IELTS Writing Task 2: advertising

'Advertising' has been the topic of IELTS writing task 2 several times this year. It's a popular topic, so you need some ideas and opinions about it.

Here are some opinions about advertising, taken from my ebook.

• Advertising should be ______.
• Advertising ______ children should be controlled or even banned.
• Unhealthy foods should not be marketed ______ attracts children.
• Products that can be a risk to health should ______ warnings.
• However, advertising is necessary in free ______ economies.
• It creates ______ products.
• Governments should only ______ false information or products that are harmful.

Fill the gaps with these words/phrases:
market, in a way that, regulated, display, censor, demand for, aimed at

Note:
'Advertising' is uncountable (you can't say "an advertising" or "advertisings"). 'Advertising' is the name of the industry, activity or profession (like 'marketing'). 'An advertisement' (or 'advertisements') is what you see on TV, in the street, in newspapers etc.

Comments

[Tatiana]

Hello Simon
my answers are
• Advertising should be regulated.
• Advertising aimed at children should be controlled or even banned.
• Unhealthy foods should not be marketed in a way that attracts children.
• Products that can be a risk to health should display warnings.
• However, advertising is necessary in free market economies.
• It creates demand for products.
• Governments should only censor false information or products that are harmful.

[kanny]

1.regulated
2.aimed at
3.in a way that
4.display
5.market
6.demand for
7.censor

[Anna]

1.regulated
2. aimed at
3. in a way
4. demand for
5. market
6. display
7. censor

[Nitu]

One of the major problems facing the world today is the growing number of refugees. The developed nations in the world should tackle this problem by taking in more refugees. To what extent do you agree with this opinion?

hello Simon

please give me some idea of this essay

thnk
Nitu

[Nitu]

1.regulated
2.aimed at
3.in a way that
4.display
5.market
6.demand for
7.censor

[Masuma Aghariya]

1. regulated
2. aimed at
3. In the way that
4. display
5. market
6.demand for
7. censor

[Mehreen Batool]

Hello Simon
can you please advice me how to improve my reading as I got 6.5 but I want 7,simply reading newspapers is a bit boring moreover these is a problem of academic and non academic wording.Also,my teacher told me that you have got enough vocabulary for 7+ so do not worry about that then what should I do

[Anna]

I am intending to take ILETS test in a month, looking for Speaking partner, Is anybody being interested for speaking practice on Skype..Let me know here..

[deepika]

hi Anna it is very nice thing to use skype for practising.i have got nice collocation ebook for speaking and writing.if anybody interested in it please contact me .my skype id is sweet.sanju1

[Kathy]

1.regulated
2.aimed at
3.in a way that
4.display
5.market
6.demand for
7.censor

[ns]

hi anna and deepika,
may I know where you are going to take your ielts test? I live in UK, so I am wondering whether it would be feasible or not for me to be involved in the speaking practice.
thank you.

[huong]

these are my answers:
•Advertising should be regulated.
•Advertising aimed at children should be controlled or even banned.
•Unhealthy foods should not be marketed in a way that attracts children.
•Products that can be a risk to health should display warnings.
•However, advertising is necessary in free market economies.
•It creates demand for products.
•Governments should only censor false information or products that are harmful.

[commonman]

Anna i am pretty interested!!

[Mehreen Batool]

Lucky Ann,
You can find how many individuals are interested for speaking practice including me.Is there any one who wants to do practice with me?I got 7 in speaking but hoping to sit again next month.If yes,let me know.

[allan]

anyone who wants to have a speaking partner I am welcome, my skype id is allanthegreatest2, tnx

[commonman]

Hey Deepika ,
It would be great if you can share the book with me commonerman at gmail.com

[Mehreen Batool]

Hello Allan
I am not getting your skype id,is it right double check it.

[Mehreen Batool]

Hello Simon,
can you please differentiate between "among" and "between",both can be used alternatively or not.

[Mehreen Batool]

Hello Simon,
I just saw your previous essays where the following line confused me,can you please explain,"Technology definitely helps workers because it makes many tasks so much easier"
Is "so" is appropriate here?

[Mehreen Batool]

Moreover," It causes a lot of stress when the Internet is down or a computer crashes."
It is told that same tenses should be used while using and/or.Is above sentence is good enough for a higher score?

[allan]

hello Mehreen,

my skype name is allanthegreatest2

[commonman]

Hey Mehreen
whats ur id?

[Mehreen Batool]

Hi,
mehreenbatool

[andy]

hi simon，this is Andy.
I'm using your ebook and studying the internet topic,the word"advantage" confused me,you said "there are many advantages to using the internet? is that a mistake or it should be followed by "to"instead of "to"? many thanks!

