IELTS Updates

Task - 2 Fatherhood ought to be emphasized as much as motherhood. The idea that women are solely responsible for deciding whether or not to have babies leads on to the idea that they are also responsible for bringing the children up. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statement? You should use your own ideas, knowledge and, experience and support your answer with examples and relevant evidence. Sample Answer ▼ I believe that child-rearing should be the responsibility of both parents and that, whilst the roles within that partnership may be different, they are nevertheless equal in importance. In some societies, it has been made easier over the years for single parents to raise children on their own. However, this does not mean that the traditional family, with both parents providing emotional support and role-models for their children, is not the most satisfactory way of bringing up children. Of crucial importance, in my opinion, is how we define 'responsib...

Macabre -   Shockingly repellent; inspiring horror Machination -   A crafty and involved plot to achieve your e nds Maculate -   Spot, stain, or pollute Maelstrom -   A powerful circular current of water Magnanimous -   Noble and generous in spirit Magniloquent -    Lofty in style Magnitude - The property of relative size or extent Maim -  Injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration Majestic -  Having or displaying great dignity or nobility Malady -   Any unwholesome or desperate condition

Task - 2 Popular events like the football World Cup and other international sporting occasions are essential in easing international tensions and releasing patriotic emotions in a safe way. What are your opinions on this? Use your own knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence Sample Answer ▼ Every four years, the whole world stops to watch international sporting events such as the Olympics and the Football World Cup in which athletes show their best performance to make their country proud of them. These sporting occasions have proved to be helpful in easing international tensions in difficult times when powerful leaders were trying to control the world's economy and other governments were fighting over land. The Olympic Games are one of the best examples which prove how sporting events can bring nations together, at least temporarily. From ancient History, when Greeks and Romans would interrupt battles to participate...

Yahoo - A person who is not intelligent or interested in culture Yearn - Desire strongly or persistently Yearning - Prolonged unfulfilled desire or need Yelp - A sharp high-pitched cry Yen - The basic unit of money in Japan; equal to 100 sen Yeoman - A free man who cultivates his own land Yield - Give or supply Yoke - Become joined or linked together Yokel - A person who is not intelligent or interested in culture Yonder - Distant but within sight

Task - 2 Some people say that economic growth is the only way to end hunger and poverty, while others say that economic growth is damaging the environment so it must be stopped.  Discuss both views and give your opinion. Sample Answer ▼ It is true that some people contend that economic growth is the only solution to the global problems of hunger and poverty. Others, however, argue for an end to economic growth in order to conserve our environment. I agree completely with this second view. Those who see economic growth alone as the sole cure for the tragedy of world hunger and poverty propose one major argument. Only the growth of the economies of the developing countries will provide the poor with the wealth to afford the basic necessities of life. The profits made by corporations who are responsible for this economic growth will trickle down in the form of financial benefits to be enjoyed by the starving and needy. This view has justified the age of imperialis...

Chronicle - A written account of important events in order of their occurrence Archaeological - A study of human history through the excavation of sites Orbit - An area of activity , interest or influence Spanning - The full extent of something Superseded - Take the place of, to replace in power Calibrate - Mark with a standard scale of reading Rudimentary - Undeveloped , primitive Beacons - A fire or light set up in a position as a warning Fortuitous - Happening by chance rather than intention Realm - A field of activity or interest

Task - 2 Many office authorities impose a restriction on smoking within the office premises. Some governments have even banned smoking in all public places. This is a good idea but it takes away some of our freedom. What are your opinions on this? Use your own knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence Sample Answer ▼ There is no scope of argument that cigarette smoking is harmful both for the smoker and people around him/her. Cigarette smoking has two major effects on non-smokers-injurious passive smoking and smoking display that has an invitational or persuasive effect on non-smokers. I believe banning smoking in public places and offices not only will discourage smoking but will also keep the smoking practice out of site, though it might apparently look like transgress into smoker’s freedom. But I believe any harmful activity of a particular person or group of people can not be a definition of freedom. If smoking right in ...

Explicit - Stated clearly and in detail Derision - To ridicule, make fun of Remarkable - Extraordinary Horrific - Causing horror Maple- A tree with 5 pointed leaves and a syrup sap Deteriorate - To become worse Crawl - To move forward on your knees and hands Canoe - A light narrow boat which you move along in water with paddle Traumatic - Deeply distressing experience Debris- Remains of anything broken down or destroyed

Task - 2 Some people think that teaching methodology in the modern classroom should be based on experiential learning. While others believe that the traditional approach is still the best. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the opinion? Sample Answer ▼ Some people believe that Learner-Centred teaching is better than the conventional methods of teaching for the contemporary classrooms. I am quite inclined to the opinion and believe that experiential learning is the need of the hour. The classical methods of teaching always focused on the lecture format and examination. While the experiential learning targets hands on problem solving activity and a research project. The famous learning curve which describes the relationship between memory and time illustrates that during a lecture if your absorption rate is 100 percent on day one then it comes down to only 3-4 percent at the end of thirty days. This theory is even more relevant in today’s scenario where the attenti...

