Ielts writing Essentials (book 2)

TOPIC NO. 39
SOURCES OF ENTERTAINMENT
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Listening to radio is more enjoyable and practical than watching television. Do you agree
or disagree with this statement?
You should write at least 250 words.
Listening to radio and watching television are both entertaining, but some people believe that
watching television is not much fun and does not impart much information as listening to
radio. I disagree with them because listening to radio cannot counter with watching television
in many ways.
In the first place, television carries more information than radio. For example, people can
watch programs, interviews and news with pictures and motions on television, whereas via
radio, it is hard to tell what is happening by only using words. Those images and scenes on
television not only can tell the story but they can also bring the audience closer to the story by
showing them the real situation. As a rule, people can see the faces of the speakers on
television, so that they know where those words come from. These kinds of information, in
effect, make the activity of watching television more enjoyable and practical.
Another reason that I think listening to radio is not as good as watching television is that the
programs on the television are usually more up-to-date than radio. For example, the
broadcasting companies usually commit more resources to the latest news, while radio
stations often lack the resources to find the information. In addition, radio stations also cannot
afford to produce big shows to entertain people.
Despite of the advantages of watching television, there are some benefits in listening to radio
which we cannot overlook. For example, a television is usually very large and is difficult to
carry whereas, a radio is very convenient to carry while travelling. Under these
circumstances, a radio is more practical and gives us more fun on our trips. In addition, the
portability of a radio makes it a perfect choice to be with us, while we are doing other
activities such as sports or studying.
In conclusion, although listening to radio may be enjoyable and practical in some situations,
watching television is a better choice because of its rich information and its up-to-date feature.
I believe that in the future, television might become smaller and replace radios.

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