EnglishRyan's IELTS Blog

Friday, October 7, 2022

Deconstruct/Reconstruct a band 9 essay with me!


Get more information about Ryan's IELTS resources: https://www.ieltsspeakingblog.com/ Here is a copy of the question and essay analysed in this video: Many people think that public celebrations (like national holidays, festivals, etc.) are a waste of money and that the government should spend these funds in a better way. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and examples from personal experience where appropriate. National holidays cost countries and their governments a lot of money. Wages need to be paid to employees despite their absence from work, and a national loss in productivity is experienced. For these reasons, some people suggest governments do away with holidays and instead spend the money on worthy projects. While this might seem at first to be a practical suggestion, I disagree strongly for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is axiomatic that a country’s production of goods declines when workers are not working; however, this is a tiny part of a much larger economic picture. Productivity is a function not only of hours worked but also of energy, drive, and morale. Thus, national holidays, which give workers a chance to relax and to celebrate aspects of their country and their lives, make for a happier and more productive workforce. In Australia, for example, the long weekend is a tradition that helps to unify society by making all feel rewarded and valued in a common enterprise and identity. It is for these reasons that labelling public celebrations ‘a waste of money’ cannot be supported. Further, having the financial means to start new national projects is a good thing, but the question of apportioning funds in a manner that an entire society agrees is ‘a better way’ is simply unrealistic. A further consideration is the ramifications of pressure put on workers to work 52 straight weeks a year, a policy that could lead to stress-related illnesses and serious social problems. As this shows, the cancelling of public holidays and redirection of funds is an implausible suggestion. In conclusion, I must affirm that while it is tempting to realise the short-term increase in productivity and savings that would result from abolishing public holidays, the overall cost greatly outweighs the gains.

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What is IELTS?

IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is an exam that assesses the English abilities of those who wish to work or study in an English speaking country.

(The following is taken directly from ielts.org):

International Recognition

IELTS is recognised for course admission by universities in many countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, the UK and increasingly in Germany and wider Europe.

In the USA the IELTS Test is now recognised by more than 1000 institutions and new ones are constantly added to the list, of which you will always find the latest version here.

IELTS is also required as proof of your language abilities for immigration to Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

What appears on the test?

The test checks the applicant's strengths in the areas of speaking, reading, listening and writing and is separated into two test types - Academic and General.

What is the difference between the Academic IELTS Module and the General Training IELTS Module?


IELTS Academic Training is a course and test designed to prepare and assess those wishing to attend institutes of higher education in English speaking countries. The listening and speaking portions of the two tests are identical, but the reading and writing portions are not. The General Module test asks the candidate to complete two writing tasks. The first is a letter (minimum 150 words). The second is an essay (minimum 250 words). The Academic Module test, however, is different. For this test, the candidate must write one piece describing factual information that is presented to them (for example, a bar graph or list of statistics). Using this information, the candidate must accurately depict in words the information presented by the images (minimum 150 words). The second task is to write an essay on a given topic (minimum 250 words).