Writing: A for and against essay

Expressing contrast

1Match 1–4 to a–d. Then find and underline five linking words and phrases that express contrast. 

• 1Although school exams can be very stressful for some students,

  2Some people argue that exams only test what we can remember, not what we know.

  3On the one hand, exams are a good way to compare students' abilities.

  4Exams are unfair for people who don't work well under pressure,

• abut they are the only practical way to test students.

  bthey are the fairest and most equal way of testing everybody.

  cOn the other hand, it is fairer to test students on their everyday coursework.

  dHowever, I think they test our knowledge and our ability to express ourselves clearly.

Expressing contrast

2Choose the correct linking words or phrases. 

• 1AlthoughHowever exams are unpopular, they are necessary.

• 2I don't like exams, buton the one hand I can't think of a better way of testing students.

• 3Some exams are practical and useful. However,Although, I don't think we should have so many of them.

• 4On the one hand,However, exams help to develop our ability to work under pressure. On the other hand, some people do badly in exams because they get very nervous.

Expressing contrast

3Which of the eight arguments in the box are for school exams? Which ones are against? Add one extra idea of your own to each category. 

MOVE
• School exams can be very stressful for some students.
• Exams only test what we can remember, not what we know.
• Exams are a good way to compare students' abilities.
• Exams are unfair for people who don't work well under pressure.
• Exams are the only practical way to test students.
• Exams are the fairest and most equal way of testing everybody.
• It is fairer to test students on their everyday coursework.
• Exams test our knowledge and our ability to express ourselves clearly.

For

Against

Expressing contrast

4Complete the essay with the correct linking words. Which of the arguments below does the writer use? 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task.

School exams can be very stressful for some students.

Exams only test what we can remember, not what we know.

Exams are a good way to compare students' abilities.

Exams are unfair for people who don't work well under pressure.

Exams are the only practical way to test students.

Exams are the fairest and most equal way of testing everybody.

It is fairer to test students on their everyday coursework.

Exams test our knowledge and our ability to express ourselves clearly.

What are the arguments for and against exams in schools?

Exams are generally unpopular and sometimes seem unfair. ¹, there are a lot of reasons why they are a good idea and I think they are necessary at school.

On the one hand, some people argue that exams are stressful. They say that exams are unfair for students who do not work well under pressure, ² stress is a part of life and exams can help us to develop our ability to deal with it. Other people argue that exams only test what students can remember and not what they know.

³, exams test our ability to express ourselves clearly. Additionally, they are a practical way of testing lots of people fairly. ⁴ testing students on their coursework is popular at some schools, exams are the fairest and most equal way of testing everybody.

In conclusion, I think exams are a good idea. ⁵ they are stressful for many people, they test everybody equally and fairly and test our ability to express ourselves clearly.

Unit 6 Writing Guide

1.  Read the instructions.
2.  Write your answer in the Word document.
3.  Save your work.
4.  Upload your file.
5.  If you want to add a note for your teacher, write it in the Comments box.
6.  Select Submit to dropbox to send your work to your teacher.