for and against essay topics c1

• How to write a C1 Advanced Essay

• Posted on 26/02/2020
• Categories: Blog
• Tags: C1 Advanced , Cambridge Exams , Writing

The Cambridge C1 Advanced is an excellent qualification to aim for if you’re thinking of studying or working abroad. It’s recognised by universities and governments all over the world and also helps you prove your language skills to future employers.

One of the most demanding parts of the exam is Part 1 of the Writing paper, which includes writing an essay. For many of you, this won’t come naturally… especially in another language.

So, to give you the best chance at success, we’ve created this in-depth guide full of Cambridge C1 Advanced Writing tips and useful language to get you producing excellent essays in no time.

So, pick up your pen, and let’s get started!

If you’d like to get more help with the C1 Advanced, consider our exam preparation class!

C1 Advanced Writing Requirements

The C1 Advanced Writing exam has two writing parts, which you must complete in 90 minutes. Both parts have a word limit of between 220-260 words. We recommend getting lots of writing practice under these conditions!

Part 1 is always a discursive essay . It requires you to think about arguments for and against a topic.

Part 2 is a situationally based writing task. This could be a letter , an email , a report , a proposal or a review and you have three options to choose from.

Today, we’ll be looking at how to do your best in part 1.

Before you begin

When you turn over the paper and begin Writing Part 1, take some time to read the task instructions. Identify all parts of the question, underlining which parts are obligatory and noting which parts are optional.

Let’s take a look at an example question!

Remember, you don’t have to use the opinions expressed in the box, but they may help you to get the ball rolling . Also, you only have to talk about two of the options given, not all three.

Make a plan

Take ten minutes to lay out your ideas. Make a pros and cons list for each of the three options and then decide which two you feel most confident with. Here’s some things you might come up with, can you think of any more?

Structure your essay

The essence of a good essay is a clear structure.

Introduction

Here you want to introduce the topic in your own words. Your first line should also grab the reader’s attention, then you should paraphrase the question. Finally, try using a statistic or a rhetorical question. This will make them want to read on, right?

Paragraph 1

Discuss the first option you’ve chosen. Include a good topic sentence and remember to give reasons for your answer. Describe some of the advantages, and even some of the disadvantages too. This will give a well-balanced argument.

Paragraph 2

Here’s where you introduce the second option. Again, try to present both sides of the argument and give reasons for your ideas. Gradually work towards the conclusion.

State your final opinion. This should be a summary of the rest of the essay and point clearly to which option you think is the most important. Do not introduce any new arguments at this stage. The conclusion is where you tie-up any loose ends .

This is an advanced piece of writing, so make sure your choice of language reflects it. You will get marked for accuracy, however, occasional errors can still be present as long as they do not impede understanding. So don’t play it too safe . This is your opportunity to show what you can do, so take some risks and have fun with it!

In the writing paper you should use a range of vocabulary, including less common lexis. Brainstorm some vocabulary related to the topic. Take your time to think of nouns and compound nouns that you know at C1 level. Really let your vocabulary sparkle .

No one likes a broken record . Find synonyms for simple words. You want to use a variety of language, and try not to repeat yourself too much. Check out these different ways of saying the same thing:

advantage = benefit, positive, upside

disadvantage = downside, drawback

effect = influence, impact, result, outcome

problem = issue, challenge, difficulty, obstacle, setback, complication

important = valuable, essential, beneficial

expensive = costly, dear, high-priced, extortionate

cheap = inexpensive, affordable, economical

big = great, large, sizeable, considerable, wide, vast

small = slight, tiny, little

Quick tip: Visit Thesaurus.com to study more synonyms!

Experiment with different grammatical forms. At this level you’re expected to have a good grasp on the grammar. You should use a range of simple and complex grammatical forms with control and flexibility. So challenge yourself with some of these…

• Participle clauses
• Conditionals
• Modal verbs
• Passive with reporting verbs
• Cleft sentences
• Comparatives
• Relative clauses

Useful expressions

To make your essay flow it’s best to use some key phrases. These will link all your ideas together, and help it sound semi-formal. Take a look at the expressions below. Why not use some in your next essay?

Introduction:

It is often said that…

Many people feel that…

We live in an age when..

More and more…

Introducing & Addition:

Firstly, secondly, thirdly…

On the one hand…

In addition…

What is more…

For example…

For instance…

As a case in point…

Contrasting:

In contrast…

On the other hand…

Alternatively…

However…

Conclusion:

All things considered…

As far as I’m concerned…

In light of the above…

What the examiners are looking for

When writing your essay, bear in mind what you’ll be marked on:

Have you answered all parts of the question? Is everything relevant to the question?

Communicative Achievement

Is the style and tone appropriate? Remember it should be semi-formal and neutral.

Organisation

Does it follow a logical order? Have you used paragraphs and linking devices?

Are you using a variety of grammar and vocabulary? Is it accurate?

Now your masterpiece has come together. Remember to take time to check your work. Here’s the official Writing Checklist from Cambridge Assessment English . And our list of the most common mistakes:

• subject + verb agreement
• singulars / plurals
• question formation
• variety of tenses
• dependent prepositions

Some final tips

Avoid contractions (I’m, they’re, we’re) as this is a formal writing.

Don’t use first person pronouns (I, my, our, us).

Practise under timed conditions.

Use model answers to practise fixed expressions.

——

Looking for more help with your Cambridge C1 Advanced exam? Here are our other guides from our blog:

C1 Advanced Reading and Use of English – Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3

And if you are not sure if you’re ready for the C1 Advanced, check out our article Am I ready for the C1 Advanced exam? to find out!

Glossary for Language Learners

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn’t know.

Get the ball rolling (exp) : to start something.

Lay out (v): to explain something in detail.

Paraphrase (v): to say the same thing in a different way.

Tie-up any loose ends (exp): to resolve issues.

Play it safe (exp): to act cautiously.

A broken record (exp): when someone repeats themself.

Sparkle (v) : to shine.

Good grasp (exp): a good knowledge.

Bear in mind (exp) : to consider.

Masterpiece (n): an incredible work of art.

exp = expression

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Small Talk For Business English

• By: oxfordadmin
• Posted on 19/02/2020

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• Posted on 04/03/2020

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Breakout English

Advanced (CAE) Essay Questions and Sample Answers

The Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) essay is a formal, academic writing. You’ll find it in Part 1 of the CAE writing exam and, just like at other levels, Part 1 is mandatory. That means whether you like it or not, you’ll be writing an essay for your C1 Cambridge exam. Considering that, it’s probably a good idea to practise. The good news is, the CAE essay can be quite formulaic. Once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll notice the structure and style are always pretty similar. Before you know it, you’ll be writing them in your sleep! In this post, you’ll find some useful CAE writing tips and three essay questions with sample answers.

If you’re looking for a complete overview of the CAE writing exam, with CAE writing tips and much more, check out Advanced Writing Plus , our complete self-study course.

Topics for Advanced (CAE) essay questions

At C1 level, you are expected to be able to write about pretty much any topic you can imagine. However, CAE essay topics are generally going to be quite formal. You’re not going to be asked about your plans for the weekend!

These are some of the topics which are most likely to come up in an Advanced essay question:

• Environmental issues
• Public projects
• Science and nature
• Global issues

Make sure you’ve looked into these topics and studied relevant vocabulary. You can also read different articles and listen to radio broadcasts (or podcasts) related to the topics. Don’t forget to note down important vocabulary so you can remember it for your writings!

C1 Advanced (CAE) Essay Tips

You’ve probably got plenty of experience writing in English if you’ve reached a C1 level. Students who prepare for this exam often need their skills focused in the right way rather than being taught brand new ideas.

Here are my top tips for preparing the CAE essay task.

• Don’t do anything too strange – The essay question is likely to be on quite an interesting topic. It could even be on something you feel strongly about or specialise in. But be careful! When essays start to ramble too much or go too far, they lose their strength. This essay isn’t going to change the world, so don’t go overboard!
• Use advanced language – Remember that to get top points, you must use advanced structures in your writing. Take some time to practise inversion, cleft sentences and participle clauses, then use them in your essay.
• Don’t be stingy with linking words – Linking words (and expressions) are the glue of a writing. Without them, everything falls apart. This doesn’t mean you have to use ridiculous uncommon linking words, but you should use them frequently, probably more than you expect. Take a look at our post about linking words for some ideas.
• Be stylish! – An essay needs to read like an essay, just like a report needs to read like a report. This means it is a formal, academic text. Formal means no contractions, few phrasal verbs, complex sentences and an impersonal style. The essay needs to include your opinion, so you need to express that opinion through style and substance, supported by facts.
• Focus on argument and coherence – To score high in the CAE essay, it’s important to have a clear argument and structure. Plan your essay and stick to the plan, making sure each paragraph has a clear purpose. Ensure that your points are logically connected and that your writing is coherent.
• Use a variety of sentence types – Varying sentence types and lengths keep the reader engaged and demonstrate your writing skills. Mix simple and complex sentences to add interest to your writing.
• Check your writing! – Proofreading is critical for writing a top-scoring CAE essay. Check for grammatical and spelling errors and make sure the writing flows well. Also, don’t forget to check your writing style and tone to make sure you sound professional and academic.
• Practice, practice, practice – Finally, practise writing essays under timed conditions. This will help you to improve your time management and build confidence for the actual exam.

The materials

Here are three Advanced (CAE) essay questions. They each use different CAE essay topics. Use them to practise and improve in preparation for the Cambridge C1 Advanced exam. After completing your own essay, check the example answer and compare.

How to write an essay? | C1 Advanced (CAE)

Writing an essay is the first part of the C1 Advanced (CAE) Cambridge writing paper and it is obligatory.

You need to answer the question with between 220-260 words. In the text, you need to analyse a question using different points of view. It is a semi-formal/formal text and should be impartial until the conclusion.

What the examiner wants to see is a balanced argument that is both interesting and easy to read .

Check our Writing Guide – to see how to write a CAE essay in detail.

C1 Advanced (CAE) Essay: Writing Structure

FCE, CAE, CPE

Practice, write & improve, c1 advanced (cae) essay: how to write an essay.

If you have two main points to make, you can give your essay a clear structure by dividing it into four paragraphs.

