Here are the 3 elements we are discussing today
1. One or two appropriate ideas
2. Some evidence
3. A good example to illustrate
Here is an example of a Task 2 question – it is Academic but the principle is exactly the same for General Training.
A lot of money is spent nowadays searching for oil around the world. As the world’s oil resources will eventually run out, it would be more logical to spend some of this money on developing new sources of power.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
We can see that this is an argument. We need to decide if we accept the statement or not (it is possible to ‘sit on the fence’ and take a middle position but I think this is harder to do) and then persuade the examiner to our side. The way to do this is to have some compelling points and then support them and exemplify them.
Ideas
First, brainstorm some ideas and then choose one or two strong ones. I’m going to agree with the statement.
- Natural alternatives to fossil fuel are available, plentiful and their use is proven
- Research into fossil fuels should be drastically reduced to ensure fuel sources for the future
I have two main points and I will allocate a paragraph to each of these.
Evidence/Support
- Natural alternatives: examples are wind, solar and wave power, cheap and good for the environment, available to everyone in the world, the industry is growing, governments must make it their priority to invest in them.
- Reducing money and research into fossil fuels: will run out in the future so pointless, damage to environment, causing climate change, need to change to cleaner more sustainable sources to protect the world, must focus on future needs not only our own needs today
A good example to illustrate:
- E.g. Iceland now produces almost 100% of its energy from renewable sources.
I’m only going to use a direct example in one paragraph to avoid being too repetitive.
Now we can take these 3 elements and create the sentences for paragraph 1.
- Natural sources of power generation are already known and being utilised. (main idea)
- They should be further developed and improved. (main idea)
- Renewable energy resources such as solar, wind and wave power are cheap to exploit. (evidence)
- They are better for our environment. (evidence)
- They are good alternatives to oil. (evidence)
- They are available to everyone wherever they live in the world. (sub idea)
- Renewable energy resources are already being used in many countries. (evidence)
- Iceland produces almost 100% of its energy from renewable sources (example)
- Governments across the globe must prioritise support and funding for the development of the renewable energy industry (re-state main idea)
Some of these need to be combined to create complex sentences and they all need linking words and devices to relate them to each other and produce a cohesive paragraph.
So, our final first paragraph will look like this:
In the first place, natural sources of power generation are already known and being utilised, so, for that reason, they should be further developed and improved. Furthermore, renewable energy resources such as solar, wind and wave power are not only cheap to exploit, but also better for our environment, making them good alternatives to oil (complex sentence). In addition, they are available to everyone wherever they live in the world. These energy resources are currently being used in many countries, Iceland, for example, produces almost 100% of its energy from renewable sources (complex sentence and example). It is, therefore, imperative that governments across the globe prioritise support and funding for the development of the renewable energy industry.