A Variety of Hobby Topics (Task 2 Writing)

One thing students often worry about during Writing Task 2 is not having enough time. They begin writing their essays as quickly as possible because they are afraid of not finishing. 

However, you must believe the following advice:

• You are more likely to finish quickly and write a better essay if you MAKE A PLAN beforehand.

This is especially true if you would like to write about two sides of an Argument Topic which asks for your opinion. For more general information on planning and structure, look at the previous entry:

Make A Plan!

One good way of planning your essay is to make a Mind Map. There are many kinds of mind maps but my favourite is one that I like to call "The Tree."

Your tree will probably not look like this one, but this does give you some idea of what we will do when we make our tree.

In order to practice making a tree to organise our ideas, let's look at a common Task 2 Writing Topic.

Actors, musicians, and sports players make millions of dollars every year while many other people in the world are struggling with poverty. Do you believe this is justified? Explain your answer.

We can see that this is an argument topic with two main sides. The two possible opinions we can take are as follows:

It is justified that actors, musicians, and sports players make millions of dollars even though some people in the world are poor.

Or...

It is NOT justified for actors, musicians, and sports players to make so much money while others in the world are struggling with poverty.

Now that we have recognised the two sides of this argument, it's time to make a tree. Just quickly draw something like this on your exam paper:


  It's justified                         It's not justified

                                                                           I
                                                                           I
                                                                           I
                                                                           I
                                                                           I
                                                                           I
                                                                           I
                                                                           I
                              

Then, take a few moments to think of points for each side. Remember: You may only want to write about one side of the argument, but it's often helpful to look at both sides. You only have a few minutes to prepare, so it's not necessary to write full sentences at this point. Look at the example below:


It's justified                         It's not justified

                                                                         
Actors and sports players have special skills                         People are too focused on entertainment these
which are in demand.                                                             days, and these people only give entertainment.                                                    
                                                                         
They have short careers.                                                      Actors and sports players work very short
- injuries                                                                               hours compared with other workers.
-getting old                                                        
                                                                         
These are high-risk jobs sometimes.                                       These people live extravagant lifestyles and
                                                                                             waste their money. It's wrong for them to do
The market demands that some careers have                          this when there are so many poor people.
higher pay.                                                          

                                                                   
Now you try! Look at the topics below and try making some trees! The more ideas you can prepare before the exam, the easier the exam will seem.


Many people argue that modern children spend far too much time with sedentary activities like TV and computer games. Do you agree or disagree?

Some people say that children have too many extracurricular activities and that they are not given enough time for free play. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

Actors, musicians, and sports players make millions of dollars every year while many other people in the world are struggling with poverty. Do you believe this is justified? Explain your answer.