WRITING TASK 2 – AGREE/DISAGREE

1. INTRODUCTION
Look at the following questions and discuss in pairs.

1. Have you recently read or watched any

news? What is it about?
2. Is it good or bad news?
3. How do you feel to read or watch bad news
every day?
4. After watching bad news, do you feel
worried when you do certain activities, such
as travelling. Why/Why not?
5. Do you agree if media should limit reporting
bad news? Why/Why not?

2. BRAINSTORMING

Read the question below. In pairs, brainstorm some ideas to answer the question.
The media should limit how much bad news they report so that people will not be
discouraged from doing their activities as usual. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Agree Disagree

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 WRITING TASK 2 – AGREE/DISAGREE
3. SAMPLE ESSAY

(1) These days, most news reports are sensational, shocking, and unpleasant. (2) Some believe
that the media should not report bad news too often so that people will continue doing their
activities instead of worrying too much. (3) I agree with the view as I believe listening to too much
bad news only brings a number of problems.

(4) Firstly, bad news discourages people from doing activities that are usually low risk. (5) For
instance, news of plane crashes may stop many people from taking a plane for a while, although
traveling by air is one of the safest ways to travel. (6) As a result, some airline companies may
suffer because people become frightened of doing minimally risky activities.

(7) Another possible problem is that shocking news reports may cause significant mood changes.
(8) The COVID-19 news update is an example that makes many people feel uneasy. (9) Most
people may feel hopeless and see the world pessimistically because they listen to and read news
about the pandemic every minute.

(10) Lastly, extreme worry could occur due to frequent exposure to negative news. (11) This
means that people's stress levels might increase because they overthink events that most likely
will not happen. (12) Too much coverage of burglary, for example, could terrify people to be just
in their own homes. (13) If that continues, they might develop anxiety and other stress-related
illnesses.

(14) In conclusion, I believe the media should restrict the amount of bad news they cover. (15)
Being overexposed to negative news can refrain people from doing their everyday activities,
change people's emotions, and become stressed out.

A. Read the sample essay again and find the following sentences.

Essay Structure Sentences

Thesis Statement
Main Arguments
Supporting Details

B. Giving example(s) in Task 2 is highly recommended. Look at the sample essay again
and underline the examples.

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 WRITING TASK 2 – AGREE/DISAGREE
C. There are several other words used to give examples in writing. Find them by
completing the words below.
1. __ U C __ A __

2. __ __ M E __ Y

3. T __ __ L L __ S __ __ __ T E

4. T __ K __ __ __ R __ X A __ P __ __

5. __ S A __ __ __ L U __ __ R __ T __ O N

D. Read the sentence prompts below and write your own example using the given
word(s).
1. Governments could invest in building recycling plants so that more garbage is reused to
produce new products.
________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________ (to give a clear example).
2. Parents should be responsible for teaching their children right or wrong.
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________ (for instance).
3. In reality, many courses are more popular with one gender than the other, and it would
not be practical to aim for equal proportions.
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________ (to illustrate).
4. Government has a key role in regulating a systematic method to solve pandemic such as
COVID-19.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________ (as an illustration).

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 WRITING TASK 2 – AGREE/DISAGREE
4. GRAMMAR
A. Look at the 1st paragraph of the sample essay and decide whether the sentence is built
of dependent or independent clauses or both.

(1) These days, most news reports are sensational, shocking, and unpleasant.
(2) Some believe that the media should not report bad news too often
so that people will continue doing their activities instead of worrying too much.
(3) I agree with the view as I believe listening to too much bad news only brings a number of
problems.

B. Read the sample essay again and identify simple and complex sentences.

Sentences Simple Complex

4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

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 WRITING TASK 2 – AGREE/DISAGREE

5. Writing your essay

IELTS PRACTICE TASK

Write about the following topic.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

In the future, nobody will buy printed newspapers or books because they will
be able to read everything they want online without paying.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge
and experience.

Write at least 250 words.

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