IELTS TRAINING COURSE

LEVEL 6.5

LESSON 8: WRITING

Date: …………………………………...

Participant: ……………………………

2025
 Module 1
Communication 1a
b Choose the correct options in italics to complete
Language development the article.
4 a Read the essay below. What essay questions
Present tenses does the paragraph answer?
hh
EXPERT GRAMMAR page 173 1 Mobile phones have benefitted society. Discuss.
2 To what extent have mobile phones changed the
1 a Choose the correct option in italics to complete way people shop?
the sentences.
1 I look / am looking for a new phone plan. These days, times 1 are changing (change) fast, and
2 What is that including / does that include?
3 We offer / are offering it at that price for a short more and more people 2 (use) the internet for
period. daily tasks. The majority of people in my country
4 How much data are you wanting / do you want? never 3 (visit) the travel agent’s to book a
5 Are you using / Do you use your phone for games
holiday. They 4 (use) their smart phones to
regularly?
6 All you are needing / need to do is sign here. check things like cinema times. Nobody
b Which of the verbs in are not normally used in
5 (print) their photos anymore, people
the continuous form? 6 (not phone) to book tickets to a sporting
2 Complete the sentences with the correct form event or the theatre. We 7 (turn) to
of the verbs in brackets so that they are true for technology more and more.
you.
But this 8 (not come) without problems. Many
1 I ‘m studying (study) for my IELTS exam at the moment.
2 I (work) right now. people 9 (rate) ‘losing their phone’ as their
3 I usually (work as/study). biggest fear, and currently, governments
4 The thing that I (enjoy) the most about my 10 (not do) enough to keep us safe online.
course/job is .
5 The people I (work/study) with are .
6 In my free time, I usually . b Complete the essay with the correct form of the
3 a Read the article. What do you think a mood is? words in brackets.
c Work in pairs and discuss the question. Do
you think that mobile phones have benefitted
society? Why/Why not?
The study of online moods 1 is / are a large field of
5 a Look at the Part 1 speaking questions (1–4).
research. Every time you type a word, little signs of
Underline the tenses in the questions. What
your mood 2 shows / show themselves. For example,
tense are they?
type a lot of mistakes late at night, and the computer
rightly or wrongly 3 thinks / think you 4 is / are tired 1 Are you working or studying at the moment?
and less concerned about details, so you may be in 2 What do you like best about your course?
the mood to spend some money! Anything you have 3 Is there anything you DISLIKE about your course?
recently viewed online 5 appears / appear on your 4 What are you planning to do when you finish
screen in adverts, knowing this is the moment you’ll your course?
probably weaken. Changes in your status from ‘single’ b Choose the correct option in italics to complete
to ‘dating’ 6 send / sends the kind of information the responses.
restaurant and clothing companies love to hear, 1 I study / ’m studying English at the moment.
while clicking ‘upset stomach’ late into the night 2 I want / ’m wanting to take the IELTS exam soon.
7 produces / produce a very different set of 3 I really like / ’m really liking studying with people
adverts on your screen. But moods also tell social from other countries.
researchers a lot about public opinion and 8 predicts / 4 I don’t like / ’m not liking the amount of vocabulary
predict how we might act in future. One recent study that we need / are needing to learn.
of 200 different moods 9 shows / show that bad 5 I plan / ’m planning to apply to university in
moods online appear more often than good moods. Australia.
It could just be that when people 10 is / are feeling
down, they need to talk to others more. Healthcare c Work in pairs. Take turns to answer the
services and the government 11 hopes / hope questions in Exercise 5a.
information like this may help them make better
decisions.

13
Page 1 of 7
Student’s Resource Book > Language development page 9 MyEnglishLab > 1a Language development
1a Module 1
Communication

Writing (Task 1)

Write an overview c What does the introductory sentence do?

hh
EXPERT WRITING page 192 1 gives examples of trends
2 introduces the main topic of the chart
1 a Match the introductory sentences (1–3) with the 3 gives a summary of the results
charts (A–C) below. d How is an overview sentence different from an
1 The chart illustrates mobile phone use among introductory sentence?
different age groups in the UK in 2015. 1 It talks about the questions that the researchers
2 The graph gives an overview of spending on hoped to answer.
mobile phones and landlines in the USA over a 2 It talks about the results that researchers reported.
ten-year period from 2000 to 2010.
3 The graph shows which services people used on Test practice
their smart phones over a four-year period.
hh
TEST STRATEGIES page 171
A
2 a Look at the chart below. Which graph shape in
Exercise 1 is most similar to the reasons why
people ‘friend’ others on social media sites? Is
mobile
the shape the same for reasons to ‘unfriend’?
landline
b Write an introductory sentence and an overview
sentence for the chart below.

