Category: IELTS ESSAY TASK 2

In some countries young people are encouraged 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.

In some countries, it is customary to take a gap year after graduating from high school to work or travel to visit faraway places. This is intended to open insights and add to the experience for individuals who do it.

The disadvantage for those who have a gap year is that they will be one year behind their friends who immediately continue their studies at university. Life is not a competition to get ahead of each other to reach the pseudo finish line. But still, in general, the path a person takes is to complete a bachelor’s education, then work for two years, then continue his master’s and then to the doctoral level. It’s in almost everyone’s mind and falling behind your peers is not a very pleasant feeling. The next disadvantage besides the psychological loss is that when friends have obtained a salary and a permanent job position, people who did gap year will still have not finished their studies. It will be more hitting than just being late starting college.

The advantage of doing the first gap year is that one will get more insight into what they want to do. By working, for example, people will know more about the characteristics of the world of work and thus will be able to choose a major that is more suitable to their work interests. Likewise, seeing the world at large will give them an understanding of trends and opportunities that exist in the world. They will feel like global citizens and not just residents of a small country. Their way of thinking will be much more expansive and they will be able to see their position among the world’s population.

In conclusion, there are several advantages and disadvantages of doing a gap year. Simply put, the advantage is that with a gap year, people will be wiser in determining the path to choose for the future. On the other hand, the disadvantage is that people who do gap years will be a little behind compared to their friends who already have a clear plan and know clearly what they want to achieve in life.

Universities should accept equal numbers of male and female students in every subject. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

There is a growing idea in society that universities should take gender into account in the admission of new students and it is recommended that the number of male and female students be equal in each department. In my opinion, this is an exaggerated and unrealistic plan.

When prospective students apply, of course, we cannot determine who will apply to which university. Moreover, it is impossible to know which major to take. Thus, the percentage of male and female students who take a particular department is very much determined by the scientific trend which will continue to change every year. It could be a dominant department by men, for example majoring in geology, mining, and petroleum. Conversely, certain majors such as chemistry, or dentistry, and communications may be more attractive to women. This is something that happens naturally from year to year.

In addition, a change in trend is a possibility. Previously, the field of data management was not very popular with women, but along with the advancement of technology and the increasing importance of data management, many women chose to pursue this department. Likewise, the world of cooking may be imagined by the layman as a woman’s job. In fact, with the rise of cooking reality shows on television, more and more men want to pursue a career as a chef and choose to major in culinary arts at the university. Again, this happens naturally based on the existing trends in the society.

In conclusion, I do not agree if the university regulates the admission of new students with equal number of students’ gender criteria. In my opinion, the criteria for intelligence and academic scores are the only conditions that can be used to filter new student candidates, while gender matters are not relevant to career choices. Everyone has the right to freely choose the major they want and they should not get gender-based discrimination just because the quota for their gender has been met.

To some people, studying the past has little value in modern world. Why do you think it is important to do so? What will be the effect if children are not taught history?

Some people think that history is useless and thus should not be taught in schools. This essay will show three reasons why studying history provides students with great value for their future lives.

The first advantage of studying history is that you know who you are and where you came from. Everyone is born in this world without choosing his or her parents. However, in the place where we were born, our parents had parents before them and we have generations of ancestors who have experienced life for hundreds or even thousands of years. Studying history means studying the struggles and lives of the preceding generations and it makes us understand where we are in society and why we must continue to improve.

The second advantage of studying history is that we have a sensitivity to international storylines. When studying history we will look at the pieces of events that have influenced one another. Not only did countries cooperate in the past but they also fought and destroyed each other. All events and thoughts that lead to war and destruction must always be watched out for so they will not happen again in the future.

The third advantage of studying history is setting a better vision and learning from the past. Everyone has a past and a past is neither always ideal nor understandable. But will we still be trapped by residual mistakes from the past? Or will we change and make decisions that will bring changes to our lives to come? All generations need to understand why the previous generation did or decided something. And why is this so? The answer is because not all decisions come from mature thinking and some are based on compulsion. Not knowing about history will lead to continuing past mistakes and this is a dangerous thing.

In conclusion, without understanding history, people will tend to lose the competition because they don’t know themselves, repeat the same mistakes, and carry on wrong practices. It is, therefore, essential to provide students with this knowledge.

Some people think that it is a waste of time for high school students to study literature, such as novels and poems.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Nowadays, there is an opinion from those who think that studying literary treasures such as novels and poetry is a waste of money and does not have much benefit. As a person who used to read books, novels and literary works from a young age, I totally disagree with this thought.

My first reason to challenge this thinking is based on the fact that reading a novel means reading a long text. The habit of reading novels will help most children to become avid readers. This skill will be very useful when they have to deal with textbooks at the college level because textbooks tend to be thick and students are required to read many textbooks in one semester. Apart from the benefits related to endurance, by reading novels, the ability to reason and creative power will obviously be better because they are used to visualizing abstract concepts, know various kinds of human characters and understand better that life is not just a black and white world. In short, novels significantly enrich one’s social experience.

My second reason for challenging this thinking is that the ability to appreciate poetry is the ability to recognize innate beauty and bitterness. Humans in life always learn from something; not only from the happiness that occurs in their lives, but also from the bitterness that may befall them. Modern poetry is not merely meaningless beauty. Conversely, it is an infinite storehouse of inspiration. By having good competence in understanding poetry, a person will be more able to appreciate what life has to offer. This, in turn, makes them a better and stronger person.

In conclusion, I am of the opinion that casting literature aside from the school curricula is just unacceptable and utterly wrong. When faced with a modern, materialistic world, their souls will gradually dry up, and in my opinion, literature is an oasis that is always ready to refresh the soul in humans so that it is always in optimal condition to fulfill the fate in life.