Sample #6

"Although abuse of the system are inevitable, social welfare payments are essential to protect the rights citizens have to a guaranteed minimum income in a democratic society" Discuss.

model answer:

Social welfare is an essential element of an advanced society. Good systems are always abused, but that does not mean they are faulty.

In my opinion, the two main reasons why welfare payments are necessary are as follows:

First of all, critics forget that there are many forms of welfare besides payments to the unemployed.

Their negative opinions harm those who are not capable of earning a wage, such as single-parent mothers, the disabled, and the sick.

Moreover, the unemployed have the right to an income, too.

They are not always at fault for not having a job, and in most cases the tax they have paid in the past entitles them to assistance.

The second reason is that crime increases when people have no means of support.

The desperately poor inevitably turn to crime, which is not only dangerous but costly.

Policing the streets is more expensive than providing welfare.

A policeman's wage is four or five times higher than a "dole" payment.

Certain members of society believe that people should look after themselves.

They point out that welfare increases dependency on others and destroys dignity.

This may be true, but in the case of the unemployed, the relief payments are usually temporary.

It is surely the fault of the government if there are long-term unemployed.

Welfare critics also believe that it is the responsibility of a victim's family to provide financial assistance.

However, it is too expensive to provide complete help for a severely disabled person.

To conclude, it is vital to understand the need for welfare in a modern democratic society.

Without welfare payments the poor are destined to become poorer.

The first duty of a government is to provide a financial safety net for all disadvantaged persons, and that includes those without work.

Sample #7

Disruptive school students have a negative influence on others. Students who are noisy and disobedient should be grouped together and taught separately. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer.

model answer:

There is no doubt that some students in schools behave badly and their behaviour causes difficulty for others either because it has a negative effect on the group or because ordinary students find it difficult to study with them.

One solution is to take these students away and teach them on their own.

However, if we simply have them removed after one or two warnings, we are limiting their educational opportunities because it seems to me that a school which caters for difficult students is a sort of "prison" whatever name you give it and the people who go there may never recover from the experience.

This can then cause problems for the wider society.

Perhaps we need to look at why the disruptive students behave badly before we separate them.

Disruptive students may be very intelligent and find the classes boring because the work is too easy.

Perhaps these students need extra lessons rather than separate lessons.

Or perhaps the teachers are uninspiring and this results in behavioural problems so we need better teachers.

On the other hand, most students put up with this situation rather than cause trouble, and some people argue that we have to learn to suffer bad teachers and boring situations and that students who can't learn this lesson need to be taught separately.

So before we condemn the students to a special school, we should look at factors such as the teaching, because once the children have been separated, it is very unlikely that they will be brought back.