Category: Spoken English

The IELTS test takers face the challenge of how to start and end an essay. A good start is an essential part of the Writing section. The excellent start infuses brand-new confidence and brings the desired outcome in the form of a high band score. 

It is common to see students scratching their heads the moment they think or start responding to the task. In many cases, students are unable to think critically and waste their precious time gathering ideas. Of course, that is not the strategy for them to employ at the last moment. 

I always believe that writing an essay is an art. It is not a hard asking for sure. At the same time, students need to learn it from the basic. Right from the beginning until the end, it has to be cohesive with the right linkers. All sentences and paragraphs must present a unity of thoughts and correspond to each other’s purpose. 

Considering how significant the first and last paragraph is, I thought of presenting model answers of four topics: the first and last paragraph of the different essay category types.

The first paragraph contains the paraphrasing of the topic statement after analyzing the critical elements of parameters. Moreover, the last paragraph is more or less a follow-through and reiteration of the first paragraph. 

1) “Discussion” question 

Nowadays, many students choose to study abroad at the university level. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of studying abroad, and give your own opinion about whether it is a good idea.

Introduction and conclusion:

It is undoubtedly a new trend that many students choose to study at university overseas. It is true that students making this decision face some difficulties. However, I believe that studying abroad is advantageous for many reasons.

In conclusion, I believe that studying in a foreign country is a positive development as long as students manage to overcome the struggles they are likely to face.

2) “Opinion” question 

When choosing a job, the salary is the most important consideration. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Introduction and conclusion:

More and more people choose their jobs based on a salary package. I personally disagree with the idea that money is the only reason for them while choosing a career because it does not supersede many other vital factors.

In conclusion, while there is no denying that the salary size influences people’s professional choice, I believe that other motivators vastly outweigh money.

3) “Problem and Solution” question 

The problem of litter on the streets of many towns and cities is getting worse. Why do we see more litter on our streets, and what can be done about it?

Introduction and conclusion:

The menace of increasing amounts of rubbish is seen in many public places these days. There are many causes of this problem, and I would argue that education is the only solution to this problem.

In conclusion, litter is mainly caused by dumping rubbish by careless people and the lack of bins, and I believe that educating people for the same is the best way to solve this issue.

4) “Two-part” question 

These days more fathers stay at home and take care of their children while mothers go out to work. What could be the reasons for this? Do you think it is a positive or negative development?

Introduction and conclusion:

Men are indeed more likely to take the role of househusband, while more women are stepping out of the home to earn livelihood in their families. There could be several reasons for this, and I consider it to be an entirely positive trend in society.

In conclusion, men and women’s role is constantly changing in the family due to broader changes in society, and I believe that these developments are prudent.

Some verbs may take either gerund or infinitive:

Advise

We use the infinitive when the person concerned is mentioned:

• Thomas advised me to apply for this position.
• The coach recommends students to read this chapter well before taking the exam.
• They do not allow us to park in front of the gate.

But we use the gerund if the person is not mentioned:

• Thomas advised applying for this position.
• The coach recommends reading this chapter well before taking the exam.
• They do not allow parking in front of the gate.

Agree

The verb ‘agree’ takes the infinitive, and the same rule applies to its antonym ‘refuse’.

Jay agreed to help them financially, but his mother refused to do so.

But ‘agree to’+ possessive adjective takes the gerund:

She agreed to her leaving early on Thursday. (She asked if she could leave early on Thursday and she was allowed).

Begin

With ‘begin’, you can use either the infinitive or the gerund without any difference in meaning. However, the infinitive is more usual.

            We began working. / we began to work.

Can/could bear (dislike)

‘Can/could bear’ is chiefly used in the negative sense and takes either the gerund or the infinitive.

            I have been living here for 18 years and cannot bear the thought of leaving.

Cease

            My dog never ceases to amaze me!

            The Parle G ceased manufacturing biscuits this month.

Continue

            You have two options: either you cease your operations or continue to bear losses.

            You have two options: either you cease your operations or continue bearing losses.

Forget

            I always forget to sign out my email account, and that is nasty of me.

He never forgets putting anyone down, and that is the reason, people distance themselves from him.