Labile -   Readily undergoing change or breakdown Lachrymose -   Showing sorrow Lackadaisical -   Idle or indolent especially in a dreamy way Lackluster -   Lacking brilliance or vitality Laconic -   Brief and to the point Lament -   Express grief verbally Lampoon -   A composition that imitates or misrepresents a style Lancet -   An acutely pointed Gothic arch Languid -   Lacking spirit or liveliness Languish -   Lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief

Task - 2 Present a written argument or case study to an educational reader with no specialised knowledge of the following topic: The overuse of natural resources causes an ultimate exhaust of them. People have been using them to be in the swim of new styles such as making new furniture of recent design. This causes huge harm to the environment. Therefore, the government should discourage people the overuse of these resources. To what extent do you support or oppose the idea? Sample Answer ▼ In our life, we use the natural resources in many different ways and in fact, natural resources are vital for our existences. Our lives will simply become impossible if we stop using natural resources. But it is a matter of pity that the way we overuse those resources. The existing natural resources are limited and the demand and consumption are increasing day by day as the world population is increasing. As a result, natural resources are rather being reduced with the increased and imprudent...

Unblemished - Not damaged in anyway Labor intensive - Needing a large workforce for output Mangle - Destroy by tearing or crushing Virtually - Nearly , almost Tinted - Shade or variety of a color Simultaneously - At the same time Marred - Spoilt  Inclusions - State of including within a group Steer - Control the movement Unaccustomed - Not familiar with

Task - 2 The position of women in society has changed markedly in the last twenty years. Many of the problems young people now experience, such as juvenile delinquency, arise from the fact that many married women now work and are not at home to care for their children. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Sample Answer ▼ Over the last twenty years, the women empowerment and employment have gone through rapid changes and more women are working in the different sphere of society than ever. This is, in fact, advantageous for the overall growth of a country and at the same time, this is one of the main reasons the juvenile delinquency has increased nowadays. First of all, a child needs the tenderness and guidance of parents and if both parents are working they have very little time to spend with the children. The trends of both working parents are leading depression, lack of morality and lose family tie which has severe psychological damage among the tee...

Anxiety - Anxious feeling or state Retardation - Limitations in developing or progressing Semantics - The study of the meaning of words Questionnaire - A set of printed questions for a survey Sabotage - Deliberately destroy or damage , the act of sabotaging Intimidation - Frightening someone to do something Shivers - Shake slightly especially from fear  or cold Pertinent - Relevant Scouring - To clean something by rubbing it hard Backlash - An angry reaction

Task 2 Universities should accept equal numbers of men and women in every subject. To what extent do you agree with this statement? You should write at least 250 words. - Show / Hide Sample Answer - Gender issues have been increasing in importance through the centuries. In almost every sphere of human activity, there has been a movement towards greater equality between men and women. Although I agree that universities should open their doors to all students alike, in my view, they need not set a fixed limit on the number of men and women they accept in each subject. The bases for my views are psychological and personal. Psychologically-speaking, men and women are simply different, though they have the same potential for greatness. For example, women tend to be more intuitive, sensitive to others and caring. This means they may feel drawn, on the basis of their personalities, to certain kinds of professions such as teaching, nursing, or psychology, even if all fie...

Famine - Extreme shortage of food Unprecedented - Never done or known before Proxy - Authority to represent someone else     Rerouted -   Send by or along a different way Perished - Died Culminated - Reach a climax or point of highest Stemmed - Originated in or to arise Blight - A plant disease Olfaction - Capacity of smelling Evoke - Bring or recall to the conscious mind                                                                                                                                                                     ...

Task - 2 Parents are the best teachers. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.  You should give reasons for your answer using your own ideas and experience. Sample Answer ▼ ‘Whether parents are our best teachers or not’ is a never-ending debate and people are divided both in favour and against this argument. Both have a very strong contribution and influence on a child’s learning but in my opinion, parents overtake the teachers in terms of teaching their children. First of all, I would like to point out that a teacher is not merely a person who takes a text book and read texts from there to a student. Rather a teacher is someone who devotes his/her times to teach someone everything that someone needs to know to advance to next step. Morality, intricacies of life, subject matter knowledge, art, science, history, value of time etc. are something that can’t be taught through academic books a...