[dan]

Hi Simon

Im Dan, new fan. I've just visited your website not long ago and i found interested in. you dont mind if i have an issue would like to discuss with you?

ive read your several sample essays scored at 9. honestly, when ive finished reading i cant get myself out of skeptical. the essays are so simple, out of my expectation and even imagination. ive thought that it need to be very academic and complicated to be scored at 9. would you please tell me more how to write an 7-scored essay? i only need 7

I would appreciate for you reply. Looking forward for your answer.

[reema]

Hi Mahreen as i understood u live in wales am i right? i would like to do speaking practice with you but what is your skype address.

[ns]

hi Mahreen and reema,
if you live in wales it would be convenient for me to do speaking practice. if you are interested please let me know.

[Simon]

CORRECT ANSWERS FROM SIMON:

1. regulated
2. aimed at
3. in a way that
4. display
5. market
6. demand for
7. censor

...

Hi Nitu,

Maybe you could "partly agree" for this question. Then you could write one main paragraph about how developed countries can help by taking in refugees, and a separate paragraph about other ways to help e.g. helping the countries where the refugees come from.

...

Hi Mehreen,

If your level of English, vocabulary knowledge etc. are already good, you probably just need to keep practising with past exam papers. When you do a practice test, focus on the answers you got wrong - look for your weaknesses and work on improving them.

"Among" and "between" are different, so don't use them in the same way. 'Among' is like 'out of' (e.g. he is the youngest among the people in his department), whereas 'between' is like 'in the middle of' (he is sitting between the director and the chairman).

"So" is fine, but you can miss it if you want.

The sentence about computers could get a high score because of the idiomatic vocabulary - "Internet is down" and "crashes". The verb tenses are all the same - present simple.

...

Hi Andy,

"advantages to +ing" is correct. I know teachers tell you to use "to + infinitive" or "of + ing" but that's not always the case.

You can also write "advantages of + ing/noun".

...

Hi Dan,

You'll just have to believe me that those essays are band 9 - as I've said before, you don't have to be Shakespeare to get that score!

Band 7 would be similar to my band 9 essays, but with some grammar mistakes and without as many idiomatic phrases.

Hope this helps

[andy]

Hi,simon,do you think it is appopriate to use this sentence" Web junkies have been going without food, drink and sleep for days because they’re hooked on computer games."in ielts writting? can we refer to bbc news (are sentences from bbc news are too formal using in the exam?) this confused me a lot,looking forward to your reply.

regards
Andy

[luminous43]

hi andy,
I have read this news yesterday. you think the sentance is formal but I thought it is too informal to use in IELTS writing, may use in the speaking test.

cheers
luminous

[andy]

hi luminous,thanks for your comment,but I think the words used in ielts writting should be natural,let's wait for simon's reply:)
Andy

[Nitu]

hello simon

thanks,now i can write this eassy .

Nitu

[Simon]

Hi Andy,

Your sentence is the kind of thing that an English journalist would write, but it's not really the best style for academic writing.

You could change it to make it a bit more appropriate e.g. "People who go for days without eating, drinking or sleeping because they are hooked on computer games are sometimes referred to as 'web junkies'."

BBC news is definitely a good thing to watch/read.

[Anna]

Reema what is your Skype id?

[Bunny]

Hi,Simon,
May I ask you a question?In task 2,should we avoid using words like"firstly""secondly""finally" and other expressions which makes the examiner think we are using a template? Should we start every paragraph or argumentation naturally ? or we'd better use those transition words such as "furthermore""moreover" "on the other hand"to make the construction of the essay look clearer?
Looking forward to your reply.
Thank you:)

[andy]

thank you simon,your reply helps me a lot !

andy

[mariz]

hi im also looking for someone whom I can practice with in Speaking here is my skype maricella.mercado Please message me IELTS so that i will know. Thank you

[allan]

hi simon

facilitates a close contact with specific antiques. do you think this sentence would be appropriate, when writing about museum?

many thanks
allan

[Simon]

Hi Bunny,

It's fine to use those words (although I never use "moreover"). The important thing is that the rest of the essay content is good.

...

Hi Allan,

It's grammatically correct, but I might write something like this instead: Museums allow people to come into contact with valuable antiques.

[deepika]

hi commonman and ns

may i know your skype ids please? then i can send my collocation e book to both of you if you are interested.

