IELTS & TOEFL ESSAY WRITING

Task: 

What are advatages of the Internet?

As we know almost everything these days is done with the help of the Internet. The Internet makes communication much more convenient, it is an abundant source of information, and it helps many people entertain themselves with endless entertainment activities. Overall, the Internet has made our life easier and more convenient.

 Through the Internet, our communication is much more convenient nowadays. E-mail, Facebook or Twitter makes it possible to communicate with people instantly at any time of day. This is important for both our work and our personal lives. The Internet makes it possible to find out the latest news right away- even if it is news that happens someplace far away. The Internet makes it possible to get almost any kind of information from anyplace quickly wherever we are.  

 In addition, the Internet is a treasure source of information on any given topic under the sun. Search engines make information accessible on various subject matters such as laws, services, trade fairs, conferences, market information, new innovations or technical support, and even dispense advice on love and relationships matters. It has become common practice to seek assistance from the web in order to research and gather resources for homework, office presentations, and supplement one’s own research.

Moreover, entertainment is one of the foremost reasons why people prefer surfing the Web. In fact, the Internet has brought us with multifaceted entertainment industries. Finding the latest updates about celebrities and exploring lifestyle websites have become day-to-day activities of many Internet users. There are also innumerable games, game shows, movies, songs etc. that can be download free of charge. Indeed, online gaming has tasted dramatic and phenomenal success because of its ever-increasing demand throughout the world.

In short, we are living in the computer and Wed age. We can now do more things and do them more easily than we could before. Our personal and professional lives have improved because of the Internet.

IELTS TASK 1

OUTLINE

1.INTRODUCTION

The graph shows WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN. There are (….) main trends/features. (optional)

2. BODY

a. Paragraph 1:


Introduce the first trend (Topic sentence)


b. Paragraph 2:

Introduce the second trend (Topic sentence)

c. Paragraph 3:

.........................

3. CONCLUSION

Summarize the graph

EXAMPLE

LONDON UNDERGROUND STATION

The graph shows the fluctuation in the number of people at a London underground station over the course of a day.

The busiest time of the day is in the morning.

• a sharp increase between 06:00 and 08:00, with 400 people
• drop quickly to less than 200 at 10 o'clock.
• 11 am and 3 pm: the number rises, just under 300.

In the afternoon, numbers decline: less than 100 at 4 pm.

• a rapid rise to a peak of 380 at 6pm.
• after 7 pm, numbers fall significantly
• only a slight increase again at 8pm
• tail off after 9 pm.

Overall, the graph shows that the station is most crowded in the early morning and early evening periods.

Outline 2

Topic 2: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents are the best teachers. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

I. Thesis Statement

Parents may be very important to children, but I do not think they are the best teachers because of some reasons as follows.

II. Body

1. Paragraph 1

Firstly, parents limits their children’s freedom.

- be worried about their friends
- be worried about their study
- be worried about a trip to somewhere

As a result, the children lack many skills in life.

2. Paragraph 2

Secondly, parents usually impose their ideas on their children.

- decide majors
- decide marriages
- result: suffer a lot

3. Paragraph 3

Lastly, parents are often traditional.

- live with the past
- not up-to-date
- problems in entertainment

III. Conclusion

Parents are very important, but just in our teenage.

COVER LETTERS

SAMPLE RESUME COVER LETTER

Richard Anderson,

1234, West 67 Street,

Carlisle, MA 01741,

(123)-456 7890.

Date: 1st May, 2005.

Mr. John Smith,
National Inc.,
257, Park Avenue South,
New York, NY 12345-6789.

Dear Mr. Smith,

My outgoing personality, my sales experience, and my recently completed education make me a strong candidate for a position as an insurance broker for National Inc.

I recently graduated from the National University, New York, with a degree in marketing, where I was president of both the Future Business Leaders of America and the American Marketing Association.

Although a recent graduate, I am not a typical new graduate. I attended school in Chicago, New Jersey and Boston. And I've put myself through these schools by working such jobs as radio advertising sales, newspaper subscription sales, and bartending, all of which enhanced my formal education.

I have the maturity, skills, and abilities to embark on a career in insurance brokering, and I'd like to do this in Manhattan, my home state.

I will be in New York at the end of this month, and I'd like very much to talk with you concerning a position at National Inc. I will follow up this letter with a phone call to see if I can arrange a time to meet with you.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Richard Anderson,
Senior Student, Marketing,
National University,
Manhattan.

Enclosure:
1) Resume
2) Certificate of Honor "Future Business Leaders of America"

Sentences

SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

To be a complete sentence, a group of words must pass two tests:
1) It must have both a subject and a verb.
2) It must express a complete thought.


