IELTS Writing Task 2 - giving

opinion
In this guide you'll learn how to answer IELTS writing task 2 questions that
ask you to give your opinion. This type of questions is very similar
to agree/disagree questions: it states two opposite views and asks you to give
your opinion.

In this lesson you will see IELTS writing task 2 sample question + model answer
and learn

 how to choose your opinion

 how to generate arguments
 how to give a band 9 answer for giving opinion question

IELTS giving opinion question

Let’s look at an example of IELTS writing task 2 question that asks you to give
your opinion:

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Some people believe that violence on television and in computer games has a
damaging effect on the society. Others deny that these factors have any significant
influence on people's behaviour. What is your opinion?

Write at least 250 words

Choose your opinion & generate arguments

First of all, you need to choose your opinion out of the two given ones. For
the task above, you need to choose from these opinions:

1. violence in media has a damaging effect on the society

2. violence in media doesn’t have a damaging effect on the society

Then, you have to generate your arguments for the chosen opinion. Let’s
figure out some supporting points for each of the given opinions:

 violence in media has a damaging effect on the society

o people often copy actions they see on TV
o violent video games teach people that aggressiveness is normal in
everyday life
o you have an example of the connection between violence in media
and social violence

 violence in media doesn’t have a damaging effect on the society

o people act from their motives, regardless what they see on the
television
 o video games and television can reduce social violence by providing
a safe outlet for aggressiveness
o you have never seen the connection between violence in media and
social violence

For our essay, we’ll choose the second opinion.

How to answer this task?

1. Introduction

Paraphrase the statement (sentence 1) and give your own opinion

(sentence 2):

These days, the amount of violence in media is growing. While some people
argue that this trend will undoubtedly lead humans to dangerous future,
others claim that it has no damaging effect on the society. I believe that in
most cases media violence doesn't affect people's behavior.

2. Body paragraphs

Describe each argument to support your opinion in a separate paragraph.

Your essay should have 2-3 body paragraphs. Use linking
structures, vocabulary to write essays and some words from academic
wordlist:

Firstly, I think that people act from their motives, regardless what they see
on the television. That is to say, if someone intends to do harm to somebody,
that is not because of watching TV or playing computer games, but due to
that person's character and education. Although it is generally considered
that violent media accustoms viewers to cruelty, I doubt this opinion. In my
view, reasonable and intelligent people treat others humanely irrespective of
what they see or hear in fictional stories.

Moreover, video games and television may even reduce social violence by
providing a safe outlet for aggressiveness. In other words, truculent people
may fight in virtual reality instead of evincing their combative spirit in real
world. This may not only help those people, but also reduce the level of social
violence in long-term perspective.

Finally, despite many claims and assumptions about negative effects of

 television and computer games I have never seen any proven connection
between violent media and illegal activities in social life.

3. Conclusion

In the conclusion paragraph briefly summarize what you have written and
restate your opinion:

Taking everything into consideration, I would say that violence in

contemporary media has no substantial influence on people's behavior.
Television and computers are not the main factors that shape personal
character, and they can even be useful in reducing the level of violence.

Model answer
These days, the amount of violence in media is growing. While some people
argue that this trend will undoubtedly lead humans to dangerous future, others
claim that it has no damaging effect on the society. I believe that in most cases
media violence doesn't affect people's behavior.

Firstly, I think that people act from their motives, regardless what they see on
the television. That is to say, if someone intends to do harm to somebody, that
is not because of watching TV or playing computer games, but due to that
person's character and education. Although it is generally considered that
violent media accustoms viewers to cruelty, I doubt this opinion. In my view,
reasonable and intelligent people treat others humanely irrespective of what
they see or hear in fictional stories.

Moreover, video games and television may even reduce social violence by
providing a safe outlet for aggressiveness. In other words, truculent people may
fight in virtual reality instead of evincing their combative spirit in real world.
This may not only help those people, but also reduce the level of social violence
in long-term perspective.

Finally, despite many claims and assumptions about negative effects of

television and computer games I have never seen any proven connection
between violent media and illegal activities in social life.

Taking everything into consideration, I would say that violence in contemporary

media has no substantial influence on people's behavior. Television and
computers are not the main factors that shape personal character, and they can
even be useful in reducing the level of violence.

(255 words)
IELTS Writing Task 2. Sample 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Some students work while studying. This often results in lacking time for education
and constantly feeling under pressure.

What do you think are the causes of this?

What solutions can you suggest?

Write at least 250 words

How to answer this task?

1. Introduce the topic.

Just restate your topic and write that the given problem has causes and
can be solved.

2. Write main causes and explain them.

In the second paragraph, describe each cause of the given problem,

shortly explaining it. Use linking structures, vocabulary to write
essays and some words from academic wordlist.

3. Suggest solutions

Propose some solutions and say why they should work.

4. Write a short conclusion.

Briefly summarize what you have written.

Model answer
Nowadays, there are a lot of students who work while studying. Although this
tendency may lead to negative results, the number of young people who
sacrifice education for work is growing. I believe that this problem has certain
causes and can be solved by taking special measures.

