Test 8

Writing task 1

The pie charts illustrate in what way students at a university in the UK spent their
money in 1990, 2000 and in 2010.

Overall, a striking increase in the course costs is observed throughout the years, as
well as a significant decline in the total money spent for rent.

First, a substantial rise in the course costs is noted, as it was 34% in 1990 and increased
to 43% in 2000 and to 50% in 2010, representing half of the total expenditure of the
students. The money spent for rent is sharply decreased as it was 34% in 1990, 30% in
2000 and 26% in 2010.

Additionally, the spending for personal items is reduced, as it represented 12% of the
money spent in 1990, 6% in 2000 and 7% in 2010. A similar trend follows the spending
for food, as it dropped from 11% in 1990 to 9% in 2000 and then to 5% in 2010. As far
as travel, leisure and household goods are concerned, they steadily represented under
10% of the total expenditure, demonstrating minor changes in these three years.

Writing task 2

It is widely accepted that obesity, especially in children, is one of the defining

problems of our lifetime and a thorough research on its causes should be carried out
in order to effectively tackle this significant problem.

First of all, being overweight means that one has increased weight compared to the
normal values. This happens because the children eat food that contains much more
calories than they should consume every day, which are stored as adipose tissue in
the body, as they are not used for an activity. Therefore, the single most important
reason for children’s obesity is the intake of food highly concentrated in saturated fat
and in salt such as chips, sausages, hamburgers and processed meat. Moreover,
another significant risk factor is sedentary life which many children adopt, as they
infrequently play sports, as well as the adoption of additional unhealthy habits, such
as playing online games for many hours. Furthermore, eating too much processed
meat and junk food instead of eating vegetables, fruit and generally following the
Mediterranean diet exponentially increases the risk of being a child obese.

Children’s obesity has very disturbing and alarming consequences both on an

individual level and on the society as a whole. Obesity is a serious matter of health,
and should the children be obese, it becomes very difficult for them to lose weight in
the future. Inevitably, the high concentration of the children’s body mass in fat leads
to the development of metabolic syndrome, which has many health implications in
the projection of time. Moreover, obese children are at the risk of developing diabetes
mellitus type II, hypertension and significant cardiovascular problems such as
coronary disease, as the coronary arteries become blocked by the increased
accumulation of fat. Thus, the young people being unhealthy, it would be disastrous
for our society as it translates into disproportionally increased money spent on health
compared to education and other investments.

To sum up, the rise of children’s obesity is one of the most significant and challenging
problems of our era. To my point of view, is of utmost importance to tackle this
phenomenon at its heart, as it has severe implications not only on our children but on
our society as a whole.

Test 2

Writing task 1

The bar chart demonstrates how many students learnt French, German, Spanish and
other languages in some British schools from 1940 to 2000.

Overall, a striking increase in the number of children learning a foreign language

throughout the years is noted. Furthermore, the vast majority of students learnt
French as an additional language from 1940 to 1990, whilst it became number two
option in 2000 after Spanish.

First, the number of British students who learnt a second language sharply increased
from 1940 to 2000, as almost 200,000 studied a foreign language in 1940 followed by
numbers that constantly exceeded 300,000 students from 1950 to 2000. Although
French was the most popular foreign language among British children from 1940 to
1990, representing approximately half of the total foreign languages learnt, it became
the second option for students in 2000, demonstrating a significant decline compared
to the previous years.

On the other hand, in spite of the fact that Spanish was either number two or number
three choice of the British students from 1940 to 1990, it was by far the single most
popular foreign language in 2000, as almost 200,000 students learnt it. Additionally,
German and other foreign languages remained the least learnt languages from 1940
to 2000, as constantly below 50,000 students chose to study them.

Writing task 2

The high numbers of young people killed in car and motorbike accidents is one of the
defining and most significant issues of our lifetime, needing radical measures in order
to be tackled. In my opinion, adolescents should learn the basics of how to drive
properly at school, so as to build a good driving attitude in the future.