Step 1:   Introduction

The first paragraph of an essay provides the introduction. It states what is to be discussed and why. Your main points are briefly introduced. This paragraph need not be lengthy.

Introduction: We often hear about the many benefits of health and fitness. However, less often do we hear concrete suggestions for how to improve participation rates, particularly among young people. In this essay I will discuss two possible actions that governments could focus on in order to promote health and fitness to youth today.  (main points are briefly introduced.)

Pay attention to language style and register!

One of the most common mistakes made by inexperienced writers involves using too personal language writing an essay. 

Me, myself, I

Everybody likes to talk about themselves, but when (for example) you’re writing about environmental issues, you should be talking about the environment and not about yourself.

The way word you is used in informal speech ‘You should have seen it!’ ‘if you know what I mean’ is not appropriate in formal writing. At best it sounds chatty and informal; at worst, disrespectful or even offensive. The word you points a finger at the reader. But the readers are not friends of yours, and you have no right to make assumptions about them.

Step 2: Main content

Paragraph 1.

In this paragraph, more background information is provided in greater detail. Your first, often the strongest main point is expanded upon. Bring in and refute any arguments against your point of view.

Paragraph 1: The first possible action is to improve physical education teaching in schools. Local students have at times complained that… (Describe the first point/argument from the notes)

Paragraph 2

The second paragraph provides your second key point, lying it into the theme of your essay. Again, bring in opposing points of view and support your second key point with Information and background.

Paragraph 2: A second option would be to attempt to change the overly competitive attitudes that seem ingrained in many of the sports… (Describe the second point/argument from the notes)

Remember about “linking” in the essay!

Between paragraphs:

To begin with, I would like to put forward […] The first possible action is, to improve physical education …[…] A second option would be. …  competitive attitudes that […]

Within a paragraph:

[…] which activity is better than the others. Another reason for not financing sports […]

For and Against or just one side?

There are two approaches you can choose to write your essay professionally .

For and against

This is the traditional approach where a writer discusses points in favour of their position and against. Typically this means that one point will be used to contrast the general position.  There are advantages to this method.

One side only

Step 3: conclusion.

The final paragraph is used to summarise or conclude your essay. It shows how the two key points you have presented compare or relate to each other. It also clearly re-states your initial position from the introductory paragraph.

Conclusion: In summary, either approach would be a step in the right direction. In my view, it would be wise to prioritize dealing with reducing competitiveness first because I believe it would help young people feel better about the sports they already do. They could then, in turn, influence their friends to join in.

Get Your (CAE) Essay Checked!

C1 advanced (cae) essay: example answers, cae essay sample 1.

Your class has attended a panel discussion on facilities which should receive money from local authorities. You have made the notes below:

Which facilities should receive money from local authorities?

• sports centres
• public gardens

Some opinions expressed in the discussion:

• “Museums aren’t popular with everybody!”
• “Sports centres mean healthier people.”
• “A town needs green spaces – parks are great for everybody.”

Write an essay discussing two of the facilities in your notes. You should explain which facility it is more important for local authorities to give money to, giving reasons in support of your answer.

Student’s CAE Essay Answer:

[Introduction]

In regard of a recent discussion about the facilities, which are financially supported by local authorities, I would like to write a few of my personal thoughts. Whether we are talking about sports centres or public gardens, there is no doubt that they are both a good thing to have in the city and should both be supported somehow. The only question then is which one of these is more important, what are the pros and cons of each one?

[1 st body paragraph ]

Let me start with the sport centres as I think these are a bit more problematic. Obviously, in our times where lots of people spend days sitting in their office staring at a computer, some sort of physical training is very important. We have to balance that shift in our lifestyles. The problem I see with supporting the sports centres is the number of activities that you can do at these days. There is almost countless list of either individual or team sports that we can think of, and each centre is usually designed for a specific type or at least a group of sports similar in its nature. Therefore I think that it is too difficult to support them equally and we can’t say which activity is better than the others either. Another reason for not financing sports as much as green parks is their commercial use. What I mean by that is that we usually pay for everything the centre offers us to do and therefore they are more able to last from their own money than gardens.

[2 nd body paragraph]

Regarding of the green spaces, the situation is much clearer I think. Every city needs gardens where people can sit and relax, but nobody is going to pay a tax for just walking around.

[Conclusion[]

These factors lead me to my conclusion, that the public gardens are definitely a facility which should be financed from public money, whereas in the case of sports centres, the situation is questionable.

CAE Essay Sample 2

Your class has attended a panel discussion on the action governments can take to promote health and fitness among young people. You have made the notes below.

Action to promote health and fitness among young people

• improve teaching in schools.
• improves attitudes to competitiveness.
• improve the image of sports.

Some opinions expressed during the discussion

• ‘There need to be specialist sports teachers for children and students of all ages.’
• ‘Some young people are put off by the pressure to compete.’
• ‘A lot of young people don’t think it’s cool to take part in sports.’

Write an essay for your tutor, discussing two of the actions in your notes. You should explain which action you think is more important, giving reasons to support your opinion.

We often hear about the many benefits of health and fitness. However, less often do we hear concrete suggestions for how to improve participation rates, particularly among young people. In this essay I will discuss two possible actions that governments could focus on in order to promote health and fitness to youth today.

The first possible action is to improve physical education teaching in schools. Local students have at times complained that the curriculum is rigid and emphasizes repetitive activities instead of team sports and enjoyment. Better role models and more adventurous options could lead to improved attitude and participation. Naturally, employing specialist sports teachers would incur considerable cost.

A second option would be to attempt to change the overly competitive attitudes that seem ingrained in many of the sports competitions for youngsters. When adults such as parents and teachers focus on winning above having a good time, it puts undue pressure on the participants. They may feel a sense of failure if they lose and also be less inclined to try a new sport.

[Conclusion]

In summary, either approach would be a step in the right direction. In my view, it would be wise to prioritize dealing with reducing competitiveness first because I believe it would help young people feel better about the sports they already do. They could then, in turn, influence their friends to join in.

C1 Advanced (CAE) Essay: Writing Topics

Cae example topic 1.

In class you have had a discussion about inequality and work. You have made the notes below:

Do the privileged few get a head start in life?

• Stability in the home
• Work contacts and opportunities
• Time to hone one´s skills

Write an essay discussing two of the points given and explain the reasons behind your answer.

CAE Example topic 2

Recently, you have held a discussion in a university plenary about work-life balance. You have made the notes below:

Work is the pillar of society though it is obvious that people need to disconnect. Where is the balance?

• Fulfilling one´s potential
• Supporting family members
• Using one´s time productively

Write an essay using two of the points and say what might be the most effective way of achieving a healthy work-life balance

CAE Example topic 3

You have discussed young people and their future work prospects in class. You have made the notes below:

What might be the most effective strategy to prepare young people for work?

• Work placements
• Workshops in schools
• Establishing links with local businesses

Write an essay discussing two of the points and say which should be implemented into the national curriculum.

Practice Tests Online

C1 advanced (cae) essay: tips.

• PLAN your essay.
•  REVISE your essay to correct mistakes.
• The final paragraph is the best place to express your opinion clearly
• Add quotations, statistics, facts. examples and other relevant data to support your points.
• The tone and register can be formal or semiformal depending on your treatment of the topic. If your essay is written in a formal register, only bring in informal expressions when you use a direct quotation to support your argument.
• Punctuation is important in essays and can be a powerful tool for expressing subtle or emphatic points. Short sentences make for a peachy style but get irritating if they are over-used, long sentences need careful use of commas, semi-colons and desires to achieve flow and rhythm.

C1 Advanced (CAE) Essay: Writing Checklist

After writing your text, you can check it yourself using the writing checklist below.

How to do that? Simply check your text/email by answering the questions one by one:

• Have I covered all the key information required by the task?
• Have I written only information which is relevant to the task?
• Have I developed the basic points in the task with my own ideas?

Communicative Achievement

• Have I achieved the main purpose(s) of the text (for example, explaining, persuading, suggesting, apologising, comparing, etc.)?
• Have I used a suitable mix of fact and opinion?
• Have I used a suitable style and register (formal or informal) for the task?

Organisation

• Have I used paragraphs appropriately to organise my ideas?
• Have I used other organisational features appropriately for the genre of the text (for example, titles, headings, openings, closings, etc.)?
• Is the connection between my ideas clear and easy for the reader to follow? (For example, have I used appropriate linking words, pronouns, etc. to refer to different things within the text?)
• Are the ideas balanced appropriately, with suitable attention and space given to each one?
• Have I used a wide range of vocabulary?
• Have I avoided repeating the same words and phrases?
• Have I used a range of simple and more complex grammatical structures?
• Have I correctly used any common phrases which are relevant to the specific task or topic?
• Is my use of grammar accurate?
• Is my spelling accurate?

More than Practice Tests

C1 advanced (cae) essay: marking criteria.

C1 Advanced (CAE) Essay: Useful Phrases, Words & Expressions

We will finish it with useful advanced vocabulary (words to use in an essay) mostly used to organize information. Although it is taking a shortcut, if you learn several expressions/words for each paragraph in each type of text that could be on your exam, you will certainly be able to create a very consistent essay with a perfect structure.

To start essay: Introduction

It is often said that … ….is a hotly-debated topic that often divides opinion. ….is a topic that is often discussed but rarely solved. Many people feel that … We live in an age when many of us are… More and more families/people are choosing to … The trend nowadays is towards +ing Over the past/last ten years or so, … Recent research indicates that the number of …is increasing. Statistics indicate that— Hardly a week goes by without another report of .. appearing in the media. This raises the issue of whether …………….. Although most people would generally agree that …………… few

Topic sentences

First Paragraph

…. clearly/undoubtedly has an impact on… It is common knowledge that… plays a crucial role in… It is undoubtedly the case that… There is little doubt that… … is widely believed to contribute to… It is generally considered that… Recent research suggests that… Studies have shown that… has an impact/influence on… Few people would contest/dispute the fact that…

Second Paragraph

Another factor to consider is… On the other hand/In contrast… It is often claimed that… All the evidence suggests that…

Stating your opinion

As I see it, It seems to me that ………… I would also say that …. I am convinced that …………… I am inclined to believe that ……………… There is no doubt in my mind that ……………… One of the drawbacks of ……. is ………. However, one of the benefits is that …………

Changing topic

As regards the causes for this, ………….. Concerning the causes for this, ……… As for the causes, ………..

