are rare, and even these slips don’t cause difficulty for the reader. Overall, this looks like
a Band 8 essay.

Today people are surrounded by advertising. This affects what people think is important and has
a negative impact on people’s lives. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

With the advent of the Internet, advertisements, originally displayed only on TV, billboards, posters and so
on, are becoming increasingly ubiquitous and commonplace for the general public. In my view, this kind of
impact could be both crucial and, on a certain level, detrimental.

On the one hand, this phenomenon could denote that although we have already had a diverse range
of advertisement, people are still capable of inventing innovative approaches catering for all kinds of
requirements of advertising. It is a symbol that demonstrates the creativity rooted in human beings. Apart
from that, it also represents that the speed of spreading information is conspicuously escalating. More
purposeful is, therefore, the fact that, besides booming of the advertising, it constitutes a major reason why
people could be so prosperous in this digital age.

On the other hand, there are various unpleasant consequences as well. Firstly, with the
omnipresent advertisement, it could potentially cause people to do impulsive shopping. Secondly,
the advertisement, if regulated in a mismanaged method, could make people constantly feel uncomfortable
or annoyed. In this sense, instead of being an instrumental tool to promote amenities, advertisements could
be considered a hindrance when people are frequently blocked by them. Furthermore, it would cost one
precious time to have to sift the helpful ad from a host of others.

In conclusion, as far as I am concerned, advertising is a beneficial phenomenon for all with a number of
insignificant drawbacks. I believe that in the future we can improve the way advertising is done at present,
and embrace the positive influence of advertising even further in the long run.

This essay is another example of what Band 8 writing may look like. It’s weak point is that the
author goes slightly off-topic while trying to discuss whether advertising affects what people
view as important and instead talks about the reason advertising is spreading and about human
creativity. However, the other part of task type (negative effects of advertising) is covered well,
the ideas are well-developed and supported. There is a clear logical flow of information and a
range of transitional words is used appropriately to sequence ideas. The way author uses
synonyms to rephrase the task topic in the intro paragraph demonstrates their lexical skill, which
is also evident in other parts of this essay. There are many complex sentences and very few
errors. Overall, this essay seems worthy of IELTS Band 8.0.

When a country develops its technology, the traditional skills and ways of life die out. It is
pointless to try and keep them alive.To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Nowadays, technological advances and their rapid and wide applications are having a significant impact on a
nation’s traditional skills and ways of life. Some argue that such impact is so extraordinary that it would
make conventional skills and life stylesobsolete. However, I believe they would continue to thrive by
providing alternatives to modern ways of life, and innovative ideas for modern technologies.

First of all, traditional skills and ways of life are becoming an alternative solution to the problems caused by
“mainstreamed” ways of life which are greatly influenced by modern technologies. For instance, a cozy
restaurant where traditional, home-brewed beer is served, offers another experience to people who are
bored with branded beers that have the same flavor and come out of mass production with new
technologies. It is in such a venue where traditional skills are preserved, people become relaxed and
educated. Providing diversity and thus enriching modern ways of life, such traditional skills and ways of life
would continue to have their place

Furthermore, conventional skills provide innovative ideas to the development of modern technologies. For
example, sparkled by how the word “Love” is traditionally knitted into a sweater by some ethnic minority
women in some parts of Asia, some business managers from textile industry have developed some
production lines by applying the traditional skills to Computer-Aided Designs (CAD). The products have
boosted the companies’ sales which in turn have increased their investment in preserving traditional skills
for further developing their technologies.

To conclude, traditional skills and life styles are increasingly becoming a useful alternative to the
homogeneity brought by global applications of modern technologies. However, the evolution of technologies
is a selection process, whereby some would become obsolete, but there is no doubt that some would thrive
when their roles are appreciated.

This is a good essay. The requirements of the task statement are covered, the arguments make
sense and are presented in a coherent, easy to follow way, the range of vocabulary is wide
enough and the writer shows fluency and flexibility. There are only a few errors (mouse over the
words underlined in blue shows suggested corrections). Overall this looks like an IELTS Band 8
essay.