Writeologist | W-8.5

@j_niner - if you need a piece of feedback like this

Some people think that companies and supermarkets should use less packaging for their products. Others say that customers themselves should avoid buying products with too much packaging. Consider both arguments and present your viewpoint.

The volume of packaging that surrounds everyday goods has risen steadily, and there is now real debate over who should be responsible for reducing it. While some maintain that the duty rests with companies and supermarkets, others insist that the decisive power lies with shoppers themselves. In my view, although retailers can certainly act, lasting change depends primarily on the choices that consumers make. Those who look to businesses argue that producers control packaging at its source and can therefore remove it most directly. A supermarket that sells loose fruit and vegetables, or a manufacturer that adopts refillable containers, eliminates waste before it ever reaches the shelf. This argument is persuasive, since corporate decisions can be implemented quickly and applied to millions of products at once. Its weakness, however, is that such measures are voluntary and easily reversed: a company will rarely surrender the marketing appeal of attractive packaging unless it is confident that customers will reward it for doing so. It is precisely for this reason that consumers, in my opinion, hold the more powerful lever. When shoppers consistently refuse over-packaged goods, retailers are given a commercial incentive, rather than a merely moral one, to change. The plastic-bag charge introduced in many countries illustrates this clearly: once customers had grown used to bringing their own bags, supermarkets cut single-use plastic far more readily than they ever had in response to earlier appeals to conscience alone. Consumer pressure, in short, turns environmental responsibility into a question of profit, and that is what makes corporate reform durable. In conclusion, although companies undoubtedly have a part to play in reducing packaging, it is the decisions of individual customers that ultimately oblige them to act. The most effective path forward is therefore one in which well-informed consumers drive the changes that businesses then have every reason to follow.

9/9/9/9 Author: surely not me.

Nowadays, it is easy to apply for and be given a credit card. However, some people experience problems when they are not able to pay their debts back. In your opinion, do the advantages of credit cards outweigh the disadvantages?

In today's era of loans and credit cards, it has become much simpler to gain a credit card, but there are still those who can't do so to discharge their debts. From my perspective, the benefits of such cards far outweigh the drawbacks, largely in socio-economic terms. One disadvantage of credit cards is the exorbitant interest rate. Most holders of these cards are ordinary people who may be compelled to juggle several jobs to make ends meet, and when they pay off the loans they received while using the cards, they may experience even more financial struggles. This issue remains persistent in many countries, be it Uzbekistan, where banks often charge unprecedented interest rates, or India, where working class cannot always find sufficient financial resources to even pay the loans back. Another yet no less significant downside is the ever-growing financial illiteracy. Although the use of credit cards allows debt-holders to ease their financial burden, it does not improve their financial stewardship, which comes with experience, effort and time. Rather, it makes them mired in endless poverty through repeat debts. Instead of, for example, investing in stocks or the housing market to gain accrued profits, people who depend heavily on credit cards are more likely not to improve their money management, because they can access a certain amount of money immediately and make impulsive purchases. As compelling as these negatives may appear, I believe they are not as substantial as the positives, one of which is the development of the banking system. Without making strides through such practical tools as credit cards, low-interest loans and consumer loans, it is unlikely that monetary relationships within a nation will become better. Had there been no credit cards in the USA, in particular, Americans would have been struggling to afford even basic consumer goods, from clothes to food. One more argument is that over time, the economy of the country can be bolstered should there be ever more credit card users. In this sense, it is the taxpayer money and a wider range of banking services that allow for more interest from both foreign and local investors. Switzerland is a pertinent case in point. This country has not only rendered its economy hugely reliant on banking but has also projected a positive image of itself in the international arena, an outcome because of which more and more people become attracted to the country and its banks. In conclusion, my firm conviction is that despite some disadvantages, ranging from unaffordable interest rates to rising illiteracy levels, opting for the use of credit cards to pay off debts offers more considerable merits, which include the advancements in the banking system and bolstered economy.