Presenting arguments

One justification often given for ……….. is that…………….. Advocates/Proponents would claim that ……………… Those who object to …………….. often argue that ………………. Another objection is that …… However, it should not be forgotten that ………….. ……….. are opposed to ……………. on the grounds that …………….. From the point of view of …………….. According to ………………..

Describing causes

One factor which has led to ………… is ………….. One of the factors which has brought this about is ……… The problem often stems from ……………….. The situation has been exacerbated by ……………. ………….. has only made the situation worse. One consequence of ……………. is …………….

Proposing steps and measures

As regards the most appropriate response to this situation, one suggestion would be to ……… The first step to be taken would be to …….. To alleviate the situation people should ……….. In addition they ought to …………… This can only be dealt with if ………… To overcome this problem, ………….. Were the government to ……………, the situation would doubtless improve. Individuals can do a great deal to ………… The burden of responsiblity lies in the hands of …….. It is vitally important that ……… Legislation should be introduced to control …………….. It would be a grave error if we ……………..

 To conclude an essay: Concluding

In light of the above, Taking all this into consideration/account,… As far as I am concerned, / in my opinion, / as I see it, etc. … is the most effective way to… due to the fact that… Despite the fact that… undoubtedly plays a role in… I firmly believe that… is more effective due to the fact that… its advantages outnumber/ outweigh those All in all it seems to me that ……….. The obvious conclusion to be drawn is that ………………….. All things considered! …………. On balance! , tend to believe that ………… The world would surely be a better place to live in if …………..

What is your level of English?

CAE Exam Tips

C1 Advanced Essay (CAE) Examples

December 16, 2019 by Andrew Girardin

This is a collection of CAE (Cambridge C1) essays written by my students, with my thoughts about them. There’s also a video I made of me writing an essay.

If you want CAE writing tips , there are lots in the writing section of this site.

Special pandemic offer: For a limited time I am giving feedback on essays (and reports, proposals etc) sent in by students. Students like you! 5 exam task corrections for 50 Euros. It can be 5 essays or 2 essays + 3 proposals or whatever combination you want.

The feedback is now in VIDEO FORMAT. It’s amazing.

More information here.

Now on with the examples.

    Table of Contents  

Example Essay 1 - Too Much Traffic

Example Essay 2 - The Kardashians

Aspects of reality and talent TV shows

entertainment for viewers

influence on young people

effect on participants

Write an essay for your tutor discussing two of the aspects in your notes. You should explain which aspect you think is the most important regarding these TV shows and provide reasons to support your opinion.

Reality television and talent shows have marked a turning point in the entertainment industry in just a few years. Yet, although all the fun, viewers are often left feeling dumb, pointless and empty after watching these kinds of programmes. In this essay, two aspects regarding reality TV will be discussed: the quality of entertainment viewers are getting and the influence it has on young people.

Some may find reality TV entertaining, yet it is not precisely adding positive values to our society. Flip through your channels for a minute and witness random people shopping compulsively or a judge humiliating amateur musicians on live television. It is not to say that we should rely on TV to educate us, it is to say that its influence on the viewers must never be underestimated. Again, should a person in a power position mistreat another on prime time, why would not the rest of us do it at school or at work?  

Closely related to the point mentioned above is the influence that reality television has on our young.  Not only is it worrying that our children's ultimate goal is to be like Kim Kardashian, but also it is putting unnecessary pressure on parents. On one side, some of them state to be preoccupied for allowing their children be influenced by pointless characters. On the other, the younger ones might get mocked at by peers for not being up-to-date with the latest episodes.

In my view, it is essential to limit and supervise the amount of time children and adolescents spend in front of the television. Otherwise, they could be easily deceived by the numerous illusions reality TV wants to sell.  

A great essay! It flows well and there are lots of variations in sentence style that makes it interesting to read.

The first sentence is one of the weakest, which isn’t ideal. A turning point from what to what? From boring TV to the golden age of TV? From TV as a tool for mass education to a tool for stripping everyone’s dignity? (In contrast, the final sentence is super, so it ends on a high note.)

There are some mistakes.

• Yet, although all the fun, viewers are often left feeling dumb, pointless and empty

This should say despite all the fun, and pointless isn’t a feeling. Right now I can’t think of a better word. I’d rearrange it to something like: viewers are left feeling stupid, empty, and that life is pointless/and that they are wasting their lives.

• Some may find reality TV entertaining, yet it is not precisely adding positive values to our society.

The continuous tense as used here doesn’t feel right. We’re not talking about something happening now but a general trend, so the simple tense would be better. And the phrase is better with exactly (instead of precisely).

It doesn’t exactly add positive values…

The only mistake that really stops me from understanding her point is this one:

some of them state to be preoccupied for allowing their children be influenced by pointless characters.

I would guess that ‘state’ should be ‘claim’. Some parents claim. Or ‘some parents say they are preoccupied’. But I can’t work out the meaning of the sentence because preoccupied doesn’t seem to have been used correctly. It means ‘busy with other things’.

So the student would probably not get the highest possible score for language, but I would imagine she’d score very highly.

I really like the phrase ‘closely related’ as a way of introducing the next topic. But remember the task is to say which aspect is more important. Better to make it really clear that you are answering the question. You could do it like:

Closely related to but even more important than the point mentioned above...

Maybe it’s just because I haven’t had my lunch yet, but I’m not 100% sure the student actually fulfills the task. Did she say which was more important? She talks about one aspect, then another aspect, and mentions the second aspect in the conclusion. I’d be much happier if there was at least one line comparing/contrasting the two aspects.

Example Essay 3 - Young People vs Science

This is from an official Cambridge test book. The task says:

Your class has listened to a radio discussion on how more young people can be encouraged to study science. You have made the notes below.:

If you’ve already read the writing tips section, you might have seen this essay answered by another student. It’s here in this article called ‘ Improving a CAE Essay ’.

Here’s another student’s attempt:

How to encourage young people to study science

Recent discussions center around how to encourage young people to study science. The main options are advertising and school programmes.

School programmes are considered as a very effective channel to reach young people. There can be no doubt that the schools and teachers play not only a crucial role in a child’s development, but are vital as well to arouse their interest for everything, as they are in direct and everyday contact with them. It has been suggested that parents should also educate and teach more their children in a more scientific way, but this is rather a disputed than an established fact.

Although school programmes may be very successful and constructive for the pupils, it is probably true that the effects of advertising might have more positive consequences on the encouragement of children to study science. First, advertisements has a way to much forms: from a simple flyer to social media and it can carry a clever, funny and profound message that can easily reach young people. On the other hand, advertising happens generally in an indirect way that has been proven more powerful. Don’t underestimate the influence of advertising!

Taking everything into consideration, I believe that advertising would help more than school programmes in the end to encourage the pupils, as it inspires everybody and brings awareness to science in a proven and practical way.

This student worked a lot on her writing and a few months after writing this, got a good C grade.

There are lots of little mistakes but also lots of nice ‘set phrases’. This student is from Eastern Europe and her language doesn’t have articles (the, a) so that was an area I tried to make her focus on.

The main problem with the essay is that it isn’t really clear what she believes. When I talked to her, I realised that she thought ‘on the other hand’ meant something different from what it actually means. So the section about advertising is VERY confusing!

Example Essay 4 - Kids and Exercise

And my student’s essay:

Motivating children to do regular exercise

Today’s biggest challenge is in child education and parenting, how to motivate children to do regular exercise. Is your child also unwilling to use his excessive energy? I am happy to share with you two very good ways: school and parental example.

First of all, recent studies have shown that schools play an essential role in stimulating children’s motivation to do exercises. There are certain schools specialised in sports that are without any doubt very effective to support your children’s interest and motivation in any sport. Further, a surprising fact, almost every regular school is associated with a (or has its own) sport club offering a wide choice of sport activities.

The other way is your personal (parental) example. Children have a lot of energy and they need to build it up in order to reduce the daily stress and process emotions. It might not be astonishing for you that they are learning by copying their parents. So, the more time you spend with your kid(s) being active, the more likely they’ll be motivated in doing exercises. In addition, don’t be afraid to let them try out every sport they show interest for!

Taking these ways into consideration, I believe that in first instance parental behavior would help more to encourage children towards active lifestyle. In lack of this, the schools are just the second best option, but they complete each other very well.

This student lives in Switzerland and to me the first sentence is a quite Germanic word order. It would be MUCH clearer like this:

The biggest challenge today in child education and parenting is how to motivate children to do regular exercise.

That’s the kind of simple switch that is SO HARD and only comes through lots of practice and correction.

It’s much more clear what the writer thinks in this essay than in essay 3. So when she makes a mistake like ‘build it up’ (she means burn it off) we can still understand what her point is.

So it’s pretty good, with lots of room for improvement.

Example Essay 5 - Young People Prefer Cities

The following essay was written by a student named Alina and is based on this task:

There is much evidence that more and more youngsters have opted to stick to urban areas in the recent few decades. There are several grounds for such a tendency; however, it is generally believed that a wide range of job opportunities and a great variety of entertainment are among crucial factors. But what is the major reason for young generation to settle down in the urban areas?

To begin with, numerous companies and businesses presented in big cities serve as an enticement for young adults, who look to embark on a career in a dynamic working environment offering both professional development and competitive salaries. Not only do they seek for career prospects and financial reward, but also fast-paced fields with cutting-edge technologies and challenging tasks are valuable for young people. However, some lucrative position at first sight might as well turn out to be another heavy workload with endless red-tape and mundane tasks.

Conversely, a hectic social life is what anyone would never fail to discover in any big city with a broad array of attractions for locals and tourists. There is also a great choice of activities to everyone’s taste – one can have a full diary for every weekend as a party animal or a true culture vulture – something is sure to be cooked up for you to brighten your mood.

Unquestionably, local authorities should not underestimate the role of cultural events and put an emphasis on developing focal points to liven up rural areas which can potentially reverse the trend.  

This is good! Lots of good language and I think it’d get a good score.

You can read through it and pick out some nice, advanced phrases like ‘conversely’, ‘culture vulture’ and ‘it is generally believed’.

