BỘ BÀI MẪU CỦA THẦY DOMINIC COLE (www.dcielts.

com) Phần 3 – Gồm 5 bài

Chắc hẳn các bạn đều đã từng biết về “thánh IELTS” Dominic Cole, chủ nhân của website dcielts. Nếu
như Simon IELTS tập trung chủ yếu vào khán giả ở mức “trung bình” (nghĩa là band 6-7), thì thầy
Dominic Cole có độc giả là những bạn ở mức nhỉnh hơn, và đặc biệt thầy được “recommend” rộng rãi
bởi những giáo viên uy tín, thầy cô là examiners. Có examiner còn từng nói với mình là “every word
Dominic says about IELTS is golden”.
Nếu chịu khó tìm tòi một chút, bạn sẽ thấy tất trên Internet cả các bài mẫu của thầy Dominic Cole mà
mình tổng hợp tại đây. Những bài mẫu này đều ở tầm band 9 và đã giúp hàng chục nghìn bạn học IELTS
ở nước ngoài (hơi đáng buồn một chút là thầy Dominic Cole không thực sự nổi tiếng ở Việt Nam).
Trong quãng thời gian năm 2016, mình cũng đã giới thiệu các bài viết dưới đây tới hơn 70 bạn học sinh
lớp mình và phản hồi của các bạn đều rất tích cực, vì những bài viết này giúp các bạn học không chỉ về
cách diễn đạt trôi chảy của người bản xứ, mà còn về cấu trúc bài tối ưu để trả lời câu hỏi đề bài.
Trước khi đọc bài mẫu, các bạn hãy thử đọc và “brainstorm” trước câu trả lời cho các đề thi dưới đây
nhé! Chúc các bạn học tốt.
Tu Pham, Head teacher at www.ippielts.com
Để xem các đề 1-15, các bạn vui lòng tìm đọc Phần 1 và Phần 2 của Bộ bài mẫu này.

16. Nowadays the way many people interact
with each other has changed because of
technology.
In what ways has technology affected
personal relationships? Has this become
a positive or negative development?
17. Television has had a significant
influence on the culture of many
societies.
To what extent would you say that
television has positively or negatively
affected the cultural development of your
society?

18. In many countries people working in 19. Consumers are faced with increasing
sport and entertainment earn much more numbers of advertisements from
money than professionals like doctors, competing companies.
nurses and teachers. To what extent do you think are
Why do you think this happens in some consumers influenced by
societies and do you consider it is good advertisements? What measures can be
or bad? taken to protect them?

20. In cities and towns all over the world the

high volume of traffic is a problem.
What are the causes of this and what
actions can be taken to solve this
problem?

1
Đề 16

Nowadays the way many people interact with each other has changed because of technology.
In what ways has technology affected personal relationships? Has this become a positive or negative
development?

Advances in technology have without doubt influenced the way we communicate with each other in a
number of different ways. While some of this change can have a negative influence on the way we
interact, my view is that overall modern technology typically improves communication in personal
relationships.

It is clear that technology has changed the way we communicate in several respects. Perhaps the clearest
example of this is that nowadays many people prefer to keep in touch to their friends and relatives using
applications and social networking sites like FaceTime, Skype and Facebook. Another way this change
is evident is how the email and texting have almost completely replaced the letter as the primary form
of written communication. Because these modern forms of communication are typically much more
convenient and instant, one result is that we can communicate more easily with people who we do not
see on a daily basis.

I would argue that these innovations have mostly improved personal relationships. The principal benefit
is that it just so much easier to stay in touch with people we might otherwise lose contact with. It is for
example now very straightforward to keep in contact with friends from university who move to different
cities after they graduate and this means relationships last longer. The only real drawback is that
sometimes people become so addicted to their online social networks that they stop communicating
with friends in the real world. That, however, is a minor issue.

My conclusion is therefore that new forms technological communication have in fact largely improved
human interaction because emails, texting and social networks enable us to maintain friendships which
might otherwise be lost.

(278 words – Dominic Cole)

2
Đề 17

Television has had a significant influence on the culture of many societies.

To what extent would you say that television has positively or negatively affected the cultural
development of your society?

It is unarguable that television has had a considerable impact and changed the world in which we live.
However, there is debate whether that change has been for the better or the worse, when we consider
cultural development. While there are certainly strong feelings on both sides of the argument in Western
Europe, my own view is that television has had a largely positive influence on our society.

There are, however, several reasons why it can be argued that television has a negative effect on cultural
development. Perhaps the principle argument is the lowbrow nature of many programmes, particularly
sitcoms and soap operas. People who watch these programmes do not learn anything, they are simply
entertained. The other major argument is that because people watch so much television, they no longer
take part in more traditional forms of cultural entertainment. An example here is how traditional dancing
and music is becoming much less popular because people are staying at home to watch the television.

