IELTS-Blog

A student asked me about the following topic, whether I think it is a situation essay or an argument one.

“The first car appeared on Britain’s road in 1888. By the year 2000 there may be as many as 29 million vehicles on British roads. Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use. What are your views?”

I think this is a situation essay because it is talking about a problem and is looking at a possible solution.

Essay plan

Introduction paragraph

Here you should explain what is the problem, what is it’s reason and it’s consequences. The problem is traffic congestion and a higher number of traffic accidents, the roads are jammed and the environment suffers from increasing amounts of pollution.

First body paragraph – an explanation of the reasons for this situation

The reason is people are accustomed to using their own cars and that population growth combined with higher living standards means that more and more people own cars.

Second body paragraph – a possible solution (alternative transport)

Explain what forms of public transport should be developed more and why the state they are now is not sufficient to convince people use the public transport. How exactly can government develop the public transport and how can it encourage people use it.

Third body paragraph – another possible solution (laws to control cars ownership)

Write about what kind of laws can be introduced world wide to limit the number of cars per family / per company. Write whether or not you think it will work and why.

Conclusion paragraph

Summarize what was said before, do not add new information.

This is a suggested plan for an essay on the following topic:

“Today a lot of different cultures and ethnic groups live together in one country. Why is this so and do you think this is a positive or negative development?”

Essay plan

Introduction paragraph

In the introduction paragraph you should first explain about the situation, mention its reason and consequences:

Example: Due to the highly developed technology, advanced communication channels and massive amounts of information delivered by media about various countries, people get more motivated to leave their home country and move somewhere else in the world. In turn, this creates a situation where well-developed and thus desired countries are getting filled of a mixture of cultures, all brought by immigrants. As beneficial as this development is to the well-being of a country, it’s drawbacks shouldn’t be forgotten.

First body paragraph – 1 point against multicultural society

Make that point, explain why this is so and why this is bad for the country. Then mention the good sides of cultural mix to smoothly move on to the 2nd paragraph.

Second body paragraph – 1 point for multicultural society

Make that point, explain why this is happening and why this is to the benefit of the new country.

Third body paragraph – 1 point for multicultural society

Make that point, explain how this is happening and what are the benefits for the new country.

Conclusion
Summarize what was already said without adding new information, express your own opinion.