Writing a Composition – Discussion for or against something (FCE Exams)
(120 to 180 words)

 

Example

Your class has been doing a project on zoos. As part of your project, your teacher has asked you to write a composition giving your opinion on the following question:

 

IS THERE A NEED FOR ZOOS IN THE MODERN WORLD?

 

Time: 45 minutes

 

COMMENT ON AND ASSESS THE THREE FOLLOWING COMPOSITIONS  TO THE KEY

 

1. We have a lot of possibilities to pass the time in our modern world. Today families do not visit zoos as often as they did ten years ago. But is there still a need for zoos in the modern world?

Children often play computer games while their parents have to work. I think in our world there are not many families who go to the zoo at the weekends.

When the parents have the time to do something with their kids, they choose other attractions, like the "Technorama“, a museum of science and technology at Winterthur.

On the other hand people do not have the right to put animals in cages and to earn money with them. We should look better after nature and respect the animals.

In conclusion, I think we do not need zoos in our world because we can enjoy other entertainments.     

144 words

 

2. In our days we watch TV, play games on the computer and nobody thinks of activities like visiting a zoo.

I would like to find an answer to the question above-mentioned.

On one hand I think that for families with little children it would be a nice activity on sunday afternoons to visit a zoo with a lot of different animals.

Not only do most children love pets, but they are also interested in wild animals. On the other hand the animals have to live in pens and cages instead of their natural habitat.

But all in all I think that a lot of families enjoy visiting zoos.    

108 words

 

3. Family outings to the zoo were a regular pastime maybe ten or twenty years ago, but they have surely become less popular, as so many new kinds of entertainment, such as computer games, are available.

But are zoos still important? If you go to Africa on a Safari, you will see a lot of animals, for example lions, zebras, giraffes and so on. You can watch the wildlife in other parts of the world as well. 

Yet how many of us have ever been to those places? With zoos we have the possibility to see animals we have never seen before and most of us never could see if there were no zoos.

Apart from that there are a lot of animals that might die out and which can be protected thanks to zoos.

On the other hand we have to say that there are also a lot of zoos where the animals have to live in unsuitable conditions. Zoos in warm countries, e.g., keep penguins in the heat of the sun without any shade or tigers in cages that are too small.

To sum up, zoos are important in our life but they must be fair to the animals.  

200 words