Task Types

Structure
Advantages and disadvantages essay
1. Advantages and disadvantages
§ What are the advantages and disadvantages?
§ Do the advantages outweigh?
2. Problems and solutions
§ Problems and solutions
§ Causes and solutions
§ causes and effects
3. Opinion essay
§ Do you agree or disagree?
§ To what extent do you agree?
4. Discussion essay
§ Discuss both views and give your opinion
5. Double question
§ Do …? Why/What …?
 Structure
1. Paraphrase the statement
Introduction 2. Thesis – I believe that …
3. Outline – This essay will …

1. Topic sentence
2. Explain
Body 1 3. Example
4. Result

1. Topic sentence
2. Explain
Body 2
3. Example
4. Result

1. Paraphrase topic sentences of

Conclusion B1 and B2
2. Your opinion
 1st type 2nd type
What are the Advantages and Are there more advantages than
disadvantages? disadvantages?
Do Advantages outweigh disadvantages?

Introduction Introduction
1. Paraphrase the prompt 1. Paraphrase the prompt
2. Outline Sentence 2. Thesis (state which one outweighs the other)
3. Outline Sentence
Main BODY PART 1 (advantage)
1. State the advantage Main BODY PART 1 (stronger side)
2. Explain 1. State 2-3 strong points
3. Example to support your view 2. Explain
3. Example to support your view
Main BODY PART 2 (disadvantage)
1. State the disadvantage Main BODY PART 2 (weaker side)
2. Explain 1. State 1-2 weak points
3. Example to support your view 2. Explain
3. Example to support your view
Conclusion 4. Explain why it is not strong
1. Summary of main points
2. State Your Opinion if asked Conclusion
1. Summary of main points
2. Restate your position
The introduction of your essay is your first chance to show the examiner how good your writing is.
Make sure you practise writing introductions, and that you can use the correct tenses and a
range of phrases.

Read this introduction and choose the correct options.

Over the last few years, it 1 is becoming / has become more common for people
to take a year out to live or study abroad . Today, graduates often 2 consider /
are considering the chance to spend an extended period of time overseas as an
attractive one, and more and more people 3 choose / are choosing to take this
opportunity. In this essay, I will look at the main advantages and disadvantages
of the situation.
Look at these examples, then match them with their use.
1. The number of teachers has gone down a. To talk about general statements and
in the last decade. facts
2. These days, many young people take a b. To talk about recent changes
break before going to university. c. To talk about things which are
3. The cost of living in big cities is rising all changing right now
the time.
Complete these typical sentences for introductions using the
verbs in brackets in the correct tense.
1. It is clear that running a business is becoming (become) more
popular.
2. Most people …………… (say) that they ……………..(eat) too
much unhealthy food.
3. There is no doubt that house prices ………………. (rise) all the
time.
4. In the last decade, the number of people taking a gap year
…………….. (rise) sharply.
5. Recently, it …………. (become) evident that obesity rates are
a serious problem, affecting both adults and children.
6. These days, governments and the public alike are very aware
that the issue of obesity ……………….. (need) to be tackled
urgently.
7. Nowadays, fewer people ……………. (have) a healthy diet
and ……………. (exercise) often.
 time expressions useful phrases

Over the last few years ... + It is clear that …

present perfect ... is becoming more popular.
In the last decade … + It has become less common
present perfect for people to …
Today + present simple People often consider …
Present continuous + all the The situation is becoming
time worse and worse.
Recently + present perfect There is no doubt that …
Nowadays / These days + Most people say …
present simple It has become evident that …
§ From personal perspective, ... does have some demerits,
but those are negligible compared to the advantages it
brings to our lives.
§ It seems that despite the positive aspects of this
development, the negative effects are more apparent.
§ Despite the benefits of these ..., there are some notable
drawbacks that should be considered.
§ I strongly agree that positives of this development outweigh
the negatives.
§ There may be several disadvantages to this topic; however,
I believe that there are far more advantages.
§ I suppose that the benefits of this significantly overshadow
its drawbacks.
§ … , thus the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
synonyms for • Positive and negative sides
advantages and • pros and cons
disadvantages • strengths and weaknesses/shortcomings
• desirable and undesirable effects/aspects
• benefits and drawbacks
• upsides and downsides
• beneficial and detrimental effects/points

outline sentence • This essay will address positive and negative aspects
of the given topic and will then present a logical
conclusion.
• In this essay, I shall draw upon a number of studies in
... and ... that reveal the positive and negative
aspects of this phenomenon.
• In this essay, I will discuss the (main advantages)
followed by analysis of the (main disadvantages of
this using examples of ... and .... )
§ Many elderly people are no longer looked after
by their families but are put in care homes or
nursing homes. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of this trend?
§ Itis often considered that change is more
beneficial to people than trying to avoid it and
have everything remain the same. Do you think
the advantages of change outweigh the
disadvantages?
§ Space exploration costs tax payers an exorbitant
amount of money each year. What are the
advantages and disadvantages of spending
money on space exploration?
 When you write, you always need to think about the reader (when you take the IELTS
examination, this will be the examiner). That means you need to introduce your ideas clearly.
To do this, you need to practise writing clear topic sentences. Topic sentences help the
reader to follow the plan of your essay. They are like signposts for a driver.

