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Task 2 · Discussion (both views) · Media

Getting the news from social media

A discussion essay on social platforms as a primary news source, where the band 9 answer refuses to treat the two views as equally weighted.

The question

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.

Most people now receive their news through social media rather than through newspapers or broadcasters. Some believe this has made public debate more open, while others think it has left people less well informed. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

A 250-word discursive essay — the half of the paper that carries two thirds of the marks. This prompt is original, written in the standard format for teaching purposes — it is not taken from any past paper.

What separates the three answers

The 6.5 lists what each side believes, the 7.5 explains why each side believes it, and the 9 asks which of the two claims the evidence actually supports and answers.

The three answers

Band 6.5

261 words (the task asks for at least 250)

The answer works. It addresses the task, the reader follows it, and the meaning survives — but ideas stay general, linking is mechanical, wording repeats, and small errors are visible throughout.

The answer

In the modern world, most of the people get their news from the social media instead of the newspaper or the television. Some people think this is a good development because everybody can share the information, but other people think that it makes the society less informed. In this essay I will discuss the both views.

On the one hand, the supporters of the social media say that it is more open2. In the past, only the big companies could decide which news is important, but now every person can post about the events in his city. For example, when there is a protest or a disaster, the ordinary people can share the photos and the videos immediately, and the whole world can see it. Also the social media is free, so the poor people can also get the information without paying the money4.

On the other hand, many people believe that the social media give us the wrong information.3 There is a lot of fake news on the internet and it spreads very fast. Moreover, the algorithm shows us only the news which we like, so we never see the different opinion. Because of this, the people become more extreme in their thinking and the society become divided5.

In conclusion, both of the views have the strong points.1 The social media is more open than the traditional media, but at the same time it can give the wrong information to the people. In my opinion, the governments should make the rules for the social media companies to solve this problem.

What an examiner notices

  1. 1. Task response

    “In conclusion, both of the views have the strong points.”

    The prompt asks for the writer's own opinion. Declaring both sides strong is a refusal to answer, and the sentence that follows changes the subject to regulation.

  2. 2. Task response

    “the supporters of the social media say that it is more open”

    The view is attributed and summarised, never examined. A discussion essay has to say why the belief is or is not reasonable, not simply that people hold it.

  3. 3. Coherence and cohesion

    “On the other hand, many people believe that the social media give us the wrong information.”

    The second paragraph opens without touching the first. 'On the other hand' marks a turn that the content never actually makes, because nothing in paragraph two responds to paragraph one.

  4. 4. Lexical resource

    “the poor people can also get the information without paying the money”

    Three unnecessary definite articles in one clause, and 'paying the money' where 'paying for it' is meant. Meaning survives; naturalness does not.

  5. 5. Grammatical range and accuracy

    “the people become more extreme in their thinking and the society become divided”

    Two agreement failures in a single sentence, both with generic subjects. Errors of this kind recurring across every paragraph is what holds a clear, well-organised answer at 6.5.

One honest caveat

Band labels here describe what each piece of writing demonstrates against the four published assessment areas, paraphrased in plain language. They are teaching illustrations produced for this site, not official material, and no sample has been marked by a test provider. Real scripts are marked whole; two answers with the same label can still look quite different from each other, and nothing on this page can promise anyone a particular result.

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