IELTS Writing Task 2: fully respond to the question

One of the things that the examiner will check carefully is whether or not you have fully responded to the question. Here's a question that a student sent me:

Some people think that all teenagers should be required to do unpaid work in their free time to help the local community. They believe this would benefit both the individual teenager and society as a whole.
Do you agree or disagree?

The student who sent me this question wrote about the advantages and disadvantages of unpaid work for teenagers, but completely forgot to mention the benefits and/or drawbacks for society as a whole.

If you don't fully answer the question, it's extremely difficult to get a band 7.

Comments

[ayesha]

hi simon
in this question ;
Media encourages crime and creates fear in pubic ,some people argue that crime news should not be repoted in newspapers or telecast on television ;do you agree or disagree.?
in this question should we directlty answer the question that i agree or disagree that media should not publish .....OR i should also mention a paragraph about the fact which says that media IS CREATING FEAR AND ENCOURAGING .(this question came on 12 may ielts exam0 kindly tell what each paragraphs should be about.

thanks
ayesha

[Kasia]

Hi Simon,

if we have a question to agree or disagree do we need to provide arguments for both answers and then state our opinion?for example if I agree that teenagers should work ,do I need to write a paragraph about the advantages of the above statement.I am confused...

[indri]

Hi Simon..

It is often said in writing task 2 "Don't support your opinion with opinion" Could you explain what it means? and give me one paragraph as example.

Thanks a lot..

[Ohya]

Hi, Simon,

In this question, we should answer that I agree/disagree that teenager should do unpaid work ,or that I agree/disagree teenagers doing unpaid work benefit themselves and society,or both statement.

Thanks a lot.

[deng]

Hello simon:
I have written a composition on the topic as follows. can you help me revise it and give me a score.Thank you very much.

Some people think that all teenagers should be required to do unpaid work in their free time to help the local community. They believe this would benefit both the individual teenager and society as a whole.
Do you agree or disagree?

Teenages are members of our society,and they should spend part of their spare time helping the local community without pay,which is beneficial to both the society and the youth.First,the young generation should do something to appreciate the society.The youngersters attract so much attention and all of the society are taking care of them and creating the best surroundings for them to grow up and study.So to help the community is a good way for the teenagers to show their acknowledgements to the society.Second,there are many meaningful things easy enough for those young people to do.For example , collecting plastics and assisting the blind to cross the roads are within their ability and they can do these efficiently.Finally ,it is a good way for the teenagers to communicate with the rest of society. When the youngersters take part in the social bussiness,they can learn a lot of experience what is not given in class.

However,many parents argue that we should not let the children take the responsibity to serve the community because the teenagers have so much homework to do and they should have a good relaxion during their free time .In fact they are much too afraid that the youngersters may get some unexpected hurt while doing voluntary work.

Though there may be some shortcomings for the teenagers to help the community as volunteers,The benefit may outweig the drawbacks.And I am confident that these young people can do an excellent job and our society will also appreciate their work very much.

[Ken]

Hello, Simon,
Is "Youngster" still commonly used today or obsolete? the same question for "the youth". I prefer to use "young people", "the young generation", "adolescents". if i use "the young generation", is the verb singular or plural?

thank you.

[Simon]

Hi Ayesha,

I think you have to accept the first idea as true (media reporting of crime creates fear), and answer the second part: crime should not be reported. This is what they want your opinion on.

...

Hi Kasia,

Just support YOUR opinion for 'agree/disagree' questions. Only mention the other view if you have said that you 'partly agree' or if you want to explain why the other view is wrong.

...

Hi Indri,

I think it would be better to forget about that idea. It's confusing me too!

...

Hi Ohya,

Both ideas are connected (the first causes the second), so you should address them both.

...

I'm afraid I don't check essays Deng.

...

Hi Ken,

'Youngsters' is used, but not in written essays. Your other alternatives are better, and you will need a singular very after 'generation'.

[meso]

hi there,
It is certainly true that free time consitute an important and a serious part of a teenager`s life and it affect the society as well.however, while some people believe that all young people should spend thier leisure time doing some voluntary work,i partially agree with this,hence there are other activities which can be done in the free time and could be equally beneficial.

unpaid work could be extreemly valuable for the young people and their community.teens will learn new useful skills , which could be significantly important for their future life.They will learn more about work place.Also they might obtain valuable work experiences which are excellent for a resume.adolecents will be more confident, more responsible ,and independent from an early age.In the UK,for example,there are many centers which orgnize voluntary work for people and help to find suitable work for them,like working in charity shops,at the local library ,or even in hospitals.
teengers will find less time to be involved in risky and violent activities which is good for the society.this mean lower crime activities such as drug addiction ,joining gangs,and vandalism. such activities are created from misused free time and could be considerably damaging to the local community and the society.Finally,a society with a larg number of working population is a healthy and more developed society.