But not all of the advanced language is used correctly. Hectic is a fairly negative word but here it seems to be used as a positive thing. Instead of ‘tendency’ it should be ‘trend’.

And there are some more basic mistakes too. Seek means look for, so ‘seek for’ actually means ‘look for for’ - no bueno! Settle down in urban areas.

Those are areas to improve but they aren’t necessarily going to reduce the grade much. The real question is, did Alina complete the task?

Mostly. She discusses two of the three points and she kind of says which is more important. But she does it by trying to solve the problem of young people moving to cities. I don’t think this is a task where you should do something like that. You aren’t asked to comment on whether it’s a good or bad trend - just why it happens.

The last paragraph should be ‘culture is the main reason that young people move to cities because [they want action and excitement].’ This way it’s 100% clear that you are doing the task - your answer isn’t hidden .

30 Comments

Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE): How to Write an Essay

Get Your Free C1 Advanced Writing Cheat Sheet Now!

Introduction.

An essay in the C1 Advanced Writing paper is usually written for an academic tutor and may be written as a follow-up to a class activity, such as attending a seminar or watching a documentary. The main purpose of the task is to underline relevant salient issues on the stated topic, and to support an argument with subsidiary points and reasons. An essay should be well organised, with an introduction, clear development and an appropriate conclusion. It should hold the target reader’s attention and communicate complex ideas using an appropriate range of vocabulary and structures. Source: Cambridge English C1 Advanced handbook for teachers

Essays are part of the first section of the CAE Writing paper. The task is mandatory, which means that you always have to write an essay unlike the other texts ( emails/letter , proposals , reviews , reports ) where you can choose which one you would like to tackle in the exam.

Essay writing is not that difficult…

Long story short, in this article I’m going to take you by the hand and guide you through all the different aspects of essay writing. We’re going to see what a typical essay task looks like, the structure and language and, of course, common problems and mistakes you should avoid on your way to mastering essays.

What a typical essay task looks like

Apart from that, you are also gifted a few ideas in the smaller of the two boxes . You can use these in your essay (You don’t have to.), but make sure that you don’t just copy them word for word. Instead, paraphrase them and make them your own, or simply come up with your own ideas.

Formal or informal language in an essay?

I’ll keep this short for you because this works in every single task: Keep your language formal , which means no contractions ( I’m , don’t , etc.), no colloquial expressions ( Hey, what’s up? , I liked it heaps ., etc.), and no slang or phrasal verbs that convey informality ( I’m bursting vs. I have had enough to eat; carry on vs. continue).

How to organise your essay

Plan before you start writing.

It took me 4 minutes to create this plan. I used the idea from the task for sports centres (“Sports centrs mean healthier people.”), but I paraphrased it (public health) while the idea for public parks seems too vague for me so I left it out. Remember that it is optional to include these thoughts in your essay. if you feel that you have better ones, go for it.

The different parts of an essay

In recent years, public funding for local facilities has become more problematic for many towns, which has become more obvious to me after listening to a panel on the financial needs of several different local facilities like sports centres and public parks. As these places battle for funds, the main question is which ones deserve the money more.

Let’s have a closer look at this intro. At the beginning the whole issue is put into the context of the financial problems many local authorities have experienced. Sports centres and public parks as our two topic points are included as well and, last but not least, a question is asked to create a little more interest in the reader.

It is widely known that sports centres provide many different benefits to the local community. Someone on the panel mentioned that, from a public-health standpoint, it is crucial to offer opportunities to exercise in order to keep everyone healthy physically as well as mentally due to the social character of sports. In addition to that, exercise comes in many different shapes and forms, from team sports to individual activities like swimming, so there is something for everyone to enjoy in a dedicated group of people. While green spaces in a town or city have their own benefits, it can be difficult to maintain such large areas in order to keep parks pleasant and inviting to everyone. Nevertheless, considered by many as the green lung of a city their use as a refuge from hectic city life cannot be debated, and groups of people as well as individuals can be seen following their favourite pastime or socialising with others, which makes the discussion about allocating funds even more difficult.

Last but not least, both parts are balanced in terms of their length, but I don’t want you to think that they have to be perfectly equal. If there is good reason to give one part a little bit more attention over the other, that’s fine. For example, you can say in your essay that one of the ideas is more complex than the other, which tells the examiner that you actually thought about this instead of just having messed up your text. Be clear about it and think it through before you even start writing.

Taking into account all the positions from above I come to the conclusion that funding should be allocated to both facilities as they provide essential resources to the local community. However, due to their more social character and possibly greater public health benefits I would give more funds to sports centres.

Time to start practising

Similar posts, how to stay calm on your cambridge exam day, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): reading and use of english part 2, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): reading and use of english part 7, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): reading and use of english part 4, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): how your writing is marked, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): reading and use of english part 6.

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Cambridge English Advanced: Writing Part 1 – Essay

By Russell Whitehead and Jo Kent

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This lesson aims to help students prepare for the essay section of the Advanced Writing paper.

Cambridge English Advanced: Writing Part 1 – Essay: Lesson plan

• British English
• Cambridge: C1 Advanced (CAE)
• Lesson Plan / Teacher's Notes
• Teaching Notes
• Up to 90 mins
• Upper-Intermediate

Cambridge English Advanced: Reading and Use of English Part 1

Cambridge english advanced: reading and use of english part 2, cambridge english advanced: reading and use of english part 3, cambridge english advanced: writing part 2 – report, cambridge english advanced: speaking part 1 – social interaction, cambridge english: advanced practice tests, related articles.

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Practice tests for all aspects of the Cambridge English: Advanced exam

This lesson aims to help students prepare for part 3 of the Advanced Reading and Use of English paper.

This lesson aims to help students prepare for part 2 of the Advanced Reading and Use of English paper.

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How to Write an Essay for C1 Advanced (CAE)

Luis @ kse academy.

• diciembre 21, 2022

As I’m sure you already know, Cambridge exams have several papers (Reading, Writing, Use of English, Speaking and Listening), and each of these components is divided into different parts. In this post, I want to focus on Writing Part 1 of the C1 Advanced, that is, how to write an Essay for the CAE . Because, remember, C1 Writing Part 1 will always be an essay 🙂 

Sample C1 Essay

New C1 Writing Guide out now!

• 3 examples of every task type
• Essay, Review, Formal and Informal Email and Letter, Report & Proposal
• 500+ useful phrases ready to use in your writings
• 95 pages of exclusive and original writing content
• Description of the C1 Writing paper
• Detailed description of each part of the Writing paper
• Assessment criteria and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

See sample or Buy on Amazon

What are the parts of the C1 Advanced Writing?

The C1 Advanced (CAE) Writing, as we have already seen in another article, has 2 parts , and for each one you will have to write a text according to the exercise instructions. What you should know is that there is a limited range of text types that you may be asked to write in each part, so let’s see: 

• Writing Part 1: In this part you will always have to write an essay, and you will have no other options to choose from. That’s why it is really important that you pay attention to this article and learn how to write an essay for C1 Advanced to the best of your ability. 
• Formal letter/email
• Informal letter/email
• Review 
• Proposal 

Each writing task you do should be between 220 and 260 words long, approximately, and, as they are different types of writing, you should take into account the peculiarities of each one in terms of structure, register, grammar and vocabulary, etc. 

So let’s start with the one that concerns us in this article: Essays! 

What is an essay ?

An Essay is a text of opinion in which we analyse a topic, a situation or a problem from different points of view or by considering several points or solutions to the problem. In each of the paragraphs, we deal with each point and express different facts, considerations and opinions. 

Now that we know what an essay is, let’s look at how to write an essay and its characteristics. 

How to Write an Essay for CAE Writing

Here are the main characteristics of a C1-level essay so that you can keep them in mind when writing: 

• Purpose: With an essay, what we do is evaluate a topic, situation or problem that is of some interest or controversy (e.g. teenage mobile phone use ). Often, the Writing activity is set as a task that takes place after a class debate. In an exam, you will have to imagine the debate for yourself (duh!).
• Tone and register: As it is a text on a serious or controversial topic, the Essay is always written in a formal context, so we must use an objective tone. Furthermore, the linguistic register should always be formal, avoiding common words such as things , stuff , get , etc.; contractions ( can’t , don’t , won’t , etc.); or expressions that may sound informal. 
• Structure: Like all writing tasks, an essay has a fairly well-defined structure, although it is not 100% fixed and immovable. To begin with, we can choose to give it a title or not, but, personally, I find it more appropriate to write an Essay with a title. Have you ever seen a text published without a title? Probably not.  As for the body of the essay, it should be divided into the following paragraphs: introduction, point 1, point 2 and conclusion. In other words, in general, a Cambridge C1 Essay should have 4-5 paragraphs.
• Opinion: This is where we have the most leeway when writing an essay for C1. There are many ways of expressing your opinion in an Essay, so you should choose the one that best suits your Writing approach. What I usually recommend, however, is that you remain impartial throughout the whole text and only express your opinion at the end, in the last paragraph, as a conclusion. As always, the most important thing is that you justify everything you say in your writing and that your conclusion answers the main question of the assignment.
• Coherence and progression: Coherence is essential in all Writings, but especially in the essay. As it is a supporting and argumentative text, you cannot write unconnected sentences and paragraphs; the ideas must follow a logical and well-connected order, using connectors appropriate to C1 level, in this case. Furthermore, the reader must perceive a logical progression of paragraphs, without losing the thread of what you are trying to argue. Otherwise, when they get to the last paragraph, they won’t know what you are talking about and our writing will have failed catastrophically. 

CAE Writing Essay Example

Now that we are familiar with the main features of an essay for Cambridge Advanced (CAE) Writing, let’s look at a sample essay at C1 level, both the sample instructions and a possible answer.

C1 Essay Instructions

In the picture below you can see an example from the Cambridge website. 

