Unit 8: Exercise 1

Family friends friendship grandparents parents relations /

relatives

relationship

1. members of your family: ___relatives____________

2. a situation in which two people are friends: ___friendship_______________
3. people you know well and like but who aren't usually members of your family:
______ relations __________
4. the way two (or more) people feel and behave towards each other:
_____relationship_______
5. a group of people who are related to each other, e.g. a mother, a father and their
children: ___family_______________
6. your mother and father: _____parents______________
7. the parents of your mother and father: ___grandparents_______________

Unit 8: Exercise 2
Read the IELTS Writing Task 2 question.

It is sometimes said that old friendships are as valuable as family relationships. Do you
agree or disagree?

Then read the information. Complete the conclusion. Use the words in the box.

You should always write a conclusion to your IELTS Writing Task 2 essay. The
conclusion should be two or three sentences long and refer to the main points in your
essay. It should also include your opinion.

You can use the essay question to help you check if you have referred to the main points in
your conclusion.

Agree disagree family old friendships opinion valuable

Conclusion

In conclusion, I _____agree_ that _____old frienships__ are extremely

_____valuable__________ but I _____disagree____________ that friends are as important as
relatives. In my __option_____ , nobody can replace your relations because __family_____ are
the most valuable people in the world. 

Unit 8: Exercise 3

Read the IELTS Writing Task 2 question.

It is sometimes said that old friendships are as valuable as family relationships. Do you
agree or disagree?

Then read the information. Highlight the three parts of the conclusion that paraphrase the
underlined words from the question. 

When you write the conclusion to your IELTS Writing Task 2 essay you should
paraphrase the main points of the question instead of repeating them exactly. Remember:
paraphrasing is when you use different words to say the same thing.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I agree that old friendships are extremely valuable but I disagree that friends
are as important as relatives.

Unit 8: Exercise 4
Read the IELTS Writing Task 2 question again.

It is sometimes said that old friendships are as valuable as family relationships. Do you
agree or disagree?

Read the information. Then read the student’s essay. What information should the student
include in the conclusion? Read the sentences and choose the correct answers.
 In your IELTS Writing Task 2 conclusion you should not repeat examples from the rest of
your essay. Remember, the conclusion should include the main points of the essay and
your own opinion.

For some people, it is true that their friends are as important as their family. Personally, I
need my friendships a lot but I do not think they can ever replace the connection with my
relatives. In this essay, I am going discuss both sides of the argument before coming to a
conclusion.

On the one hand, I think that old friendships are very valuable. You can talk to friends who
you have known for a long time about anything and they give you advice from experience. In
addition, some people do not enjoy spending time with their relations because they are too
strict or argue a lot. Unfortunately, certain people do not have family because they have died
or moved away. For them, friendships are invaluable.

On the other hand, I disagree that friends are as important as relatives. In my opinion, nobody
can be as valuable as family. Your parents work hard to help you and bring you up. Your
grandparents did the same for your parents in the past. My family is particularly close
because we live in the same street. Although I see my friends most days, I see my family
every day. I eat with my grandmother at least twice a week and at weekends the whole
family, all 25 of us, eats together.

1. I agree that old friendships are valuable. 

o Yes
o No

2. Friends can often talk to you about anything.

o Yes
o No

3. Some people’s relations are too strict or argue a lot.

o Yes
o No

4. Some people do not have family because they have died or moved away.

o Yes
o No

5. I disagree that friends are important as relatives.

o Yes
o No
 6. In my view, nobody can be as valuable as family.

o Yes
o No

7. Your parents work hard to help you.

o Yes
o No

8. My family all live in the same street.

o Yes
o No

9. I see my family every day.

o Yes
o No

10. I eat with my grandmother twice a week.

o Yes
o No

Unit 8: Exercise 5
Read the essay questions and the conclusions. Then choose the purpose of each
sentence.

1. Some people think it is better to speak privately to friends while others tell personal
things to their family only. Discuss the two different views and give your opinion.

In conclusion, sometimes people are more comfortable sharing personal details with friends
because they are embarrassed to talk about their feelings with their parents or their family
would not want to hear about problems. A summary sentence of first point of
view/summary sentence of whether effects are good or bad

On the other hand, other people speak to family because they feel they can trust them more
than anyone else. A summary sentence of alternative point of view/summary sentence of
first point of view Personally, I think that relatives are the best people to tell private
information. A summary sentence of main effects/My opinion
 2. The internet has changed the way friends communicate. What effects does the web
have on friendships? Are these effects good or bad?