On the other hand, there are a variety of ways in which cultural development has been assisted by
television. Here the major argument is that television has allowed the whole of society access to cultural
entertainment. For example, in the nineteenth century only a small proportion of people could go to the
ballet or the theatre. However, it is now possible for everyone to enjoy these on television. A second
positive effect is that on television we can learn more about other cultures and societies because there
are so many interesting documentaries about other countries.

My personal conclusion is that television is a largely positive influence. However, it is important that
we do not watch it too much and that we watch the right sort of programme. If we watch the wrong sort
of programme and watch too much television, we may become couch potatoes.

(309 words – Dominic Cole)

3
Đề 18

In many countries people working in sport and entertainment earn much more money than
professionals like doctors, nurses and teachers.
Why do you think this happens in some societies and do you consider it is good or bad?

It is undoubtedly true that there is often a major imbalance between the salaries of the professional
classes and celebrities from the worlds of sport and entertainment. At first sight, this seems unjust, but
on closer analysis it is easy to understand why it happens and see that it is almost inevitable.

It does often seem wrong that certain people should earn so much money when their only talent is to
entertain. While giving pleasure is important, people in the medical and educational professions have
far more important roles in society. For example, a surgeon can save your life in the operating theatre
and a teacher can prepare you for your career. Indeed, because both doctors and teachers are so vital to
any society, it would seem only right that they receive the largest financial rewards.

When, however, we look to see who earns the most, we discover that it is typically sports and
entertainment personalities. There are a variety of reasons why this should be. Firstly, we live in the
age of mass media: these people earn so much because they are national or even global stars and get
rewarded through endorsements and other sources of income. Secondly, these stars are unique in a way
doctors and teachers are not, often they can do what no one else can. Finally, sometimes these stars may
have short careers in comparison with other professions. For instance, while doctors can work until they
are 65, footballers normally retire in their early 30s.

I personally believe that in the ideal world someone’s income would relate to their value to society.
However, in the modern world, it is almost unavoidable the famous will have the highest incomes
because of their media exposure.

(288 words - Dominic Cole)

4
Đề 19

Consumers are faced with increasing numbers of advertisements from competing companies.
To what extent do you think are consumers influenced by advertisements? What measures can be
taken to protect them?

In today’s material world, we are inundated with various forms of advertising. In my view, this can be
dangerous as it encourages us to spend without thinking and young people, in particular, need some
protection from it.

The first point to make is that advertising does make us spend money we do not need to. There are
nowadays so many different ways companies promote their products and services, ranging from
television commercials to simple flyers that we cannot escape it. If, for example, you watch a football
match on television, you will see the logos of the tournament sponsors. Likewise, if you watch the latest
blockbuster movie, very probably you will see a product placed in the film by some advertising agency.
The volume of this advertising means that we, as consumers, tend to be profoundly influenced by it and
buy without thinking.

It is not easy to decide how to regulate advertising. Clearly, governments ought to restrict
advertisements for harmful products such as alcohol and tobacco. They do not have the power, however,
to control other forms of advertising. This means we need to use our common sense when we go to the
shops, and ask ourselves whether we really need to make that purchase. Parents should, however, ensure
that young people are protected from too much exposure to advertising. This can mean simply
explaining that it is not in fact necessary to buy the newest Xbox, or simply turning the television off.

My conclusion is that while we cannot escape advertising or its effects in the modern world, children
should be encouraged not to pay too much attention to it.

(272 words – Dominic Cole)

5
Đề 20

In cities and towns all over the world the high volume of traffic is a problem.
What are the causes of this and what actions can be taken to solve this problem?

It is undoubtedly the case that urban areas around the world increasingly suffer from congestion. In this
essay, I examine the reasons for this trend and suggest some practical policies the authorities could
implement to reduce the level of traffic in our cities.

The first step is to understand why traffic has increased in towns and cities. Broadly speaking, there are
three main reasons for this. One is that cars have become more affordable for the average consumer and
they are no longer a luxury item, but something that most families expect to own. A second reason is
that public transport has become increasingly unreliable in recent years, not least because many bus and
train services have been reduced because of the difficulty in funding them. The third reason is that
society has in general become more mobile and this means more people are prepared to commute to
work by car than they were before.

There is almost certainly no one solution to this problem given the complexity of its causes. However,
one option has to be to improve the reliability of public transport to encourage people to take the bus or
the train rather than get in the car. It would also be possible to discourage people from driving to work
by introducing special tariffs for using the roads, especially during peak periods. A successful example
of this is the congestion charge scheme in London which has certainly reduced the level of traffic in
inner-city areas.

In conclusion, there are a variety of different factors that have led to rising levels of traffic in urban
areas. While it may not be possible to find a complete solution, any action should probably involve
encouraging greater use of public transport and making it more expensive for the motorist to drive in
urban areas.

(302 words – Dominic Cole)