8.5+ #essay

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It was predicted that with the development of technology, people in the 21st century would have much more free time than in the past. To what extent has this prediction come true? In the past, experts predicted that as technology developed, we would be granted significantly more spare time than ever before. Considering how preoccupying technological devices and entertainment today are, I firmly do not agree with the forecast. One observation a person can make today is that, contrary to what was forecast for how much downtime people would have nowadays, technological enhancements, instead of freeing us through automation and deployment of labor-saving technologies, rendered our lives busier than it was before. From tablets to mobile phones, the life in this era is closely tied to food deliveries, social networking, watching Netflix and video games, all providing instant gratification yet involving extended hours. A case in point is an average office worker whose free time is devoted to either gaining additional qualifications to make ends meet in today’s world of ever-growing living costs or seeking a better-paid job for the same reason. From this perspective, the anticipations were far delusional. Another compelling argument against the predicted amount of leisure time is the growing range of entertainment options. If one would enjoy a stroll through a farm or catch a fish with close friends whenever they are free decades ago, today it is numerous cafes, amusement parks, quest rooms and fitness clubs, to name a few, that garner our attention and thus leave no free time, at least not as much as it was forecast. This is the case in many countries around the world, be it the USA, where people tend to lead an active lifestyle in pursuit of productivity, or Uzbekistan, where ordinary people start a family in their 20s and therefore feel compelled to juggle multiple responsibilities. In conclusion, my firm conviction is that the prediction that as a result of technological advancements, people of the 21st century would enjoy more free time than in previous centuries has not come true. Rather, people of this time and age have tighter schedules because of devices and entertainment. 8/9/8/8

The two charts provide information on boys and girs enrolled in schools across four regions as well as men and women in colleges/universities in the same places. Overall, Europe, regardless of age and type of education, recorded the highest enrollment levels, in contrast to Sub-Saharan Africa, where such figures were the lowest. While Sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia were the places where the gender gap was in favor of male students at the secondary education level, Europe was the only region to have seen female dominance at the tertiary education level. The breakdown of secondary education revealed that every European school-aged girl attended a secondary school, closely followed by boys at 98%. Following distantly behind was Latin America, another female-dominated area, with girls at 60% and boys at 50%. As for the male-led regions, East Asia had the highest percentages of 60% for boys and 55% for the opposite gender, compared to Sub-Sharan Africa with the smallest proportions: 30% for male students and a mere 20% for their female counterparts. Statistics for higher education also varied widely across the areas. Europe topped the list again, standing at 70% for women as opposed to men at 60%, the only gender difference in favor of women. In other regions, gender divide was less substantial, for example in Latin America, where 20% of men were enrolled in colleges or universities compared to women at 15%. East Asia came next, with both genders collectively making up 18%, whereas those in Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for a significantly lower combined proportion - 7%.

9/9/8/9

The bar graphs provide information on the percentage of students opting for science subjects in one university in 1992 and 2000. Overall, despite a decrease, a larger proportion of male students chose science to study at univeristy, with females witnessing a rise. As for the breakdown of subjects, biology, the most common choice, and physics experienced a downward trend, in contrast to computer science, where there was a growth. The gender divide narrowed over the years, with the initial figures for males and females at a high of 65% and 30%, respectively. Following contrasting trajectories, these proportions stood at 50% for the former, a drop of 15 percent, and 45%, a rise of 15%, for the latter, thus marking the smallest gender gap of 5%. As regards subjects, the intake of students in biology was highest in 1992, at 65%, followed distantly by physics at roughly 23% and computer science at a mere 3%. Two decades later, biology declined notably to just over 40%, as did physics yet less drastically to exactly 20%. Computer science, unlike these two categories, rose nearly eightfold to about 24%.

Band 8.0+ #task1

We started) #marathon

In today’s world, private companies rather than the government pay for and conduct most scientific research.  Do you think the advantages outweigh disadvantages?

With the rise of entities with the financial resources to fund scientific research at a scale previously reserved for governments, it has become increasingly common for private funding to dwarf state’s funding for scientific studies. Despite several undeniable drawbacks of this trend, I hold the view that the benefits are far more important. The scientific research led by private organizations entails several pressing concerns, one of which is science commercialization. While state-led scientific discoveries are geared towards public needs, from vaccines to laser technology, private laboratories are often focused on a narrower range of problems concerning mostly investors’ interests. This might contradict the foundational and curiosity-driven inquiry of science. Had COVID-19 vaccines, for example, been evaluated on their near-term commercial potential only, few would have been funded. Another crucial problem is secrecy. Indeed, government-funded research tends to be published and then become part of the scientific commons, as opposed to private research the results of which might be patented, classified as trade secrets, or simply withheld from competitors - and from the broader research community. Yet science advances through cumulative, open knowledge-sharing; privatization threatens that process. However compelling these arguments may appear, I still believe the positives are greater. First and foremost, corporate research programs operate with urgency and focus that bureaucratic government agencies often cannot match. The development of supercomputers - accomplished in a short period of time - demonstrated what well-resourced, mission-driven private research can achieve when incentives are aligned. Private firms also excel at translating discoveries into application. The so-called valley of death, the gap between scientific discovery and practical deployment, is easier to cross when the organization funding the research also has the infrastructure to commercialize it. Government laboratories have historically struggled to move discoveries from bench to market; companies do this as a matter of course. In conclusion, the privatization of scientific studies is admittedly disadvantageous in terms of an emphasis on commercialization and poor transparency of results. These notwithstanding, I contend that the advantageous aspects, ranging from speed to practicality, bear greater weight.

