by Dave

fashion
trends
introduction 3
Sample answer 5
Analysis 6
vocabulary 10
grammar 13

pronunciation 15

Writing task 2 tip 16

links 17 by Dave
 Hi to my supporters - I appreciate you all!

This is an agree/disagree question.

That means that you can completely agree or completely disagree

or write about both sides and then choose and overall opinion.
introduction

But really you don’t have a choice: write about both sides.

Dave Lang Most students who just write about one side end up repeating
From the USA, a British Council the same arguments over and over and get low scores for task
teacher and examiner and founder of achievement and cohesion/coherence.
HowtodoIELTS.com You can see how I handled it in the essay - enjoy!

If you have any questions or comments or anything is unclear feel

free to send me message by email (dave@howtodoielts.com) or
on Facebook (facebook.com/davelanghowtodoielts).

Happy reading (and practicing)!

Many young people today
spend too much time follow-
ing the latest fashion trends
in areas such as clothing and
technology.

To what extent do you agree

or disagree?

by Dave
Sample answer
Many today feel that young people are overly focused on the latest fashion trends
which encompass areas like clothing and technology. In my opinion, this can be tak-
en to extremes but in general an emphasis on beauty is positive.

The main argument against the growing primacy of fashion is that it is distracting.
When individuals are spending time and money picking out the latest smartphone or
brand name clothes, they are necessarily not able to allocate those same resourc-
es to other areas of life. They might neglect personal growth if they are too wrapped
up in their appearance, and have less time and energy for social or political causes
such as protecting the environment or protesting police brutality. This worldly obliv-
iousness is certainly present in individuals but it would be a mistake to generalise it
to everyone interested in fashion.

The majority of those concerned with fashion are simply prioritising aesthetics. In the
past, functionality was a point of emphasis. For example, computers made by IBM
and Dell worked well but had uninspiring design. The design culture changed com-
pletely when Apple was founded and built beautiful machines that also performed to
a high level. This now mainstream movement means that consumers today are no
longer content with functionality, whether in phones, clothes or other personal ac-
cessories. They instead require sleek, intuitive design and this compels companies
to meet expectations, with the end result being nicer-looking products and, by ex-
tension, a more beautiful world.

In conclusion, though obsession with fashion is potentially distracting, its overall im-
pact is to elevate. Nonetheless, it is still important for individuals to balance their de-
sire to look good with deeper virtues. by Dave
Structure Analysis
Many today feel that young
people are overly focused
on the latest fashion trends
which encompass areas like
clothing and technology. In
my opinion, this can be taken
to extremes but in general an
emphasis on beauty is posi-
tive.
For your first sentence
- simply paraphrase the
topic with new words, as
I do here. You can also
add words as I do with
‘latest.’
The second sentence
is your opinion. Make it
clear - don’t sit in the
middle! Don’t say ‘I think
it is good and bad’ or
you will get band 5 for
task achievement.
by Dave
structure Analysis
The main argument against the
growing primacy of fashion is that
it is distracting. When individuals
are spending time and money pick-
ing out the latest smartphone or
brand name clothes, they are nec-
essarily not able to allocate those
same resources to other areas of
life. They might neglect personal
growth if they are too wrapped up
in their appearance, and have less
time and energy for social or polit-
ical causes such as protecting the
environment or protesting police
brutality. This worldly obliviousness
is certainly present in individuals
but it would be a mistake to gen-
eralise it to everyone interested in
fashion.
Your topic sentence should include
the main idea for the paragraph.
Explain your main idea.
Sometimes you don’t
have to explain it but my
topic sentence was short
so I also explained it.
If you use a hypotheti-
cal example, make sure
that you include a lot of
specific support.
Your last sentence can draw a con-
clusion from your example. I don’t
agree with this side, so I use this
sentence to hint at the next para-
graph.
Structure Analysis
The majority of those concerned
with fashion are simply prioritising
aesthetics. In the past, function-
ality was a point of emphasis. For
example, computers made by IBM
and Dell worked well but had unin-
spiring design. The design culture
changed completely when Apple
was founded and built beautiful
machines that also performed to
a high level. This now mainstream
movement means that consumers
today are no longer content with
functionality, whether in phones,
clothes or other personal acces-
sories. They instead require sleek,
intuitive design and this compels
companies to meet expectations,
with the end result being nic-
er-looking products and, by exten-
sion, a more beautiful world.
A new topic sentence with a new main idea. Just
1 main idea and be sure that you are not just re-
peating the main idea from the last paragraph.
Comparing with the past is a good
way to start.
Start a specific example - the
more specific the better!
Develop that example. Be specific
and include as much detail as you
can. Use examples that you know
well.
Develop the example full by
stating the results and relating
it back to your main idea.
Conclude by repeating how this di-
rectly answers the question. Don’t
add another main idea - continue
with this same main idea. Some-
times you can make the last sen-
tence more general as I did here.
by Dave
Structure Analysis
In conclusion, though Repeat your overall opin-
ion - make sure that you
obsession with fashion don’t sit in the middle and
is potentially distracting, your opinion is 100% clear.
its overall impact is to Summarise you main ideas
as well if possible.
elevate. Nonetheless, it
is still important for indi- Add in a final detail or
viduals to balance their thought. To get above
band 7 for task achieve-
desire to look good with ment, you must include
deeper virtues. this sentence. This could
be a suggestion, solution
or further support.