From these instructions, we must always extract the essentials: 

• Topic: facilities which should receive money from local authorities
• sports centres
• public gardens
• «Museums aren’t popular with everybody!»
• «Sports centres mean healthier people.»
• «A town needs green spaces – parks are great for everybody.»
• Address only 2 of the 3 points given. 
• Answer and justify the main question (« to which facility is it most important that local authorities give money «).
• Justify your answer (« giving reasons in support of your answer «)
• Use your own words (« use your own words as far as possible «)

According to the task model outlined above, we can approach out writing with the following structure: 

• Introduction
• Point 1 (museums)
• Point 2 (sports centres)

Although it is not set in stone, you will normally get 4 paragraphs. So now let’s look at an example Essay for CAE Writing: 

At first glance, we can see that this Essay for C1 has an introductory title and 4 paragraphs ( introduction , museums , sports , conclusion ). In addition, if we read the text carefully, we can see the following aspects: 

• Title: The title perfectly summarises for the reader the topic to be covered in the text. Sometimes, a title in the form of a question such as « Which facilities should receive funding from local authorities? » can be a good idea, although I always prefer more concise titles.
• Introduction : introduces the topic and mentions the two options we are going to discuss in the following paragraphs. 
• Museums : Discusses the benefits of museums and the benefits of investing money in them. 
• Sports centres : Discusses the benefits of sports centres and the consequences of investing money in them. 
• Conclusion : In a very clear way, museums are seen as the ones that should receive the investment for certain reasons that are well justified. 
• Connectors: Connectors are used that clearly define the coherence and progression of the text.: on the one/other hand, in addition, ultimately, however, while, etc. 
• We do not use contractions or catch-all words.
• When it comes to
• comes to mind
• valuable cultural resource
• heritage 
• generating income
• engage in physical activity
• positive outlet for energy
• Grammar is also advanced (E.g.: Not only can…, but they also… )

In short, this is a good example of an Essay for CAE Writing. It should be noted, however, that this writing is written to simulate a strong C1 level, perhaps without necessarily going into a C2 level.

Will I be penalised if I write less than 220 or more than 260 words?

This is the most typical question in this part of the exam and the answer is: yes and no. Let me explain. The assessors won’t count the words and penalise you according to the number of words only. There is a rumour going around among students and teachers that for every 10 words they take away X points, but this is not true. However, if you have gone over 260 words by 50 or 100 words, or more, there is probably some content that is not relevant to the assignment, and that is penalised. Likewise, if you write less than 220 words, you are probably missing important information or you are not covering it in the detail required by the task instructions.

For this reason, I always recommend going over 20 words at most. That way you won’t lose points if your assignment covers the required topics and points. 🙂

The best guide for C1 Advanced Writing with examples and useful expressions

Although I will be publishing more articles explaining how to do each type of task for C1 Advanced, the best thing you can do to get plenty of information and practice is to buy the official KSE Academy guide to CAE Writing. In this guide you will find the following:

I hope you found this post useful. If you did, don’t forget to share with your friends and family. 🙂

I’ll see you in the next post. Until then, don’t forget to keep smiling! 

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Creative Resources for ESL/EFL Teachers

25 For and Against Essay Topics and Ideas that Double as Conversation Topics

25 for and against essay topics that can be also used for class debates.

For and against essay topics: layout.

• The first paragraph should be the introduction. Include a thesis statement, which summarises the main issue.

In the past, most people lived with their parents until they got married. But in the modern world, it is more common to leave home and share accommodation with friends. This choice has both positive and negative aspects.

• The second paragraph should focus on the advantages. Include at least two arguments, if possible. Give examples where appropriate, introduced by phrases like For example or For instanc e.

There are several advantages to sharing with friends. Firstly, it gives you the opportunity to spend time with your friends and to build strong relationships with them. Secondly, it allows you to develop some of the practical skills that you will need as an independent adult. For instance, you will learn how to manage household bills, how to shop and cook, and so on. And thirdly, it makes living in your own home more affordable, and the more people who share, the more cost-effective it is. For instance , a shared house for six people is far cheaper than two houses for three people.

• The third paragraph should focus on the disadvantages. Include at least two arguments, if possible. Begin the third paragraph with a phrase like On the other hand or Howeve r,.. to express contrast with statements in the previous paragraph.

On the other hand , sharing a home has its disadvantages. Sharing a house can often cause disagreements. For instance, housemates often argue about household chores. What is more, it can be difficult to have time alone when you need it. And finally, the houses which young people share are sometimes in poor condition and landlords are not always good at repairing appliances when they break down.

• The fourth paragraph should be the conclusion. State your own opinion and decide whether the arguments for outweigh the arguments against the thesis statement or the other way around.

Although sharing a house with other young people is not always easy, the advantages definitely outweigh the problems. It is certainly something I would like to do in a few years’ time.

Source: Solutions Upper-Intermediate

For and against essay topics

• Having a role model can affect someone negatively.
• Should dyed hairstyles be allowed in school?
• Can a bad upbringing be an excuse for a felony?
• Social media – a blessing or a curse?
• It’s possible to learn to love somebody.
• You don’t need a college degree to be successful.
• Your past does not define you.
• Does watching fantasy films affect our perception of reality?
• Should there be a mandatory number of trees per square kilometer?
• Should people older than 65 be able to be politicians?
• Should healthcare be state-owned or privatized?
• Is immortality a blessing or a curse?
• Is the sous-vide method of preparing meals worth trying?
• Should self-driving cars be illegal?
• Should sharing hoaxes and false information on the Internet be severely punished?
• Should students do a part-time job while they are still studying?
• Sessions with a therapist should be mandatory for kids and teens
• Every country in the world should ban cigarettes.
• Every country in the world should stop producing and selling plastic bags and bottles.
• Field trips to prisons should be mandatory to help lower the crime rate.
• Scientists should pair people up for marriage based on DNA.
• A new universal language should be taught in every school.
• Should universities be apolitical?
• Do orphans have the same opportunities to be successful as children from complete families?
• Should the state have more control over our privacy?

Download the worksheet.

Other resources:

Picture Prompts for Speaking and Writing: An ESL Activity

Storytelling Cards: Imaginative Speaking and Writing Activity

Questions for ESL Conversation: 60 Questions Based on Vogue Interviews

ESL/EFL Speaking Activity: Role Play Debate

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Comments (4)

I like the idea of essay topics that focus on the student’s own experiences. This can be a great way to show that the student has been thinking about the material and is not just reading about it.

Thank you 🙂

Thank you for this!! (emil du suger rövhål)

Excellent topics Helped me giving topics to students ……..

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Home » C1 Advanced » CAE Course » CAE Writing Course » C1 Advanced Essay CAE | 1 Amazing Technique

C1 Advanced Essay CAE | 1 Amazing Technique

Table of Contents

C1 Advanced Essay

What is a C1 Advanced Essay?

A C1 Advanced Essay is a writing task which forms part 1 of the C1 Advanced exam writing paper. There are 2 parts in the CAE writing paper. There is one question in Part 1 and this is always an essay. The aim is to answer this question, writing between 220-260 words.

If you follow the order of information on this page, you will know exactly what you need to do to pass the C1 Advanced essay and get the examiners smiling 🙂

The information follows a specific order, so make sure you don't skip any parts!

Before we continue, I want to tell you about my new e-book of writing samples . It contains 6 essays with my corrections and feedback. You can get it with a free Kindle Unlimited trial in some countries:

Cambridge English Assessment Scale

In order to prepare for the writing paper effectively, it is best to understand what the examiners look for. If you know how the examiners mark your writing, you are in a better position to get top marks!  Watch the video below because it explains the marking criteria in detail:

How To Write A C1 Advanced Essay - CAE Writing Part 1

Here is a video I made which shows you:

• How to find an example question.
• Advice for writing an essay.
• An example answer.
• What mark the examiner gave this example (based on the assessment criteria above).
• Typical essay mistakes.
• Extra essay tips.

You should open the video in a new tab and complete the rest of the page with me at the same time...

i. C1 Advanced Essay - Example Question

In part 1 you are given only one question to answer.

Here is an example essay question from page 33 of the Cambridge English Advanced Handbook for teachers: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/167804-cambridge-english-advanced-handbook.pdf .

Write your answer in 220-260 words and in an appropriate style on the separate answer sheet.

The question tells us to only talk about two of the facilities. That gives us three options:

• Museums and sports centres
• Sports centres and public gardens
•  Public gardens and museums.

We also have to explain which is more important, which means we need to develop our points giving reasons to support them.

ii. C1 Advanced Essay Advice

Let's have a look at some instructions that are given for writing essays in the Cambridge English Advanced Handbook for teachers .

The advice above is important for the Communicative Achievement marking criterion.

It's important to know who your target reader is as this will effect the level of formality or register. We know from the information above that our target reader is likely to be an academic tutor, which means that your writing should be formal.

CAE Essay Tip:  sorry this tip is available for higher level members only. Register/upgrade here >>

Okay, so the information above means we need to find the most important issues with regard to a topic and back these up with reasons, extra points and extra ideas if you can think of them.

This will help with the Organisation marking criterion. You should follow a clear structure with a good flow. If the examiner can see that the points are developed in a clear way, you will get higher marks.

"Holding the target reader's attention" is important for the Communicative Achievement criterion. The way to hold their attention is to write in a way which is appropriate for the target reader, while using your Language to express simple and complicated ideas. The way you Organise and structure your essay as a whole and on an individual paragraph level can also help hold the reader's attention. 

Personally, I think planning your answer is also  really  important. I have a plan template which you can complete online here >> or print off here >>

My friend Charles Cornelius, a former IELTS examiner, runs a tutoring website for his IELTS students and he has some really useful tips for essay planning, including his 4 step essay planning approach .

iii. C1 Advanced Essay - Example Answer

While reading the answer, you should write down any mistakes you find here , along with their corrections.

I'd also like you to read the essay below which is based on the question above and give it a mark from one to five for each of the 4 marking criteria (Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and Language). You can use this online template or print this hard copy . Remember 1 is the worst mark and 5 is the best. If you give the content 5 out of 5 for example, write why it is so good.

THINK LIKE AN EXAMINER

If you can think like the examiner then you will get much better marks in the essay. In the words of Faithless, you can 'come 1' 😉 If you're tired, play their song, get up, jump around and then come back and complete the task with the example answer below the Faithless video...

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/167804-cambridge-english-advanced-handbook.pdf

Examiners' Assessment Scale Template

Download the hard copy here or write on the online template .

iv. Examiner Comments

Now we're going to look at what the real examiner thought about this essay. I'd like you to compare the examiner's marks with your own marks and see if you had similar ideas or if you had different ideas. I recommend reading the examiner's comments in detail, this will help you know exactly what the examiners are looking for when you're writing your essay. Take as long as you like to do this...

