WEBVTT

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Hey there, welcome. In today's lesson we're

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going to be focusing on the different question

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types that you can be asked in the IELTS writing

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test.

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Now, as you'll know, in task 2 of IELTS you have

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to write an essay.

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And regardless of whether you're doing the

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academic or general IELTS test, there are

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certain question types that appear again and

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again.

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Now those question types are agree/disagree

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questions, advantage/disadvantage questions,

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discussion questions, double questions and

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direct questions.

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Now a little bit later we're going to be looking

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at all of these question types and showing you

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how to identify them and looking at examples.

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But first of all, let's look at how common the

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different essay types are.

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Now, as you can see from this pie chart, the

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most common question type are the agree/disagree

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questions.

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38% of the time in task 2 you're given an agree/

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disagree question.

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Okay, 22% of the time you have an advantage/dis

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advantage question.

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So roughly 1 in 5 IELTS writing tests have an

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advantage/disadvantage question.

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18% of the time you have a discussion question.

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21% of the time you have a double question.

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And only 2% of the time you'll have a direct

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question.

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Now, it's still important to practice all of

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these different essay types before you go to do

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your IELTS writing test.

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However, as we can see from this pie chart, the

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most common are the agree/disagree questions.

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Let's have a look at an example.

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"Teachers should give their students regular

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tests as more tests will prepare students better

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for life after they have left school."

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"To what extent do you agree or disagree with

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this statement?"

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Okay, so at the beginning you're given a

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statement or an opinion and then you're asked

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whether you agree or disagree with this.

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Now, this task can appear in slightly different

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ways.

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You could also be asked, "Do you agree or

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disagree?" or "Do you agree or disagree with

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this opinion?"

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Now, regardless of which one of these it is, it

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's very easy to identify an agree/disagree

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question.

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Now, when we have to write our essay, there are

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certain things that we should remember.

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The first thing is you don't have to write about

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both sides of the argument.

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So, that is to say you can completely agree or

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completely disagree with the opinion.

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You don't have to write about both sides.

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However, you might choose to depending on the

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essay structure that you've chosen.

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And we'll cover that in a future lesson.

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Also, you should give your opinion, so what's

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called your position, in the introduction and

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conclusion of your essay.

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Okay, that's very important.

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So, for example, in this case, you could say

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something like, "I completely agree that

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teachers should give their students regular

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tests."

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Or, "I completely disagree that teachers give

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their students regular tests."

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Okay, the next question type are the advantage/

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disadvantage questions.

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Here's an example.

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"Nowadays, many physical retail shops, such as

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clothing stores, are being replaced by online

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shops.

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Do the advantages of this outweigh the

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disadvantages?"

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Okay, it could also say, "Do you think the

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advantages of this development outweigh the

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disadvantages?"

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Or, "Is this a positive or negative development

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?"

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So, that's just another way of saying, "Do the

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advantages outweigh the disadvantages?"

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Now, you might be thinking, "What does 'outweigh

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' mean?"

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Well, 'outweigh' basically just means which one

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is bigger or more important, the advantages or

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disadvantages.

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And remember, in IELTS, the examiner wants to

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see your opinion.

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So, it's definitely worthwhile saying which one

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you think is more important, the advantages or

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disadvantages.

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Now, with agree/disagree questions, I said that

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you can completely agree or completely disagree.

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So, you don't need to write about both sides of

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the argument.

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However, for advantage/disadvantage questions, I

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suggest that you write about both the advantages

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and disadvantages,

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and then as well as including which side you

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think is more important.

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Okay, and remember, when you do give your

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opinion, you should also put your opinion in the

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introduction and conclusion of your essay.

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Okay, next we have the discussion questions.

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Let's have a look at an example.

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Some people think that social networking sites,

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such as Facebook, have improved communication

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between young people.

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Others think that they have made young people

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less sociable.

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Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

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Okay, this is a very typical discussion question

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.

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We're given two contrasting ideas, and then we

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're asked to discuss both of these ideas,

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and then give our own opinion.

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Now, our own opinion could be agreeing with one

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side, or it could be saying,

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"Well, there's some good points on both sides of

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the argument."

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As long as you discuss both of these sides, and

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you give your opinion, you're answering the

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question correctly.

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Okay, so remember, you do have to discuss both

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sides,

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and you should give your opinion in the

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introduction and conclusion as well.

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Next, we have double questions.

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Now, double questions are by far the most

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complex, and I think the most difficult to

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answer in 40 minutes.

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Let's have a look at an example.

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Nowadays, more and more people are moving from

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rural areas to cities for work opportunities.

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What kind of problems can this trend cause?

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What could be done to solve these problems?

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Okay, so this is a double question. It's a

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problem and solution question.

