15. IELTS academic Writing task 2

15. Some businesses now say that no one can smoke cigarettes in any of their offices. Some governments have banned smoking in all public places.  This is a good idea but it takes away some of our freedom. Some people want to ban smoking forever. Do you agree or disagree? Write at least 250 words. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your  experience.

Introduction: 

Smoking is a dangerous habit. Excessive smoking causes lung cancer, infection, and brain damage. It also causes bad breath and some bad odor that can make one allergic to smoking. Most of the western world now avoid smoking in public places.

Problem:

Like other personal habits such as drinking, chewing tobacco, betel leaves, nut, "khat"  leaves, we cannot ban smoking. One can smoke in one's home if he wishes to . Therefore, ban on smoking takes away our freedom as human. Therefore, it's absurd idea to ban smoking forever.

Solution:

In my opinion, we should ban smoking in public places such as hospitals, offices, markets, shopping malls, schools, colleges and other educational institutions. Although smoking was encouraged at movie, music, and different advertisements, now the western people dis agree with that smoking is a good idea. It was considered "manly" when a hero of a film smoked a cigar with his fancy lighter. Some advertisements on smoking showed smoking were suitable for navy people; courageous people, the braves and common people should buy cigarettes. Smoking was advertised and published as a good company for lonely people in army, navy, police forces and mass young people who are struggling for life. 

Example:

Now the western people avoid smoking and sue millions of dollar lawsuit against tobacco companies claiming smoking caused severe chronic disease like cancer, lung infection, TB etc. Therefore, multinational companies are now making tremendous business in third world countries. Passive smoking is dangerous for smokers as well as no-smokers. 

We must ban smoking in common and public places as western countries have already done. Public smoking encourages youth to smoke and causes us smoking heavily on our poor economy. Now people in a developing country like ours pay for smoking than paying for good foods. So, we should discourage smoking and put a ban on smoking in hospitals, shopping malls, schools and other public gatherings. We should also stop smoking considering its bad effects on health and bad smell that causes some of us very uncomfortable. In addition, secondary smoking, passive smoking or second hand smoking makes a non-smoker very uncomfortable and more harmful for him than the smoker who smokes beside a non-smoker. Countries like the USA, The UK, Sweden, Singapore, and Japan already ban smoking in public places. But we cannot stop it everywhere such as in one's home and other public places such as bar, restaurants, casino and other places of entertainments. It's a very personal habit and many of earlier scientists, politicians, lawyers, doctors and engineers used to smoke. Moreover, we also observe some jobs such as police, marketing jobs; rickshaw pulling and many other jobs give physical and mental pressure. Therefore, some competent people in these jobs find smoking as an encouragement for their growing successes and find smoking relieves mental tension.
 In conclusion,  we should say that we cannot and should not ban smoking ultimately and forever. as it's a personal or individual habit. It's an absurd idea. However, we can ban smoking in public places and discourage smoking through our media. Moreover, we should encourage poor people to spend for food than smoking.

14. IELTS academic Writing task 2

14. In this decade, which technology has developed the most?- Transport, communication, industrialization, genetic engineering ?

 

 

We have developed our transportation in this decade. Euro tunnel, passengers jet airliner, renewable energy, concord airplane etc. are good examples of passenger as well as goods carriers. High tech industries like computer, software, genetically modified foods, interactive TV; 3D pictures etc are the effect of massive industrialization. Cloning of human has done successfully due to 50 years research in genetic engineering. 

In my opinion, communication  technology has developed the most. The information super highway  or the internet is the most successful development in this decade. In addition, satellite TV, mobile phones etc have gained tremendous popularity as a fast and convenient form of communication. The internet provides free and fast access to information  to all over the world. Massive globalization has obtained because of educational, cultural, technological exchange among different countries via the Internet. On line education, business, entertainment, tourism, chat, different images i.e. pictures transmission etc. can be done within minutes. Email can send any message throughout the world in seconds.

 Recent war in Gulf has been finished quickly because of using satellite pictures and message transmission via email - as the Pentagon official quoted. Share information, business transaction, document and picture sending via email, information on movie, music, reading any newspaper via the Internet etc. become highly popular. convenient and cheap. A satellite roaming on space can even read a name plate of a car. Similarly, now-a-days people find it comfortable and convenient to exchange short text messages (SMS) by using mobile phones. People can exchange voices from any remote part of the world.

