IELTS WRITING TASK 2 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

1. Complete the table with words and phrases from the box.
benefits a negative effect On the positives drawbacks issues
downside,
negative an argument in On the plus side, problems an objection a
s favour of sth to sth positive
aspect

Advantages (synonyms/ paraphrases) Disadvantages (synonyms/ paraphrases)

2. Prepositions with advantages and disadvantages

1. There are benefits/ advantages/ drawbacks/ disadvantages to doing sth

2. advantage/ disadvantage/ drawback of a situation/ circumstance/ action

3. advantage/ disadvantage/ drawback for someone/ something affected by the advantage/

disadvantage

4. give/ have an advantage over someone/ something

5. benefit (noun) of a situation/ circumstance/ action

6. benefit to/for someone/ something affected by the benefit

7. benefit (verb) from a situation/ circumstance/ action

8. be of benefit to someone/ something affected by the benefit (expression)

Complete the sentences with a suitable preposition

a. The drawback ………… modern decicine ………… governments is its high cost.
b. I hope this book will be ………… benefit ………… you.
c. Francesca’s health has benefited ………… the fresh sea air.
d. The advantage ………… young people ………… knowing how to drive is that they are
more independent.
e. Cycling has several advantages ………… driving; for example, you do not have to find
somewhere to park the car.
f. For dancers, the disadvantage ………… having big feet is that you may step on other
people’s toes.
g. There are certain benefits ………… learning to cook.
h. The benefit …………work experience to young people is that they learn things they
would not learn at college.

3. Use the phrases below to introduce advantages or disadvantages of city life.

1 One problem with ... is ...
One problem with city life is the cost of living may be higher than in the countryside.
2 The principal issue with ... is ...
3 A major downside to this form of education might be that…
4 One obvious negative effect of ... is ...
5 Another disadvantage of ... is ...
6 One other unfortunate aspect of this trend is that…

1 The main advantage of ... is ...

2….may also be advantageous because ….
3 further argument in favour of …is….
4….may be of considerable benefit in the way that…
5 Overall, the benefits of ... outweigh the drawbacks because ...

4. The discourse markers in this paragraph are missing. Think about the function of the
supporting ideas and then choose the discourse markers from the box that would fit in
each gap. There are three possibilities for each gap.

What is more By way of example For instance Consequently

Because of this As a result For example In addition to this Moreover

One positive aspect of city life is that there are generally a large number of fitness complexes
available for members of the public to join, and most cater for the requirements of all their
customers, whether those be for running machines, for weight training and so on.
1…………….., in my city alone there are somewhere in the region of 200 individual
facilities, allowing residents the opportunity to stay healthy wherever they live or work.
2…………….. , these gyms are often part of larger chains, and it is convenient for their
members to be able to visit a range of locations if they wish to do so. 3…………….. ,
although living in rural areas is traditionally assumed to be better for one's health, the sheer
quantity of available facilities in modern cities means that this stereotype is changing.

5. Sample answer

E-mail has had a huge impact on professional and social communication, but this
impact has been negative as well as positive?
Do the advantages of using email outweigh the disadvantages?
Complete the sample answer:
obvious In spite of not only advance
innovation response criticism brought

It is certainly true that the use of email has greatly changed the way we communicate with
each other at work as well as socially. But it is also true that not all the effects of this
……………. have been positive, although there are certainly some advantages.

A common …………….. of e-mail in the workplace is that it causes extra work and stress.
This is because employees receive more messages than they can answer every day and since
e-mail writers expect a quick ……………., this increases pressure on employees. Other
objection to e-mail for both social and professional users include the way it encourages
people to spend even longer at their computers and also the danger of incoming messages
allowing viruses into your computer system.

……………….. these negative effects, however, e-mail has brought important benefits as
well. One such advantage of using e-mail is that it is a fast and easy way to communicate
with family, friends and work colleagues wherever they are in the world. It …………….
allows people to stay in touch with each other, but it also allows them to send all kinds of
information, such as pictures, photos, diagrams, texts very quickly, cheaply and with a very
good quality of reproduction. This is a huge …………….. on earlier communication systems,
and the low cost of e-mail means it is very widely used.

To sum up, while there are some …………… drawbacks to using e-mail, this fast and user-
friendly technology has greatly improved our ability to communicate both professionally and
socially. Therefore, I think e-mail has ………………..us many more benefits than
disadvantages.
6. Practise

Being a celebrity – such as a famous film star or sports personality – brings problems as
well as benefits.
Do you think that being a celebrity has more benefits or more problems?

More disadvantages
celebrity status.
Advantages Disadvantages
- earn a lot of money = promoting - suffer from invasion of privacy./
products/ appear in paparazzi violate their privacy/
advertisements/ attend events inconvenient when going out.
- have influence on a lot of people - come in for/ encounter a lot of
- social relations criticism when doing something
wrong.
- lead a busy life/ tight schedules.=>
stress

Fame has always been a matter of debate. While some people do their best to gain
celebrity status, others are concerned about the trouble that it entails (kéo theo). In my
opinion, the drawbacks of being famous are more significant than the benefits.
Advantages. Topic sentence
On the one hand, being a celebrity brings numerous benefits.
Some people claim that being a celebrity brings numerous benefits. …
Disadvantages

In conclusion, although being famous is desirable for the advantages in terms of finance
and influence, it also comes with various problems regarding privacy and relationships.
Therefore, the downsides of fame outweigh the positive aspects.
Planning
Body paragraph 1 Body paragraph 2
Benefits of being a celebrity Problems with being a celebrity
1. Money 1. Money
- Great wealth – celebrities can buy - They have to spend a lot.
whatever they want
- the media shows us their enviable lifestyle: 2. Life/ living
cars, mansions, clothes. - Yes, great wealth/ influence BUT little
2. Life/ Living privacy
- Live a life of luxury: they can go where
they want – attend the best events
3. Work
- people want to copy them – they have
influence
- they can make even more money from
promoting products on TV and in
magazines.
- Pararazzi follow them everywhere.
- Family life and relationships suffer
(can’t eat in a restaurant/ go shopping)
3. Work
- The media make them famous BUT print
bad stories as well as good.

What did I show or prove? What did I show or prove?

There are clear financial benefits for They pay a high personal price for their
anyone who enjoys the idea of fame. fame.
Conclusion:
Although there are financial benefits, they come at a very high price: loss of freedom,
privacy and relationships. Personally I think there are more problems than benefits.