First, it is generally accepted that young drivers are characterized by a lack of adequate
driving experience, thus making them more susceptible to engage in an accident. The
young people being too much confident about their driving skills, taken together with
their drinking of large amounts alcohol, exponentially increases the chances of a
serious driving accident. Were we to decrease significantly driving accidents, we
should start teaching the principles of good and safe driving at school. It is of
paramount importance that the young generation should learn how to avoid bad
habits such as drinking heavily, especially before driving, and driving recklessly, and
how to understand and protect themselves from the mistakes committed by other
drivers.

On the other hand, one school of thought supports that we should not solely blame
the young people for the driving accidents, as many elderly and middle-aged people,
especially if they are drunk, engage in driving accidents. Additionally, one could argue
that it is not the purpose of the school to learn adolescents how to drive, but of the
driving schools that have the responsibility of educating well the future drivers. In my
point of view, learning that so many young drivers are killed is very depressing and
exuberant at the same time, and schools should do their best in order to prevent that
from happening.

To sum up, I do believe that schools should educate the young generation so as to
adopt safe driving attitude. It is of utmost significance that the governments should
work in this direction taking measures in order to tackle this issue at its heart and to
prevent this daily massacre on the roads from happening.

Test 3

Writing task 1

The bar charts demonstrate how many French people were spoken by their parents in
a French dialect (Alsatian, Occitan, Breton, Creole and Corsican) in their childhood and
also how many French speak such a dialect to their children.

Overall, the most frequently spoken French dialect either occasionally or habitually to
French adults by their parents was Occitan followed by Alsatian. As far as the adults
who speak French regional language to their children is concerned, the opposite trend
is observed as the most commonly spoken dialect was Alsatian and then Occitan.

Although around 600,000 French were habitually spoken in Alsatian or Occitan when
they were children, Occitan was by far the most commonly occasionally spoken dialect
with almost 1.1 million people compared to Alsatian with just over 300,000 people.
Breton was the third most commonly spoken French dialect as it was spoken by
300,000 people habitually and by 400,000 people occasionally. Last but not least,
Creole and Corsican were spoken by approximately 100,000 people either habitually
or occasionally.

Additionally, about 400,000 French speak Alsatian to their children followed by

Occitan which is spoken by around 300,00 people. Breton, Creole and Corsican are the
least spoken regional languages from French parents to their children, as they are
spoken by no more than 100,000 parents.
Writing task 2

It is widely accepted that stress is one of the defining issues of our lifetime, with
serious implications on our health. In my point of view, nowadays people live with
more stress in their life than in the past and at the same time they have increased
understanding of what stress is and when they experience it.

First, the extension of life expectancy gave to humans additional time to accomplish
much more tasks and achievements in their life compared to the past. Thus, a shift in
our life priorities as a society is observed, as we do not want only to survive but to live
a successful life, achieving all of our personal and professional goals. Were one to live
in such a competitive environment, they would experience increased stress and
anxiety to fulfill their ambitions. Additionally, being happy and enjoying life are no
longer highly prioritized by young people, as one who does not work so hard and is
not successful, they are labeled as idle and losers. In other words, the people are
continuously not happy about themselves and their achievements, and inevitably this
constant madness puts enormous stress in the people’s life compared to the past.

On the other hand, one school of thought supports that stress is a new term in
psychology and it is introduced to describe a feeling. Therefore, it does not mean that
stress is on the rise the last years, but as we are increasingly aware of this term, we
much more frequently understand stress when we feel it. One could argue that a
vicious cycle exists, meaning that as long as one thinks that they experience stress, the
more stress is subsequently provoked. In my opinion, stress is increased compared to
the past, as a quality shift in our life priorities exist and at the same time, we are
convinced as a society that we suffer from stress.

To sum up, stress is one of the most important issues of out era and we need to take
radical measures to tackle this problem at its heart. Were there not stress in our life,
we would not accomplish such great achievements as humankind. However, we need
to bear in mind that stress is a necessary evil which we should not let conquer us.