Unblemished         Not damaged in anyway labor intensive       Needing a large workforce for output Mangle                   Destroy by tearing or crushing Virtually                 Nearly , almost Tinted                    Shade or variety of a color Simultaneously     At the same time Marred                  Spoilt Inclusions            State of including within a group Steer                     Control the movement Unaccustomed      Not familiar with              

Task - 2 Plants can provide food, shelter, clothing, or medicine. What is one kind of plant that is important to you or the people in your country? Use specific reasons and details to explain your choice. Sample Answer ▼ Plants play a very important role in our everyday life and our very existence depends on the oxygen we breathe which is produced by the plants. They give us oxygen, provide different medicines, clothing, and food. Every country has its own staple food that dominates in the diet of dwellers of that country. For example, the staple food for Japan and Korea is rice. As for me, I am from Russia and our staple plants are potato and wheat. Some people in my country believe that wheat is the most important plant because it provides full and nutritious meals. People bake bread and cookies, cook kasha and soup. At old times people in Russia raised wheat and prayed for the good harvest in order to survive. Millet has a good storage time so it gives the opportunit...

Oasis -   A shelter serving as a place of safety or sanctuary Obdurate -  Showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings Obedient -   Dutifully complying with the commands of those in authority Obeisance -  Bending the head or body in reverence or submission Obfuscate -  Make obscure or unclear Objective -  The goal intended to be attained Obligation -   The state of being bound to do or pay something Oblique -   Not direct, explicit, or straightforward Oblivious -   Lacking conscious awareness of Obloquy -  State of disgrace resulting from public abuse

Task 2 Are famous people treated unfairly by the media? Should they be given more privacy, or is the price of their fame an invasion into their private life? Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Sample Answer ▼ In the world of today, media has the freedom to encounter the personalities of famous people. In the result, these people become critical between ordinary people; and their personalities also to the viewers. Therefore, the privacy of these people converts into a toy to play. On the other hand, some famous people allow the media to enter into their lives because they enjoy fame among viewers, even it is not in a respectable manner. There is no doubt that group of some personalities enjoys the fame, given by the media by entering their private lives. Therefore, these types of famous people perform some questionable activities, therefore they can be discuss...

Task 2 A zoo has no useful purpose. Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer. Sample Answer ▼ Keeping wild animals in cages for public exhibition is a tradition that people are performing for a long and for majority people this is an amusement and educational purpose for kids while others think it to be a very inhuman act. This is a much-debated issue and I personally find no usefulness of a zoological garden where these animals and birds of different kinds are kept for public entertainment. First of all, the idea of keeping wild animals in cages is really a brutal one and human should not be proud of act like this. Who has given us the power and authority to forcefully bring animals to zoos and then being hilarious watching their activities? Do our weapon and brain makes us superior and powerful enough to decide the lives of other species? No, if we are superior to those wild animals, it is our humanity and superiority of thinking power and where would...

Task 2 Parents are the best teachers. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. You should give reasons for your answer using your own ideas and experience. Sample Answer ▼ ‘Whether parents are our best teachers or not’ is a never-ending debate and people are divided both in favour and against this argument. Both have a very strong contribution and influence on a child’s learning but in my opinion, parents overtake the teachers in terms of teaching their children. First of all, I would like to point out that a teacher is not merely a person who takes a text book and read texts from there to a student. Rather a teacher is someone who devotes his/her times to teach someone everything that someone needs to know to advance to next step. Morality, intricacies of life, subject matter knowledge, art, science, history, value of time etc. are something that can’t be taught through academic books and a good teacher is someone who teaches someone these all. No...

Task 2 Cricket has become more popular than the national sports in the sub-continental countries. What do you think are the reasons behind this? Sample Answer ▼ There is a very famous adage in India, "If Cricket is religion, then Sachin is the god". That is a statue of a cricketer in India. Admittedly, Cricket is more popular than the national sports in the subcontinent, be it India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. Almost entire subcontinent came to a standstill in April 2011 during the India and Sri Lanka World cup final match. High TRP's of TV channel during the cricket season are evident. I think the main reason for the popularity of this sport is the good performance of the team. All the subcontinent teams are among the top playing teams and have won the world cup at least once (except Bangladesh). Prior to India winning 1983 world cup, Hockey was more famous as India's hockey team performed well and but after winning the world cup, people started followin...

Task 2 A country becomes more interesting and develops more quickly when its population includes a mixture of nationalities.  To what extent do you agree or disagree? Sample Answer ▼ Global migration of people began with the soaring industrialization and due to the major global wars. As a result, many developed nations experience the amalgamation of different cultures and traditions. It is often argued that this diversification of nationalities and cultures make the country more attractive and help the nation progress faster. I agree with this viewpoint. First of all, in a country with cross-cultural integrity, public areas, facilities, and tourists spots are designed considering all inhabitants including expatriates. Shopping malls, entertainment centers, beaches etc. public places become more appealing and usable. The cities become global towns and bear the mark of truly diverse traditions and cultures. For example, in several countries many nationalities resi...