Okay so hopefully you've read the comments above, so now I would like to show you some of the bits which I thought were really important from these comments:

This means the person answered all parts of the question. They have poured the perfect pint 😉

Communicative Achievement

The opening paragraph and conclusion leave no room for doubt that where the money should go. Having a clear structure and argument mean it's easier to follow the writing.

Consistency is key . Remember that 😉

This writing is consistently formal and it is objective, which is important. You should try to be objective and use objective language rather than subject language.

Clear paragraphs help to keep the reader's attention as well. This comes down to flow and organization as well as communicative achievement.

Organisation

There are a lot of different cohesive devices used. Cohesive devices are linking words (moreover, however) and organisational patterns (using parallel structures, 'He thinks x, while she thinks y'. Cohesive devices link different ideas and sentences together.

There is a range of vocabulary which is relevant to the topic. There is also a range of simple and more complex grammatical structures.

All of the above are positive points that you should try to incorporate into your writing. If you are confused by some of the terminology above, it explains most of these words and their meanings in more detail on pages 37 and 38 of the Handbook for Teachers: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/167804-cambridge-english-advanced-handbook.pdf

I highly recommend having a look at my CAE writing samples book as well. I mention all these terminology while critiquing 21 CAE writings. If you read that book you will have a much better understanding of what the examiners want and how to get top marks in the exam.

Get The Book Now >>

v. CAE Essay Mistakes

When I read through the essay above, I noticed there were some specific mistakes with the language and so I've written these down here. They might be connected with spelling, grammar or whether the phrase is not very easy to understand. Are the mistakes below the same as the ones you identified above? If so, great. If not, it's possible I missed a couple of mistakes, so don't panic.

You should now write down the correct version of the sentences below. You can write your corrections on this worksheet .

People have lost the interest in visiting...

Moreover, the young men should be aware...

history museums provide people very interesting informations.

It can be organised events like...

there can be built spaces for kids to play

investment from local authority are...

vi. C1 Essay Corrections

Hopefully you've done the tasks above. Now have a look at my corrections below and see if you have the same corrections as mine...it's possible there may be more than one correct answer, so feel free to contact me if you want to check...but BE SPECIFIC in your email!

'People have lost interest in visiting'.. . (‘people have lost interest’ not ‘people have lost THE interest’).

'Moreover,  young  men should be aware... ' ( Not ‘the’ young men just young men in general without ‘the’).

‘history museums provide people WITH very interesting information’ (we always say to provide someone WITH something and information is uncountable so it shouldn't be ‘informations’ just ‘information’).

events like this can be organised... (I would say the subject first. ‘Events can be organised’).

‘spaces for kids to play can be built’. (Again the subject should be at the beginning of a sentence. ‘Spaces’ and ‘events’ at the beginning of the sentence and then say what you can do with these things).

' investment from local authorities are... ' ( it's probably more than 1 local authority and even if it is just one you would need to use an article ‘a/the’ before ‘local authority’). 

There are 6 sample essays with corrections and critique in my new book...take a look >>

i. C1 Advanced Essay 2

Here is another example essay question:

You must answer this question. Write your answer in 220-260 words in an appropriate style.

Your university has attended a conference titled ‘the greatest advantages of the internet for people in their everyday lives’. You have made the notes below:

Advantages of the internet in everyday life -communication -accessibility -retail

Write an essay for your lecturer discussing two of the points. You should explain which point you think is the greatest for people and provide reasons in support of your opinion.

ii. CAE Essay 2 - Example Answer

Read the essay below and write down any mistakes you find in the appropriate fields of this document .

Then mark the essay from one to five for each of the 4 marking criteria on the template below. 1 is the worst mark and 5 is the best.

You should also say why you gave it your score 1-5.

iii. Examiner Assessment Scale Template

Download here or fill in the online version here .

Make sure you have completed the examiners template with your own thoughts before continuing with this page.

Once you have completed the template above, you should read my notes below and compare my feedback with yours. When you become proficient at this skill and when your thoughts resemble mine for all CAE writing samples you read, you will have a good idea what the examiners are looking for in the CAE writing paper and this will DRASTICALLY improve your marks in this part of the exam.

iv. My Comments

Compare my mistakes, marks, comments and improvements below with yours...

Sorry, the content below is for members only. Register here >>

v. Pass or Fail

Pass or Fail

Content - 3 Communicative Achievement - 4 Organisation - 4 Language - 3

Total: 14/20

If you got the same marks for part 2 you would get 28/40. This would be a pass in the exam as the pass mark is 24/40. Well done!

Remember, there are 6 essays and 15 other writing samples with feedback etc. in my new book >>

There are some more useful tips for the CAE essay on this website.

C1 Advanced Essay 3

I. question.

Here is a question which one of my students submitted via my CAE writing assessment service . It has come from the ' Ready for Advanced ' coursebook (written by my friend Roy):

ii. CAE Essay 3 - Sample Answer

Read the essay answer below and note down any mistakes you find in this document .

Write a mark with a comment for each of the marking criteria on this document .

iii. My Comments

If you have written your mistakes here and completed the assessment scale , then you should compare your notes with mine...

"It goes without saying that the urban environment is a vitally important part of every city (Good first sentence - using a less common expression) . Councillors often do everything they can to sustain (We don’t normally say ‘sustain’ + noun + adjective. You can say ‘sustain this diverse system in a clean way ’, or you could simply replace the word ‘sustain’ with the word ‘keep’) this diverse system clean but not messy (‘messy’ is a slightly informal/colloquial word) . The majority of people do es n't (‘people’ is plural so say ‘people don’t...’) care about the environment at all. Although, throwing away (‘throwing away’ can have the same meaning as ‘throwing in the rubbish bin’ so it would be better to rephrase this) things such as plastic bottles instead of putting them into a rubbish bin has a detrimental effect on the whole eco-system. If we were more considerate of the urban environment, we would be able to achieve amazing results in terms of reducing pollution. What would be the most effective method to ensure this? 

First of all (‘Firstly’ is better to use here as it is more formal) , I have to mention the (don’t put ‘the’ unless you specifically mention which ‘legislation’ you are referring to) legislation. It could be said that if we put forward ‘and enforce’ (‘put forward’ is only to suggest or propose) tougher laws, we would achieve amazing results. As far as I am concerned, I am not fully convinced about that. (Could you write the previous sentences without using first person pronouns (‘I have to…’ ‘I am...’). According to a recent study, implementing tougher laws can result in disrespect for the local council. Moreover, it can lead to rebellion. 

Another way of tackling the problem would be to focus on public services such as the underground, buses, hospitals etc. (don’t write ‘etc.’ in formal writing). If the government put a huge amount of money into funding new electric buses, it (‘this initiative’) would contribute to the decrease in air pollution and noise. 

To sum up, I think the advantages of the second solution weight up ‘outweigh’ those which are mentioned in the first one. From my point of view, if we want to sustain ‘keep’ the urban environment clean, we should embark on the refurbishment of public services."

Examiner Assessment Scale Feedback

Sorry, the critique below is for higher level members only. Register/upgrade here >>

iv. Pass or Fail

I have awarded the essay the following marks:

Content - 3 Communicative Achievement - 2 Organisation - 3 Language - 3

Total: 11/20

You need a minimum of 24 out of 40 possible marks to pass the CAE writing paper. Remember, there are 2 different writings to complete, so you need to average 12 out of 20 for each writing task. If this student got 13 out of 20 for their part 2 writing, they would pass the Writing paper at a C1 level. Remember, you do not need to pass every exam paper in order to pass the C1 Advanced (CAE) exam and get a certificate, you just need to average 60% across all 5 exam sections.

If you want to find out more about what marks you need in order to pass the exam, have a look at my CAE exam page >>

I really recommend having a look at my new book >> it will definitely help you improve your writing exam score!

C1 Advanced Essay 4

Instructions.

• Read the example CAE essay question and answer below and write down any mistakes you notice on a separate piece of paper.
• Complete the examiner's assessment scale below, according to the marking criteria you examined on the previous page . You can download a template of the assessment scale here .
• Read the answer again with my comments.
• Read what I wrote on the examiner's assessment scale.

Here is the same question that we looked at in example 1 above:

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/Images/167804-cambridge-english-advanced-handbook.pdf

ii. C1 Advanced Essay 4 - Sample Answer

Complete The CAE Essay Assessment Scale Template

Download here >>

CAE Essay Answer With My Comments

Sorry, the content below is available for higher level members only. Register/upgrade here to access now >>

CAE Essay Marks

Sorry, this section is available for higher level members only. Register or upgrade here >>

C1 Advanced Essay 4 - Pass or Fail

Sorry, this section is available to higher level members only. Register/upgrade here >>

CAE Essay Examples

I created a book recently with loads of sample writings that students have sent me. I think this is the best body of work I have produced:

If you do not want to access the book, I also have a few more essay samples on my CAE essay examples page here .

When I have time I critique them according to the examiners assessment scale and sometimes turn them into a video for my YouTube channel .

Send Me Your C1 Advanced Essay

If you have a CAE/FCE writing task you would like me to consider marking and critiquing in a future article, you should complete the form on this Cambridge writing exam page .

You can check out some other CAE writings which students have sent to me, along with my feedback in my new book .

Class Activities For Teachers

Are you a teacher?

Why not use my resources to help your students either in class or as homework exercises.

With Computers

Do you and/or your students use computers in lessons?

• Become a full member of my website to access loads more useful information and exercises including more essays .
• Read this essay question and then write a plan for it here.
• Save, print and then note down any mistakes on this example essay answer.
• Complete an assessment scale template for the example answer.
• Compare your mistakes with the mistakes I found here .
• Compare your assessment scale with the examiner's assessment scale notes.
• Watch this video,  note down the most important points on this form and then add any extra essay notes to the form too. Students receive a copy of the form by email.

Without Computers

If you or your students don't have computers, follow these instructions:

• Read this essay question then write a plan for it in no more than 5 minutes here .
• Save, print and correct any mistakes on this sample essay answer.
• Fill in the examiner assessment scale template for the sample essay answer.
• Compare the last two steps with the mistakes I identified  and the examiner's notes on this assessment scale.
• Print off this form and complete it with notes from this video and elsewhere.

