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Starting an Essay 2

Remember: IELTS Task 2 essays start with a ‘background

statement’: rephrasing the ‘topic’ part of the question.
Topic part is usually an opinion or a trend.

IELTS Writing Example:

International tourism has brought enormous benefit to
Task 2 many places. At the same time, there is concern about its
impact on local inhabitants and the environment.

Vocabulary for Starting Our first task is to rephrase this.

an Essay Let’s look at phrases which can help us.

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Starting an Essay 3
Starting an Essay 4

Phrase 1: Many people claim/believe that... , while others Phrase 3: It is often said that... (+ opinion)
claim/believe that... (+ opinion)
Example: It is often said that children who are raised in
Example: Many people believe that studying in single sex lower income families are more prepared for adult life.
schools is better for children’s education, while others
claim that this is not true. Phrase 4: .... is one of the most important issues... (for
problem/solution, opinion, discussion)
Phrase 2: Nowadays, an increasing number of people... (+
action or opinion) Example: Climate change is one of the most important
issues facing humanity today.
Example:
• Nowadays, an increasing number of people are traveling
abroad for vacations.
• Nowadays, an increasing number of people believe that
it is impossible to work without access to the internet.

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 Starting an Essay 5
Challenge 6

Phrase 5: Whether to .... or .... is a controversial issue... (for
discussion/opinion, dis/advantages)
Example: Whether to love or fear improvements in artificial
intelligence is a controversial issue nowadays.
Write background statements for the following 2 questions.
1. The location of a house or apartment is most important
factor when choosing where to live. To what extent do you
agree with this view?

Phrase 6: There is no denying that... (+ trend, opinion)
Example: There is no denying that an increasing number of
people prefer working from home to going to the office
nowadays.
2. Some people say that violence in the media leads to
increases in violence in real life, whereas other people
disagree. Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.

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Answers 7 8

1. The location of a house or apartment is most important

factor when choosing where to live. To what extent do you
agree with this view?

Answer: It is often said that the location of a home should

be the first consideration when house-hunting.

2. Some people say that violence in the media leads to Thank You
increases in violence in real life, whereas other people
disagree. Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.

Answer: Many people believe that violence in the real

world is directly linked to violence in the media, while
others claim that there is no link between them.

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