Hate

            I hate to be a bearer of this ugly news.

            She hates walking slowly.

Intend

            We intend to sell this house.

            We intend selling this house.

Like

            She usually does not like to go to the theater.

            She usually does not like going to the theater.

Love

            Alex loves to wind-surf.

            Alex loves wind-surfing.

Mean

When ‘mean’ is used for ‘intend’, it takes the infinitive.

            I mean to clarify this point by attaching this evidence.

When ‘mean’ is used for ‘involve’ (used only with an impersonal subject), it takes the gerund.

My boss is hell-bent over approving this proposal quickly even if it means bending the wisdom of the investment.

Need

“I need you to need me, I love you to love me, I want you to want to me, I am begging you to beg me” – Cheap Trick Song.

Your hair needs cutting.

Prefer

            I prefer walking.

            I prefer to walk.

Propose

When ‘propose’ is used for ‘intend’, it takes the infinitive.

            We propose to begin this assignment tomorrow.

When ‘propose’ is used for ‘suggest’, it takes the gerund.

            We propose getting your account tallied before leaving the counter.

Recommend

            We recommend students to write an essay every day.

            We recommend writing an essay every day.

Regret

            Samantha regrets spending extravagantly, and now she is broke.

            We regret to inform you that the school will remain closed tomorrow.

Remember

            She remembers having made mistakes in her speech.

            She remembered to post the letters.

Require

            The grass requires cutting.

The grass required to be cut. All students are required to take a diagnostic test before they commence their classes.

Start

            The moment her dad yelled, she started crying.

            The moment her dad yelled, she started to cry.

Stop

            Stop complaining and get to work.

            We had to stop to ask the way.

Try

            They tried hard to hush this matter, but could not succeed.

            They tried hushing this matter, but could not succeed.

Used to

            I used to bunk off the school while I was in grade 9.

            I am used to living in a cold climate.

Want

            Do you want to convince him over this issue? He seems adamant.

            The plants want watering on every other day.

Academic Training:

1. Some people think that zoos are cruel and all the zoos should be closed. However, others think zoos are useful to protect rare animals. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
2. Some people believe that sport is nothing but a leisure activity. Others believe that it is important in our society. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
3. In many countries, mainly tourists, but not local people, visit museums and historical sites. Why does this happen? What can be done to attract more local people to visit these places?
4. Some people believe that to be successful in sports one needs a natural ability, while others think that hard work and practice can make them successful. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

General Training:

1. Some people say drug companies have the responsibility to spend money on researching medicine to help poorer countries. Others think that the main responsibility of drug companies is making money. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
2. Nowadays shopping has become a new favorite pastime for young people. What are the reasons for this? What can be done to encourage young people to develop other hobbies?
3. Some people believe that entertainers are more important than scientists. Support the reasons and examples from your experience.
4. Some people believe that technology has made a man more social. Others believe that it is opposite. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Did you know?

You could lose your mark on a very basic mistake. Take a look at:

Most times, your question paper reads part of the answer, such as $…, %…, km…, inches… and so on. In that case, you just need to write the number.

For example,

Incorrect answer: $10

Correct answer: 10

Agreement of the verb with the subject is a basic understanding while making any sentence. Students generally know this basic rule of grammar, but in this chapter, I am going to discuss one exception, which is worthwhile to learn it.

a)  If two subjects combined denotes one idea, we use the verb which may be the Singular; as,

• Thrill and safety goes hand in hand with this car.
• The long and the short of the matter is this proposal may not have any positive fruition.
• Slow and steady wins the race. That’s what we were taught by the moral story of the hare and the tortoise.
• Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
• The horse and carriage is at the door now.
• Bread and butter is wholesome. Bread and butter is all she takes for breakfast.
• Subhas Chandra Bose, the great nationalist and leader, is no more with us.
• Love and hate is a part of human behavior.
• Rice and curry is my favorite dish for sure.
• The law and order in town is under control now.
• Stay away from this parliamentarian. His power and influence is on the rise.

b)  In some cases, two nouns are joined by words/phrases, such as with, besides, as well as, together with, no less than. It also expresses one idea; as,

• Gold, as well as silver, is a precious metal.
• The rich as well as the poor takes part in this exercise.
• No one, besides him, knows how to deal with such situations.
• Mark my words; your father, not you, has created this gigantic empire of wealth.
• Sheila, together with other friends of mine, is working on this project at the moment.

