Question: Many people nowadays spend a large part of their free time using a smartphone. What do you think are the reasons for this? Do you think this is a positive or negative development?
Band 8+ Sample Answer:
(Intro) Recently smartphones inarguably play a crucial role in everyday human activities. Nevertheless, their overuse and even abuse gives rise to a growing concern for the whole society. While many people see this as a negative trend. I believe we are taking advantages to the benefits that smartphones bring to and using it more effectively.
(Body 1) The main reason for the exponential growth in smartphone use in people’s free time is their convenience and functionality. These devices offer a great variety of extended features besides text messaging and phone calls. They provides us with dozens of work and social media apps and engaging entertainment such as high-resolution videos and games. For example apps such as google for business mean people can work directly on their smartphones even in their free time, and important tasks completed with just a few taps. Therefore, these technological miracles are a must-have for overworked managers on the go. Furthermore, unlike PC or console games, smartphone games are much easier to play and require little brain activity, so they are good for stress relief. Good examples include candy crush and subway surfer.
(Body 2) In addition to the benefits mentioned earlier, smartphones are also the best way to keep us up to date with the latest news. The recent outbreak of Coronavirus shows the power of technology to assist people in taking preventative measures and stay safe by getting the latest news updates instantly without needing to rely on newspapers or TV. It is not surprising to say that smartphones are sometimes considered life-savers. However we cannot say that these devices are without their concerns. Recent research has shown that the overuse of smartphones can be disruptive and lead to addictive behaviour both at home and at work. In fact many apps, such as Facebook are designed to be addictive, making you return to your phone every 5 mins to check for notifications, which often leads to users being sucked in by engaging content for extended periods of time. Similarly the addictive nature of games or videos on YouTube could lead to serious distractions and cause people to lose focus on more important priorities.
(Conclusion) In conclusion, the rise in phone use in people’s leisure time is due to the extreme convenience but also the addictive nature of social media apps, videos and games. However while many people are at risk of abusing their phones, I believe that this is outweighed by the benefits. In fact, living in this modern era people deserve to have the latest technology at their fingertips and make the most out of what it can provide. (431 words)
Words: Student essay, corrected & upgraded by Nick Kemp, former IELTS examiner.
Image: Kirill Averianov / Pixabay.