Last but not least, observers says that massive globalization by the internet has made rich people richer and poor people poorer as the technology is still expensive in developing countries and beyond the reach of common people.

13. IELTS academic Writing task 2

"Technology is destroying our jobs." How far do you support this idea?

Introduction:

In this decade, technologies like communication, industrialization, and transport have developed immensely. Labor-intensive industries are being replaced by industrialization. High tech industries and automation of traditional industries are downsizing manpower. The Internet or the information super highway provides massive globalization and consequently, people with access to computer/ the internet benefits the most.

Problem:

New technology creates new products. In this decade, a large number of new products are developed and people become used to these products which make our lives more comfortable. Therefore, we see that a lot of industries have been developed and provided huge employments. However, 100 years before, we didn't find so many news industries offering new products. for example: VCD, CD, DVD, computer, contact lenses, new foods, satellite, TV, mobiles, I-pad etc. are good examples of new products which didn't exist 50 years before. These products provide many new jobs. Jobs of blacksmith, coachmen, mason, potter, hand loom are destroyed and later are replaced by industries where thousands of people are now employed. 

Opinion:

The Luddites (a race of the Britain) revolted in England in 19th century against industrialization feared that machines would replace people. Also, some conscious citizens of this century are afraid of change caused by massive industrialization. They think that traditional labor intensive industries are being replaced by the aggression of new technology  where robots and high machines would  do the manual jobs in industries with full automation. Computers and the Internet provide free and fast access to information, and as a result, rich countries which afford this technology become richer. And jobs are being transferred to the developed nations where technologies are flourished. Computer switchboard can replace receptionist, answering machine can do the job of a secretary. Moreover, a computer can do the jobs of thousand workers at a time.

In my opinion, new technology has offered millions of new jobs that are being created poor as well as rich nations. Demand for new products increase the number of industries up to thousand times than those were not prevailed 100 years before. Silicon-valley, research and development of computer and its soft wares provide millions of jobs. In addition, data entries, medical transcription, development of software are giving new opportunities in jobs to thousands of people in poor countries. Especially country like Bangladesh can have its large number of people employed by massive industrialization, an ideal route to rapid development. We have some labor-intensive, out-dated industries like sugar, fertilizer, leather, glass, textiles factories, which can not produce local demand, are running with loss. These industries should be modernized, and scope for rapid industrialization is a crying need for our survival. We should create industrial park like EPZ (export processing zones) that can produce export-oriented goods. Our labor is cheap. Therefore, new industries can produce opportunities for our massive employment for our large population. 

Example:

New technologies such as mobile network providers, the net, satellite TV, computer, ICT, online jobs etc. provide millions of jobs. 

Conclusion:

Last but not least, massive industrialization and adoption of new technology and as a result, scope for rapid employment can us show light at the end of the tunnel of our deteriorating economy. 

12. IELTS academic Writing task 2

Some people believe that media like the Press, Television and the Internet should be more strictly controlled. Others feel that if anything the controls should be loosened to give people freer access to information. Should the controls be made tighter? or should be more freedom for the media?

Introduction:

Development is printing media, television and the Internet is tremendous in this decade. By using rotary printing machine, we can  produce millions of newspaper in an hour. We know different cultures and norms and practices of other countries via satellite TV. And, the internet with its access to free and fast information is the real blessings of modern science.

Problems:

 Lack of freedom of expression causes severe problems in the third world countries. Politicization, biased news broadcasting, too much censoring of different medias don't give people to free access to information. These problems hamper the development process. 

Due to the latest development of communication technology especially the internet in this decade can produce advantages as well as disadvantages. Education, culture, movie, music, art and different branches of sciences can be exchanged among countries very easily via the Internet.  But, some observers claim that free and fast access to developed cultures may produce a negative form of culture called "Alien culture" that is burden to a poor economy. Imitation of rich culture can destroy one's native culture and can have negative consequences over an immature culture of a  developing nation.

Media like Press, TV and the Internet play an important role in a sovereign country where freedom of expression is honored in terms of development. Free and fast access to newspaper from national as well  as international countries can improve the quality of its reader and thereby create awareness and make consensus of a nation. A national TV can boost its foundation to produce a native culture. In addition, we can have a massive cultural exchange by watching satellite TV's and improve our native culture, which is evident in Bollywood ( India's film corp.)