Unjumble these useful chunks of language for writing clear topic sentences.
1. by / overseas / let's / advantages / looking / start / the / of / travelling / at

2. is / the / abroad / one / main / of / of / moving / positives

3. advantage / overseas / of / living / is / another

4. to / of / the / turning / side / other / argument / the

5. moving / one / of / disadvantages / home / of / away / the / from / biggest /

is

6. that/ another / be / drawback / is / it / can / major

§ One of the main advantages of having a car is …

§ One of the best things about changing your career is …
§ On the other hand, living in a large city …
§ Beginning with the positive aspects ...
§ The principal advantages are ...
§ The positive (good/plus) points include …

§ The positive aspects of … are …

§ The first advantage of “this” is …

§ There are many advantages to … and one of them is…

§ Another positive aspect is …

§ Another benefit is …
§ Another advantage is …
§ An argument in favour of +gerund (-ing ending)…
§ On the flip side, it does have some negative aspects.
§ Nevertheless, there are some highly undesirable effects of this
situation.

§ The first disadvantage of … is …..

§ There are many negative aspects and one of them is…
§ The drawbacks of «this» are…
§ The negative (minus) points include…
§ Another disadvantage is …
§ One of the major disadvantages is the fact that….
§ A negative consequence (effect) of … is …
§ A downside of … is …
§ A frequent criticism of … is…
§ An argument against «this» is…
At the end of any type of essay in the IELTS exam, you need to write a short conclusion.
The important thing to remember is there are no right or wrong conclusions, and the
examiner will not make any judgements about your opinions, so write freely and clearly.

§ Look at the conclusion below

All things considered, starting life in a foreign country is never easy. You
need to weigh up the pros of the better lifestyle, weather and so on,
and the cons of culture shock and language barrier. Personally, I believe
the benefits in terms of personal growth eventually outweigh any
negatives.
§ Now read another possible conclusion for the same essay.
In conclusion, there are clearly both positives and negatives to spending
an extended period of time overseas. While going abroad can be a
great experience and lead to a better lifestyle, for many people there
are too many differences to cope with. In my opinion, if you go with the
right attitude, moving overseas should be an absolutely unforgettable
experience.

A good conclusion generally consists of:

1. a general, one-sentence summary
2. a focused summary of the main points – avoiding repetition of vocabulary
3. your opinion
Bearing in mind points 1-3 the rule, rewrite this conclusion in the correct
order.
§ However, it can also be very difficult to cope with new culture and
language.
§ In my view, having the chance to see life in another country can open
up lots of exciting new experiences.
§ It is important to be happy wherever you are, as the grass is not always
greener on the other side.
§ To sum up, living abroad is a challenging experience with both ups
and downs.

§ Look at the three conclusions in Exercises 1 and 2 and

complete this table with any useful pieces of language.

Introducing a conclusion Expressing opinion Linking devices

All things considered,

A lot of places in the world rely on tourism as a main source of
income. Unfortunately, tourism can also be a source of problems if it
is not managed correctly.
§ Describe the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in the
modern world.
§ Do you think that benefits of tourism outweigh its drawbacks?

