Hi.
I am new to this forum. I am preparing for IELTS test. I'm taking the test on Saturday. I have written quite a few essays. Please help me to check for errors and I am open to constructive criticisms. Please feel free to make suggestions.
Thanks a lot.
Happiness is considered very important in life. Why is it difficult to define? What factors are important in achieving happiness?
Of course it goes without saying that happiness is vital to one's life. It is because happiness in some way is associated with someone's value of existence. To put it simply, an unhappy life is not worth living. That is why human beings are constantly searching for it.
Happiness, as defined in the dictionary is a state of being happy. What makes people happy then? Different people have different interests and ideas. If you would do a survey of numerous people on what makes them happy, you would get diverse answers. The reason is that human beings are unique individuals, in such a way that what makes one person happy might be entirely different from another. For instance, eating ice cream may make some people happy. On the other hand, this may have no effect to others. Another example, listening to loud music is pleasurable to some people, whereas others feel the opposite.
There are some considerations in attaining happiness. Personal aspirations are influential to achieving happiness. A person who pursued a career in music, due to his passion, may feel happy instead of getting a stable job that offers regular paycheck. Another factor is the individual's interests and personality. An outgoing and sociable person may be in high spirits partying with a group of people at the beach. On the contrary, an introvert person may feel displeased. Furthermore, social connections such as, with your family, relatives and friends are great factors of achieving happiness. Some people may also feel that a close relationship with the Creator make them feel content.
To sum up, due to individual's dissimilar tastes in life, happiness is not easy to define. However, there are factors that are essential to attain happiness.
Smoking tobacco like other dangerous drugs should be made illegal. Agree or disagree?
The issue of prohibiting cigarette or tobacco smoking is not a recent one. It has been a common issue for debate for a quite a time now. As one of the non-smokers in the society, my personal viewpoint on this matter is apparently on the side of those people who do not smoke.
Cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health. This government warning is used to be shown in TV ads not long ago but nowadays can be found on cigarette packets. It has been proven in numerous medical studies that cigarette or tobacco smoking is harmful and damaging to the human body. It is because cigarette contains chemical substances such as nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, other toxins and carcinogens. These substances are poisonous and in the long run cause cancer in humans. Lung cancer is a very common disease associated with tobacco smoking. Other ailments include cardiovascular diseases, chronic bronchitis, heart attack, tuberculosis and many more. Unfortunately, non-smokers are also affected by these detrimental effects of smoking through secondhand smoke as it poses the same threats as direct smoking.
Furthermore, nicotine is a highly addictive substance. That is why regular smokers usually find it hard to wean off smoking. On top of that, the cost of money a person spent on cigarettes is astounding.
In spite of all the negative effects of smoking, there are still people who patronize it. Many people who smoke exclaim that it gives pleasure and that they feel less stressed after smoking. Also, some say that smoking makes them look cool and trendy.
To summarize, total prohibition of tobacco smoking can only be achieved if governments are ready to face the possibility of a great protest from smokers and tobacco companies more importantly when people stop patronizing it.
The elderly people of over 50 years of age should be retired and be replaced by the young. Do you agree or disagree?
Ageism is often a negative and/or stereotypic perception of aging and aged individuals. Sadly, it started two hundred years ago, by the American society and unfortunately had become widespread. It is still rampant in the American culture and other cultures as well, such as my hometown. In this stereotyping, they refer to old age as a period of incompetency and impotency.
However, in the past, the elders held an honored position in the community. They are revered and sought after due to their maturity and wisdom. It was because of the drastic changes in the workplace where factories and industries emerged and began to replace the agriculture as America's economic base. As a result, jobs became more physically demanding, which in turn made younger workers more attractive than older workers.
Still, I strongly disagree that the young adults should replace the senior citizens. It is because I believe that the elderly are our most valuable resource. Their experiences, knowledge and skills are incomparable. They have traveled the paths where we, the young adults, have not traveled yet and have gone through life's many obstacles. These paths and obstacles made them tougher, more mature and wiser. Furthermore, is not it there is a saying that life begins at forty? Thus, in my opinion fifty years of age is still young especially these days that people are living longer, thanks to advances in medicine.
On the other hand, in this youth-obsessed society we live in, most people believe that the elderly are incapable and inept and worst of all, useless. It is sad to say but it is true.
Finally, we should educate every child to value our elders. If it is not for their indispensable existence and contribution we would not be here today.
Some people believe that children's leisure activities must be educational, otherwise they
are a complete waste of time.
Do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your experience.
We are now living in a modern era where different forms of entertainment are very common and widespread. As a result, youngsters are spending their free time on activities that entertain them rather than educate them.
Time is short and precious, that is why I strongly believe that children should spend their time wisely. Children who engage themselves in instructive activities tend to be more successful in their studies and later on in their chosen career path. For instance, playing chess, educational board games and solving crossword puzzles stimulate the brain. Thus, logical thinking ability is improved in great measure.
Another good example of educational activities to do during spare time is playing musical instruments, such as piano or violin and the like. Research shows that musically inclined individual at a young age turns out to be more brilliant and creative. As a result, children who partake in informative activities greatly benefit. They become better, well-rounded, disciplined and intellectual people who are ready to face challenging and critical situations.
However, in today's society, some people might think that young ones should relax and entertain themselves while they are still young as they will get less free time when they grow older and start to work. Also, in my opinion, parents are busy with their career nowadays that they don't have enough time to strictly guide and supervise how their children spend their spare time.
In conclusion, leisure time is important and it is best spent in educational activities which are beneficial to the children.
Millions of people every year move to English-speaking countries such as Australia,
Britain or America, in order to study at school, college or university.
Why do so many people want to study in English?
Why is English such an important international language?
Give reasons for your answer.
