animal testing should be banned essay ielts

Animal testing should be banned. Do you agree or disagree?

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Fully explain your ideas

To get an excellent score in the IELTS Task 2 writing section, one of the easiest and most effective tips is structuring your writing in the most solid format. A great argument essay structure may be divided to four paragraphs, in which comprises of four sentences (excluding the conclusion paragraph, which comprises of three sentences).

For we to consider an essay structure a great one, it should be looking like this:

Paragraph 1 - Introduction
Sentence 1 - Background statement
Sentence 2 - Detailed background statement
Sentence 3 - Thesis
Sentence 4 - Outline sentence
Paragraph 2 - First supporting paragraph
Sentence 1 - Topic sentence
Sentence 2 - Example
Sentence 3 - Discussion
Sentence 4 - Conclusion
Paragraph 3 - Second supporting paragraph
Paragraph 4 - Conclusion
Sentence 1 - Summary
Sentence 2 - Restatement of thesis
Sentence 3 - Prediction or recommendation

Our recommended essay structure above comprises of fifteen (15) sentences, which will make your essay approximately 250 to 275 words.

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Writing, reading, maths are the three recognized traditional subjects. Computer skills should be the fourth largest branch. Agree or disagree?

Write about the following topic: some people believe that teaching children at home is best for a child’s development while others think that it is important for children to go to school. discuss the advantages of both methods and give your own opinion. give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience., some people say that the best way to improve public health is by increasing the number of sports facilities. others, however, say that this would have little effect on public health and that other measures are required. discuss both these views and give your own opinion., some people feel that there should be a fixed punishment for each type of crime. others feel that the circumstances of an offense should be taken into account when deciding on a punishment. discuss both views and give your own opinion., it is believed that children from countries with a high level of unemployment should be offered just with a primary education and not with a secondary education as they in any case will not get a job in the future. do you agree or disagree.

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Animal Testing Essay

Posted by David S. Wills | Oct 21, 2022 | Model Essays | 0

There is a wide range of topics used in the IELTS writing test and many of them overlap. Today, we are going to look at a question that falls between the topics of animals and ethics and science. It will require you to write an animal testing essay .

In this article, I will analyse the question for you, give you some pointers on useful language, and then show you my own sample band 9 answer.

The Task: Animal Testing

Here is a question that appeared in the IELTS exam several years ago:

Some people claim that it is acceptable to use animals in medical research for the benefit of human beings, while other people argue that it is wrong. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

(Note that questions can be re-used or re-written, so it is possible that you might see this recycled in the future.)

This is a “discuss both views” question , so your task is ultimately to do three things:

Explain why some people think animal testing is acceptable
Explain why some people think animal testing is unacceptable
Give your opinion

Even if you feel really strongly that it is wrong, for example, you still need to explain the opposing view. You don’t need to give a balanced answer , but you do need to acknowledge both sides of the debate. This is important for Task Response.

Planning your Answer

I almost always write a four-paragraph essay for my sample band 9 answers but today I’m going to write five. It could easily have been four paragraphs but I wanted to separate my anti-animal testing arguments into two separate paragraphs for better organisation. (You can read about 4- vs 5-paragraph essay structures here .)

My essay is going to look like this:

When it comes to a task 2 introduction , please make sure that you have a clear outline sentence and also that your opinion (if one is required) is stated clearly.

Body paragraph 1 will act as a sort of concession paragraph , so it will be imperative that I make it clear that this is not my opinion but rather what some other people think. If I fail to do this, then the reader might be confused.

The ideas in body paragraphs 2 and 3 will be separated but could also have been condensed into two paragraphs. However, I felt that for this topic it was a little more effective to split them. It also made my argument slightly more persuasive.

For the conclusion , I will be careful not to repeat myself too much and instead just summarise and reaffirm my stance.

