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2020

IELTS essay, topic: Some parents think that children must do house chores (opinion)

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is likely to score IELTS Band 9.

Set 2 General Training book, Practice Test 9

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Many parents give jobs to their children to do around the house in order to develop their characters and self-sufficiency.
Discuss this idea and give your opinion.

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

You should write at least 250 words.

Answer

In many modern day families, it is a common aspect of family life that parents give jobs to their children to do around the house to develop their characters and a sense of self-sufficiency. This aspect can be looked at as having both positive and negative sides.

When parents give their children jobs or chores to do around the house, they make their children understand that they are part of a community. While this community is only within the family’s house, the lessons children learn from carrying out their chores are equally fitting for the global community they live in. Children are taught that they have to integrate into the global community and that in order for this community to work effectively, everyone must carry out their chores.

Furthermore, children learn about the concept of pride, as they are taught to be proud of what they have accomplished. Chores around the house additionally prepare children for living independently later on in life, as they acquire skills that are valuable for everyday life. I, personally, see this approach as very practical; helping my mother with cooking in my childhood and teenage years served me well, and living independently now I don’t have trouble preparing meals for myself and my housemates.

Although there are many supporters of this concept, some parents argue that children should not be given jobs to do around the house. They argue that children should be allowed to be children and not have any duties. In their opinion children should enjoy their childhood and should not have to deal with any of the responsibilities adults have to deal with.

In conclusion, I believe that giving children chores to carry out is a positive aspect of family life, as I think that it helps children to become independent and makes it easier for them to live by themselves later on in life.

Go here for more IELTS Band 9 Essays

12 Tricky English Words

Tricky Words in IELTSSpeaking from experience, there are some words in English that IELTS test takers misspell quite often. A word spelt wrong isn’t the end of the world, but here’s the thing – when you spell one of these words wrong, the autocorrect feature (your usual lifeline!) won’t save you. It won’t let you know that you made a mistake and there will be no red underline. Why? Because the second spelling also exists in its dictionary – but the word spelt that way means something completely different!

Here are the 12 tricky words that can get you in trouble – and what each spelling means.

Cause vs. Course

A cause is a reason for something that happened.

A course is a sequence of events or it could also mean a learning program at school or university.

Compliment vs. Complement

A compliment is something you say to a person to show your admiration.

A complement is an item that completes a group of other items, makes it better, for example a hat that completes an outfit.

Destruct vs. Distract

To destruct means to destroy.

To distract means to take your attention away from something you were doing.

Desert vs. Dessert

A desert is a land with no water, covered with sand.

A dessert is a sweet dish that you have at the end of your meal, such as ice cream or cake. An easy way to remember the double ‘s’ in dessert is to think that dessert is ‘So Sweet’.

Dairy vs. Diary

Dairy is a place where milk is processed.

A diary is a personal journal where you write about your experiences.

Launch vs. Lunch

To launch something is to let it fly.

Lunch is the meal that you have at midday.

Mail vs. Male

Mail means letters and parcels.

Male is the gender of a man.

Message vs. Massage

A message is a bit of information that you pass on to someone.

Giving someone a massage means rubbing a person’s muscles to help them relax.

Plain vs. Plane

Plain means simple or flat.

A plane is the same as an airplane.

Reminder vs. Remainder

A reminder helps you remember something.

A remainder is a part of something that is left after the rest was removed. An easy way to remember the difference in spelling is to think of the word ‘remain’ as part of ‘remainder’.

Stationary vs. Stationery

The word ‘stationary‘ refers to something that isn’t moving (e.g. a stationary vehicle).

Stationery means pens, pencils, paper and envelopes.

Trail vs. Trial

A trail is a cleared path through the forest.

A trial means a test of performance of a new product or service.

What other words do you find confusing or tricky? Let us know in comments, and we’ll add them to the list!