Task 1
The bar chart shows expectation to change of European young people in the next 20 years in 5 different areas.
Sample Answer:
The graph illustrates young people’s expectations for change in five different aspects of European life over the next 20 years.
Overall, the majority of the surveyed youth expect that, besides the communication between people, all other surveyed aspects of life will get worse.
Looking at the graph in more detail, it can be seen that 77% of people surveyed expected to see a decline in air quality, which was over three times more than the number of people who believed otherwise. Similarly, over half of the surveyed youth believed that the quality of health, as well as water, would decline over the next 20 years, with the figures being 58% and 60% respectively.
In contrast, the majority of people participating in the survey expected to see improvements in the communication between people, at 64%, while only 36% of them thought the opposite. Meanwhile, opinions on food quality were divided almost equally with just over half the survey participants believing that things would improve, and 49% thinking the opposite.
Task 2
Some people think that sending criminals to prison is not effective. Education and job training should be used instead. Do you agree or disagree?
Sample Answer:
Some people believe that providing better education opportunities and job training should replace prison sentences in combating crime. Personally, I think this is a one-sided point of view and therefore disagree with it.
There are a number of compelling reasons why it is unreasonable to consider imprisonment to be an obsolete practice. Prison sentences serve as one of the embodiments of justice and fairness in society. When a person commits an unlawful act, be it a misdemeanor or a felony, there should be punishments or else society would fall into chaos.(1) Furthermore, prisons are not only a physical place that keeps criminals contained to protect innocent people but also a reminder of the consequences of violating the law.
Although better education and job training can enhance a person’s awareness and employability that will, in theory, reduce crime, they cannot eliminate all the elements that induce a person to become a criminal.(2) In fact, there have been many heinous crimes committed by well-educated people, for example the infamous sexual assault on a Vietnamese child in Japan. It is naive to expect everyone to follow the law just because they are provided with better education and job skills. We cannot disregard the fact that some people are morally bad by nature and some people who are psychologically unstable may show a propensity for crime.(3)
In conclusion, better education and job training are not the ultimate answer to crime, nor can they replace prison sentences in this regard. It is the combination of both measures that can truly make a difference in the fight against crime.
