IELTS Writing Practice: Organized Group Activities Some people say that parents should encourage their children to take part in organized group activities in their free time. Others say that it is important for children to learn how to occupy themselves on their own. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. ------------------------------------------------------ What are the better extra activities for children has been a dispute. Many parents send their children to social groups, like summer campaign or swimming class, whilst the others insist that children should arrange spare time by their own. This essay agrees that children will gain more benefits from involving in group activities. Reasonably making schedules is a crucial, necessary skill for everyone and children can generally master it by arranging their own time. Universally, any skill is acquired by repeatedly practicing. Instead of making decision for children, parents should give children enough chances to make plans for their private time. Certainly, it does not mean parents do not need to involve in children’s activities. On the opposite, actively giving children guide - like establishing norms or evaluating, improving children’s plan - will greatly help them. However, quite a number of parents encourage their children to take part in group activities because they think children can learn something helpful which is not accessible to schools or families. Training classes like swimming and basketball are becoming increasingly welcomed during recent years in China, by which children can master new skills as well as make many new friends there. According to a report published by ChinaDaily in July 2017 shows that nearly 50% of elementary students from big cities, like Beijing, Shanghai etc, are participating in various training activities during summer vacation. Children are supposed to well manage their own time, but in fact, most of them playing video games or watching episodes at home. In conclusion, with parents’ active involvement, children can learn how to well organize a schedule for their free time, but it is sometimes only an ideal situation. Participating in group activities not only can constrain children’s behavior but also gain helpful skills, which has more advantages.

A letter practice: During a recent plane journey Hi, this is an IELTS writing practice, any help will be appreciated! ------------------ TOPIC: During a recent plane journey, you sat next to a businessman who owns a chain of restaurants. You talked to him and he suggested that you should contact him about a possible job in one of his restaurants. Write a letter to this businessman. In your letter remind him when and where you met tell him what kind of job you are interested in say why you think you would be suitable for the job ------------------------- Dear Mr Brand, I am writing in regards to confirming the possibility of becoming one of your restaurants’ manager. We have met on a plane from Beijing to HongKong last week, and I was sitting next to you. At the time, We had exchanged our views about how to increase a restaurant’s daily revenue and, interestingly, you said you were running a chain of restaurants and invited me to join your team. I would like to become a manager and I am sure I have the qualifications. For the past decade, I have been working in the food and restaurant industry, and five years ago I was promoted from a common staff to a manager. Additionally, I am now working for a famous chain of restaurants too. My resume is attached with this email, if you are interested could check it. I was impressed greatly by your vision of future and obviously you are an energetic and experienced businessman. That is the most important reason why I accept your suggestion to come to your team. Thank you for taking time to read my message, hope to hear from you soon. Yours sincerely, Zhuang.

IELTS Writing Practice: New Homes In Countryside Hi, this is an IELTS writing practice, any help will be appreciated! --------------------------------------------------- TOPIC: In many places, new homes are needed, but the only space available for building them is in the countryside. Some people believe it is more important to protect the countryside and not build new homes there. What is your opinion about this? -------------------- Urbanization is an inevitable process while more and more people are moving into cities. As a result, more homes are in demand to meet the increasing population surging into cities. Due to the limited space in cities, countrysides nearby are the ideal place for new houses and apartments. It is a common sense that many countrysides have been ruined by modern constructions. In most people’s mind, countrysides often come with graceful natural landscapes and slow-paced living rhythm. However, with the development of modernization, villages’ unique sceneries have been disappearing over the past several decades, which is a tremendous sorrow for the many. For example, in China, many ancient villages of high cultural values have been replaced by the uglily concrete buildings. Though those new buildings meet people’s need in a short period, we have lost part of the traditional culture forever. Therefore, Many intellectuals urge that we should protect our traditional countrysides from being damaged. On the contrast, the housing demand of general public cannot be overlooked. We know that no more space in cities can be squeezed to build new homes for the increasing needs. So, naturally, countrysides is a better choice. According to a survey conducted by a famous media shows that most people prefer to live in a bigger house located in suburb rather than curling up in an expensive and small rental flat. Furthermore, local people can gain more revenue from selling lands to real estate developers and more job opportunities will be available. To put it simply, building new homes in countrysides is an optimum result benefit both the local and residents. To conclude, it is a fact that the features of countryside will be altered or even ruined by modern buildings being constructed. Whereas, people’s demand of owning a home and the process of urbanization cannot be stopped. In my opinion, such kind of conflict can be mitigated by reasonable planning of construction, the countryside of Netherlands and New York’s Central Park are the best examples of a combination of nature and modern.