11. IELTS academic Writing task 2

Wind power can produce the safest energy than the traditional fossil fuel based energy sources. Support your view with examples. 

Or, As the number of passengers and air planes has increased, we observe air population from burning of fuel in planes. Should we use new research fuel or a fuel that lowers the risk of air pollution. To what extent do you agree?

Wind power is one of the important renewable sources like solar energy, hydroelectricity, acoustic energy etc. The Persian people were the first race who used wind power in their agricultural especially for  irrigation of crops. Then it was developed in Europe mainly in Netherlands. The Dutch used this power to run electric turbine to produce electricity. Besides, fossil fuel such as petrol, diesel, natural gas, furnace oil etc. became popular source of electricity despite its limited existence in mines. 

Wind power is safe for the environment. Unlike coal, wind power does not damage people's health. Wind power does not cause not dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. It does not produce radioactive waste. Wind power is a renewable energy source. In addition, recent power blackout in the USA shows the inability to produce sufficient power via traditional burning of fossil fuel, most of which is used to produce heating system in the West. 

Wind turbines can be dangerous to migratory birds. Wind turbines are very large and need a lot of space. Wind power turbines would pay for themselves in 20 years. Wind turbines are expensive to build. 

The failure to build energy via wind power in late 1970's and early 1980's was due the fall in oil price, the cheap source to produce electricity. But gradually the technology developed a lot in Europe and later in California, Virginia of the USA. Now wind turbines are easy to manufacture and production cost is lower than before. Thus this technology is becoming popular in agricultural area where wind is abundant. 

In conclusion, we can say wind power technology should be developed for urban electricity production that needs the generation of electricity with the minimum environment pollution.

TOEFL iBT Practice Test 1

Directions: This section measures your ability to understand academic passages in English.

The Reading section is divided into separately timed parts.

Most questions are worth 1 point, but the last question for each passages is worth more than 1 point. The directions for the last question indicate how many points you may receive.

You will now begin the Reading section. There are three passengers in the section. You should allow 20 minutes to read each passage and answer the questions about it. You should allow 60 minutes to complete the entire section.

At the end of this Practice Test, you will find an answer key, information to help you determine your score, and explanations of the answers.

NINETEENTH CENTURY POLITICS IN THE UNITED NATIONS 

The  development of the modern presidency in the United Nations began with Andrew Jackson, who swept to power in 1829 at the head of the Democratic Party and served until 1837. During his administration he immeasurably enlarged the power of the presidency. The President is the direct representative of the American people, he lectured the Senate when it opposed him. "He was elected by the people, and is responsible to them". With this declaration, Jackson redefined the character of the presidential office and its relationship to the people.
During Jackson's second term, his opponents had gradually come together to form the Whigs and Democrats held different attitudes toward the changes brought about by the market, banks, and commerce. The Democrats tended to view society as a continuing conflict between "the people"- farmers, planters, and workers- and a set of greedy aristocrats. This "paper money aristocracy" of bankers and investors manipulated the banking system for their own profit, Democrats claimed, and sapped the nation's virtue by encouraging speculation and the desire for sudden, unearned wealth. The Democrats wanted the rewards of the market without sacrificing the features of a simple agrarian republic. They  wanted the wealth tha the market offered without the competitive, changing society; the complex dealing; the dominance of urban centers; and the loss of independence that came with it.  

Whigs, on the other hand, were more comfortable with the market. For them, commerce and economic development were agents of civilization. Nor did the Whigs, envision any conflict in society between farmers and workers on the one hand and businesspeople and bankers on the other. Economic growth would benefit everyone by rising national income and expanding opportunity. The government's responsibility was to provide a well-regulated economy that guaranteed opportunity for citizens of ability.

 

TOEFL Reading Practice Set 1

The Origin of Cetaceans

It should be obvious that cetaceans - whales, porpoises, and dolphins - are mammals. They breathe through lungs, not through gills, and give birth to live young. Their streamlined bodies, the absence of hinds legs, and the presence of a fluke and blowhole cannot disguise their affinities with land-dwelling mammals. However, unlike the cases of sea otters and pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses, whose limbs are functional both on land and at sea) , it is not easy to envision what the first whales looked like. Extinct but already marine cetaceans are known from the fossil record. How was the gap between a walking mammal and a swimming whale bridged? Missing until recently were fossils clearly intermediate, or transitional, between land mammals and cetaceans.

