TEST 1 WRITING CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH IELTS 5

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH IELTS 5

TEST 1

WRITING

WRITING TASK 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on this task The graph below shows the proportion of the population aged 65 and over between 1940 and 2040 in three different countries. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words. WRITING TASK 2 You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic. Universities should accept equal numbers of male and female students in every subject. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.

ANSWER KEY

Model Answer Writing task 1 The line graph depicts the percentage of senior citizens, who are older than 65 years, over a century in three countries, namely- the United States, Sweden and Japan, from 1940 and also gives projection till 2040. A glance at the graph makes it clear that Japan will have more percentage of the aged population in the future despite its fewer percentage of this population in the early 40s and one-fourth of the world population will be older people in 2040. The illustration shows that the average old population in 1940 was between 5 to 10 percent in all the three countries and the USA had the highest percentage of aged people while it was lowest in Japan. The ageing population in the USA grew steadily and reached up to 15% in the year 2000. It is expected to be doubled and reach nearly 25% in 2040. Similarly, in Sweden, the percentage of aged people grew from about 7% in 1940 to 15% in 2000 and is heading towards 25% in 2040. In contrast, the aged population in Japan remained the lowest, which was less than 5% until 2005 and expected to grow and reach the highest point, about 30 percentage, in 2040. The graph clearly reveals that the ratio of aged population will increase in 2040 and almost one of every four citizens in these three countries would be over 65 years old in 2040. [Written by - Shalley Daniel] Writing task 2 (Agreement: A University should accept male and female students equally) There is an old saying - 'Give me an educated mother and I will give you an educated nation'. This prover emphasises the women education. Throughout the history men and women both worked together to build a better world and whatever stage the current world is in, that has been contributed both by male and female - surely not by one gender. As university education is so important for the full bloom of one person's merit, skill and knowledge, equal opportunity for both male and female students should be ensured. To begin with, if only men go ahead in education, research, arts, history and women stay home, then no good can be done. The history suggests that men are dominant in numbers in science, arts, engineering, creativity and business sectors. But we cannot deny the contribution of Mother Teresa and Madam Merry Currie who have devoted their whole life to the betterment of the world. It is true that if the competition is arranged regardless of gender, more male students will be ahead of women. But still, universities should accept an equal number of students. If fewer females hold the important sectors of a country, naturally women will feel deprived and this will lead them to compete with men. It is a mother who is much more emotionally attached to their children and friendlier to children than fathers. So they help the children in their study. So the importance of female education in the higher level should get a priority considering this single issue. In conclusion, universities should accept the same number of students from both sexes and give an equal opportunity at every level. (Disagreement: A University should NOT accept male and female students equally) Many argue that to avoid any gender discriminations, an equal number of male and female students should be accepted in every subject. This is a very controversial issue however, I hold the opposite opinion. First of all, I strongly believe that occupations are gender related. There are some tasks that women do better than men. It may not be easy to admit that men, for example, make better civil or electrical engineers. Although not impossible for a woman to be the police or a firefighter, but due to the high physical demand for these jobs very few women would opt to be one. Hence it seems useless to accept male and female students in such fields. More importantly, I believe that the priority should go to the more capable individual. The aim of all universities should be to accept the best candidate whether it is a male or a female. As a result of this, we would expect to see varying proportions of male and female students in different fields. Men would not be able to compete with women in some fields and vice versa hence overall, this would be a fair approach. Furthermore, this would encourage all male and female students to try hard to achieve a place. A form of natural selection will take place: survival of the fittest and the end result would benefit us all. The individual with the highest level of capability would be allowed to pursue the career, and hence is more likely to be successful in the future. To conclude, I hold the opinion that universities should not accept male and female students equally. Using the above-mentioned techniques would be far more advantageous for all of us. (by Narges Mahmoudi)