[Rocky]

1.. REGULATED
2.. AIMED AT
3.. IN A WAY THAT
4.. DISPLAY
5.. MARKET
6.. DEMAND FOR
7.. CENSOR

[Rocky]

Hi Deepkia,

Can you please mail me the collocation ebook at [email protected]

Thanks & Best Regards
Rocky

[deepika]

hey rocky, i've some difficulties with sending emails.could you add me on skype?

[Simon]

CORRECT ANSWERS FROM SIMON:

1. regulated
2. aimed at
3. in a way that
4. display
5. market
6. demand for
7. censor

[Ns]

Hi deepika,

My Skype I'd is sanju9963

[IELTStutor]

Hi Everyone

I am a British Council certified IELTS teacher. I provide online tutoring via Skype. For details connect with me at Skype ID: ieltstutor_7bands

Good luck to all :)

[Kevin]

Hi everyone

My name is Kevin and I'm currently living in Canada. I plan to write my IELTS soon.

I would be interested in talking to my peers on skype. We can work on and enhance our speaking and writing skills together. My SKYPE ID is absern. Please add me if you want a study-buddy for the test. :)

~Cheers

PS- thanks Simon for running this great website. I have learnt so much from you!

[umber]

promoted
affecting
as it
label
industry,s
demand for
banned

[Simon]

CORRECT ANSWERS FROM SIMON:

1. regulated
2. aimed at
3. in a way that
4. display
5. market
6. demand for
7. censor

[Sharmin]

Hey Deepika ,
My skype ID linksaji

I am also looking for someone whom I can practice Speaking.

Sharmin

[Jessica]

Hi Simon,

I was just trying to get ideas on advertisement and came across some confusion about the word "advertised....(tv, website, newspaper,etc). When do we use "advertised in" and when do we use "advertised on" ? Does it depend on where the object is advertised or depend on what object is being advertised (eg for sales, job position, etc). Thank you so much!

[Simon]

Hi Jessica,

It depends on where the object is advertised e.g. on TV, in a newspaper, on a website etc.

[Dan]

Hi deepika

Would you mind send me a copy of your collocation ebook for writing and speaking? my skype id is flamboyant31.25

Many thanks

Dan

[Bhupen]

Hi Simon,

Is it good idea to

underline

phrases or idioms one uses in writing tasks? so that one can at a glance depict amount of them used.

[Simon]

Hi Bhupen,

That could be a good idea when you're practising at home, but I wouldn't do it in the exam.

[Bhupen]

Would be great if you could mention few points about "Role of malls and big shopping complexes in today's consumer-centric world. Also their impact on small shops"

[Mary.Du]

Hi Simon,
Im a bit cofused to use opinons. If the question is advertising is positive or negative. I think I just use the positive and negative ideas from yoru ebooks. Where should I put these opinions, in the conclusion?

Looking forward to your reply.

Mary

[Oscar T]

It is undeniable that advertising industry has grown in the last years, positive and negatives points of view have born among the people opinion due to the impact over life consume. I particularly believe that it has a lot of advantages, but it should be regulated correctly.
Advertising has several benefits. Firstly, it helps to promote products and services among people; it is especially true when a new brand and trends are being introduced on the market. Secondly, it is a powerful tool to induce sales and revenues by many modern businesses; As a result, a lot of companies invest much money to develop strategies on media to close their products to the customer. Lastly, adequate advertisements are useful to inform and educate our society. For instance, strong campaigns against violence, abuse and discrimination have had excellent results in schools among young people.
On the other hand, other argue that advertising has a negative impact, such as it gives false information and extreme consume is encourage by a high quantity of advertisements on radio, tv and internet. Consequently, children could be persuade and influenced by unreal and overacted behavior showed on them. In contrast of this, many companies and governments have started to regulated those announce and his content. For example, notes have been printed on covers related to the risk to get any product in excess or even changes made in the art and photos such as human body modifications or unreal effects.
In conclusion, I believe with a correct regulation applied to agencies by governments, advertising is an excellent way to get people close to products, trends and information.

[Mark]

Hi Simon,

I was browsing your blog for sometime now and i find it very helpful. Also, I'm having some difficulty with, To what extent do you agree or disagree question type, i hope you can explain it a litle more with your coming post. I was working with this question and i just can't answer it directly.

Advertisements encourage people to buy things they do not want. To what extent do you agree or disagree.

[niuxiufeng]

Advertising should be regulated
Advertising aimed at children should be controlled or even banned
Unhealthy foods should not be marketed in a way that attracts children
Products that can be a risk to health should display warnings
However, advertising is necessary in free market economies.
It creates demand for products.
Governments should only censor false information or products that are harmful.

[Said]

Hello

[Kei Le]

Hello Simon,

For the second to last sentence, could I write '... create a demand/demands for products' ?