Very exciting discoveries have finally allowed scientists to reconstruct the most likely origins of cetaceans. In 1979, a team looking for fossils in northern Pakistan found what proved to be the oldest fossils whale. The fossil was officially named Pakicetus in honor of the country here the discovery was made. Pakicetus was found embedded in rocks formed from river deposits that were 52 million years old. The river that formed these deposits was actually not far from an ancient ocean known as the Tethys Sea.

The fossil consists of a complete skull of an archaeocyte, an  extinct group of ancestors of modern cetaceans. Although limited to a skull, the Pakicetus fossil provides precious details on the origins of cetaceans. The skull is cetacean-like but its jawbones sound in modern whales. Pakicetus prvavly detected sound through the ear open ocean. It probably bred and gave birth on land.

 Another major discovery was made in Egypt in 1989. Several skeletons of another early whale, Basilosaurs, were found in sediments left by the Tethys Sea and now exposed in the Sahara desert. This whale lived around 40 millions years ago, 12 millions years after Pakicetus. Many incomplete skeletons were found but they included, for the first time in an archaeocyte, a complete hind leg that features a foot with three tiny toes . Such legs would have been far too small to have supported the 50-feet-long Basilosaurus on land. Basilosaurus was undoubtedly a fully marine whale with possibly nonfunctional, or vestigial, hind legs.

An even more exciting find was reported in 1994, also from Pakistan. The now extinct whale Amculoetus natans ("thr walking whale that swam") lived in the Tethys Sea 49 million years ago. It lived around 3 million years after  Pakicetus but 9 million years before Basilsaurius. The fossil luckily includes a good portion of the hind legs. The legs wre strong and ended in long feet very much like those of a modern pinniped.The les were certainly functional both on the land and at sea. The whale retained a tail and lacked a fluke, the major means of locomotion in mokern-cetaceans. The structure of the backbone shows, however, that Ambulocetus swam like modern whales by moving the rear portion of its body up and down, even though a fluke was missing. The large hind legs were used for propulsion in water. On land , where it probably vred and gave birth, Ambulocetus may have moved around very much like a modern swa lion. It was undoubtedly a whale that linked life at sea.

Directions: Mark your answer by filling in the oval next to your choice.

1. In paragraph 1, what does the author say about the presence of a blowhole in cetaceans ?

• It clearly indicates that cetaceans are mammals. 
• It cannot conceal the fact that cetaceans are mammals.
• It is the main difference between cetaceans and land-dwelling mammals.
• It cannot yield clues about the origins of cetaceans.

2. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 1 about early sea otters?

• It is not to imagine what they looked like.
• There were great numbers of them.
• They lived in the sea only.
• They did not leave many fossil remains.

3. In paragraph 3, The word "precious" is closest in meaning to-

• exact
• scarce
• valuable
• initial

4. In paragraph 3, Pakicetus and modern cetaceans have similar-

• hearing structures
• adaptations for diving
• skull shapes
• breeding locations 

5. In paragraph 3, The word "It" refers to-

• Pakicetus
• fish
• life
• cetacean

6. In paragraph 4,The word "exposed" is closest in meaning to-

• explained
• visible
• identified
• located

7. In paragraph 4, The hind leg of Basilosaurus was a significant find because it showed that Basilosarus

• lived later than Ambulocetus natans 
• lived at the same time as Pakicetus 
• was able to swim well
• could not have walked on land

8. In paragraph 4, it can be inferred that Basilosaurus bred and gave birth in which of the following locations.

• on land
• both on land and at sea
• in shallow water
• in a marine environment

9. In paragraph 5, why does the author use the word "luckily" in mentioning that the Ambulocetus natans fossil included hind legs?

• Fossil are legs of early whales are a rare find.
• The legs provided important information about the evolution of cetaceans. 
• The discovery allowed scientists to reconstruct a complete a skeleton of the whale.
• Until that time, only the front legs of early whales had been discovered.

10. In paragraph 5, Which of the sentences below best expresses  the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

• Even through Ambulocetus swam by moving its body up and down, it did not have a backbone.
• The backbone of Ambulocetus had which allowed it to swim, provides evidence of its missing fluke.
• Although Ambulocetus had no fluke, its backbone structure shows that it swam like modern whales. 
• By moving the rear parts of their bodies up and down, modern whales swim in a different way from the way  Ambulocetus swam.