IELTS WRITING TASK 2 AGREE OR DISAGREE (OPINION) SAMPLE QUESTION (ENVIRONMENT)

With the increased global demand in oil and gas, undiscovered areas of the world should be opened up to access more resources.

To what extent do you agree or disagree? 

One of the things to notice about this essay is that it has a very short introduction and conclusion. It retains all of the elements of a good introduction (paraphrase question, give opinion and outline main ideas) and conclusion (summarise main ideas and give opinion again), but does so with fewer words. This allows you to spend more time on your main body paragraphs; where most of the marks are won and lost. However, this is a very advanced technique because it requires a very high level of English to say lots of things with fewer words. This is a skill you should try to master if you want to get one of the higher band scores. 

Answer

This essay disagrees that untapped resources should be explored because of the environmental risks and the fact that there are renewable options available.

Many argue that energy companies should be granted access to previously unexplored areas, but this would be a huge mistake because of the potential for environmental damage. Drilling for non-renewable energy resources is incredibly damaging to the local ecosystem and these areas are often in sensitive places, such as the Arctic or National Parks in the United States and Canada. The Deep Water Horizon disaster demonstrated just how disastrous an oil spill can be for the animals and plant life in the local vicinity. Therefore, damaging these untouched areas is too much of a risk and oil companies should be banned from doing business there.

Taking these risks becomes pointless when you consider that there are plenty of viable alternative energy sources available. Solar, wind and tidal energy could replace our reliance on oil and gas completely within just 15 years, if the industries were given enough funding. CEO of Solar City and Tesla, Elon Musk, recently demonstrated this by drawing a very small square on a map of the United States and stating confidently that small area could power the whole of the country, if covered with solar panels. He also stated that we could further reduce our need for oil by building electric cars rather than those with combustion engines.

In conclusion, sensitive areas should not be made available to fossil fuel companies because of the environmental risks and the fact that our future energy needs can be met by renewable energy.