The sentence formation of Simple Present Tense follows:

	Active and Passive	Active and Passive
1st Person	I give = I am given	We give = We are given
2nd Person	You give = You are given	You give = You are given
	He gives = He is given
3rd Person	She gives = She is given	They give = They are given
	It gives = It is given

The sentence formation of Simple Past Tense Follows

	Active and Passive	Active and Passive
1st Person	I gave = I was given	We gave = We were given
2nd Person	You gave = You were given	You gave = You were given
	He gave = He was given
3rd Person	She gave = She was given	They gave = They were given
	It gave = It was given

The sentence formation of Simple Future Tense Follows

	Active and Passive	Active and Passive
1st Person	I shall give = I shall be given	We shall give = We shall be given
2nd Person	You will give = You will be given	You will give = You will be given
	He will give = He will be given
3rd Person	She will give = She will be given	They will give = They will be given
	It will give = It will be given

The postman brings letters. (Active Voice)

Letters are brought by the postman. (Passive Voice)

Uses of Passive Voice:

Passive voice is not much used in our native languages, such as Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi or any other as it looks awkward when it is translated literally. However, it is a usual practice in the English language to use passive voice.

In the IELTS Academic test, passive voice plays an essential role in Task 1 because of its peculiarity in the usage. It is widely used in it because the doer (agent) becomes inconsequential in the sentence construction. In another way, in most sentences in task one and also in our life, we are not inclined to use the doer (agent) over and over again. For example, my car has been moved!

Now, it does not matter who moved it, or I have no idea who did it.

1. It is used in colloquial speech. ‘Get’ is sometimes used instead of ‘Be’:

The bottle got (= was) broken.

You will get (= be) demoralized if you keep on watching sad news on TV.

There was a brawl at the party last night, but fortunately, nobody got (= was) hurt.

Some exceptions: get married, get divorced, get dressed, get changed (these expressions are not in the passive voice)

• Some verbs have two objects. For example, give:

Somebody gave her a rottweiler. (Active Voice)

She was given a rottweiler. A rottweiler was given to her. (Passive Voice)

Somebody gave the cops a tip-off about the raid. (Active Voice)

The cops were given a tip-off about the raid. A tip-off about the raid was given to the cops (Passive Voice)

• In some sentences, the doer is unimportant, so it is not necessary to mention them:

The rubbish has not been collected from the last two days.

The streets are washed every night, wasting away precious drinking water.

You will be ten printed when you apply for the US visa.

• In some sentences, the doer is unknown, or you do not know exactly or have forgotten who did this particular action:

The prime minister was assassinated (= by someone, but we have no idea who exactly did this).

The report on my table was taken (= by some team member)

• Sentences using ‘People’ as a doer in active verbs:

She was suspected of having a hand in glove in this corruption case. (People suspected her of…).

The Gandhi family was believed to be a family of saints, but the reports show otherwise. (People believed the Gandhi family…)

• When we use the indefinite pronoun ‘one’ in the active sentence:

One believes (that) this sort of counseling is as unacceptable. (Active Voice)

This sort of counseling is believed as unacceptable. (Passive Voice)

You can see the advert of Coco-Cola everywhere. (Active Voice)

The advert of Coco-Cola is seen everywhere. (Passive Voice)

• In some cases, we tend to be more interested in the action than the person who does it:

The office next door has been bought (by a Mr. Patel).

If we happen to know Mr. Patel, we will use the active form:

Mr. Patel has bought the office next door.

• It is used to avoid an ungrammatical or awkward sentence. We generally do not change the subject:

Before I reached home, my neighbor took Jericho (dog) to a vet.

would be better expressed:

Before I reached home, Jericho was taken to a vet by my neighbor.

