IELTS Essays – Band 8

It is believed that people who read for pleasure develop their imagination more and acquire better language skills compared to people who prefer watching television. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Sample Band 8 Essay

Some people subscribe to the belief that reading helps enhance language skills and creativity, whereas watching television does very little for these abilities. Personally, I support this opinion for several reasons, which will be laid out in this essay.

As we all know, books use text to convey ideas and quite often there are no images or illustrations to picture the scenes described in the book; therefore, we have to use our own imagination while reading. For example, reading a fantasy novel that contains mythical creatures one would normally see the appearance of those characters in their mind while following the plot. In contrast, movie heroes on a TV screen are usually created for the viewer by directors and producers of the film. Watching TV substitutes the need to develop one’s own imagination because the characters and their surroundings are shown on the screen.

Furthermore, it is argued that reading is the best way to expand one’s vocabulary. The reader learns the correct spelling of a word by seeing it printed in a book, and they grasp its meaning from the context, without having to look it up in a dictionary. Not only new words but also numerous sentence structures can be learnt from books. To take advantage of these benefits English teachers in many schools use English novels as teaching materials. Students are asked to read the story and capture the keywords to answer the questions in the exam. In comparison, learning new words while watching a TV show isn’t always easy because the viewer’s attention is drawn to the action on the screen and if there are no subtitles, the spelling of the words is not obvious. All this makes a book a more effective tool for a language learner compared to TV.

In conclusion, I believe people who love to read tend to have a more active imagination and advanced linguistic comprehension than those who watch television, since readers are required to imagine the story in the book and learn the meaning of new words from the context.

Click here to see more IELTS essays of Band 8

Scientists believe that the world is in danger due to environmental changes. Some people say that personal lifestyle changes should be made to reduce the damage to environment, while others think that the government should do something to help. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Sample Band 8 Essay

Environmental problems are clearly something that is often discussed in today’s world. One part of the society claims that individuals should change their habits and lifestyle to improve the ecological situation. Others, on the other hand, believe that this issue should be solved on the governmental level. This essay will discuss both sides of the argument and my perspective will be offered.

It is hard to deny that human kind is responsible for the current environmental situation, and it seems impossible to achieve any noticeable result in this field without the participation of vast majority of individuals. For instance, a simple lifestyle change such as introducing the separation of household rubbish can make recycling projects more convenient and efficient. Moreover, consumers can reduce their usage of plastic items and, in turn, less plastic waste will contaminate the environment.

However, many people still feel that the government has more tools to prevent environmental changes. One option that the authorities have is to discourage citizens from using personal vehicles by charging high taxes and additional fees. Moreover, politicians usually have access to resources to educate people about environmental problems and promote the most important ecological projects on all levels, ranging from special courses at schools to TV shows and websites related to this topic. Furthermore, it is a key responsibility of the government to protect the environment by spending state funds on research and modern equipment. Countries where legislation protects the ecology, for example Norway, have achieved visible results and overcame most environmental problems.

In conclusion, I believe that a combined approach will work best to prevent or reverse environmental changes. A contribution of every individual is just as important as the intervention from the government in order to fix existing issues and save our planet for future generations.

Click here to see more IELTS essays of Band 8