It is apparent that most of the students who work have many financial expenses
to meet. One common cause is high cost of education. As many colleges and
universities set high tuition fees, some families cannot fully afford the higher
education for their children. Consequently, these students have to work to pay
university and college fees. The other cause is living expenses. Many students
study away from hometown, and have to pay for accommodation, food,
entertainment etc. As it is often hard to cover these expenses, students are
forced to earn money to afford their living. I think that the problem of students
working during their studies results in lower quality of education and has no
benefits at all. Thus, it should be solved on the governmental level.

I can suggest two possible solutions to this problem. Firstly, the government
could make higher education free. For instance, this result can be achieved by
financing educational establishments from the country’s budget. Not only will it
make universities and colleges accessible for everyone, but it will also reduce
the number of working students. The second solution is promoting unpaid e-
learning. Such form of distance education doesn’t require a lot of resources to
be maintained. What’s more, students don’t have to leave their homes and can
plan their schedules the way they prefer.

In conclusion, I believe that mainly lack of financial resources causes students

to work, but this problem can be solved by lowering the amount of financial
expenses students have to meet.

(298 words)
IELTS band 9 essay: death penalty
Here you can find advice how to structure IELTS essay and IELTS model
answer for death penalty topic. Question type: advantages and disadvantages.

Here is the question card:

Some people advocate death penalty for those who committed violent crimes. Others say
that capital punishment is unacceptable in contemporary society.

Describe advantages and disadvantages of death penalty and give your opinion.

So this is the advantage/disadvantage essay. In this essay you're asked

about:

1. Advantages of capital punishment

2. Disadvantages of capital punishment
3. Your opinion about it

Before writing this IELTS essay, you should decide what’s your opinion and
then choose your arguments to describe pros and cons of death penalty.
You don’t have to make up very complicate ideas. Even simple, but well-written
arguments can often give you a band 9 for writing.

Some of the possible arguments:

1. Disadvantages of capital punishment:

o we have no rights to kill other humans
o innocent people can be killed because of unfair sentences
o even criminals deserve a second chance

2. Advantages of capital punishment:

o it prevents major crimes
o it restores equilibrium of justice
o it lessens expenses on maintenance of prisoners
How to structure my answer?
Surely, there are a lot of ways to organise this essay. But here is one possible
way of structuring the answer to produce a band 9 essay:

Introduction: rephrase the topic and state your opinion.

Body paragraphs:

 paragraph 1: disadvantages of death penalty

 paragraph 2: advantages of death penalty

Conclusion: sum up the ideas from body paragraphs and briefly give your
opinion.

Band 9 essay sample (death penalty)

Many people believe that death penalty is necessary to keep security system
efficient in the society. While there are some negative aspects of capital
punishment, I agree with the view that without it we will become more
vulnerable to violence.

Death penalty can be considered unsuitable punishment for several reasons.

The strongest argument is that we have no rights to kill other humans. Right to
live is the basic right of any human being, and no one can infringe this right,
irrespective of the person’s deeds. Moreover, innocent people can face wrongful
execution. Such unfair sentences take away lives of innocent people and make
other citizens lose faith in law and justice. And besides, sometimes criminals
repent of their acts. In this case they should be given a second chance to
improve themselves.

However, I believe that capital punishment is necessary in the society. Firstly, it

is an effective deterrent of major crimes. The best method to prevent a person
from committing crime is to show the consequences of his or her actions. For
example, the government of Pakistan has controlled the rate of terrorism by
enforcing death penalties for the members of terrorist organisations. Secondly,
the governments spend large sums of national budget on maintenance of
prisoners. Instead, this money can be used for the development of the society
and welfare of the people.
To sum up, although capital punishment has some disadvantages, I think that it
proves to be the best way of controlling criminals, lessening governmental
expenses and preventing other people from doing crimes.

(257 words)

IELTS causes and solutions essay

- band 9 guide
In this lesson you will learn how to write a high-scoring causes & solutions
essay in IELTS Writing. As an example, the model essay will be about loss of
bio-diversity. Basically, causes & solutions essay is one of the most common
question types in IELTS writing task 2. This question asks you to describe
causes and propose solutions for a given problem.

In this lesson you will see:

 question sample + model answer

 band 9 answer structure for causes & solutions essay
 effective strategies to produce ideas for your answer

IELTS problems & solutions question sample

For example, this is the question you’ve got for IELTS writing task 2:

Influence of human beings on the world's ecosystem is leading to the extinction of species
and loss of bio-diversity.

What are the primary causes of loss of bio-diversity?

What solutions can you suggest?

Of course, the topics for causes & solutions essay may vary, but
the answering strategy is pretty much the same for all essays of
causes/solutions type.
Producing ideas
As you know, it’s recommended to spend about 40 minutes on IELTS Writing
task 2. But before starting to write your essay, it’s a good idea to dedicate 2-4
minutes to producing some ideas for your essay. This way you’ll know what to
write about and your essay will be more structured.

