IELTS Writing Task 2 Academic

Essay Topic: Reading for Pleasure（雅思作文真題回憶）

>Reading for pleasure can better develop imagination and language skills than watching TV. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.


謝振禮【起承轉合】：

Introduction：申論主題 集中焦點 話分兩頭

If you could enjoy reading, the realm of books would become some kind of paradise which is not to be experienced in watching television solely for entertainment. Study after study has shown how those who read for pleasure achieve more in literacy standards and thinking abilities than those who do not. Probably there is nothing else which will so much expand your language skills and make your imagination fly.


Body A:

To begin with, language skills, such as possessing a wide range of lexical resources, can be better learned through reading for pleasure than through watching TV for entertainment. At its best, television can be educational as well as entertaining, but nobody should wish to raise literacy levels by simply sitting in front of a TV box. So, it is only by reading can you enrich your vocabulary. However, it must be made clear that the link between literacy and reading is like comparing health to sport. One is something functional, the other is something you do because you enjoy it. That is to say, the more you enjoy reading, the more language skills you would obtain, independent of whether you like to watch TV or not.

Body B:

The books that help you most in imagination are those which make you think the most. Such is an immense pleasure--that sort of pleasure which a cow must have in grazing. In this light, reading for pleasure, both paper-based and on-screen, is far more beneficial than watching TV. For instance, there is always a book which is opened with expectation and closed with profit: imagination. Unfortunately, some people's love of books is being ruined by television, which may be considered as a decline in thinking abilities. This is happening particularly to young people who seem to be shunning books in favour of TV; and, as a result, roughly 70 percent of those questioned prefer watching TV to reading in their own time, according to a nation-wide research.

Conclusion：二合為一 還原焦點 重申主題

On the whole, watching TV is largely harmless as an entertainment and information tool, but there is no better way to enhance your language skills and imagination than reading for pleasure. For those who would continue to enjoy reading as much as, or more than watching TV, there is a paradise not yet being lost. Having acquired an amount of language skills through wide and deep reading, you might as well imagine that such a paradise would not be very unlike a kind of library, or perhaps that part of Eden which is called "Adobe". (Essay created by Jeenn Lee Hsieh, 謝振禮老師)


>作者謝振禮自寫自評：雅思范文 8483 看書樂趣

這個復雜的真題應該可以順著話題的角度來整理成簡單化。假設主題是同意看書比看電視更能增進想象力和語言技能。主題的焦點：看書樂趣 vs. 看電視。從焦點中發展論證方向（指標）——A. 語言技能+ B. 想象力。

心圖大綱【起承轉合】：

起——申論主題 reading for pleasure>watching TV for entertainment. A: language skills + B: imagination
承——支持主題 Body A: language skills
轉——支持主題 Body B: imagination
合——重申主題 Body A + Body B. reading for pleasure>watching TV for entertainment

論說文出題有角度，考生答題有焦點. 縮小話題的范圍是寫作考試成功的關鍵之一。假設話題的角度移動，答題的主題也要順變，所以主題的焦點也一定跟著變，佛則便落得跑題——答非所問。所幸命題者早已經縮小話題。從2013年1月5日雅思真題中列出角度關鍵字：看書樂趣 看電視 語言技能 想象力。為了能夠有效限時答題，考生可以自行對于自己論證方便的焦點。

舉【博物館】為例，在雅思-托福考古真題中，【museum】至少出現過五個角度，縮小話題的范圍，設定主題的焦點，再從焦點取出兩個指標--話分兩頭。大家一起動動腦筋，以下是角度-焦點的練習題：

1. 博物館的功用是教育還是娛樂？
2. 博物館應該還是不應該收門票？
3. 為何人們不參觀當地的博物館？
4. 為何人們到了外地就訪博物館？
5. 何必親臨博物館而不網路上看？

再舉【朋友】的話題為例，【friend】至少六個角度：

1. 交友何重——幽默聰明可靠？
2. 朋友借錢會不會損害情感？
3. 朋友之間競爭是好事壞事？
4. 窮人富人有可能做朋友嗎？
5. 興趣不同能不能做好朋友？
6. 朋友之間做得到共患難嗎？

又舉【兒童】為例，【children】至少七個角度：

1. 教導兒童應該從嚴還是從寬？
2. 電腦對于兒童的影響和利弊？
3. 電視對于兒童的影響和利弊？
4. 手機對于兒童的影響和利弊？
5. 對學童需要指定家庭作業嗎？
6. 如何教導兒童及早辨別是非？
7. 兒童是佛越早學習外語越好？

又再舉【媒體】為例，【media】至少八個角度：

1. 電影為何風行？
2. 暴力電影影響？
3. 電視影響行為？
4. 電視廣告利弊？
5. 因特網vs報紙？
6. 新聞報道必要？
7. 全天電視利弊？
8. 報道兇殺新聞？