Page 18 - IELTS_Leaflet_2024

SAMPLE PAGES FROM IELTS Practice Tests

KEY

• The media definitely have the potential to influence the way we view things.
They report incidents which we cannot experience for ourselves, so we are
wholly reliant on their judgement and presentation of the event.
• I believe it is very important to be aware of what goes on in other countries.
One reason for this is that the world is so interconnected nowadays that events
abroad may have repercussions in our own country. Another reason is that it
keeps people informed of international developments. If more people are aware
of the problems (or opportunities) present in the rest of the world, they will be
able to act accordingly.
• It can be very easy to accept the version of events presented by journalists and
reach the conclusions they want to lead their readers to. Stories are reported as
concluded accounts, and events can be portrayed in a certain light depending
on the personal or commercial bias of the reporter. That said, reader critique
has reached new levels with the rise of social media. News articles are now
interactive; people are exposed to a wide variety of comments and opinions
after every news article — something which was not previously available. In my
opinion, the ability to discuss and comment helps improve our ability to think
critically.
Documentaries
• I don’t believe documentaries are as popular with young people as other types
of films. This is probably because many young people are still in education
and often don’t want their recreation time to also involve educational material.
However, this isn’t always true; some documentaries are very popular,
particularly ones that deal with issues of youth culture. I believe it is important
to encourage young people to watch more documentaries, not only because
their content is educational but because they increase awareness of the world.
It is very easy for people — and especially young people — to become immersed
in their own problems and watching documentaries may help to prevent that.
• Documentaries are an effective way of conveying information because they
reach a wide audience. Likewise, they have a reputation for reliability — many
people would be more inclined to trust information from a documentary than,
say, a magazine. This means that, aside from the facts of a situation, we can also
learn a lot about journalistic techniques from documentaries.
• In a school environment, documentaries can be integrated into lessons to
present alternative or more in–depth views on a subject discussed in the
classroom. Aside from the educational information they contain, they can
also be used to teach children critical thinking from an early age. They are
particularly effective because they provide a break from the structure of a
typical lesson, and their stimulating format may make learning feel less like
‘work’. They may also be a valuable learning technique for some students, who
consider video material more memorable than textbooks or lectures.
• Differentiating between fact and opinion is one of the things that can be learnt
from watching documentaries. Most documentaries are presented from a
certain perspective, and watching them forces you to analyse and assess
the validity of their content. This may be difficult to recognise at first — but,
the more documentaries you watch, the easier it becomes to discern when
someone is trying to convince the audience that their opinion is fact.

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