TEST 4 WRITING CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH IELTS 6

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH IELTS 6

TEST 4

WRITING

WRITING TASK 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on this task The charts below give information about USA marriage and divorce rates between 1970 and 2000, and the marital status of adult Americans in two of the years. 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. Some people prefer to spend their lives doing the same things and avoiding change. Others, however, think that change is always a good thing. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. 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 first chart illustrates the change in the number of marriages and divorces in the US over a 30-year period from 1970. The second chart compares the proportion of American adults’ different marital statuses in two years, 1970 and 2000. Overall, there was a clear downward trend of people getting married in the US. Although a majority of adult Americans were married in both recorded years, there was a quite higher percentage of people staying single in 2000. From 1970 to 1980, 2.5 million marriages were registered in America; however, this number gradually decreased to 2 million by the year 2000. In contrast, the number of divorces filed was around 1 million in 1970 and then reached a peak at almost 1.5 million a decade later. There had been since then fewer divorces and the figure fell back to 1 million in 2000, exactly 50% of that of the marriages in the same year. The percentage of married American adults dropped from 70% in 1970 to around 60% in 2000. Similarly, there was a marginal decrease in the proportion of widowed people. The figures for never-married people and divorced ones experienced a slight rise, by around 8% for each category. [ written by - Quinn ] Writing task 2 There are arguments that individuals should be refrained from doing new things and must stick to traditional methods. However, some people are convinced that individuals need to venture into some noble experiences in life. In my opinion, I would argue that alterations in some activities and practices are essential to achieving progress and success.    Primarily, it can never be denied that some people may become comfortable with the routine practices in life, which they are more accustomed. Clearly, people will not need to learn new things as they are already more cognizant about the activities that they habitually perform. For instance, in this modern era, the seniority group will find it confusing to read newspapers on an electronic tablet due to the fact that they are not aware of its new features and the proper operation of the gadget. For these reasons, the geriatric individuals do not need to learn the settings and the high technology applications as it will take them a long period of time to adapt this product of technology. However, it can be argued that the life of people will become more adventurous if they opt to new trends and experiences. As can be expected, the progress and success in life are often achieved when a person tries to explore new ideas and practices, which might be beneficial for the improvement of his or her life. To illustrate, a businessman, who have experienced failures in his or her business, will resort to new strategies in order to make the business more firms and highly profitable. This can be done by abandoning the old-fashioned styles and techniques while accepting the modern ways, which could make the people’s lives more favourable. The new idea, a new way of life and changes to the old way life often bring new opportunities to people and getting adapted to the changes is the primary means of survivals and advancement. In conclusion, there is a heated argument whether people must remain to the conservative ways of life or resort to modern trends. However, I personally believe that the ideology of success can be reached if people will embrace the new-fangled ways of living in the society. [ Written by - Chino Bouquets)