To produce ideas for causes and solutions essay, you have to determine 3
things:

 Problem
 Causes of this problem
 Solutions to this problem

The problem is already given: loss of bio-diversity (in other words, some
animals and plants are dying out).

Now let’s think about its causes and solutions. Don’t be afraid of simple ideas!
Remember: getting a high score means writing simple things well. Here are
some ideas that may come to your mind:

Causes:
  change of the natural habitats

When humans artificially transform the environment (build roads, houses

etc.), they destroy animals’ natural habitat.

 pollution

Pollution negatively changes the flow of energy, the chemical constitution

of the environment and the climate in general, so a lot of species cannot
live under such conditions and die out.

 overexploitation of resources

When the activities connected with capturing and harvesting a natural

resource are too intense in a particular area, the resource becomes
exhausted. Example: too intense farming exhausts the soil; too frequent
fishing, which doesn’t leave enough time for fish to reproduce, makes fish
disappear.

After you’ve though of the possible causes, you can use them in your writing.
You can invent more reasons of this problem, but usually, it’s enough to give
1-2 causes in your writing.

Possible solutions:
  protect areas

Protecting areas where human activity is limited and avoiding

overexploitation of resources are the best ways to save the environment
and prevent species from dying out.

 promote awareness

Informing the general population about the disadvantages of loss of

biodiversity will encourage people to be more conscious of the
environment.

1-2 solutions are enough for a good essay. Now, after we’ve collected some
ideas, it’s time to structure our thoughts into an essay.

Band 9 answer structure for causes & solutions

essay
There may be many possible answering strategies, but we’ll use this good and
time-tested essay structure:

1. Introduction
2. Body paragraph 1 – causes
3. Body paragraph 2 – solutions
4. Conclusion

Introduction

Write the introduction in 2 sentences:

 o Sentence 1 - paraphrase the question (restate the problem):

Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time, human

activity has been causing massive extinctions of different species.

o Sentence 2 - tell the examiner what you’re going to describe in your

essay:

This essay will examine the main causes of loss of biodiversity and possible
solutions of this problem.

Body paragraph 1 - causes

o Sentence 1 - state 2 main causes:

The two main causes of species extinction are change of their habitats and
overexploitation of natural resources.

o Sentences 2-4 - explain the first cause + give an example:

When humans artificially transform the environment, they destroy

vegetation and animals’ natural habitat. For instance, to build new roads
people are cutting down the trees and cementing the soil, altering the
environment. Because of that, a lot of species are dying out.

o Sentences 5-7 - explain the second cause + give an example:

Also, when the activities connected with capturing and harvesting a natural
resource are too intense in a particular area, the resource becomes
exhausted. For example, too frequent fishing doesn’t leave enough time for
fish to reproduce and makes them disappear.

o The last sentence - give a short summary (if needed)

In other words, human activities often deplete local flora and fauna and
cause loss of bio-diversity.

Body paragraph 2 - solutions

 o Sentence 1 - give 1-2 possible solutions

Some possible solutions to this problem are protecting natural areas and
promoting awareness among people.

o Sentences 2-4 - explain how each of the solutions solves the problem
(you may give an example if you wish)

By protecting areas where human activity is limited and avoiding

overexploitation of its resources, we can save the untouched environment
and prevent species from dying out. Moreover, the next step in fighting bio-
diversity loss is informing the general population about the dangers of this
problem. This way, people will be more conscious of the environment and
won’t overuse or destroy its resources.

Conclusion

o Sentence 1 - restate the causes of the problem

To conclude, people’s activities that change the environment have negative

impact on the world's ecosystem.

o Sentence 2 - remind the reader of possible solutions

However, we can significantly lessen the extinction of species by protecting

natural areas and enlightening people as to this problem.

Model essay for IELTS Writing causes/solutions

question
The model band-9 essay for this question will look as follows:

Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time, human activity
has been causing massive extinctions of different species. This essay will
examine the main causes of loss of biodiversity and possible solutions of this
problem.
The two main causes of species extinction are change of their habitats and
overexploitation of natural resources. When humans artificially transform the
environment, they destroy vegetation and animals’ natural habitat. For
instance, to build new roads people are cutting down the trees and cementing
the soil, altering the environment. Because of that, a lot of species are dying
out. Also, when the activities connected with capturing and harvesting a natural
resource are too intense in a particular area, the resource becomes exhausted.
For example, too frequent fishing doesn’t leave enough time for fish to
reproduce and makes them disappear. In other words, human activities often
deplete local flora and fauna and cause loss of bio-diversity.

Some possible solutions to this problem are protecting natural areas and
promoting awareness among people. By protecting areas where human activity
is limited and avoiding overexploitation of its resources, we can save the
untouched environment and prevent species from dying out. Moreover, the next
step in fighting bio-diversity loss is informing the general population about the
dangers of this problem. This way, people will be more conscious of the
environment and won’t overuse or destroy its resources.

To conclude, people’s activities that change the environment have negative

impact on the world's ecosystem. However, we can significantly lessen the
extinction of species by protecting natural areas and enlightening people as to
this problem.

(263 words)