This article
will help you answer task 2 opinion essay and give you two sample answers. This will
focus on IELTS task 2 opinion (agree or disagree) essays. It will recommend a sentence by sentence structure to help you in the exam,
as well as two sample answers.
1. Example questions
Governments should spend more money on education than on recreation and sports. Do you agree or disagree?
Most
high-level positions in companies are filled by men even though the workforce
in many developed countries is more than 50 percent female. Companies should be
required to allocate a certain percentage of these positions to women. Do you agree?
I recommend
that students should completely agree or disagree with the statement in these
kinds of questions. This will lead to a clear argument and a more coherent
essay. You can show the other side of the argument in concession statements,
but these should be only one or two sentences. Concession statements are used
to briefly show the other side of the argument. Also, don’t let personal
feelings get involved. The examiner does not have to agree with your opinion
and you do not have to write about how you actually feel about the issue. Pick
the side you feel most comfortable writing about i.e. the one you can back up
with explanations and examples.
2. Structure
I recommend a
simple four paragraph
structure.
Paragraph 1 - Introduction
Sentence 1 - Paraphrase Question
Sentence 2 -
Thesis Statement
Sentence 3 -
Outline Statement
Paragraph 2 - Supporting Paragraph 1
Sentence 1 -
Topic Sentence
Sentence 2 -
Explain Topic Sentence
Sentence 3 -
Example
Sentence 4 -
Concession Sentence
Paragraph 3 - Supporting Paragraph 2
Sentence 1 -
Topic Sentence
Sentence 2 - Explain
Topic Sentence
Sentence 3 -
Example
Sentence 4 -
Concession Sentence
Paragraph 4 - Conclusion
Sentence 1 -
Summary
Sentence 2 -
Prediction or Recommendation
3. Question One
Governments should spend more money on education than on recreation and sports. Do you agree or disagree?
Reasons why governments should spend more money on education than on recreation and sports:
- Education
benefits an economy in the long term
- Education has
social benefits
- Education is a
human right
- Education is
more costly than recreation and sports
Reasons why governments should spend more money on recreation and sports:
- Sports and
recreation have health benefits
- Sports and
recreation can promote learning too
- Education
always receives a higher budget and sports are overlooked
I agree with this statement and I will therefore use ideas in the first list. I am working on a four paragraph structure therefore I only need two supporting ideas for my two main body paragraphs. I can also use ideas in the second list but these will only be concession statements.
Answer
It is argued
that countries should allocate more funds to education than to leisure and
competitive games. It is agreed that national budgets should prioritise schools
and universities over sports and play. This essay will discuss firstly, the
economic benefits education can bring to a nation and secondly, the social
benefits it has; followed by a reasoned conclusion.
Investment in
its education system is one of the best ways to improve a country’s economy in
the long term. The more students entering third level education, the more
skilled a workforce will be and this leads to higher innovation and
productivity. For example, South Korea and Finland took the decision to invest
a large proportion of their budget in education and this has reaped benefits in
the form of high tech companies such as Samsung and Nokia. However, people
cannot work hard all the time and these companies do provide leisure facilities
for their workers.
Education is
not just about improving the economy it also has many social benefits. Well
educated people tend to be more aware of social evils such as drugs, alcohol
and sexual health. For example, Singapore educates all of its citizens on the
dangers of drugs and this has resulted in one of the lowest levels of drug
abuse in the world. Despite this, sports can also teach children valuable soft
skills, such as team work and work ethic which also help curb social ills.
In conclusion,
education should take precedence over sports when it comes to funding due to
the many socio-economic benefits it brings. It is recommended that governments
continue to pump money in to schools and universities in order to realise long
term goals.
4. Question Two
Most high-level positions in companies are filled by men even though the workforce in many developed countries is more than 50 percent female. Companies should be required to allocate a certain percentage of these positions to women. Do you agree?
Idea Generation
Reasons why companies should be required to allocate a certain percentage of high-level positions to women:
- Equal pay for
equal performance
- Women can
bring qualities to work place that men do not have
- Women
currently outperform men at university
- A balance of
genders leads to higher productivity and a more harmonious workplace
Reasons why companies should not be required to allocate a certain percentage of high-level positions to women:
- Certain jobs
require skills only men have
- Positions
should be allocated to people on merit not gender
- Women can take
large amounts of time off to have children
Answer
It is argued
that corporations should be compelled to give a certain proportion of their
executive level roles to females given that over half of the workforce is
female in the West. It is agreed that businesses should be obliged to
assign a significant percentage of top-level posts to women. This essay will
discuss firstly, that women should be paid an equal amount of money for doing
the same job as a man, and secondly, the fact that girls are currently
outperforming boys on many university courses; followed by a reasoned
conclusion.
Despite years
of so called ‘equal rights’ for women in the work place they continue to be
underpaid. Many women who do exactly the same job as their male colleagues earn
less money and this is unfair. For example, a recent survey of accountancy and
legal firms in the United Kingdom found that women earn on average 17% less
than men with identical roles. However, this may be due to women taking
maternity leave and falling behind their male counterparts.
This
unfairness is compounded by the fact that females are currently getting higher
grades in most university courses. Even previously male dominated fields, such
as law and medicine, now see women in the ascendancy and they should therefore
be rewarded with top roles. For example, females recently outperformed males
for the first time in law in U.K. universities. Despite this, employers should
bear in mind that roles should be handed out on merit, not gender alone.
In conclusion,
women do deserve an equal share of the good jobs available, namely because they
are capable of doing an equally good job as men and are achieving higher
academic standards than men at university. It is recommended that companies
heed the advice in this essay and make their hiring practices fairer.
No comments:
Post a Comment