9/9/9/9 #essay

as did... - inversion a number......, the only year..... - chained apposition last on the list - adverbial fronting

tourist-oriented, workforce expanded, rebounded to its original size, areas of employment - nice topical range

The bar graph illustrates how many jobs there were in a tourism-oriented industry in a city located in the UK from 1989 to 2009. Overall, workforce in restaurants expanded over the years, despite a drop at the end, while that in hotels saw a fluctuation and rebounded to the original size. Sport/leisure followed a downward trend, as did travel and tour. Focusing on higher figures first, the number of jobs in restaurants rose consistently from around 1,100 in 1989 to a chart high of 1,600 in 2004, followed by a notable decline to the final 1,300. Hotels started the period at about 1,050, a number that peaked at 1,400 in 1994, the only year when this category topped the list. Then, the figure had decreased gradually to its 1989 level by the end, ranking second again. As for the remaining areas of employment, sport/leisure had an initial figure of nearly 900, which witnessed a decrease of 200 in 1994. After that, this number grew sharply to its highest at roughly 1,050, before steadily falling to its 1994 point. Last on the list, travel and tour stood at a low of 800 in 1989, after which there was an increase to a high of just above 1,000 in 1994 and a series of decrements to 400, the lowest on the chart, in 2009.

15 minutes, 244 words #task1 #report

8/9/8/9 C/C - 9.0, because everything in the overview has been further explained in detail. #task1

The line chart gives information on unemployment rates and emigration patterns in Ireland from 1988 to 2008. Overall, unemployment

This topic was as hard as realizing Chimaev lost to Strickland. That's why I used some articles, yet otherwise, I'd be looking at the screen like I did not know Conor would ever be fight again. But you know, things are happening and it's wild to see all of this

The tendency for human beings to copy one another is shown in the popularity of fashion in clothes and other consumer goods. Do you agree or disagree?

The propensity to replicate sartorial as well as other consumer choices is one area where human mimicry is pronounced. Given socio-economic factors that account for this phenomenon, I fully support the view in question. Social conformity is one powerful driver that lures millions into imitative behavior. Today, the choice of outfits is an essential element signalling one’s values, social status and culture, so to blend into a community, a person needs to imitate the lifestyle and taste in clothing of that social circle. In today’s social landscape contoured by the ever-prevalent desire to seek authenticity and uniqueness, conforming to clothing trends and the prescribed way of life may be fundamental in establishing and maintaining cohesive relationships with neighbors and friends alike. A pertinent case in point is Uzbekistan, a country where adhering to national fashion patterns provides a person with the advantage of smooth interactions and almost immediate social acceptance. Economic gaps are another catalyst. While upper social classes are well-positioned to wear branded and luxury clothing items, cars and similar goods, ordinary people have to opt for mass produced clothes, cars, appliances and the like. This divide is a fundamental pillar of mimetic patterns among consumers, regardless of industry, country or culture. From China to the USA, the working class, let alone people below the poverty line, is attracted to identical fashion trends, such as jeans and shirts produced by Zara or H&M, for instance, because of their affordability. This is a stark contrast to the elite whose attire is more sophisticated and hence unique, with Zegna and Brunello, two high-profile clothing brands, being the primary examples. In conclusion, because today’s architecture of fashionable consumption is shifting toward socially valorized items, as are other consumer goods, and becoming ever more expensive for ordinary people to afford, it fosters mimetic choices. For these core reasons, I completely agree with this notion.

T/R - 9.0 (of course if bodies and conclusion keep up) - Position is explicit and main ideas are laid out at the outset ✔️ #writing #tips