The chart below shows the main reasons why

B people choose to make or break friendship
connections on a popular social media site.
Under 25 Summarise the information by selecting
and reporting the main features, and make
26–35
comparisons where relevant.
46–55
Over 56 Write at least 150 words.

90
Percentage Percentage
C 80 who friend who unfriend

70
internet
60
phone calls
50

40

30
b Match the overviews that explain trends (1–3)
20
with the charts (A–C).
1 We can see from the chart that under-25s spent 10
more time on mobiles than any other age group.
2 The line graph shows that considerably more 0
sin l f fe

cr At etw s
sin ct rks

nd ss

De se ow ts

e l
ck m g

er s
n
es om wel

people used their phones to access the internet

un
sn d

int nt
La g co thin

tio
g t n’t k en
rie ne
Bu tua al li
es rien

ea tra o

of me
co

ac
m
g f ive
M n re

rather than make phone calls, and the gap

Tr Do om
n
i

ec

pr ll s

between the two is growing.

ow

siv

sin
Kn

3 The line graph shows that although people spent

o
fen
Of

yin

more money on landlines in the first half of the

In

study, mobile phone expenditure became higher

from 2006 onwards.

14 Student’s Resource Book > Writing page 10 Page 2 of 7

1b Module 1
Communication

Writing (Task 1)

Lead-in 1 Work in pairs and discuss the questions.

1 Do you think ticket prices at cinemas are good value for money?
2 How has the way people watch films changed since 2000?
3 Do you think it is wrong to watch films/movies without paying
for them?

Understand the task 2 a Match the words or phrases below with a word or phrase with a
hh
EXPERT WRITING page 192 similar meaning in the introductory sentence in Exercise 2b.
abroad between by selling graph how much illustrates
money the film industry made

b Rewrite the introductory sentence avoiding words from the

original sentence where possible.

The graph shows the amount of income from cinema ticket and
DVD sales in the USA and internationally from 2001 to 2010.

40

30
US$ billion

20

10

0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
North American DVD sales International DVD sales
North American cinema sales International cinema sales

3 a Look at the information on the graph and answer the questions.

1 Which market was bigger: the USA or the international market?
2 What happened in 2004?
3 Where did the movie industry make more money in 2010?
b Write an overview for this graph.

Plan the task 4 a Look at the criteria for Part 1 Task achievement on page 191 and
hh
TEST STRATEGIES page 171 answer the questions.
1 If your answer has no overview, which band will you get for Task
achievement?
2 If you have no numbers from the graph, what band will your answer
get for Task achievement?
20
Page 3 of 7
 Module 1
Communication 1b
b The Band 5 descriptor includes the phrase recounts detail
mechanically. Complete the explanation with the correct form of
the words below.
important grammatical listing mean

Using detail mechanically means that the student is 1 words

and numbers without showing that they understand what the data
2 . It can be avoided by focussing on the most 3 data,
and using a variety of 4 structures.
c Look at the sentences below. Which one ‘recounts detail
mechanically’?
1
‘In 2001 the income from North American DVD sales was
21 and then it rose to 25 and then it fell to 21 and then it
fell again to 18.’
2
‘Income from North American DVD sales reached a peak
in 2004, at $25 billion, but then fell to a new low of $18
billion by 2010.’