On the other hand,There are some teenagers who are not enjoying or unable to do unpaid jobs,and it is risky to leave them doing no thing in their leisure time.So there are varities of activities which are healthy for individuals and the society at the same time.yong generation can be encouraged to acquire the reading habit.this would increase their knowledge and make them good member of society.Another activity is travelling to other parts of the world.This will expose the teens to other people`s culture.Eventually this will increase their knowledge and broaden their horizons.They migth also acquire onther language which is extreemly usefull for their future.A final example of free time activitise is sport.young individuals who are practicing sports like swimming,playing football or even horse riding,are healthy individuals.This mean more active and healthy young working population in the future which is a positive for the society.

In conclusion,although spending free time on unpaid jobs is cosiderably important for teenagers and the society.It could be equally beneficial and important for those young people to enjoy other activities like reading ,travelling and sports.

[MT]

Hi Simon and Indri,

I think the idea that "don't support your opinion with opinion" means that you should support your opinion (i.e. your stance / viewpoint) with evidence or facts. Opinions involve personal judgment more often than not, and it is sometimes better to support an argument with factual information. This enhances the persuasiveness of an argument. Having said that, this is not always true. Sometimes, it is possible to put forth a convincing argument with personal opinions backed with personal experience, which is real and logical. Anyway, I agree with Simon that this idea is confusing because it is hard to make generalizations - whether it is good to support your viewpoint with opinions. Different writing questions and different viewpoints should, in fact, be judged upon a case-by-case basis, and no sweeping statements or generalizations could conclude the power of persuasion. I agree with Simon - forget about that statement, and follow Simon's lessons and advice.

[Daniel]

Hi,Simon
I toke an IELTS at 26th May and it was exactly what I wrote about. It was a triky question, because there were two opinions. They used "they believe" and they also used "they think".
There were more elements than usual including TEENAGERS--INDIVIDUAL and COMMUNITY--SOCIETY, as well as UNPAID--BENEFIT. I decided to neglect payment at all and to focus on benefit. Sadly, I got 5.5 at last.
PS: I really don't understand what is community, while we don't have that culture.

[hussain]

on agree disagree essay it is good to write other part 20% means if we agree then we wrote whole the essay on agree side than at the end if we write 2o% on disagree side. plzz sir give me answer to overcome my confusion.

[Ritu]

Hi Simon,

I have 2 questions regarding that essay,
Q1. Could you please check whether the following ideas is relevant?

advantages for the teenagers and the society ,

a. volunteer work can build up the responsibilities and organising skills in youngs, also they can learn about team work.
b. Society gets benefitted as the juvenile crime rate reduced.

Q2. could you please discuss some point against the benefit of teenagers and society?

Please reply.

Thanks

[ayesha]

hi simon,
thanks for your reply. accepting the idea to be true means that i have to write a paragraph about it /? AND then i should proceede with my opinion that the crime should be reported/?kindly clarify.
thanks
ayesha.

[Simon]

FROM SIMON:

I'll continue with this question in next Wednesday's lesson.

[Anson]

Hi Simon,
In "discuss both views and give you opinion" question, if i agree with both sides, where should i show my opinion despite introduction, in p2,p3 or just in conclusion?

[janan]

Hi Simon
please check my essay
undeniably , technological advancement has rapidly eroded the traditional culture which we
inherited from our ancestors.Traditional game, musical instrument,performance and celebrations are given lesser and lesser attention in this era of globalization .
this is introduction about technological alternatives traditional cultures nowadays

[sulaiman]

Some people think that all teenagers should be required to do unpaid work in their free time to help the local community. They believe this would benefit both the individual teenager and society as a whole.
Do you agree or disagree?
It is believed that it It would be an overwhelming experience to the young adult and society if being given the opportunity to be involved in unpaid work. Totally agree according to the following reasons:
Bing employed has a positive substantial impact on the individual socially and morally. social communication skills might never be gained if the individual has no work experience or face to face contact. He has to discuss with his employer his duties , working hours and what is team work like in a very moral and respective manner . so he is going to learn how to support his colleagues at work in case there is a need to deal with any unexceptional circumstances during his duties at work. Therefore this experience may play an enormous role in building a decent social communicative character .
Having a work experience may help to having a job according to his ability quicker and easier. Most employers in the UK ask for work experience according to the British standards, no matter if the work experience is voluntary un-paid work or paid work and they are more likely going to consider the individual who mentions in his CV his British work experience. Therefore work experience is essential to be listed in the CV to individual who wants to apply for a paid job .
It teaches him punctuality and assertiveness. For example, he has to plan his journey according to the time table of the public transport programme in his area. And self esteemed may be gained at a high level when the person given certain duties that have a remarkable influence at the job which he is involved in .