practice idea
After you review and practice with this PDF, write or look up online a Writing Task 2 on the top-
ic of fashion. Find the topics here.

by Dave
Write about the new topic and try to use some of the vocabulary and analysis from this essay
to help you.
vocabulary
write a definition or synyonm for the underlined
words. If you’re not sure, try to figure out or
guess what they mean based on the sentence.

Many today feel that young people are overly focused on the latest fashion trends
which encompass areas like clothing and technology. In my opinion, this can be tak-
en to extremes but in general an emphasis on beauty is positive.

The main argument against the growing primacy of fashion is that it is distracting.
When individuals are spending time and money picking out the latest smartphone or
brand name clothes, they are necessarily not able to allocate those same resourc-
es to other areas of life. They might neglect personal growth if they are too wrapped
up in their appearance, and have less time and energy for social or political causes
such as protecting the environment or protesting police brutality. This worldly obliv-
iousness is certainly present in individuals but it would be a mistake to generalise it
to everyone interested in fashion.

The majority of those concerned with fashion are simply prioritising aesthetics. In the
past, functionality was a point of emphasis. For example, computers made by IBM
and Dell worked well but had uninspiring design. The design culture changed com-
pletely when Apple was founded and built beautiful machines that also performed to
a high level. This now mainstream movement means that consumers today are no
longer content with functionality, whether in phones, clothes or other personal ac-
cessories. They instead require sleek, intuitive design and this compels companies
to meet expectations, with the end result being nicer-looking products and, by ex-
tension, a more beautiful world.

In conclusion, though obsession with fashion is potentially distracting, its overall im-
pact is to elevate. Nonetheless, it is still important for individuals to balance their de-
sire to look good with deeper virtues. by Dave
Answers
overly focused care too much about
latest fashion trends what’s new in fash-
ion
encompass includes
taken to extremes in rare cases
emphasis focus on
main argument against counterpoint
growing primacy increasing importance
distracting drawing attention from
picking out choosing
brand name clothes Chanel, Louis Vuitton,
etc.
necessarily has to be
allocate apply
neglect ignore
personal growth improving as a person
wrapped up in obsessed with
appearance how one looks
social or political causes related to people
and politics
protecting the environment eco-friendly
protesting police brutality black lives mat-
ter movement
worldly obliviousness not caring about the
world
certainly present definitely exists
would be a mistake not right
generalise apply to others
majority most of
concerned with caring about
simply prioritising aesthetics just
interested in how it looks
functionality how something works
point of emphasis what someone is
focused on
uninspiring design boring look
design culture people caring about
built beautiful machines make nice
computers
performed to a high level worked
well
mainstream movement popular
consumers people who buy
no longer content won’t settle for
functionality how something works
personal accessories what you put
on your person
sleek clean, stylish
intuitive easy to understand
compels forces
meet expectations satisfies
end result final outcome
by extension the result of
obsession caring too much about
potentially distracting could draw
attention
elevate life up
balance their desire keep wants in
in check by Dave
vocabulary Remember and fill in the blanks:
Many today feel that young people are o________________d on the l_____________________s
which e_______________s areas like clothing and technology. In my opinion, this can be
t_____________________s but in general an e_____________s on beauty is positive.

