Task 2 Academic part

Task 2: Understanding what you need to write about? from ielts tips IELTS - IELTS Writing Test Problems: A very common problem with many candidates is that they just write about the general topic-area of the task without actually answering the question directly. After you do the exercises below, you will be able to answer Writing Task 2 questions more accurately. Task 2s are split into two parts…  1) The statement and 2) The question  Together they make up the task.  Example:  Statement:  More and more students are taking a year off after finishing school to travel or work before they go to university. However, some people don’t agree with this. Question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of this? What you need to do is to read the statement carefully and underline what you think are the keywords. Keywords in task 2 statements are usually nouns,verbs, modifiers (e.g.: more / less/ a few / some) and negatives (e.g.: not / don’t). Statement:    More and more students are taking a year off after finishing school to travel or work before they go to university. However, some people don’t agree with this. Question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of this? Tip: You should underline around 30% to 40% of the statement. It is very easy to underline about 80% at first because you’re not sure exactly what to do and all the words appear to be very important. Don’t worry too much if you’re underlining over 50% at first because as you practice further, the number of words you underline will decrease as you become more confident. Try these: i) Statement:  Some people believe that governments should look after their citizens’ health and education, while others think it is up to individual people to take care of these matters. Question: Should health-care and education be free for everyone? ii) Statement:    Many millions of dollars are spent each year on space exploration, while on Earth many people can’t afford to eat. This money is wasted and should be redirected to more useful projects that help people in need. Question: To what extent do you agree with this statement? iii) Statement:  The increasing use of the Internet as a means of education is changing people’s study skills. Question: In what ways is the Internet affecting the way people read, write and access information?

Task 1 Academic part

Task 1: Understanding what you are writing about

IELTS - IELTS Writing Test from ielts tips

Problems: A common problem with many candidates is that they either… - copy the title of the task in their introduction or…  - misunderstand what is being represented in the chart / diagram / graph etc.   The following exercises are to help you avoid doing either of the two things above because, if you do, it might mean a higher score! Activity 1 Look at the line-graph below and read the title carefully: Now, answer the questions below: What is being shown? ______________________________. Where did they visit? ______________________________. When did they visit? ______________________________. What is the value of the vertical axis? ______________________________. What does the horizontal axis refer to? ______________________________. Tourists are…a) things  b) people c) places What is the main verb in the title? ______________________________. Can you think of words with similar meanings for the following words? a)      visit     ______________________________. b)      tourist  ______________________________. When you’ve finished check the suggested Answer Key. Tip: Before you start to write your Task 1 answer, spend 2-3 minutes identifying the following areas of the task: 1) What is being shown 2) Where it refers to 3) When it refers to 4) How it is measured 5) Who or what is involved (e.g.: “tourists” are people) 6) What the main verb is 7) Any words that you know with the same or similar meanings to the nouns, verbs and adjectives in the title.