Language and content 5 Complete the description with the prepositions below, or nothing.
at by from by to

In 2001, International DVD sales were quite low, 1 $11.5 billion,

but they rose 2 $6.5 billion by the year 2004, 3
$18 billion. After a short dip, sales rose 4 $6 billion to reach
5 $22 billion.
6 a Look at the graph in Exercise 2. Match the numbers below with
the descriptions.
9.5 billion 15 billion and 32 billion 20 billion and 30 billion
62.5 billion and 83.5 billion 48% 76%

1 Just under half the US income in 2001 came from cinema sales.
2 Cinema sales accounted for approximately 10 billion.
3 Around three quarters of their income came from international sales.
4 Almost twice as much money came from international cinema sales.
5 International cinema sales were exactly 50% higher in 2009,
compared to 2001.
6 The US film industry made over 20 billion more in 2010, compared
to 2001.
b Match the words in italics in 1–6 above with the meanings A–D.
A the same as B generally the same as C more than D less than

Write your description 7 Write your description of the graph. Remember to write at least
150 words. Make sure that you understand the information and
focus on the most important data.

Assess and improve 8 Work in pairs. Check your partner’s description and answer the
questions.
1 Have you and your partner presented an overview? Do they contain
the same information? Can you decide together the best overview?
2 Have you both used numbers from the graph? Have you used the same
numbers? Which did you miss/include when you didn’t need them?
3 How can you get better at Task achievement in Part 1?
• practise with graphs online
• write a checklist and use it before you start a practice test
• another method
21
Page 4 of 7
Student’s Resource Book > Writing page 15 MyEnglishLab > 1b Writing
1b Module 1
Communication

3 Complete the sentences with one word. The first

Review letter is given.
One of the big challenges for news 1a is how
1 Complete the text with the words below. to pay for serious, professional news 2 c over
the next 10 years. Bloggers simply do not have the
across area aware back up leave out popularity
skills that professional 3 j have, and the
share technological 4v of amateurs on politics don’t come with
any kind of guarantee that they are being objective.
‘If you can’t explain simply, you don’t 5S m sites are great for personal news,
but few trust them for national news. There is still a
understand it well enough.’ Albert Einstein large 6 a who want to watch professionally
Scientific discoveries and 1 developments made television news services, even if we access
are around us every day. Television producers them online. However, we have become accustomed
know that there is a demand for scientists who can to getting online services for free, and that includes
our news services. Even newspapers are given out
get their ideas 2 to a wider public.
for free in the major capitals of the world these days.
Albert Einstein became 3 of the benefits of Our interest in current affairs and big 7 e has
explaining his ideas to the wider public from very not decreased, and it looks likely that TV channels
early in his career. But you can’t explain everything will still 8 b 24-hour news reports for the
to everyone. His theory of relativity needs some foreseeable future.
knowledge in the 4 of physics. There will be 4 a Complete the answer to the Part 2 task below
some details you can 5 , but understanding with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
Newton’s law of gravity, for instance, is necessary
to make sense of the theory of relativity. Anything Describe a public event that you decided to attend.
practical, which you can 6 with examples, You should say:
will be easier to understand for non-specialists. So, what happened at the event
for example, you might be able to explain what a who you went with
theory does, but not why it is important. where the event was held
As the 7 of TV science documentaries grows, and explain why you decided to attend that event.
the demand for academics with star quality is high.
Scientists who can 8 ideas and information ‘When I was 18 I 1 (go) to a really large
public event. It 2 (be) a large rock festival.
clearly have a bright future ahead of them.
We 3 (get) to the site on the first day and
we 4 (put) our tent up in a really bad place.
We 5 (choose) the bottom of a hill, and of
2 a Complete the sentences with the correct form of course, when it 6 (begin) raining, all the
the verbs in brackets. water flooded down into our tent. But we
Should people be concerned about the information 7 (not mind) that, because we 8 (see)
that they post on social media sites? some brilliant bands play. It was great! We had just
People who 1 (not post) information on finished our exams, and we 9 (think) we’d
social media these days 2 (miss) out on a do something special together. The event
large part of modern life. This 3 (mean) that it 10 (take) place in a field just outside of
4 (be) almost essential these days to give up Paris. It 11 (not have) a name, I don’t think.
the right to a truly private life. Anyway – we 12 (decide) to go there
because we wanted to do something memorable,
Of course, social media sites have privacy policies and it was just the best experience of my life.’
that users agree to. But 5 anyone really
read the agreement before they tick the box?
Long privacy agreements 6 (not offer) a clear b Practice reading the Part 2 answer, paying
enough explanation and people 7 (not have) attention to pronunciation. Then repeat the
the time to read them. Most experts 8 (agree) activity with your own ideas.
that a new system is needed. One solution that
9 (become) popular at the moment is a
‘personal privacy agreement’, which is linked to an
individual and 10 (go) with them when they
11 (visit) or 12 (sign up) to new sites.
b Write a paragraph in response to the essay.

