WRITING UNIT 8 Growth and Development 74 B Read the information in the Language bite above and study the following paragraph. Look at the underlined words in the paragraph. To what previous ideas in the paragraph do they refer to? I believe that age is not the only factor that affects how mature or responsible children are. In some families, even very young children are given adult responsibilities. 1 They might have to look after younger 2 members of the family while their parents work, or 3 they might have to do a lot of work around the house. In other families, however, 4 the housework 5 may be taken care of by the parents. In households 6 such as these , the children may not develop any sense of responsibility until much later in life. 1 ......................... 3 ......................... 5 ......................... 2 ......................... 4 ......................... 6 ......................... C Look at the following paragraph. The ideas are all relevant to the essay question in 1A above, but they are poorly organised and the language is very repetitive. Rewrite the paragraph so that similar ideas are grouped together. Use language from the Language bite to find a way to avoid repeating the same words. Teenagers often feel frustrated because of the attitude of their parents. If parents do not trust them, how can teenagers ever learn to be responsible? Teenagers are really young adults and teenagers don’t want to be treated like children any more. Eventually parents need to trust their children and allow them to develop for themselves. If teenagers are treated like children then they will probably continue to behave like children. ......................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................... Avoiding repetition When you refer back to an idea you have already mentioned you can try to avoid repeating the same words and phrases. Use a synonym: There are many explanations for this. One theory is … Use a passive verb form: Eyes can sometimes appear red in some photographs. ‘Red eye’ is caused by … Use a subject pronoun to refer back to a person or thing: Gregor Mendel is considered to be the founder of genetics. He used his knowledge of statistics to … Use words like: this, that, such to refer back to a whole idea: Identical twins do not have identical fingerprints. However, this can only be discerned by experts. In formal essay writing you need to make sure that your ideas are well organised and that similar or linked ideas go together. We often start a sentence with an idea then refer back to this idea at the start of the next sentence. This allows the ideas to flow more easily. IELTSexpressUppIntWB_p068-075 27/4/2006 13:25 Page 74