In a normal (declarative) sentence, the subject (usually a noun, pronoun, noun phrase, or noun clause) appears to the left of the verb (which expresses action, occurrence, or state of being).

You may have other parts to a sentence such as a direct object or object complement, but these parts are not always necessary to create a complete sentence. Normal (declarative) sentences usually fall under one of seven patterns:

1. S-V: I talked.


2. S-V-O: They studied the assignment .


3. S-V-IO-DO: We gave him a coke .


4. S-V- O-OC (N): They called him names.


5. S-V-O-OC (Adj.): She thought the test easy.


6. S-LV-C (N): The girl is a ninja .


7. S-LV-C (Adj.): The girl seems acrobatic .


8. S = Subject, V = Verb, O or DO = Direct Object, IO = Indirect Object, OC = Object

Complement, LV = Linking Verb, C = Complement, N = Noun, Adj. = Adjective.

You have two methods of testing a group of words to see if it is a complete sentence: the embedding frame and the tag question.

I. SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

Sentence fragments are incomplete sentences or part of sentences.

Study the following examples of sentence fragments and how to correct them

1. Because of some students work part-time while taking a full load of courses.
Problem: This is a dependent clause
To correct: Because of some students work part-time while taking a full load of courses, they have very little free time.

2. For example, the increase in the cost of renting an apartment

Problem: There is no verb
To correct: For example, the increase in the cost of renting an apartment is rapid

3. Feeling lonely and failing most of his classes.
Problem: This is a participle phrase
To correct: He felt lonely and was failing most of his classes.Feeling lonely and failing most of his classes, the student wisely decided to make an appointment with his counselor

4. Many young people who leave home at an early age
Problem: The independent clause is unfinished
To correct: Many young people leave home at an early age.Many young people who leave home at an early age do not manage their money well.

be continued

Grammar

COLLECTIVE NOUN

Some nouns, like committee, clergy, enemy, group, family, and team, refer to a group but are singular in form. These nouns are called collective nouns. In American usage, a collective noun takes a singular verb when it refers to the collection considered as a whole, as in The family was united on this question or The enemy is suing for peace. It takes a plural verb when it refers to the members of the group considered as individuals, as in My family are always fighting among themselves or The enemy were showing up in groups of three or four to turn in their weapons. In British usage, collective nouns are more often treated as plurals: The government have not announced a new policy. The team are playing in the test matches next week.

1. Be careful not to treat a collective noun as both singular and plural in the same construction. Thus you should say The family is determined to press its (not their) claim.

2. Collective nouns always refer to living creatures. Similar inanimate nouns, such as furniture and luggage, differ in that they cannot be counted individually. That is why you cannot buy a furniture or a luggage. These nouns are usually called mass nouns or noncount nouns. They always take a singular verb: The bedroom furniture was on sale.

Essay Writing

TOEFL WRITING

It has been said, "Not everything that is learned is contained in books." Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?

Books and experience are both essential resources for us to get knowledge, and both have relevant merits. When asked about which source is more important, the majority may choose experience. Others, however, like me, would like to vote for books from which gaining knowledge is more efficient, widely-covered and systematic.

At first, I think that acquiring knowledge from books is far more efficient than that from experience. In the time of information explosion, efficiency is of vital importance and everyone wants to get more information in less time, and books help them do that. By books, we can understand a principle in a single day which may have taken the experts several years to discover. Moreover, we can quickly go through the thousand-year-history in several hours, and we can learn about a foreign country without having been there for a minute.

Furthermore, books have another conspicuous benefit that is its universality. As far as I know human’s life is finite and too short to experience everything in this world. Often there are things that ordinary people cannot experience in their lives. However, by reading books which contain almost every field in this world can provide what they want to know. For example, very few people can step on the moon, but we can also know the details about the moon by reading relevant books.

In addition, knowledge gained from books is more systematic. The knowledge which comes from experience is concrete, specific but often fragmentary while knowledge acquired from books is more systematic. When you open a book, we can realize that its content is put in the index from introduction, body to conclusion.

What I have mentioned does not mean that I deny knowledge gained from experience. However, if I am asked which one is more important, I am going to answer that knowledge gained from books is more important. I always keep in my mind that everything needs to be more quick, wide, and systematical. I do not think you agree with me, do you?

Written by Nguyen Hong Anh

TOEFL & IELTS Writing

People attend university for many different reasons (for example, expanded knowledge, societal awareness, and enhanced interpersonal relationships). Why do you think people decide to go to university? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

THE OUTLINE

I. The Thesis Statement

In my opinion, people in my country, Vietnam, choose to go to university because of three main reasons such as pursuing their academic interest, preparing for their future career, and enjoying social life.