To conclude , i agreed because if the person has no experience he is not going to be employed as quick as the person who has a work experience not to mention its benefits in building a well-organised character.

[janan]

Hi Simon
please check my essay ,thanks
Indeed ,some people deem parents influence their children because they spend most of time with their children . I believe nowadays parents may not have enough time to spend with their children and they cannot influence their children anymore.

Nowadays,both of them are busy , parents in working and children in school and recreations with their friends. Apart from this, they can find friend in school easy and to spend their time with their friends. Moreover, children are interested to spend their time with their friends than their parents maybe because they deem parents can not understand them. Despite technology advancements most children spend their time on face book to have communicate with their friends. Nowadays, most children like to spend their time in playing computer game and facebook than spend time with their children. Therefore , when children can make time to learn from their parents ?
Furthermore,children are interested to spend their time other activities so they are not with their parents too much time.

Actually nowadays, parents don’t have time to spend with their children because they have 2 or 3 jobs and they may not have enough time to spend with their children.
Besieds this, with progresses of society , most parents with high education have responsible jobs to do such as engineering , doctor and manager , they may not have enough time to spend with their children anymore. Apart from this, even if parents want to spend their time with their children ,their exhausted body may not allow them to have friendly time with them.

In conclusion, the strong current of technology influence to family’s bond. Indeed, nowadays parents may neglect their children. Despite that nowadays there are so many activities such as internet,facebook,computer games,sports and tv programs ,children may not have enough time to spend with their parents.Therfore,nowadays parents do not influence for their children.

[zeynep]

Hi simon,
I am confused because ı guess ı do not separate types of writing like agree disagree and discussion . agree or disagree and discussion are very similar so I usually write wrong . I want to learn differences between agree disagree and discussion.

[Tejas]

pls can u post ur ans for the is essay please

[Simon]

Hi Zeynep,

Have a look through all of my task 2 lessons - I've written a lot about the difference between 'discussion' and 'opinion'.

...

Hi Tejas,

I'll do it for Wednesday's lesson.

[zeynep]

thank you for everyting simon.

[sophia]

can you check y essay please
nowadays teenagers are getting involved i activities which is not accepted by people.this ends up their life to be i misery.to get rid of this teenagers should get themselves involved to do unpaid work int their free time to help the local community.i strongly agree that this will help them as well as the society.

in the teenage, they have plenty of free time to spent.therefore,instead of getting involved in bad activities it is better for them to help the local people. in a society, there are different development work to do.for eg: on an afforestation programme teenagers active participation will help for the development of socety in a positive way. or in the cleansing campaign,teenagers can help the society by sweeping,using dustbin,creating awareness among different people and so on.this will benefit a teenager in a way that they can gain experience,skill and also a chance to know the people of the society.

this practice benefits the society as well.as a society needs active participation of young and energetic people to do the work.this practice will lead to development of society as well.

in conclusion,as a community is full of teenagers,their active participation will be a plus point to both the society as well as the individual teenager.

[sophia]

please give a score for this aw well

[ramakrishna]

Hi Simon,

Please clarify my quick question, this might be repeating to you but please do it for me this time as I could not find it in other places.

If we strongly agree to a statement then we not supposed to write other side of the statement such if I agree Teenagers has to work for society then i'm not supposed to write the disadvanges of Teenagers working for the local community in around tird para. Please advise. Thanks in advance

[Smriti]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the wonderful website. After going through all the previous archives for Writing Task 2, I have written the introdcution which I think I can post to get your remarks in general:
"Teenagers are the most energetic people amongst all age groups and this energy should be directed correctly.
I agree that by serving the local community in their leisure time without getting paid can add great value to the society and in making them good human beings."

[David Manoj]

Hi Simon,

Can this question be divided into two sub topics?

(a)Are Teenagers required to do voluntary work?
(b) Will the unpaid work benefit teenagers and the society?

Thanks.
David