For homework, you should write your own answer to the essay question above or you could write an answer to the essay question on this page . If you write your essay on computer you can submit it via my CAE writing assessment service and if I have time I will put your essay on my website with some of my feedback and my marks. You can also pay to have your writing marked within 7 days. Again, you can find loads more past writings students have sent me in my new book .

Finally, you should read the Cambridge English Advanced handbook for teachers because there is loads of really useful information in there. I really recommend reading the whole handbook before going into the exam because it will really help you to prepare.

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C1 Advanced: Writing Part 1 Formal Essay

This is yet another designed to help students prepare for part one of the C1 Cambridge Advanced (CAE) writing exam. Some of the content has been rehashed from old posts but the approach is slightly different. Download the student handout below:

Give out the handout and draw students’ attention to the task on page one and the first version at the bottom of the page. Have them read the task, then the model answer, then answer questions 1-3 with their partner:

• Which of the three areas (convenience, cost & enjoyment) does the writer focus on? cost and convenience
• Which one do they decide has the biggest impact on where people choose to shop? cost
• Content (have they answered the question?) 4.5 – 5 – yes, question is fully answered
• Range of language 2.5 – reads more like a B2 First essay
• Appropriate style (formal/informal) 1.5 – too informal, not the right style: contractions, words like “stuff”, too personal (too much “I” and “we”), “first let’s look at”

Now have students look at question 4. If you’re pressed for time, you could skip this part. Have students brainstorm more formal and advanced ways of expressing the parts in bold in pairs or groups. Perhaps you could assign one paragraph to each group and have them report back in open class. Board their ideas.

Now have students flip the paper over. Version 2 essential expresses the same ideas but with more advanced language and a more appropriate register. Direct students to find the “fancy” equivalents of the underlined phrases from version 1 in version 2.

Set students the homework task by first encouraging them to discuss the topic:

Factors when deciding where to go on holiday:

• Cultural activities

Encourage them to use the language from version 2 and the language on pages 2 and 3 in their compositions.

Read version 1 and answer the questions:

• Which of the three areas (convenience, cost & enjoyment) does the writer focus on?
• Which one do they decide has the biggest impact on where people choose to shop?
• Content (have they answered the question?)
• Range of language
• Appropriate style (formal/informal)
• Look at the sections in bold, how could you express the same ideas in a more impressive/formal way?

We’re always hearing in the news about how more and more people are buying things on the internet . It’s a big problem that fewer people are going shopping in physical shops nowadays . But, what makes people decide where to shop?

First, let’s look at convenience. It’s true that shopping online is much easier than shopping in physical shops. You can buy stuff on your computer and you can sit on your sofa , you don’t need to leave your house . Also , the stuff gets sent to your house . When you go to the physical shop you have to take it home yourself.

Now I’ll talk about cost. Some people think that cost is the most important thing people think about when they decide where to shop. For example, when the sales are on people buy things in shops they don’t normally go to. But some people don’t care about the price. It doesn’t matter if it’s expensive or not.

In conclusion, looking at the facts, I think that cost is the most important thing for most people because if you don’t have enough money , you can’t buy it.

Find and underline the ways that the same ideas are expressed in this version.

Hardly a week goes by without another news report about the recent dramatic increase in online shopping. The decline of the high street shop is undoubtedly a major issue in this day and age. However, which aspect of shopping has the biggest influence on where people shop?

The first area to take into account is convenience. It is undoubtedly the case that shopping online is much more convenient than shopping on the high street. Not only can you make a purchase with the click of a button, but also you can do it from the comfort of your sofa without setting foot outside your door.  In addition, the goods are delivered directly to your door whereas when you shop in physical shops you have to carry it home yourself.

Another aspect to consider is cost. There are those who argue that cost has the biggest impact on where people decide to shop. This is illustrated by the fact that during the sales many people buy things in shops they would not normally enter. Nevertheless, for some people the cost is not an issue, they buy what they want to buy no matter the price.

In light of the above, weighing up all the evidence, it is probably true to say that cost does indeed have the biggest influence on where people decide to shop due to the fact that most of the time, if you cannot afford something then you will not be able to buy it.

(247 words)

Homework Task

Your class has had a class debate on the most important factors when it comes to deciding on a holiday destination.

Some opinions expressed in the debate:

• “If it’s not a sunny place, then I’m not going. Why would I visit a cold, rainy city?”
• “I want my money to go further. For the price of a weekend in Paris, I could spend 2 weeks in Morocco.”
• “I can’t stand just lying on a beach, I need to get out and learn something about the places I’m visiting.”

Write an essay for your tutor, discussing two of the factors in your notes. You should explain which factor is the most important for most people , giving reasons to support your argument.

You may, if you wish, make use of the opinions expressed in the debate but you should use your own words as far as possible. Write your essay in 220-260 words in an appropriate style.

Language for introductions

• In this day and age…
• … is a hotly-debated topic that often divides opinion.
• … is a growing issue in today’s society
• We live in an age when many of us are…
• More and more families are choosing to have only one child.
• The trend nowadays is towards having smaller families.
• Over the past ten years or so the media have frequently carried reports of ……………
• Recent research indicates that the number of teenagers who smoke is increasing.
• Hardly a week goes by without another report of …………….. appearing in the media.
• Although most people would generally agree that …………… few would deny that ……..

Language for topic sentences

Second Paragraph

• …. clearly/undoubtedly has an impact on…
• It is common knowledge that… plays a crucial role in…
• It is undoubtedly the case that…
• There is little doubt that…
• … is widely believed to contribute to…
• It is generally considered that…
• Recent research suggests that…
• Studies have shown that… has an impact/influence on…
• Few people would contest/dispute the fact that…

Third Paragraph

• Another factor to consider is…
• On the other hand/In contrast…
• It is often claimed that…
• All the evidence suggests that…

Language for supporting ideas

Language for introducing supporting ideas:

• For example,
• For instance,
• An obvious example of this is…
• A clear example of this is…
• This is illustrated by…
• As a case in point…

Paragraph Skeleton

It goes without saying that …………………………………………………………………… A clear example of this is ………………………………………………………. In addition, ……………………………………………………………………. Nevertheless, …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Overall/in summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Language for conclusions:

• In light of the above, / Taking all this into consideration/account,…
• As far as I am concerned, / in my opinion, / as I see it, etc.
• … is the most effective way to… due to the fact that…
• Despite the fact that… undoubtedly plays a role in… I firmly believe that… is more effective due to the fact that…

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Author: Tim Warre

Barcelona based English Teacher, blogger and sometime actor and director. View All Posts

One thought on “ C1 Advanced: Writing Part 1 Formal Essay ”

On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 9:42 PM Tim’s Free English Lesson Plans wrote:

> Tim Warre posted: ” Image credit: Cambridge Assessment English This is yet > another designed to help students prepare for part one of the C1 Cambridge > Advanced (CAE) writing exam. Some of the content has been rehashed from old > posts but the approach is slightly different.” >

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A for and against essay.

Look at the essay and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

Instructions

Do the preparation exercise first. Then do the other exercises.

Preparation

Reality tv shows are good entertainment.

Reality shows are a very popular form of entertainment on TV nowadays. There are dozens of different types of programmes such as singing contests, cooking competitions or going to live in the jungle.

Firstly, I think that there is a lot of variety in reality TV. People at home can choose which types of programme they want to watch depending on what they are interested in. Some people like watching singing or cooking competitions while others prefer watching programmes about building houses or travelling around the world. In addition, reality TV programmes are a great opportunity to discover talented singers, dancers or chefs. Several people who take part in these programmes get jobs as a result of being on TV. Another advantage is that the people on the shows have interesting experiences and meet new people.

On the other hand, some people think that reality TV is an easy way for them to become famous. However, most successful singers, actors or chefs have worked hard all their lives and are good at their job because of their hard work. Also, sometimes the people on the shows have to do really difficult or dangerous things. The competitions are very hard and there is only one winner. Another disadvantage is that some programmes always follow the same format and this can be boring to watch.

To sum up, I think that reality TV is good entertainment. There is lots of variety which means there is something for everyone and they are interesting to watch.

Top Tips for writing

1. Start each paragraph with a word or phrase so the reader knows what to expect, for example Firstly , On the other hand or To sum up .

2. Link your sentences with these words: In addition ; Another advantage is that ; However ; Also ; Another disadvantage is that .

3. Organise your essay in paragraphs.

• paragraph 1 – introduction
• paragraph 2 – arguments for the subject
• paragraph 3 – arguments against the subject
• paragraph 4 – conclusion

Check your understanding: multiple selection

Check your writing: reordering - essay structure, check your writing: typing - linking words, worksheets and downloads.

What are your views on reality TV? Are these types of shows popular in your country?

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50 Latest For and against IELTS Topics

• Unlimited Task 1 checks Get all the feedback you need to keep improving your charts and letters.
• Unlimited Task 2 checks Practice and perfect your skills with essays.
• Personalized suggestions Know how to boost your score.
• Detailed mistakes analysis Get instant feedback. Spot every mistake.
• Topic ideas generator Get topic-specific ideas to enhance your writing.
• Vocabulary helper Get the right words for any topic.
• Progress tracking Track your writing improvements.

Blog de Cristina

Digital tools and ideas to transform education, a for and against essay.

I’ve updated a guide to help students write a good For and Against Essay i n this post.

Five Steps to Writing a Good For and Against Essay .

Don’t miss it!

Related posts:

2 thoughts on “ A For and Against Essay ”

Hi there!! A colleague from The Canary Islands, perhaps? Thanks for your comment ! I’ve also visited your blog and I like it a lot. In fact, I think the idea of using the wallwisher as a means of interaction between you and your students is a very interesting one. A bit risky, though . Anyway, I’m willing to try it ! I hope you drop by some other time.

hi, my name is saro rosales, and i’ve really liked this post about writing a for and against composition. i wonder if i can copy the code, mentioning you and your blog (anyway i have it on my blog list) . thanks in advance

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MIT study explains why laws are written in an incomprehensible style

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Legal documents are notoriously difficult to understand, even for lawyers. This raises the question: Why are these documents written in a style that makes them so impenetrable?