Language for an Animal Testing Essay

The topic of animal testing is obviously controversial and so people will have different ideas. What you say will be largely based upon your own opinions. However, keep in mind that it covers those three topics I mentioned:

You don’t really need to know a lot about each, but it definitely would have some benefit if you knew a little about these areas and had some good vocabulary to use. I wrote about the IELTS topic of animals here , and there is plenty of good vocabulary that you can borrow. You can also search “animals” in the search bar at the top of the page.

I also recommend that you read and listen on issues that are related to IELTS topics like this. I particularly recommend the SYSK podcast episode on animal testing, which I think it is informative and accessible. You may learn some good language and get some inspiration for what you could write in your own animal testing essay. Other sources include this argument against animal testing by PETA and this one in favour of it by Stanford.

Language for Contentious Issues

In my essay, I will use the following phrases, which could be modified and applied to other contentious issues. I will put the specific language in brackets, so that you could swap it out when discussing other topics:

[animal testing] has been fiercely debated due to the ethical problems inherent in this area of [science]
The people who believe that [animal testing] is necessary tend to say…
this is wrong for several reasons
[animal testing] is not as helpful in [developing medicines] as people think
There are many other reasons why [experimenting with animals] is wrong
it is grossly unethical to [subject these creatures to painful and demeaning experiences]
people may argue that there are benefits that come from [experimenting on animals], but in fact there is no good reason to continue doing this

You can try using and modifying these phrases in your own practice essays. If you want an expert to correct them for you, try my IELTS writing correction service .

Language about Animal Testing

The following phrases will also appear in my essay and can be used for talking about animal testing:

this area of science
animal testing should be banned
testing medicines before using them on human beings
figure out the cures to many serious illnesses
Medicines that work on animals do not always work on humans
if scientists give a mouse diabetes and then try various drugs to cure the problem
subject these creatures to painful and demeaning experiences
They are sentient beings
subjected to cruel and often unnecessary experiments
harmful both to humans and animals

It is also important to avoid repetition and that means finding ways to say “animal testing” without repeating the say words over and over. You could say:

testing on animals
experimenting on animals
subjecting animals to medical experiments
using animals in experiments

Again, it would be helpful to read articles and listen to podcasts on this topic in order to improve your vocabulary.

Sample Band 9 Answer

Over the past few decades, animal testing has been fiercely debated due to the ethical problems inherent in this area of science. This essay will look at both sides of the debate, before concluding that animal testing should be banned.

The people who believe that animal testing is necessary tend to say that there are serious benefits to humanity, such as testing medicines before using them on human beings. They believe that this will help to figure out the cures to many serious illnesses, which will make the world a better place for humans. However, this is wrong for several reasons.

Firstly, animal testing is not as helpful in developing medicines as people think. Medicines that work on animals do not always work on humans, and vice versa. As such, these trials are not just unnecessary but also profoundly unhelpful. For example, if scientists give a mouse diabetes and then try various drugs to cure the problem, they may find that there are twelve drugs that do not work on the mouse. However, maybe one of those drugs would have worked on a human. As such, animal testing would have caused more problems than it solved.

There are many other reasons why experimenting with animals is wrong. Perhaps most importantly, it is grossly unethical to subject these creatures to painful and demeaning experiences for the benefit of humanity. Animals do not exist for the benefit of people. They are sentient beings that deserve better than to be caged and subjected to cruel and often unnecessary experiments.

In conclusion, people may argue that there are benefits that come from experimenting on animals, but in fact there is no good reason to continue doing this. At best, these experiments are useless and at worst they are unethical and harmful both to humans and animals.

Final Notes

You can see that I have carefully crafted an argument that is strong. You may not agree with it, but it is hard to deny my points, which makes it effective in terms of Task Response. The structure is also solid and the ideas were well connected, making it very good in terms of Coherence and Cohesion . Note the inclusion of realistic and interesting ideas as well as concrete examples. My explanation of testing on mice was particularly effective here. It is better than giving some vague or unexplained idea.

About The Author

David S. Wills

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.