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We're given two different questions.

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The first one asks us to identify the problems,

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and notice it's "problems,"

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so we need to give more than just one problem.

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And then, in the second part, we also need to

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identify a solution.

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And ideally, we want to have a solution that's

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connected to our problems.

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Right, so if we were writing this essay, we

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would have body paragraph one that identifies

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the problems,

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and body paragraph two that identifies the

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solutions.

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However, there are other double question types.

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Have a look at this one.

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The rate at which animals are becoming

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endangered is on the rise.

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Discuss some possible causes for this trend, and

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suggest ways that people can change their

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behavior to slow this trend.

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Okay, so this isn't a problem and solution.

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In this case, it's a cause and solution.

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If, even though it says "discuss," if you

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actually look at what it says, it says,

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"Discuss some possible causes for this trend."

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And again, it's "causes," so we should give more

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than one.

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In this case, body paragraph one would look at

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the causes, not the problems,

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and body paragraph two would look at the

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solutions.

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Now again, there are more double question types

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that we can encounter.

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Nowadays, it's becoming increasingly common for

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family members to live in different countries,

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which are very far from each other.

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What are the reasons for this?

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Do the advantages of this trend outweigh the

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disadvantages?

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Okay, again, we've got two separate questions

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that we need to answer in our essay.

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In this case, the first one looks at the reasons

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,

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and then the second question asks us to evaluate

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whether the advantages outweigh the

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disadvantages.

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So, really quite a tricky question to answer in

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40 minutes,

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but it is a common question type.

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So we'd answer by looking at body paragraph one

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and identifying the reasons,

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and then in body paragraph two, we'd have to

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discuss whether we think the advantages or

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disadvantages are greater.

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Now, the final essay type that appears in IELTS

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are the direct questions.

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However, they're not so common.

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Here's an example.

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Research into new types of medicine is essential

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to improve health and deal with disease.

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Who do you think should fund this research?

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Private companies, individuals, or governments?

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So we're asked a very explicit, direct question.

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Now, we need to give our opinion in the

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introduction and conclusion,

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and make sure that this is the question that we

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're answering.

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And ideally, our answer will talk a little bit

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about private companies, individuals, and

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governments as well.

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Now, what we're going to do is a little quiz to

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see if you can identify the different question

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types.

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So, remember, we have the agree/disagree

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questions,

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we have the advantage/disadvantage questions,

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discussion questions, double questions, and

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direct questions.

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Now, have a look at this and tell me, what kind

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of question is it?

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Is it agree/disagree? Is it an advantage/disad

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vantage?

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A discussion, a double, or a direct question?

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Now, the clue is always going to be in the task,

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in the second part.

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It says, "To what extent do you agree or

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disagree with this statement?"

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So we know we need to write an agree/disagree

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question.

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Let's look at the next one.

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Okay, I'll give you a second to read this and

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decide what kind of question type is it.

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Again, look at the bottom part.

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What are the reasons for this, and how could

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this problem be solved?

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Okay, it's a double question.

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In this case, we're having to identify reasons,

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and then the solutions.

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Next.

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Take a second to read it and decide what

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question type.

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Okay, it says, "Do you think the advantages of

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working for yourself outweigh the drawbacks?"

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It is an advantage/disadvantage question.

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Next, number four.

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Okay, we've got two questions here, so we know

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it's a double question.

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What are the causes, so we need to identify

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causes, and what are some possible solutions?

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So we need to identify solutions.

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Okay, number five.

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This quiz has eight questions.

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Okay, this should be rather clear.

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It says, "To what extent do you agree or

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disagree with this statement?"

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It's an agree/disagree question.

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Number six.

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Okay, so even though we have discussed some ways

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to encourage people to buy electric vehicles,

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this discuss isn't a discussion question, it's a

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double question.

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At the beginning, we need to identify what

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problems there are,

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so what stops people from buying electric

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vehicles,

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and then in the second part of our essay, we

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need to have some solutions,

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so some ways to encourage people to buy electric

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vehicles.

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Number seven.

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It says, "Do you think the advantages of this

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development outweigh the disadvantages?"

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It's an advantage/disadvantage question.

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And finally, number eight.

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If we see, "Is this a positive or negative

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development?"

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It's also an advantage/disadvantage question.

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Right, okay, now attached to this lesson, just

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below it,

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you're going to find a PDF with different task

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two essay questions,

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and these are questions that you can practice in

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your own time

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to get familiar with the type of questions that

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appear regularly in IELTS writing.

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Okay, you'll find that in the description below

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this video.

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Best of luck with your studies, and I'll see you

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in the next lesson.

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Bye then.

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[Music]

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[Swoosh]

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[BLANK_AUDIO]