11/11/2017

The diagram below shows the changes of a village in 1995 and now.

Report Plan:

 Paraphrase: diagram>maps; show>illustrate; in 1995 and now>comparing

1995 with the present.
 Summary paragraph: (1) farmland and a forest park (1995) are now a golf
course and tennis courts (2) the fish market is now apartments and the
fishing port has disappeared
 Paragraph 3: (1) there is more housing along the road going north (2) there
are new apartments along the sea front (3) a restaurant has replaced the
shops
 Paragraph 4: (1) a car park has been added to the hotel since 1995 (2)
farmland and a forest park in 1995 is now a sports leisure complex.
Report:

The maps illustrate the changes which have taken place in a village, comparing
1995 with the present.

Overall, it is clear that the farmland and forest park have now been replaced by a
golf course and tennis facilities. The old fishing port and fish market have given
way to apartments on the sea front.

More housing now lines the main road which runs north from the sea front, with
the additional opening of a new road branching off to the west. New apartments
along the sea front provide extra accommodation, on the site of the fish market in
1995. The fishing port which existed in 1995 has disappeared completely. On the
opposite side of the road to the new apartments, a restaurant has taken the place
of the shops.

Along the sea front the café still exists, but a car park has been added to the hotel
since 1995. However, the most striking development is in the eastern area, which
was farmland and a forest park in 1995. This has been turned into a sports leisure
complex for golf and tennis.

181 words
TASK 2

People in many countries have to spend more and more time away from
their home. Why is this? What are the effects on people themselves and
their families?

Essay Plan:

 Agree with the statement. Some reasons can be given, and the effects on
individuals and their families are mostly negative.
 Paragraph 2. Two reasons: (1) men have to leave home to find work to
support their family (2) more working mothers – women work to try to
have a better standard of living
 Paragraph 3. Effects: (1) men often have to endure bad working
conditions, and lose contact with their families (2) women who go out to
work have less influence on the way their children grow up.
 Conclusion: there are some important reasons for this trend and there
are serious consequences.

Essay:

It is true that in many countries a feature of modern life is that people tend to
spend more time away from home. While some reasons can be identified to
explain this trend, the effects on individuals and their families must be considered
as largely negative.

There are two very important factors that influence many people to be away from
home for longer. Firstly, contemporary economic realities have transformed
men’s working lives. One inevitable consequence of the new global economy is
the disappearance of traditional ways of life, so that individuals now have to
seek far and wide to find work to support their family or to improve their job
prospects. Secondly, in the search for a better standard of living, women are
abandoning traditional patterns of behaviour, so that dual-income families and
working mothers are becoming the norm. The family in which the mother stayed
at home to look after the children is incompatible with modern aspirations for a
better lifestyle, which can only be achieved by working longer hours.
Both factors have important consequences for individuals and their families. Men
who move away to work in another city, or even another country, often become
economic migrants, labouring for a minimum wage or being forced to accept
conditions of sweated labour. Although they may work to send money home to
their families, like many guest workers in the UK or Germany, the ties of kinship
with their families are weakened. Women who go out to work full-time have less
influence in shaping their children’s personality during a child’s formative years.
As a result, children may develop behavioural problems in the future.

In conclusion, some reasons for this trend can readily be identified, and the
consequences are far-reaching for individuals and their families.

293 words

Vocabulary:

Traditional versus modern:

 an inevitable consequence

Meaning: certain to happen and unable to be avoided or prevented

Example: Some people suppose that the loss of traditional cultures is an inevitable
consequence of technological development.

 the disappearance of traditional ways of life

Meaning: the fact that traditional ways no longer exist

Example: The advances in technology that have driven industrialisation in developed
countries have certainly contributed to the disappearance of traditional ways of life.

 to be incompatible with

Meaning: not able to exist or work with another person or thing because of basic
differences
Example: The way of life of indigenous peoples is incompatible with modern cultures.
Family and children:

 to support a family

Meaning: to have enough money to be able to look after a family

Example: Young people often delay marriage because they do not earn enough money
to support a family.

 patterns of behaviour

Meaning: ways of acting and doing things (either positive or negative)

Example: Patterns of behaviour copied from parents often influence the way that
children grow up.

 a dual-income family

Meaning: a family where both the father and mother work

Example: Changes in society have resulted in the dual-income family becoming the
most common family type.

 working mothers

Meaning: women who have a job and also have to take care of their children
Example: As more and more women have entered the workforce, working mothers
have to balance the demands of home and work.

 ties of kinship

Meaning: the fact of being related in a family, with links of friendship and assistance to
other family members
Example: In the modern world, people are always moving to a new place to live, and this
has weakened traditional ties of kinship.

 to shape a child’s personality

Meaning: to decide or influence the form of a child’s personality

Example: Parents are very influential in shaping their children’s personality through the
example that they set.
  formative years

Meaning: A period of a person’s life, usually childhood, that has a big influence on the
person they become later in life
Example: UNICEF states that the early childhood years from birth through age 8 are
formative years in terms of intelligence, personality and social behavior.

Work:

 job prospects

Meaning: the chances of being successful and having more opportunities at work
Example: People with qualifications and experience usually have the best job prospects.

 minimum wage
Meaning: the lowest wage that an employer is allowed to pay by law
Example: A minimum wage is necessary in order to ensure a decent standard of living
for low-paid workers.

Society:
 economic migrants
Meaning: people who move from their own countries to a new country in order to find
work or to have a better standard of living
Example: As a result of global inequalities of wealth, many economic migrants have fled
to developed countries.

 sweated labour
Meaning: hard work that is done for low wages in poor conditions; the people who do
this work
Example: Conditions of sweated labour still exist in many developing countries.

Vocabulary:

far and wide (expression): over a large area.

Example: The police searched far and wide for the missing child.
the norm (noun): a situation or pattern of behaviour that is usual or expected.
Example: It is the norm nowadays for older people to continue working after the age of
65.

aspiration (noun): a strong desire to have or do something.

Example: She had aspirations to make a career in politics, and she eventually became
President.

guest workers (noun): people, usually from a poor country, who go to another richer
country to work there.
Example: There are many guest workers from Turkey who live in Germany.

far-reaching (adjective): likely to have a lot of influence or many effects.

Example: The new law on minimum wages will have far-reaching consequences for all
employees.