To conclude, communicating through email or websites means that friends can easily keep in
contact but might not see each other as often. A summary sentence of main effects/A
summary sentence of first point of view The internet has, therefore, had both positive and
negative effects on friendships.

My opinion/A summary sentence of whether effects are good or bad At the end of the day,
however, I believe that it offers more good points than bad points. A summary sentence of
main effects/My opinion

Unit 8: Exercise 6
Read the IELTS Writing Task 2 question.

The  internet has changed the way friends communicate. What effects does the internet have
on friendships? Are these effects good or bad? 

Read the information. Then read the student’s essay. Highlight five unnecessary pieces of

information in the conclusion. 

In IELTS Writing Task 2, the conclusion is a summary of the essay, so you should not add
any new information.

It is certainly true that the invention of the internet has transformed communication within
friendships. In my opinion, overall it has had more good consequences than bad. In this
essay, I am going to discuss the effects that the internet has had on the way friends
communicate.

Before the internet was invented, friends used to speak on the phone or meet each other to
talk. Sometimes they even used to write each other letters. Now they email, send messages
on smart phones or communicate on online networking sites. On the one hand, this means
that friends can easily keep in regular contact with each other. However, on the other hand, it
means that they might not see each other as often.

The web has, therefore, had both a good effect and a bad effect on how friends communicate
with each other. A positive example is that friends who you have not seen for a long time can
contact you online after several years, so you do not forget about each other. A negative
example is that friends might spend a lot more time alone now because they do not arrange to
meet each other as often. Even though you get a lot of texts or emails, you can still be
lonely.

To conclude, I use two laptops, so I know that communicating through email or websites
means that friends can easily keep in contact but might not see each other as often. I email
my friend in Shanghai every day. The internet has, therefore, had both positive and
negative effects on friendships. Another negative effect is that people spend too much time
looking at a computer screen. At the end of the day, however, I believe that it offers more
good points than bad points. Another good point is that email is very quick. Another bad
point is that phones or laptops can break.

Unit 8: Exercise 7
The first words of your conclusion should be In conclusion or a synonym of it.

Choose the correct prepositions to complete the words and phrases that are
synonyms of In conclusion.

1. In/To conclude
2. In/To short
3. In/To sum up
4. In/To summary
5. In/To finish
6. In/To put it briefly
7. In/To the end
8. In/To summarise

Unit 8: Exercise 8
Correct the mistakes. There is one mistake in each sentence.

1. To put it breifly, parents are more important to children than their grandparents. In
2. In sumary, the best thing about friendship is feeling emotionally supported. To
3. To short, you are lucky if you have lots of uncles and aunts. In
4. To sum up, you have to work at friendships like you have to work at marriage. In
5. In an end, nobody should argue with their family. To

Unit 8: Exercise 9
Read the statements about IELTS Writing Task 2. Are they True or False?
Choose the correct answers.

1. Your IELTS Writing Task 2 essay should be at least 200 words long.

o True
o False

2. You have 30 minutes to do IELTS Writing Task 2.

o True
o False

3. You should spend the first 10 minutes having ideas and planning your essay.

o True
o False

4. One way to have enough ideas in IELTS Writing Task 2 is to use a mind-map
technique.

o True
o False

5. You should use synonyms in your essay so that you do not repeat the same words too
often.

o True
o False

6. You should not include examples from your own knowledge or experience in your
essay.

o True
o False

7. You should always write a conclusion to your IELTS Writing Task 2 essay.

o True
o False

8. It is a good idea to include new information in the conclusion of your essay.

o True
o False
 9. You can use the IELTS Writing Task 2 question to help you check if you have
included the main points in your conclusion.

o True
o False

10. Knowing the IELTS topics well before you do the exam will help you in IELTS
Writing Task 2.

o True
o False

Unit 8: Exercise 10
WRITING TASK 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Nowadays, in many families both parents need to have jobs. What are some of the
problems associated with both parents working, and what are some of the possible
solutions?

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

You should write at least 250 words.

Please add text into the Student post.

Student post: