IELTS WRITING TASK II

IN SIMPLE TERMS, COMPARING AND CONTRASTING IS SOMETHING THAT YOU ALREADY LEARNED DURING YOUR COMPULSARY SCHOOL YEARS BUT PERHAPS NEVER LEARNED THE BIGGER VOCABULARY WORD FOR. IT SIMPLY MEANS:

• COMPARE: SAME

• CONTRAST: DIFFERENT

In ‘compare and contrast’ types of essays, IELTS examiners want you to discuss the points of comparing and contrasting the two things i.e. similarities and differences between the two. Therefore, it is important that you find out relevant points of similarities and differences of the two mentioned things after reading the question for IELTS Writing .

COMPARE & CONTRAST

LET'S LOOK AT AN EXAMPLE

Some people want to live in a house while others prefer living in an apartment.

Does living in a house bring more advantages than living in an apartment?

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​TOPIC

With this type of essay for IELTS Writing , you have two points to be discussed as follows:

• Benefits of living in a house/apartment

• Issues of living in an house/apartment

You must discuss both of them by giving reasons and support them with examples.

• Benefits of living in a house/apartment

• Issues of living in an house/apartment

​At the end, mention which of the two is better and why.

​If you do not discuss any of the above two points in the essay, you will lose marks. In this type of essay, you must explain both the points.

STRUCTURE YOUR IELTS WRITING SECTIONS. IN OTHER WORDS, HAVE SOME THOUGHT ORDER

STRUCTURING IELTS WRITING ANSWER

The essay can be structured mainly in 4 paragraphs as follows:

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Paragraph 2: Benefits of living in a house/apartment

Paragraph 3: Issues of living in a house/apartment

Paragraph 4: Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

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​STEP ONE

​a. Paragraph 1- Introduction

Sentence 1- Paraphrase the Question

Sentence 2-Outline the sentence

Body Paragraph [Apartment]

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​STEP TWO

b. Paragraph 2- Body Paragraph 1 (Apartment)

Sentence 1- State the benefit

Sentence 2- Explain how it brings this benefit

Sentence 3- Write an example

Body Paragraph [House]

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​STEP THREE

c. Paragraph 3 – Body Paragraph 2 (House)

Sentence 1- State the issue

Sentence 2-Explain how it leads to this issue

Sentence 3- Write an example

The Conclusion

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​STEP FOUR

d. Paragraph 4- Conclusion

Sentence 1- Summary of the main point(S) to conclude which is better and why
Four paragraphs are sufficient to explain your point of view. You may use any other structure you are comfortable with but this structure is approved by the IELTS examiners to help the students write in an effective and cohesive manner.

​CONTRAST

• likewise

• similarly

• also

• to be the same as

• both… and…

• neither… nor…

• not only… but also…

• to be alike

• just like (+ noun)

• to be similar (to)

• similar to (+ noun)

• to compare (to/with)

​COMPARISON

• in contrast

• by comparison

• in comparison

• on the other hand

• whereas

• while

• however

• but

• to differ from

• to be dissimilar to

• to be different (from)

• to be unlike

• You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

• Write at least 250 words.

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​INSTRUCTIONS

WRITE ABOUT THE FOLLOWING TOPIC:

​

​WRITE

NOTE: Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Some people want to live in a house while others prefer living in an apartment.

Does living in a house bring more advantages than living in an apartment?

Sample Answer: P.1

​There are many people who believe that living in a house is the best. However, some people disagree with this opinion and instead prefer to live in an apartment. This essay makes comparison of the two and chooses the most preferred option.

Sample Answer: P.2

​To begin with, living in a flat definitely brings several advantages to a resident. One of the most important reasons behind this is the huge convenience it offers. An apartment is a part of large building giving a feel of living in a small societal association which takes responsibility of any fix or repair or maintenance required. For example, if one needs to repair the roof, the maintenance charges are borne by the landlord. Moreover, various facilities as well as amenities are available nearby including shopping mall, tuition centre, medical store, bus station and so on.

Sample Answer: P.3

On the other hand, living in an owned house does not offer the facilities that one can avail while living in an apartment. One reason for this is that it is quite lonely to stay in a house which occupies a large land area bringing boredom and snatching the joy of living with so many people around. For example, it would be such a dull experience of sitting alone in the garden with no one around to share life experiences. In addition to this, maintenance and cleanliness of the house are borne by the owner and thus it is costly to live in a house.

Sample Answer: P.4

Conclusively, living in an apartment is comparatively better than staying lonely in a house. Though a house provides a large spacious area to move around but living in an apartment enhances more social interaction and adds more excitement to life.

***(283 words)***

• Write an essay with minimum 250 words. Use the PREVIOUSLY LEARNED vocabulary.

• Don't forget to COMPARE, CONTRAST, & CONCLUDE

​UNTIL NEXT TIME