Task - 2 Present a written argument to an educated reader with no specialist knowledge of the following topic: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Sample Answer ▼ With the evolution of technological advancement, people’s interest in reading has dramatically reduced in some developing countries over the last few years. Some people argue that books having people autobiography, real stories and proven facts are more influential and have greater advantages. Others claim that people should encourage reading books irrespective of its type and category. I believe that reading is an important constituent of people’s lives and help them to increase their knowledge and information about various aspects of the worlds. There is no doubt that people’s observation and experiences in the form of books enable other people to draw their opinion on a particular thing, for instance, researchers are using established facts as a basis of their research to extract something new ou...

Task 2 To solve the ever-increasing environmental hazards throughout the world, the best way is to increase the price of fuel. What is your opinion on the above assumption? Sample Answer ▼ It is true that skyrocketing the fuel price can make a nosedive on the use of vehicles in many cities but curtailing the volume of energy we utilise is not an elixir as it would soar the daily living expense as well. Hence, the human being ought to scout out renewable energy in an attempt to halt the tide of environment upheaval. To begin with, protecting the environment only through the buoyant price of energy sounds somewhat over-optimistic. Developing other environment-friendly forms of momentum, such as hydrogen, which is the most potent weapon to deal with this murky water is a far better solution. Despite the exorbitant price of fossil fuel, there is still a kaleidoscope of transportation that will need it. And by extension, airplane would be a concrete example- although the usa...

Task 2 Should wealthy nations be required to share their wealth among poorer nations by providing such things as food and education? Or is it the responsibility of the governments of poorer nations to look after their citizens themselves? Use your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and with relevant evidence. Sample Answer ▼ Some school of thought believe that strong economies should aid the poor countries in terms of supporting them in their primary needs, while some others think it is due to the local governments to deal with such internal problems. Although both the parties have some strong justifications to support their ideas, I personally agree with the first group more because of several key factors including lack of resources in such poor economies, the fact that we are living in a global society. The first important point I would like to mention is the fact that most of poor economies are suffering from lack of having enough fac...

Task 2 The idea of having a single career is becoming an old fashioned one. The new fashion will be to have several careers or ways of earning money and further education will be something that continues throughout life. Use your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence. Sample Answer ▼ It is believed that focusing on a single career is out of date these days. The new trend is that people should have several kinds of occupations in their life, and they should never stop learning. The following essay will explain in details about why people should have several careers in their life and why they should continue their education till the end. It is a fact that in the old days, most of the people were loyal to their company, focused on their occupations and stayed there until they retired. However, some people believed that the act is old fashioned and people should have various kind of experiences in their life. Having a diff...

Task 2 Extreme sports such as sky diving and skiing are very dangerous and should be banned. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this view? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Sample Answer ▼ In recent years, extreme sports have become increasingly popular, and some people argue that governments should prohibit them. I completely disagree with the idea that these sports are too dangerous, and I therefore believe that they should not be banned. In my opinion, so-called extreme sports are not as dangerous as many people think. All sports involve some element of risk, and there should always be clear regulations and safety procedures to reduce the possibility of accidents. People who take part in extreme sports are usually required to undergo appropriate training so that the dangers are minimised. For example, anyone who wants to try skydiving will need to sign up for lessons with a registered club, and ...

Task 2 Most people have forgotten the meaning behind traditional or religious festivals; during festival periods, people nowadays only want to enjoy themselves. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Sample Answer ▼ Some people feel that religious festivals are becoming meaningless with most people only wanting to enjoy themselves. I don’t agree with this view. In my opinion, festivals are to be enjoyed. Also I don’t think that people have forgotten their meaning. All traditional festivals teach and celebrate the good values of life such as morality and ethics. In my country, for example, people celebrate Diwali in a grand manner by wearing new clothes, giving and receiving presents, bursting crackers and preparing traditional foods which give them more enjoyment. In addition, by decorating their homes with earthen lamps they are also sending out the message that we should dispel darkness from the world and our lives. Similar behaviour can be seen dur...

Task 2 In some countries children have very strict rules of behaviour, while in other countries they are allowed to do almost anything they want. To what extent should children have to follow rules? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Childhood is the time of learning for children. Different countries have different rules of behaviour, but if children do not learn the correct rules they may not be able to fit into their society when they grow up. I believe it is important for children to learn that they must follow certain rules in their society. Different countries have their own ideas about what is polite and acceptable behaviour. In some societies, school children are expected to remain quiet, and pay close attention to the teacher. It is considered very impolite for a student to ask questions and interrupt a teacher. Flow-ever, in other societies children are encouraged to ask teachers questions a...