ESSAY OUTLINE ( FOR IELTS ) Topic 6: Family –children- women SECTION 1: CHILDREN 1. It is better for children to grow up in the countryside than in a big city. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to develop your essay.20 - Growing up in the country means a certain amount of isolation. You are in a small town or on a farm and not with a lot of people. Even more important, the people you meet every day tend to be just like you. Most will be the same race as you, have the same background as you, and will have gone to the same scholls as you. - In the city, you meet with a variety of people. There are different races and different cultures. You get a more interesting mix. - there isn’t the sense of community in the city that you have in the country because city people tend to come froma lot of different places and move around a lot. People in the city can live in the same apartment building for twenty years and never get to know their neighbors. - In the country, everybody knows everybody. For a child, this meas the country is more secure. A child can get lost or hurt in the city and have no one to turn to. In the country, everyone is a neighbor. People in the country feel connected to each other. - A child growing up in the city has the advantage of a lot of interesting and exciting places to visit. He or she can go to the zoo, museums, art galleries and concerts. There are a lot of restaurants with different kinds of food. It’s easy to see every new movie that come out. Children in the country don’t have a lot of these activity nearby. - All in all, I think a childhood in the city is better because it prepares you more for what real life is like. 2. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents or other adult relatives should make important decisions for their older (15 to 18 year-old) teenage children. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. –51. - Agree: - no one knows me as well as my parents. No one wants the best for me like my parents. It is natural that I should allow my parents to make important decisions for me, concerned education, social life and future career. - They are much more wise and deep thinker. - They are experienced. 3. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A person’s childhood years (the time from birth to twelve years of age) are the most important years of a person’s life. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.106 Are childhood years of a person the most important years in his/her life? - Agree: these are the years that form us. These years determine what kind of a person the child will become. - Why? - The time when we learn about relationships. - Our parents and siblings, then about rest of the world. - Learn how to respond to others based the treatment we’ve given. - If we are loved ->know how to love others. - Form our ideas about our own self – worth from the way others treat us during these years. They can convince us we are worthless, or they can teach us we deserve love and respect. - The years when we begin our formal education. - Acquire the basic skills –reading, writing, working with numbers – use throughout out lives. - Learn how to analyze information and use it. - Develop our moral sense of what’s right and wrong. - Develop our self – discipline to live according to our morals. 4. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? There is nothing that young people can teach older people. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.99 - What can older people teach young people? - Is there anything that young people can teach older people? - Technology. - Youth culture: popular music is generally youth – oriented. - Youth – related social issues: AIDS and school – violence. 5. As part of a class assignment you have to write about the following topic. In some countries children have very strict rules of behaviour, in other countries they are allowed to do almost anything they want. To want extent should children have to follow rules? You should write at least 250 words.children.doc - It would be unwise, indeed foolhardy, to impose the same rules of behavior on all children in every part of the world. - Acceptable rules if behaviour can vary greatly from one country to another, with factors such as age and family values influencing what is deemed to be acceptable in that particular society. Even the sex of a child can greatly influence these rules. - A basic factor that must be considered is the age of the child. - Other factors which must be considered include maturity and household rules - Whatever the situation, rules of behaviour do need to be imposed on children. In all societies rules are an integral part of life and if imposed from an early age a child will develop a more disciplined approach to life and as a result develop into a well balanced adult to deal with an ever more complex world. 6. What are the important qualities of a good son or daughter? Have these qualities changed or remained the same over time in your culture? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. TOEFL54. - Obedience - Loyalty - Respect 7. Children learn best by observing behavior of adults and copying it. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? 8. Some people think that children should begin their formal education at a very early age and should spend most of their time on school studies. Others believe that young children should spend most of their time playing. Compare these two views. Which view do you agree with? Why?85 - Should children begin their formal education at a very early age? There are many things that could affect the outcome of the argument. - What kind of school is it? - It could be a school where children sit at their desks all day long memorizing dates and facts. - Or it could be a scholl where the teacher helps the children learn what they want to learn -> better. - What kind of play we are talking about? - The child could be alone all day long watching television, which could make him or her bored and lonely. - The child could e involved in group activities with neighborhood children of the same age, which could help him or her learn how to get along with others. - At which age should children begin their formal education? - 6 years old -> why? - What role does “play”take towards a child? - Learn how to get along with others. - What is more important to a child, eduction or playing? Why? - Both are important. - What is the best balance? - An ideal school with proper break in which children can play. 9. It is very important that children should study hard at school. Time spent playing is time wasted. Do you agree? children.doc Why education is very important for children? - It is believe that if children study hard at school, they will have many opportunities to find a good job. What is the disadavantages of studying hard? - Health: strain is the cause of bad health effects such as high blood pressure, heart attacks and eyesight problems. - Communication: they may not communicate with their families and friends -> difficulties with their colleagues and their bosses. Children should manage time: how long should children study and play. 10. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children should be required to help with household tasks as soon as they are able to do so. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. TOEFL107. What are the advantages for children of doing household tasks? - Household tasks build skills -> make life a lot easier. - Family happier: parents less busy -> family relax together; parents won’t feel like the servants to their “couch potato” offspring. - Responsibility, better organization and time management skills -> more likely to be succesful in life. 11. "When teenagers under the age of 18 commit crimes, their parents should be held responsible." Write an essay discussing this statement and suggest ways to combat teenage crime. 12. The government should provide more financial assistance to parents who use childcare. Childcare –available What is the advantages of using childcare? - Firstly, childcare centres may assist children in their early development. - They give children an opportunity to mix with other children and to develop social skills at an early age. - Indeed, a whole range of learning occurs in childcare centres. - Moreover, parents and children need to spend some time apart. - Children become less dependent on their parents - Parents themselves are less stressed and more effective caregivers when there are periods of separation. - In fact, recent studies indicate that the parent-child relationship can be improved by the use of high-quality childcare facilities. - In addition, parents who cannot go to work because they don''t have access to childcare facilities cannot contribute to the national economy. - They are not able to utilise their productive skills and do not pay income tax. - In fact, non-working parents can become a drain on the tax system through dependent spouse and other rebates. - In conclusion, government support for childcare services assists individual families and is important for the economic well-being of the whole nation. 13. What are some of the qualities of a good parent? Use specific details and examples to explain your answer. TOEFL149. - Love us in any circumstance: marriage, religion, . -> unconditional love - Trust: trust each other. Respect their children. Treat them as individuals. Accept our differences. . ESSAY OUTLINE ( FOR IELTS ) Topic 6: Family –children- women SECTION 1: CHILDREN 1. It is better for children to grow up in. Parents or other adult relatives should make important decisions for their older (1 5 to 18 year-old) teenage children. Use specific reasons and examples to support