A letter practice: You have a problem with a piece of equipment You work at home and have a problem with a piece of equipment that you use for your job. Write a letter to the shop or company which supplied the equipment. In your letter - describe the problem with the equipment - explain how this problem is affecting your work - say what you want the shop or company to do -------------------------------- Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing this letter in regards to expressing my dissatisfaction with the laser printer that I have just bought at your store last week. I am working at home and I am a writer, I need a personal printer to print my works then send them to the press. In another word, I make my living on this. You guys told me that this is the best model and recommended me to buy it, I adopted the suggestion and hoped that it would be much better than my previous outdated one. Unfortunately, paper is often stuck in this new printer that I really cannot use it for my job. Now I have to drive 20 minutes to a printing store to have my articles printed, which wastes me a lot of time and money. Because my printer is still within the warranty period and I do not want to drive another 2 hours to your store, so please send someone to my house and switch a brand new one for me. I will appreciate it. Finally, I would like to thank you for reading this letter, hope to hear from you soon. Yours sincerely, Zhuang.

IELTS Writing Practice: Visiting difficulty places Today more and more tourists are visiting places where conditions are difficult, such as the Sahara desert or the Antarctic. What are the benefits and disadvantages for tourists who visit such places? --------------------------------------------- We, human beings, is such an interesting creature that we are always full of curiosities, which drive us to seek for unknown and truth. For the general public, even though they are not scientists or professional explorers, they are also inherited the instinct of exploring new places where are hostile to lives. It is undeniable that visiting tough places are full of risks that sometimes even cost lives of tourists. Hackers' bodies were often found in desert or remote mountain areas, which were tremendous tragedies for their families. For those victims, if they just wandered around some guaranteed places, like parks nearby their homes or well-managed sites, they would not have lost their precious as well as vulnerable lives. In some people’s eyes, spending holidays and cash to visit those unfriendly places makes no sense. Furthermore, policemen or emergency workers are involved in rescuing tourists when they have themselves injured at those dangerous areas, which will waste already limited public resources. However, mankind would not have achieved such glorious civilizations if we were only satisfied with familiar surroundings. The spirit of exploring nature and challenging ourselves is carried on everyone’s body. The problem is when and how the spirit will be ignited. For the many individuals, travelling is the very key to arouse and keep their pursuit of seeking for a new world. With the development of transportation, visiting foreign countries or famous heritage sites have never been so easy ever. Thus, people need more challenging places to meet their curiosities. Naturally, places like the Sahara Desert and Antarctic have attracted people’s attention. Through such adventure activities, we can not only pass down the spirit of exploring unknown but also have a better understanding of nature. To conclude, even thought some risks are not avoidable, people should not be discouraged to try their hands on visiting difficult places. The key is, tourists need to be trained and well prepared to handle a variety of emergencies. In my opinion, the spirit of adventure is indispensable as a mature individual.

IELTS Writing Practice: Many people prefer to rent a house rather than buying one Hi, this is an IELTS writing practice, the topic is: Many people prefer to rent a house rather than buying one- advantages/disadvantages Any help will be appreciated! ------------------------------------------ With the process of urbanization has been taking place all over the world, more and more rental housings are supplied to meet the needs of markets. In the recent few decades, people tend to rent rather than owning an accommodation. Does this phenomenon bring more merits than demerits? Following are my thoughts. The housing prices have been rising continuously in some areas, such as big cities of China, which leads to young adults cannot afford the cost of purchasing an apartment. Thus, it has become a common sense that people should live in rental housings before they have accumulated enough savings. On the other hand, to some extent, people will be trapped by real estate when they want to move to somewhere else if things have changed, like the downsizing of a company. Obviously, rental housings give people not only another choice but also more freedom. According to the research, however, it shows that many people who are living in the big cities have regretted that they have not bought a real estate as early as possible because the housing prices have increased drastically. In these areas where the housing cost has been rising Obviously, renting is merely a kind of expense. On the opposite, owning a house is absolutely a smart investment. As a result, due to the increase in housing prices, the gap between rich and poor has been enlarged further. Moreover, if the landlord does not want to renew the lease anymore, it will be quite a troublesome issue to find another suitable rental flat then move into. It is a fairly common worry that many tenants have. But this would never happen when you owned a house. To conclude, rental housing is agile and suitable for people who cannot afford owing a house or they do not know whether or not they could settle down in a city permanently. Whereas, when people have a promising job and they are living in a booming area, it might be a better choice to buy an apartment. In my opinion, under certain circumstances, renting or buying can either be an optimum choice or the worst decision.