• It is used to disclaim responsibility for disagreeable announcements. It is preferred for psychological reasons:

The bonus on top of your remuneration is being cancelled/will have to be cancelled this year as the company did not meet the revenue target.

airy-fairy (adjective, informal, disapproving): not clear or practical

I like that place because people out there talk about deals, done-deals, projects, achievements, airy-fairy stories among others.

argy-bargy (noun, uncountable, countable, informal): noisy disagreement 

She had a bit of argy-bargy with her boss over the assignments she was overseeing.

artsy-fartsy also arty-farty (adjective, disapproving, informal): connected with, or having an interest in, the arts

She got annoyed at her consistent response to what she called arty-farty or airy-fairy explanations of how things worked.

chit-chat (noun, uncountable, informal): conversation about things that are not important 

Could you please share a minute for a quick chit-chat?

criss-cross (verb): to make a pattern on something with many straight lines that cross each other

The world was crisscrossed by telegraph lines in the last century, including countless cables under the Atlantic Ocean.

dilly-dally (verb, informal): to take too long to do something, go somewhere or make a decision)

Frankly speaking, I am not a morning guy; dilly-dally during my morning rituals.

harum-scarum (adjective): behaving in a wild and sometimes careless way

Jenny was all set out to start running under the new coach, but her jumping was quite harum-scarum.

helter-skelter (adjective, only before noun): done in a hurry and in a way that lacks organization

In this hectic and helter-skelter world, this was an obvious reminder of the kindness and the Smiths have done it again.

higgledy-piggledy (adjective, informal): untidy and lacking any order

I can see a higgledy-piggledy mess of badly-designed streets in my town.

hocus-pocus (noun, uncountable): language or behaviour that is nonsense and is intended to hide the truth from people

I disagree with the belief that psychology is a lot of hocus-pocus. However, my peers see it otherwise.

hoity-toity (adjective, informal): behaving in a way that suggests that you think you are most important than other people; haughty

My first impression for Islanders was the moneyed and hoity-toity, but soon it was proven wrong the moment I started integrating into society.

hotchpotch (noun, singular, informal [North American: hodgepodge]): a number of things mixed together without any particular order or reason 

Being a coach, it becomes hard for me to explain to students who produce an incoherent hotchpotch in writing.

hurly-burly (noun, uncountable): a very noisy and busy activity or situation

She recounts her hurly-burly of school life on the graduation day.

itty-bitty also itsy-bitsy (adjective, informal): very small

Next to that small area, you can see an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny bathroom.

mumbo jumbo (noun, uncountable, informal, disapproving): language or ceremony that seems complicated and important but is actually without real sense or meaning; nonsense

To her naivety, Rebecca could not comprehend a maze of dense and mumbo jumbo legal terms and ended up losing plenty of money.

mishmash (noun, singular, informal, disapproving): a confused mixture of different kinds of things, styles, etc.

The professor made a total mishmash of points to come to the conclusion, and I think the classroom is yet confused and in bewilderment over this topic.

(the) nitty-gritty (noun, informal, singular): the basic or most important details of an issue or a situation

She missed the nitty-gritty of her assignment which dragged her overall score.

ping-pong (noun, uncountable): table tennis

If your daughter is not good at lawn tennis, put her to ping-pong and she might succeed.

pitter-patter also pit-a-pat (adverb): with quick light steps or beats 

When I heard of you, my heart went pitter-patter across the floor.

shilly-shally (verb, informal, disapproving): to take a long time to do something, especially to make a decision

The Fire Safety department started shilly-shallying about the fire mishap in Surat. Their inertia and incompetence engulfed in over a score of students.

teeny-weeny also teensy-weensy (adjective, informal): very small

Next to that small area, you can see an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny bathroom.

tittle-tattle (noun, uncountable, informal, disapproving): unimportant talk, usually not true, about other people and their lives; gossip

I reckon the gossip surrounding her love affair with Jason is just that – idle tittle-tattle.

touchy-feely (adjective, informal, disapproving):  expressing emotion too openly

It is unwise for you to get all touchy-feely with your own emotions at the workplace because your co-workers may give you a verbal hug for a while, but they may take advantage of it later on.

wishy-washy (adjective, informal, disapproving): not having clear or firm ideas or beliefs

The right wingers have run over those wishy-washy neoliberals in all parts of the world.