II. Body

Paragraph 1

First of all, many people attend university to study a particular subject or field in which they are deeply interested.

- focus on the fields they are interested in

- explore them in depth

- take a variety of specialized courses in one discipline

Paragraph 2

Another common reason for people in my country to go to university is that college education often leads to a better career in the future.

- to find better-paid jobs than those without university degress

- to get higher and more attractive positions

- examples

Paragraph 3

Finally, for some students, making friends and enjoying social life can be a sufficient reason for staying in school for another four years.

- to meet diverse groups of people and learn about their lifestyles as well as perspectives.

- to have wide relations through numerous clubs and student organizations

- to improve social knowlege

III. Conclusion

In conclusion, going to university is a significant decision in life, and people may have different reasons for making that decision. They might decide to attend university to pursue their academic goals, to achieve a better career, to increase their knowledge or to develop friendships.

SAMPLE

Written by Nguyễn Hồng Anh

At one point or another in their high school lives, many students are faced with one big question: whether they should go to university. Some students say no to the question because they might think that higher education is not necessary for them or that they have something more meaningful to do. Other people say yes and spend the next four years in classrooms. Although the final decision these people make is the same, their reasons might vary. In my opinion, people in my country, Vietnam, choose to go to university because of three main reasons such as pursuing their academic interest, preparing for their future career, and enjoying social life.

First of all, many people attend university to study a particular subject or field in which they are deeply interested. University curriculums allow students to focus on the fields they are interested in and explore them in depth. In order to satisfy students’ desire to learn, universities offer a variety of specialized courses in one discipline and have knowledgeable professors to teach them. For example, a student who is interested in political science can study political systems, political thought, comparative politics, and many other subjects related to politics. Such a wide selection of courses and professors with expertise enable students to pursue their academic goals in the fields of their choice.

Another common reason for people in my country to go to university is that college education often leads to a better career in the future. As a matter of fact, in many countries, people with university degrees tend to find better-paid jobs than those without them. Companies usually offer higher salaries and more attractive positions to university graduates. In addition, some universities provide their students with opportunities to acquire practical skills that can be useful in the real world. For example, they offer courses in accounting, computing and foreign languages, as well as internship programs in which students can experience working in a company and learn business skills.

Finally, for some students, making friends and enjoying social life can be a sufficient reason for staying in school for another four years. Unlike high schools, in which the student population largely consists of young people living in the area, universities often attract students from different parts of the country and even from the world. University life offers chances to meet this diverse group of people and learn about their lifestyles as well as perspectives. Moreover, universities usually have numerous clubs and student organizations, such as sports teams, hobby groups, and social activity groups. Thus, universities can be places to meet people with different backgrounds and foster relationships.

In conclusion, going to university is a significant decision in life, and people may have different reasons for making that decision. They might decide to attend university to pursue their academic goals, to achieve a better career, to increase their knowledge or to develop friendships. Whatever the reason is, it is important for students to remember why they are in university and make the best of the opportunities the school provides them. If they do, the time they spend as university students will surely be one of the most meaningful periods of their life. I also promise to myself that I try to get enough knowledge when I have a chance to study at university so that I can ensure my future career and contribute something to the development of the country.

Written by Nguyễn Hồng Anh.

Essay Samples

Topic 1:

Some businesses now say that no one can smoke cigarettes in any of their offices. 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?

Restricting smoking in offices and public places is controversial, since although non-smokers may think this is a good idea, smokers naturally may not. It may also be seen as an interference with people’s freedom. Different cultures may have varying attitudes as to whether businesses or governments have the right to ban smoking in certain places.

Banning smoking in the workplace may not be a good idea because smokers may work better if they can smoke. However, passive smoking can cause objections from colleagues. Although such bans may reduce freedom, it is widely accepted that businesses have the right to regulate staff activities. Governments too may also ban smoking in public places, which may be beneficial by reducing the costs to society of smoking such as litter and health care.

However, smoking in public may also bring some benefits to society, for example in tax revenue and of course the pleasure of smokers. Also, pressure groups such as tobacco companies may discourage restrictions on smoking.

As for freedom, in all societies the government has the right to regulate citizens’ activities. It is therefore possible that as more citizens come to believe that the disadvantages of allowing smoking outweigh the advantages, then they would increasingly support such bans.

As a non-smoker I believe that restricting smoking in workplaces and in public is a good idea. I can also understand the opinion of smokers that banning smoking in such places limits their freedom. However, if the effects of smoking were limited to smokers I would oppose bans, but as smoking affects the health of others, I support them.