These days, it is undeniable that a lot of people move to countries such as United Kingdom, the United States, or even Australia, where the English language is widely spoken, to study in school or university.
Language is a must for better communication. In this case, it is believed that these people who pursue studies in an English-speaking country would like to learn to effectively communicate in the English language. English is a universal language widely spoken around the world. A person will greatly benefit from studying abroad. The individual will have the opportunity to listen to and to speak with English native speakers every day. In addition, these countries are first world countries therefore graduating from their universities offers the person an edge and better credentials when looking for jobs afterwards. Furthermore, being able to listen, read, write and speak in English opens up better opportunities not only in job placements but also in business transactions.
English is an important language of commerce and business. It is because in the past the British Empire has colonized much of the world and the United States took over. These countries are leaders of the world and are still dominant up until now. They have invented and contributed a lot of things in terms of technology and commerce. Examples of technological advances are the computer, internet and machineries. For an individual to be knowledgeable of the world's technology and commerce he must be apt in the English language. Also, English is fairly easy to learn compared to other languages.
In conclusion, English has been an important universal language in the past until now.
Some governments say how many children a family can have in their country. They may control the number of children someone has through taxes. It is sometimes necessary and right for a government to control the population in this way. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answers.
These days, it is undeniable that society's population is increasing alarmingly. We must acknowledge that the continuous rise in population will cause considerable number of problems not only to a certain country but to the whole world as well. It is for this reason that the state is urged to take action as it is deemed that birth rate restriction is of great importance.
Personally, I tend to agree that the government should be strict and imperative in imposing laws to limit the population growth. This is especially true for undeveloped countries. For instance, in China, there is a system called "one child per family policy". The citizens would be offered special benefits if they agreed to have only one child. Otherwise, they would be taxed up to fifty percent of their income or punished by loss of employment. As a result, the citizens are obliged to follow and so the government's efforts to keep the population growth rates down, has been successful.
There are some other ways to control birth rate such as ligations, vasectomies and birth control pills. According to research these precautions are rarely practiced by middle-class families worldwide, without the government's command. If these families wished to have many children they may do so because there is no strict law prohibiting them.
However, we must consider those very poor families who don't have a stable source of income or job. They comprise the majority of a country's population. In this case the government should think of better ways specifically for this group of people.
In conclusion, I believe it is expedient for the state to set some extreme measures to control population growth.
Should parents be obliged to immunise their children against common
childhood diseases? Or do individuals have the right to choose not to
immunise their children?
In today's society, especially in the First World countries, vaccination among infants and young children is a common practice. The government regards this with great importance and they may require parents or guardians to let their child undergo immunization.
With recent developments in medicine, vaccines have proved to be one of the best ways to boost immunity of an individual against communicable and infectious diseases. Research claims that an immunized child is less susceptible to common illness. As a result, fewer children will get sick. Furthermore, when almost every child is inoculated, chances of spreading diseases from one to another will be minimized.
On the other hand, I tend to disagree that vaccination should be mandatory. Parents should have freedom to choose other ways of protecting their children against illnesses. For instance, they can go for a more natural way of boosting their child's immune system such as eating a healthy, well-balanced diet and getting regular exercise. Some parents might have financial issues as well. They would tend to look for a more affordable means of improving their child's immunity and health in general. Also, we should put into consideration that medicine, effective it may be, is not 100% safe. It may still have side-effects which in the long run would be harmful to the child's health.
To conclude with, I do not think that children's immunization should be imposed on parents. Instead, like any free individual they should be given the liberty to choose what they think is best for their children's wellness.
Smoking tobacco like other dangerous drugs should be made illegal. Agree or disagree?
The issue of prohibiting cigarette or tobacco smoking is not a recent one. It has been a common issue for debate for a quite a time now. --------------Both these sentences more or less have the same meaning. Therefore, tell this idea in one strong sentence. ;
Asone of thea non-smokersin the society , my personal viewpoint on this matter is apparently on the side of those people who do not smokeI am not only a non-smoker but also a person who strongly supports the idea of making all forms of smoking illegal due to its many ill effects.
CigarettesS moking iscan cause dangerous consequences to yourone's health. (give some examples to support this argument such as it may cause lung cancers, emphysema, bronchitis, asthma etc).By acknowledging these adverse effects, some countries have prohibited tobacco advertising and sponsorship of sporting events . This government warning is used to be shown in TV ads not long ago but nowadays can be found on cigarette packets .
It has been proven in numerous medical studies that cigarette or tobacco smoking is harmful and damaging to the human body. It is because cigarette contains chemical substances such as nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, other toxins and carcinogens. These substances are poisonous and in the long run cause cancer in humans. Lung cancer is a very common disease associated with tobacco smoking. Other ailments include cardiovascular diseases, chronic bronchitis, heart attack, tuberculosis and many more. Unfortunately, non-smokers are also affected by these detrimental effects of smoking through secondhand smoke as it poses the same threats as direct smoking.----- as I mentioned earlier this part should come immediately after your claim that smoking is bad for health.
In spite of all the negative effects of smoking, there are still some people who patronize it. Many people who smokesuch supporters claimexclaim that itsmoking is pleasurablegives pleasure and that they feel lessis a powerful tool of relieving stressedafter smoking . Also, some saybelieve that smoking makes them look cool and trendy. --------------- another point; some people argue that smoking bans violate the notion of personal liberty
To summarize, total prohibition of tobacco smoking can only be achieved if governments are ready to face the possibility of a great protest from smokers and tobacco companies more importantly when people stop patronizing it.-------------- I think your summary should go in line with the topic. So I feel you should once again stress your conclusion (smoking should be prohibited completely and made illegal) and tell the reasons for your conclusion in a summarised form.