22 MyEnglishLab > Module Test 1 Page 5 of 7

 ESSAY WRITING PRACTICE

Task 1. Complete the following passage using the words provided in the list
below. Put the words in the brackets in the correct forms

impede​ repercussions​ societal​ skepticism​

adolescents​ optimize​ pragmatic ​ impede

employ​​ indispensable​ instrumental​ adverse​

Modern communication tools yield significant benefits for users, yet many individuals contest
this viewpoint. While some express (1) ______________ regarding their consequences, devices
such as television, the internet, computers, and smartphones remain (2) ______________ in
contemporary society.

Mass communication has introduced numerous advantages, particularly through television,

mobile devices, and the internet. Many television channels broadcast educational programs
designed to enhance public knowledge. For instance, news networks may (3) ______________
animations and short films to illustrate traffic regulations. Furthermore, television and radio serve
as primary sources of entertainment for millions daily while providing (4) ______________
information across various fields. Most importantly, digital platforms and televised news reduce
costs and (5) ______________ time efficiency by offering immediate access to services and
information.

Nevertheless, excessive reliance on modern communication technologies has led to several (6)
______________ effects. These innovations have altered traditional lifestyles, often with
negative (7) ______________. Many children and (8) ______________ spend excessive hours
on screens during weekdays, exacerbating sedentary behavior and increasing obesity rates.
Moreover, overuse of smart communication devices has been shown to diminish creativity and
(9) ______________ the development of essential social skills. Equally concerning is the
capacity of mass media to (10) ______________ reality, fostering a passive audience rather
than cultivating independent and critical thinkers. Such trends influence public opinion,
particularly during political and social crises.

In conclusion, despite concerns raised by psychologists and parents regarding the risks of
modern communication technologies, they are still (11) ______________ tools for spreading
knowledge and improving quality of life. However, failing to acknowledge their drawbacks may
lead to profound (12) ______________ and psychological challenges in the future.

Page 6 of 7
Task 2. Complete the following passage using the words provided in the list
below. Put the words in the brackets in the correct forms
dissemination​ seamlessly​ competency​ tolerance​ entails

broadening​ leveraging​ exacerbating​ eliminated​ facilitate

literacy​​ fostering​ jeopardize​

The rise of online communication has (1) ______________ geographical barriers, enabling
people worldwide to interact effortlessly. While this global connectivity has many benefits, it also
presents significant challenges. This essay will examine both the advantages and
disadvantages of international online communication.

One key advantage is cultural exchange. Individuals can engage with different traditions and
perspectives, (2) ______________ understanding and (3) ______________. Social media, for
example, allows users to connect with people from diverse backgrounds, (4) ______________
their worldviews and reducing cultural misunderstandings.

Another benefit is improved education and business collaboration. Online platforms (5)
______________ access to world-class expertise, allowing students to engage in intellectually
enriching discussions and gain insights from global scholars. Likewise, businesses can (6)
______________ coordinate operations across borders, enhancing efficiency and innovation.
For instance, multinational corporations assemble virtual teams composed of highly skilled
professionals worldwide, (7) ______________ a diverse range of perspectives to drive
groundbreaking advancements and optimize productivity.

However, privacy and cybersecurity threats are major concerns. Cyberattacks and identity theft
(8) ______________ personal and financial security. Many individuals have fallen victim to
phishing scams, highlighting the need for stronger cybersecurity measures and digital (9)
______________ programs.

Another drawback is the spread of misinformation. While the internet allows for fast information
sharing, it can also be the staging ground for the (10) ______________ of false news. For
example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, misleading claims about treatments led to confusion
and distrust in health authorities, (11) ______________ social divisions.

In conclusion, international online communication promotes cultural exchange and enhances

education and business interactions. However, it also (12) ______________ risks, including
cybersecurity threats and misinformation. To maximize its benefits, individuals and organizations
must adopt stronger security practices and improve their media (13) ______________ in the
digital age.

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