Advantages Disadvantages

• boost in country’s economy due • destruction of popular tourist

to increased spending destinations by large numbers of
• new job opening for local tourists
people • development of illegal economic
• opportunities to discover new activities
places for individual travelers • local people can experience loss
of privacy
Nowadays tourism generates a significant portion of national income for
many countries, but it has certain drawbacks too. From personal perspective,
tourism does have some demerits, but those are negligible compared to the
advantages it brings to our lives. This essay will examine the advantages and
disadvantages of tourism before providing a logical conclusion.
The two main advantages of developed tourism industry are boost in
country’s economy and a large number of new job openings for the local
people. Firstly, tourists spend money on a wide range of services, including
hotels, amusements, transportation, food and medical services. This way,
tourism yields an additional income, greatly supporting the country’s
economy. Secondly, tourism increases the level of employment by bringing
new jobs. For instance, the influx of tourists results in a larger demand in
restaurant workers, tour guides, hotel staff and employees of retail services,
exhorting business owners to hire more people for these positions.
But tourism also has some major disadvantages like destruction of popular
tourist destinations and development of illegal economic activities. Ancient
buildings, temples and monuments struggle to cope with a vast amount of
visitor’s traffic and get damaged. Also, the large number of tourists can cause
environmental problems. For instance, when places of interest are
overcrowded, natural resources often become overexploited. What’s more,
the presence of a considerable number of tourists with a lot of money to
spend, and often carrying valuables such as cameras and jewelry, increases
the attraction for criminals and brings with it activities like robbery and drug
dealing. However, proper hospitality management and correct usage of
tourism revenue by the local government can eliminate these disadvantages.
To conclude, although tourism can have certain negative effects like
destructive impact and growth of crime rate, it has an extremely positive
influence on country’s economy and provides a large number of new jobs for
the local people. I believe that these benefits of tourism outweigh its
drawbacks.
Good academic writers are careful that they don`t make statements which
are too general. This is important in a piece of academic writing.

1. Complete these sentences using the model essay.

§ This can make you more rounded as a person.
§ Secondly, moving abroad …………….. lead to a better quality
of life.
§ …, which …………….. improve promotion prospects on your
return.
§ This …………….. leads to homesickness …
§ Another issue is that it …………….. …………….. difficult to start a
new life from scratch.
§ This process takes time and …………….. especially challenging
if ...
2. Rewrite these sentences so that they sound less general.
§ It is difficult to find a job when you are in a foreign country.
§ Children copy the behaviour of their parents.
§ Working from home makes it difficult to build good relationships
with your colleagues.
§ Learning a language gets harder with age.
§ Young people turn to crime because of the lack of
employment opportunities in their area.
We also use certain expressions to avoid making generalizations.
In many cases / the majority of cases, it is extremely difficult at first to integrate in a new society.
Generally speaking, moving abroad is a very difficult thing to do.
For many, the language barrier is a major problem. (= for a lot of people but not everyone)
In the examples above, has the writer used modal verbs to avoid generalizations? Why? / Why
not?

Rewrite three of the sentences from Exercise 2, using the expressions in the box
above.
Example: 1 For many, it is difficult to find a job when you are in a foreign country.
Complete these sentences with your own ideas.
1. Generally speaking, living in the city …
2. In the majority of cases, if you work hard, …
3. Generally speaking, developing countries ...
4. In many cases, people who are aged 50 and over...
5. For many, learning a new language
Write a paragraph on one of these topics. Talk about the positive and the negative
aspects. Use the expressions and grammar you have studied in this section.
• public transport • marriage • living on your own • moving house
• being a student • teenagers • politicians • exams
Example: Generally speaking, getting married is one of the most significant
experiences in a person's life. It can be difficult at times, but you could say the same
for anything that is worth doing. Sadly, in many cases, marriage ends in divorce. This is
often because the couple got married at a young age.
A useful way to link ideas in your writing is by using in spite of and despite. After in spite of or
despite, we use:
1. a noun (e.g. the weather) 2. a pronoun (e.g. this/that/these/his) 3. (not) verb + -ing (e.g.
having, being)

1. Match these examples (1-3) to the rules in the box above (a-c).
1. Working from home is becoming increasingly popular, despite having several major
disadvantages.
2. In spite of these problems, many people still choose to work at home.
3. Despite the distractions, many people still choose to work at home.
2. Rewrite the ideas in these sentences using despite or in spite of as indicated in brackets.
1. Millions of people work in the comfort of their home. However, they are not very productive.
(despite)Despite not being very productive, millions of people work in the comfort of their own
home.
2. Although rush-hour traffic around London is awful, hundreds of thousands of workers commute on
a daily basis. (in spite of)
3. There are many clear advantages to using email for business communication. However, it often
leads to breakdowns in communication. (despite)
4. Although using email can cause breakdowns in communication, it is still used widely in business.
(in spite of)
3. Rewrite the sentences in Exercise 1 using although and however. How is it different from the use of
despite / in spite of?
You can also use despite the fact that / in spite of the fact that + subject + verb (clause)
Despite the fact that working from home has several disadvantages, it is becoming increasingly popular.
In spite of the fact that technology is improving, working away from the office still has its problems.
Many people prefer to use public transportation while others say that personal cars
are the best mode of transportation. Excessive use of private cars is considered to be
the main reason for the traffic jam in many cities and that's why the use of public
transportation is encouraged.
What are the pros and cons of using public transport?

Children nowadays watch significantly more television than in the past, which reduces
their activity levels accordingly.
What are the advantages and disadvantages for children of watching television?

These days, people work in more than one job, and often change career several times
during their life.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?