Advantages and disadvantages is a familiar type of question in IELTS Writing Task 2 that IELTS Fighter previously shared for beginners. IELTS Writing Task 2: Test format Advantages – disadvantages already. Then this article will expand to add more good samples, you can refer to.

Advantages and disadvantages 1

In some countries, young people are encouraging to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.

Analysis:

Brainstorm:

Essay:

In many parts of the world, young people now have a tendency to take a gap year, which is the time between finishing high school and starting university. From my perspective, this trend has various advantages as well as drawbacks. This essay will discuss both sides.

On the one hand, taking a gap year seems like a great opportunity for young people to discover themselves. This means they can take some time off to find out what they are really passionate about, which will be vital for their career choice later in life. Students usually engage in volunteering, taking on different types of jobs or traveling to another country to experience a foreign culture. Furthermore, people who choose to work before entering university will have less of a financial burden and they are believed to acquire more skills than those who don’t go to work before higher education.

On the other hand, I believe that this trend can bring about several disadvantages that should not be ignored. Firstly, the biggest drawback is distraction. In other words, young people who spend way too much time earning money or traveling might be discouraged to go back to their study. Those who actually get on with their study may find it overwhelming at first as the experience is not as relaxing and enjoyable and they are more likely to fall behind. In addition, there are risks of getting sick or injured when people travel too often; some might even have fatal accidents. Furthermore, some recruiters say that they don’t really appreciate applicants’ gap year if it’s not significant.

In conclusion, while taking some time off studying to explore the world may sound like a good idea for people who have just finished school, I strongly believe that the disadvantages that it brings are more substantial.

Words: 302

Vocabulary and Collocations:

Sample lesson 2

It is important for people to take risks, both in their professional lives and their personal lives.

Do you think the advantages of taking risks outweigh the disadvantages.

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

BRAINSTORMING:

cons:

Reason: risk = failure; cost people their money, time, effort,

Example:

professional life: quit job in search of a better position => unemployment, poverty

personal life: trust other people => betrayer => psychological and emotional damages, embarrassment

=> undeniable, most people play safe

Advantages:

– If risk = failure; realize skills/ weaknesses for future improvement, relationships: lessons to improve interpersonal

– If successful, take risk: new ideas, entrepreneurial spirit => wealth

=> whether in failure or success, taking risk is good

Sample answers:

There is no doubt that risk is an essential and inevitably element in human lives and careers. From a personal perspective, the downside of taking risks pales in comparison with the upsideand this essay shall shed light on the justifications for this statement.

On the one hand, the major drawback of taking risks is the chance of failure. This is due to humans’ inability to predict the future or read others’ minds, which may cost people their money, time, and effort. In their professional lives, for instance, job hoppers seeking vacancies in different organizations may ultimately face unemployment and poverty. In their personal lives, putting trust in friends or acquaintances means accepting the risk of betrayal, information leakage, embarrassment, or even psychological and emotional damages. These adverse consequences are the undeniable reasons why normally most people would try to avoid all risks.

On the other hand, I am firmly convinced that the beneficial outcomes of taking risks are far more significant. First, failure, which is previously mentioned as a negative consequence, is also an opportunity for development. A rejected candidate can realize his own shortcomings for better performance in the next job interview. similarly, failure in relationships brings lessons to improve interpersonal skills. Moreover, from a more optimistic view, venturing out of one’s comfort zone, implementing novel ideas, and embracing uncertainties can also bring success. These are among the core values ​​of entrepreneurial spirit which created million-dollar businesses. Therefore, it can be deduced that taking risk brings benefits in case of both failure and success.

In conclusion, venturing might lead to financial losses and emotional damage. However, facing new challenges facilitate improvement in case of failure and bring wealth in case of success. As a result, the positive effects can overshadow the downside. (294w, band 7.5)

Vocabulary highlights:

– inevitably [adj]: inevitable

– venture out of one’s comfort zone [v phr]: to venture beyond the comfort zone

– face new challenges [v. phr]: ready to face new challenges

– embrace [v]: accept something

– uncertainty [n]: uncertainty, uncertainty

– in search of something [prep phr]: aim to find something (seek [v])

– entrepreneurial spirit [n phr]: entrepreneurship spirit

– vacation [n]: Job position is vacant, need to recruit people = employment opportunity

– million-dollar businesses [n]: businesses worth millions of dollars

– job hopper [n]: people changing jobs frequently

– interpersonal skills [n phr]: interpersonal communication skills (soft skills)

– psychological and emotional damages [n phr]: psychological and emotional trauma

Sample lesson 3

Topic: Today different types of robots are developed which are good friends to us and help us both at home and work. Is this a positive or negative development?

Analysis:

Topic: The ever-growing/ever-increasing/ever-expanding impacts of robots

Viewpoint: companion humans and helps humans at work or in personal life

Question: Positive or negative. Advantages and disadvantages

Brainstorm:

Positive impacts: (1) productivity increase and safety improvement at work; (2) reduction in the dearth of workforce in certain industries.

Negative impacts: (1) political consequences; (2) redefinition of what it means to be a human

Essay:

The ever-growing impacts of robots in human life has become a perpetual concern/ an increasing topic of discussion in the last few decades. While the advancement of robotics is beneficial in certain industries, I would argue that this trend would detrimentally impact the social and political stability, and potentially redefine an existential human.

On the one hand, robots seem to contribute to productivity increase and safety improvement, and provide a vital workforce. First, industrial robots working at a constant speed with no breaks or holiday could produce more precise and high-quality work than human workers. Also, these robots could save workers from performing life-threatening tasks, especially in highly hazardous working conditions, including toxic chemicals, poor lighting, or tight spaces. Second, companionate robots could attenuate the epidemic of loneliness caused by the scarcity of those working in healthcare for the elderly industry. Low fertility has left behind an aging population in early industrializing countries which are facing a critical undersupply of healthcare workers, which could become a thing of the past if robotics taks the role of an essential resupply of workforce.

On the other hand, I believe that robot implementation might have social and political consequences and reconceptualize the definition of human. First, the displacement effect of industrial robots in manufacturing and service industries, causing widespread layoffs, might have a civil rippling influence on income, families, and the local economy, leading to social disorder and discontent against those in power. Citizens could hold government officials and policy makers accountable for their unemployment, giving a rise to those campaigning based on extreme views, including anti-establishment, anti-democracy, and populist nationalism while ignoring the real reason of the trend–automation and robotics. For example, populist candidates and parties, including former US President Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Orban, built their political base around anti-immigration, xenophobia, chauvinism, and anti-globalization without mentioning the technological advancements and robotization. Some people in favor of using robots might ignore the imminent political and social catastrophe for the sake of greatly increased productivity, saved manufacturing cost and healthcare cost. Second, robot advancement might redefine what it counts as a human. While companionship robots could take the responsibility of caring the aging population, the omnipresence of sex and companionate robots might deprive human’s experiences, including the fear of loneliness, sadness, and pain. Also, humans always attempt to evolve to more than human, and eventually immortal, and by small steps, human re-embodiment into machines could challenge our understanding of humans and reframe our notion and conviction of whether a machine with a human brain but no physical body could be considered as a human.

In conclusion, despite some favorable effects of robotics, I still believe that using robots helps at work or companioning the elderly and those in need at home might be a harmful development.

Above are some sample IELTS Writing Task 2 Advantages and disadvantages, you can refer to and practice writing, improve your band score.

Sample essay made by IELTS Fighter academic team, please credit the source when sharing!

See more:

IELTS Writing Task 2 – How to write articles and sample essay topics Society

IELTS Writing Task 2 – Topic: TECHNOLOGY