It is important for people to take risks, both in their professional lives and their personal lives.
Do you think the advantages of taking risks outweigh the disadvantages?

MAIN IDEAS

+ create opportunities [prospects]
+ build resilience
– Danger [hazard]

MODEL ANSWER

Risk-taking can be critical for people’s working and private lives. I believe the merits of taking chances outweigh the drawbacks.

The main benefit of throwing caution to the wind is that it leads to opportunities. For example, if people take the chance on a new romance they might meet their lifelong partner. However, without taking the plunge there will be no opportunity to move beyond single life. Similarly, accepting the risk of a new job offer may help a person move forward in their career. The new job may lead to the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, which could propel a person up the career ladder.

Furthermore, taking risks can also lead to greater resilience. This is because the change involved with risk-taking evokes emotional responses such as fear and doubt. By actively experiencing these emotions people can become more tolerant of them. This is a valuable attribute as change and a certain level of risk-taking is unavoidable in all careers and aspects of life.

However, risk-taking often involves a certain degree of danger. The unpredictable outcomes of risky decisions can lead to deleterious outcomes. For instance, my Nephew invested all his money in a new business venture. The business failed and he became both bankrupt and unemployed at the same time. This had disastrous effects on his career and marriage.

In conclusion, I believe that the benefits of risk-taking surpass the drawbacks. This is because the merits of creating new prospects and building resilience outweigh the potential hazards of negative outcomes. Furthermore, the dangers can be mitigated through contingency planning for negative outcomes.

Some people believe that professionals such as doctors and engineers should be required to work in the country where they did their training. Others believe they should be free to work in another country if they wish.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

A common debate is whether specialists trained domestically in vocations including medicine and engineering are obliged to take on employment in their homeland or should have the discretion to choose an overseas role. This essay will first elaborate on the merits of each assessment, before explaining why I agree with the latter.

Supporters of in-demand professions having to work where their education was provided have several justifications. The first is tertiary education is often subsidised by taxpayers. The cost of educating students is prohibitive, so if they do not receive government funding, only the wealthy will be able to graduate, limiting the opportunities for potentially brilliant talent. Therefore, alumni owe a duty to repay the society that assisted them. Furthermore, these professionals are likely to be more familiar with the unwritten cultural norms of the country, so can often achieve better outcomes for citizens.

Nevertheless, many believe it must be a professional’s choice as to their employment’s locale. The most important consideration is they devote years of their lives to study, neglecting relationships and accruing debt. Allowing them to move overseas for higher income or a better lifestyle should be a reward for that sacrifice. For example, Indian doctors often move to Western nations because not only are the salaries significantly higher, but the natural environment is healthier for their families. In addition, it could be argued that all taxpayers receive benefits of some form or another and likewise have obligation to their country, creating a potential roadblock to any migration.

To conclude, I believe both sides contain valid reasoning. However, in my opinion, if a country provides all citizens equal opportunities to be educated then there is no reason to limit anyone from freely making decisions about their career location. Moreover, I argue that migrants often contribute significantly to their homeland through financial remittances. Therefore, I suggest governments focus on creating the economic conditions that encourage in-demand professions to seek jobs locally. (322)

Some children spend hours every day on their smartphones.
Why is this the case?
Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

It is common for many youngsters to use their mobile devices for a significant part of each day. This essay explains the reasons for this phenomenon, and why I view this trend as creating detrimental health outcomes.

There are several contributing factors to substantial smartphone use among children. The most important consideration is that contemporary education places great emphasis on virtual activity. Often pupils are required to research and submit assignments online and tend to do this on their smartphones due to their ease of use and accessibility. This was further emphasised during the recent pandemic when learning was predominantly via the Internet, requiring students to complete teamwork using mobile applications. Another reason is social media has become the default form of communication among youths. If children do not constantly access their smartphones to keep up with the activities of their peers, they may become socially isolated.

In my view, there are more shortcomings of extended smartphone use in the young, mostly related to their wellbeing. Physically, the downsides of extensive screen time are twofold. First, eyesight can be damaged through constant exposure to damaging blue light, with children’s developing eyes being particularly vulnerable. In addition, smartphone use is often directly related to a sedentary lifestyle as it commonly replaces physical activity. Turning to emotional harm, if device usage is not strictly monitored, youngsters can be exposed to inappropriate violent or sexual imagery, as well as online bullying. For instance, many nations have seen an increase in mental illness among preteens as they are ill-equipped to deal with frequent harassment not only from their peers but also from delinquent adults.

In conclusion, lengthy time spent using smartphones is attributable to educational demands and changing interactions among the young, and I view this tendency as being problematic for both the physical and psychological growth of children. (305 words)

Nowadays, a growing number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting the usual doctor. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

Unwell individuals are more likely to seek out remedies that are contrary to mainstream medical advice these days. I mostly think this is problematic due to potential misdiagnoses and unproven therapies, although the burden on the traditional health care system could be reduced.

The main reason why I believe alternative medications could be detrimental is the higher likelihood of misdiagnosis. Patients could either diagnose themselves incorrectly with limited knowledge gained online or through unqualified practitioners with limited liability. This is in stark contrast to doctors who undergo years of training and are guided by strict professional codes of conduct to ensure appropriate treatment.

Furthermore, many of the substitute treatments are not backed by science. Mainstream medications prescribed by doctors are subject to peer-reviewed research to ensure that they are completely safe for the consumer. In contrast, many alternative medications are designed for different purposes, and may have increased side effects or decreased efficacy. For example, many non-medical professionals promoted the use of Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19, even though it was designed for the prevention of parasites on animals. Needless to say, the results have been inconclusive, and its use has resulted in some severe side effects.

However, I consider the alternative treatments could be beneficial in terms of reducing the burden on public health care for treating minor conditions. Doctors are often overworked, and it is exceptionally expensive and time-consuming to train new medical professionals. If people with minor ailments were to seek out trustworthy alternative treatment providers, the pressure on the health care system could be significantly reduced and allow doctors to focus on more serious cases.

To conclude, I somewhat believe that sourcing alternative methods to alleviate ailments is negative, as although this could relieve under-resourced medical practitioners, there is a higher likelihood of patients relying on an incorrect assumption or unverified and inappropriate medications. (311

Get the score you need by using my IELTS writing correction and feedback service by a trained examiner to increase your score. I check your writing tasks and give you feedback on errors and ways to improve your writing. I will also give you a score for each of the four grading criteria.
https://www.ieltsanswers.com/writing-correction-ielts.html