IELTS Writing Practice: The positive and the negative sides of globalization Hi, this is a writing practice for IELTS, the topic is "The positive and the negative sides of globalization". Any help will be appreciated! --------------------------------------------- Over the past several decades, without any doubt, the globalization is one of the most significant processes has been taking place, which effects a large-scale of population world-widely and deeply. In the meanwhile, the controversies over this phenomenon about whether it is a blessing or a curse are never stopped. It is inevitable that some adverse effects are brought by this great process. Due to the drastically increasing demands of various industrial products, massive numbers of factories were established to meet the market’s needs, some of which caused heavy pollutions to the environment. Such as the electricity, an indispensable energy source to support the industry, it is mainly generated from fossil fuel, especially the burning of coal that not only emits greenhouse gases but also contaminates the air. According to the research, an increasing number of health issues are caused by inhaling polluted air. However, the defects mentioned above will be solved with the improvements in renewable energy. By the time when a large proportion of energy is converted from solar and wind. Apparently, they are free and eternal, both environment and economy will be benefited from it. Besides that, with the globalization, the peace of the world will become more stable than ever before. Through deeply cooperating in various aspects, such as technology and economy, these involved countries have established a tight relationship with each other, which lead to the impossibility of starting a war among them. In some places, like Mideast, a proportion of people still cannot enjoy a peaceful life. According to the research, these areas are less developed or isolated from the globalization, which contributes to its turbulent society. To conclude, although some side affects cannot be totally avoided, the significant benefits are far more important for the human civilization. In my opinion, we should put more attention on solving the issues brought by development rather than deny the improvement of globalization that we have achieved.

A letter practice: Booking a hotel room You and your family are planning to spend a weekend at a seaside hotel. Task: Write a letter to the hotel making the arrangements. Let them know when you will be arriving and leaving, what type of rooms you would like, and ask them how much the weekend will cost. Also enquire about activities and places of interest near the hotel. ------------------------------------------- Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to book a room for my family at your hotel. Besides, I would like to inquire some information about site seeing. We will arrive a week later, on the 9th of June night, and we are planning to stay there for 5 nights, leave on the 14th of June morning. We need a standard room with two beds and, the most important thing is, I hope the room comes with a sea sight view. It is our family’s annual vacation, all of us are anticipating to spend a wonderful holiday. As I said, we are going to check in at night. The flight will arrive at 21 pm on schedule, however, if the flight does not be on time, please reserve the room for me. Lastly, could you give me some advice about local actives or interesting places not far away from your hotel. Especially the parade that I have heard of, someone told me that it is intriguing and will be held during the June. But I do not know the exact time and location. Thanks for you taking time to read my message, and I hope to hear from you soon. Yours sincerely, Chuang.

A letter practice: Complaining to neighbours about their noisy dog Your neighbours have a dog that is noisy at night. You can’t sleep. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter: – describe the problem with the dog – explain why it is important for you to sleep – outline what your neighbours could do about the situation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mr White or Mrs White, I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with your dog. Because of it I have not been sleeping well for the past weeks. I know your newly adopted dog is quite adorable, every time I come across you when you are walking your dog, I cannot help myself to look at it. But it often makes strange noises at night, seems like digging holes or starching its paws on the planks, which awakes me many times and sometime I even could not fall asleep again. I have to say, however, I have a friend who is an animal psychological doctor. He told me it might caused by the dog had not been used to the new environment. Besides, he said if you wish you could bring the dog to his clinic, he could diagnose it and might solve this problem. The contact information of my friend’s clinic is in the attachment, please do consider it. The fee of treatment might be expensive, round $100, but I think all of us, neighbors and dog, will be benefit from it, right? Thank you for taking time to read this letter, I hope to hear back from you with good news. Yours sincerely, Chuang.