WRITING TASK 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task

Write about the following topic:

These days, a great number of children prefer spending time on computer games rather than on sports. Why Is it a positive or negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words

BÀI TRẢ LỜI MẪU:

Nowadays, many children spend the majority of their time playing computer games and hardly engage in any sport or exercise. Overall, I believe this is definitely a negative trend and will discuss the reasons in the following essay.

To begin with, most computer games these days are highly interactive and allow players to immerse in a complex storyline and control characters at their own will. For instance, Mortal Kombat 11 allows players to easily change the outcomes of the story based on the character chosen, which can trigger the imagination and curiosity of children, and encourage them to spend the whole day playing to discover all the story endings. The second reason for the popularity of computer games over sports is the sedentary lifestyle favoured by a large number of children, especially those living in big cities. Compared to sports, computer games are less physically demanding, and therefore draw much more attention from these lazy, inactive children.

From my perspective, computer games can have many detrimental effects on children. Firstly, spending too much time on computer games without doing any physical exercise will reduce children’s calorie expenditure as they only sit at home and play games. This can make children more prone to many health problems, such as obesity or cardiovascular diseases when they grow older. Secondly, playing games excessively also causes children to lose their communication skills. As a result, it can be very difficult for game-addicted children to develop the ability to establish connections with others in real life which are normally developed through participation in team sports, like football or basketball.

In conclusion, playing computer games is becoming more popular than sports due to the interesting and interactive content, together with the low demand for physical strength. I personally believe that this trend does more harm than good and should be prevented to ensure the proper development of children.

PHÂN TÍCH TỪ VỰNG:

• Immerse (v) /ɪˈmɜːs/: đắm chìm vào, hòa mình vào (to become completely involved in something)

       Exp: “She got some books out of the library and immersed herself in Jewish history and culture.”

• Detrimental (adj) /ˌdet.rɪˈmen.təl/: bất lợi, có hại (causing harm or damage)

        Exp: “Their decision could be detrimental to the future of the company.”

• Prone (adj) /prəʊn/: dễ bị tổn thương (likely to suffer from an illness or show a particular negative characteristic)

         Exp: “He was prone to depression even as a teenager.”