The m_______________________t the g__________________y of fashion is that it is

d_______________g. When individuals are spending time and money p____________t
the latest smartphone or b____________________s, they are n____________y not able to
a________________e those same resources to other areas of life. They might n_________t
p___________________h if they are too w__________________n their a___________e, and have
less time and energy for s_____________________s such as p_________________________t or
p____________________y. This w____________________s is c________________t in individuals but it
w__________________e to g_____________e it to everyone interested in fashion.

The majority of those c________________h fashion are s______________________s. In the

past, f________________y was a p________________s. For example, computers made
by IBM and Dell worked well but had u_____________________n. The d_______________e
changed completely when Apple was founded and b___________________s that also
p_______________________l. This now m____________________t means that c____________s to-
day are n__________________t with f_______________y, whether in phones, clothes or oth-
er p______________________s. They instead require s______k, i_________e design and this
c_____________s companies to m___________________s, with the e____________t being nic-
er-looking products and, b________________n, a more beautiful world.

In conclusion, though o_____________n with fashion is p_________________g, its over-

all impact is to e_________e. Nonetheless, it is still important for individuals to
b____________________e to look good with d_____________s. by Dave
Listen and check here.
Grammar: Modal verbs
They might neglect personal growth if they are too wrapped up in their appearance.

With modals (might, ought, may, will, should, must) you must use v1 after:
might negelct, may miss, will eat, should dance, etc.

This sentence is also first conditional so it has the following structure:

Subject + Modal ‘might’ + v1 + object + , + ‘if’ + subject + verb + object

Write two new sentences with modal verbs and 1st conditional:
1.

2.

by Dave
Grammar: answers

1. Some people might feel that fashion is waste of time, if they care deeply about im-
portant sociel issues.

2. There might be less focus on fashion in the future, if the global economy enters
another recession.

by Dave
Pronunciation
ˈəʊvəli ˈfəʊkəst ˈpɜːsnl grəʊθ ˌfʌŋkʃəˈnælɪti
ˈleɪtɪst ˈfæʃən trɛndz ræpt ʌp ɪn pɔɪnt ɒv ˈɛmfəsɪs
ɪnˈkʌmpəs əˈpɪərəns ˌʌnɪnˈspaɪərɪŋ dɪˈzaɪn
ˈteɪkən tuː ɪksˈtriːmz ˈsəʊʃəl ɔː pəˈlɪtɪkəl ˈkɔːzɪz dɪˈzaɪn ˈkʌlʧə
ˈɛmfəsɪs prəˈtɛktɪŋ ði ɪnˈvaɪərənmənt bɪlt ˈbjuːtəfʊl məˈʃiːnz
meɪn ˈɑːgjʊmənt əˈgɛnst prəˈtɛstɪŋ pəˈliːs bruːˈtælɪti pəˈfɔːmd tuː ə haɪ ˈlɛvl
ˈgrəʊɪŋ ˈpraɪməsi ˈwɜːldli əˈblɪvɪəsnəs ˈmeɪnstriːm ˈmuːvmənt
dɪsˈtræktɪŋ ˈsɜːtnli ˈprɛznt kənˈsjuːməz
ˈpɪkɪŋ aʊt wʊd biː ə mɪsˈteɪk nəʊ ˈlɒŋgə ˈkɒntɛnt
brænd neɪm kləʊðz ˈʤɛnərəlaɪz ˌfʌŋkʃəˈnælɪti
ˈnɛsɪsərɪli məˈʤɒrɪti ˈpɜːsnl əkˈsɛsəriz
ˈæləʊkeɪt kənˈsɜːnd wɪð sliːk
nɪˈglɛkt ˈsɪmpli praɪˈɒrɪˌtaɪzɪŋ iːsˈθɛtɪks ɪnˈtju(ː)ɪtɪv

Click here to Listen and repeat

 writing
task 2 tip

OPINIONS
A lot of students ask me about where to write their opinion and if
they can sit in the middle with an opinion.

As long as you include your opinion in the conclusion, that is

enough.

It is better to have it in the introduction as well (make sure it is

consistent with the conclusion.

Never sit in the middle.

It is possible to have a nuanced opinion but you must have a high

level of English, good brain and even then it’s a risk - don’t do it!
links