MIT cognitive scientists believe they have uncovered the answer to that question. Just as “magic spells” use special rhymes and archaic terms to signal their power, the convoluted language of legalese acts to convey a sense of authority, they conclude.

In a study appearing this week in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the researchers found that even non-lawyers use this type of language when asked to write laws.

“People seem to understand that there’s an implicit rule that this is how laws should sound, and they write them that way,” says Edward Gibson, an MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences and the senior author of the study.

Eric Martinez PhD ’24 is the lead author of the study. Francis Mollica, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, is also an author of the paper .

Casting a legal spell

Gibson’s research group has been studying the unique characteristics of legalese since 2020, when Martinez came to MIT after earning a law degree from Harvard Law School. In a 2022 study , Gibson, Martinez, and Mollica analyzed legal contracts totaling about 3.5 million words, comparing them with other types of writing, including movie scripts, newspaper articles, and academic papers.

That analysis revealed that legal documents frequently have long definitions inserted in the middle of sentences — a feature known as “center-embedding.” Linguists have previously found that this kind of structure can make text much more difficult to understand.

“Legalese somehow has developed this tendency to put structures inside other structures, in a way which is not typical of human languages,” Gibson says.

In a follow-up study published in 2023, the researchers found that legalese also makes documents more difficult for lawyers to understand. Lawyers tended to prefer plain English versions of documents, and they rated those versions to be just as enforceable as traditional legal documents.

“Lawyers also find legalese to be unwieldy and complicated,” Gibson says. “Lawyers don’t like it, laypeople don’t like it, so the point of this current paper was to try and figure out why they write documents this way.”

The researchers had a couple of hypotheses for why legalese is so prevalent. One was the “copy and edit hypothesis,” which suggests that legal documents begin with a simple premise, and then additional information and definitions are inserted into already existing sentences, creating complex center-embedded clauses.

“We thought it was plausible that what happens is you start with an initial draft that’s simple, and then later you think of all these other conditions that you want to include. And the idea is that once you’ve started, it’s much easier to center-embed that into the existing provision,” says Martinez, who is now a fellow and instructor at the University of Chicago Law School.

However, the findings ended up pointing toward a different hypothesis, the so-called “magic spell hypothesis.” Just as magic spells are written with a distinctive style that sets them apart from everyday language, the convoluted style of legal language appears to signal a special kind of authority, the researchers say.

“In English culture, if you want to write something that’s a magic spell, people know that the way to do that is you put a lot of old-fashioned rhymes in there. We think maybe center-embedding is signaling legalese in the same way,” Gibson says.

In this study, the researchers asked about 200 non-lawyers (native speakers of English living in the United States, who were recruited through a crowdsourcing site called Prolific), to write two types of texts. In the first task, people were told to write laws prohibiting crimes such as drunk driving, burglary, arson, and drug trafficking. In the second task, they were asked to write stories about those crimes.

To test the copy and edit hypothesis, half of the participants were asked to add additional information after they wrote their initial law or story. The researchers found that all of the subjects wrote laws with center-embedded clauses, regardless of whether they wrote the law all at once or were told to write a draft and then add to it later. And, when they wrote stories related to those laws, they wrote in much plainer English, regardless of whether they had to add information later.

“When writing laws, they did a lot of center-embedding regardless of whether or not they had to edit it or write it from scratch. And in that narrative text, they did not use center-embedding in either case,” Martinez says.

In another set of experiments, about 80 participants were asked to write laws, as well as descriptions that would explain those laws to visitors from another country. In these experiments, participants again used center-embedding for their laws, but not for the descriptions of those laws.

The origins of legalese

Gibson’s lab is now investigating the origins of center-embedding in legal documents. Early American laws were based on British law, so the researchers plan to analyze British laws to see if they feature the same kind of grammatical construction. And going back much farther, they plan to analyze whether center-embedding is found in the Hammurabi Code, the earliest known set of laws, which dates to around 1750 BC.

“There may be just a stylistic way of writing from back then, and if it was seen as successful, people would use that style in other languages,” Gibson says. “I would guess that it’s an accidental property of how the laws were written the first time, but we don’t know that yet.”

The researchers hope that their work, which has identified specific aspects of legal language that make it more difficult to understand, will motivate lawmakers to try to make laws more comprehensible. Efforts to write legal documents in plainer language date to at least the 1970s, when President Richard Nixon declared that federal regulations should be written in “layman’s terms.” However, legal language has changed very little since that time.

“We have learned only very recently what it is that makes legal language so complicated, and therefore I am optimistic about being able to change it,” Gibson says. 

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Researchers at MIT have found that the use of legalese in writing “to assert authority over those less versed in such language,” reports Noor Al-Sibai for Futurism . “By studying this cryptic take on the English language, the researchers are hoping to make legal documents much easier to read in the future,” explains Al-Sibai.

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Global Energy Crisis

How the energy crisis started, how global energy markets are impacting our daily life, and what governments are doing about it

• English English

What is the energy crisis?

Record prices, fuel shortages, rising poverty, slowing economies: the first energy crisis that's truly global.

Energy markets began to tighten in 2021 because of a variety of factors, including the extraordinarily rapid economic rebound following the pandemic. But the situation escalated dramatically into a full-blown global energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The price of natural gas reached record highs, and as a result so did electricity in some markets. Oil prices hit their highest level since 2008. 

Higher energy prices have contributed to painfully high inflation, pushed families into poverty, forced some factories to curtail output or even shut down, and slowed economic growth to the point that some countries are heading towards severe recession. Europe, whose gas supply is uniquely vulnerable because of its historic reliance on Russia, could face gas rationing this winter, while many emerging economies are seeing sharply higher energy import bills and fuel shortages. While today’s energy crisis shares some parallels with the oil shocks of the 1970s, there are important differences. Today’s crisis involves all fossil fuels, while the 1970s price shocks were largely limited to oil at a time when the global economy was much more dependent on oil, and less dependent on gas. The entire word economy is much more interlinked than it was 50 years ago, magnifying the impact. That’s why we can refer to this as the first truly global energy crisis.

Some gas-intensive manufacturing plants in Europe have curtailed output because they can’t afford to keep operating, while in China some have simply had their power supply cut. In emerging and developing economies, where the share of household budgets spent on energy and food is already large, higher energy bills have increased extreme poverty and set back progress towards achieving universal and affordable energy access. Even in advanced economies, rising prices have impacted vulnerable households and caused significant economic, social and political strains.

Climate policies have been blamed in some quarters for contributing to the recent run-up in energy prices, but there is no evidence. In fact, a greater supply of clean energy sources and technologies would have protected consumers and mitigated some of the upward pressure on fuel prices.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine drove European and Asian gas prices to record highs

Evolution of key regional natural gas prices, june 2021-october 2022, what is causing it, disrupted supply chains, bad weather, low investment, and then came russia's invasion of ukraine.

Energy prices have been rising since 2021 because of the rapid economic recovery, weather conditions in various parts of the world, maintenance work that had been delayed by the pandemic, and earlier decisions by oil and gas companies and exporting countries to reduce investments. Russia began withholding gas supplies to Europe in 2021, months ahead of its invasion of Ukraine. All that led to already tight supplies. Russia’s attack on Ukraine greatly exacerbated the situation . The United States and the EU imposed a series of sanctions on Russia and many European countries declared their intention to phase out Russian gas imports completely. Meanwhile, Russia has increasingly curtailed or even turned off its export pipelines. Russia is by far the world’s largest exporter of fossil fuels, and a particularly important supplier to Europe. In 2021, a quarter of all energy consumed in the EU came from Russia. As Europe sought to replace Russian gas, it bid up prices of US, Australian and Qatari ship-borne liquefied natural gas (LNG), raising prices and diverting supply away from traditional LNG customers in Asia. Because gas frequently sets the price at which electricity is sold, power prices soared as well. Both LNG producers and importers are rushing to build new infrastructure to increase how much LNG can be traded internationally, but these costly projects take years to come online. Oil prices also initially soared as international trade routes were reconfigured after the United States, many European countries and some of their Asian allies said they would no longer buy Russian oil. Some shippers have declined to carry Russian oil because of sanctions and insurance risk. Many large oil producers were unable to boost supply to meet rising demand – even with the incentive of sky-high prices – because of a lack of investment in recent years. While prices have come down from their peaks, the outlook is uncertain with new rounds of European sanctions on Russia kicking in later this year.

What is being done?

Pandemic hangovers and rising interest rates limit public responses, while some countries turn to coal.

Some governments are looking to cushion the blow for customers and businesses, either through direct assistance, or by limiting prices for consumers and then paying energy providers the difference. But with inflation in many countries well above target and budget deficits already large because of emergency spending during the Covid-19 pandemic, the scope for cushioning the impact is more limited than in early 2020. Rising inflation has triggered increases in short-term interest rates in many countries, slowing down economic growth. Europeans have rushed to increase gas imports from alternative producers such as Algeria, Norway and Azerbaijan. Several countries have resumed or expanded the use of coal for power generation, and some are extending the lives of nuclear plants slated for de-commissioning. EU members have also introduced gas storage obligations, and agreed on voluntary targets to cut gas and electricity demand by 15% this winter through efficiency measures, greater use of renewables, and support for efficiency improvements. To ensure adequate oil supplies, the IEA and its members responded with the two largest ever releases of emergency oil stocks. With two decisions – on 1 March 2022 and 1 April – the IEA coordinated the release of some 182 million barrels of emergency oil from public stocks or obligated stocks held by industry. Some IEA member countries independently released additional public stocks, resulting in a total of over 240 million barrels being released between March and November 2022.

The IEA has also published action plans to cut oil use with immediate impact, as well as plans for how Europe can reduce its reliance on Russian gas and how common citizens can reduce their energy consumption . The invasion has sparked a reappraisal of energy policies and priorities, calling into question the viability of decades of infrastructure and investment decisions, and profoundly reorientating international energy trade. Gas had been expected to play a key role in many countries as a lower-emitting "bridge" between dirtier fossil fuels and renewable energies. But today’s crisis has called into question natural gas’ reliability.

The current crisis could accelerate the rollout of cleaner, sustainable renewable energy such as wind and solar, just as the 1970s oil shocks spurred major advances in energy efficiency, as well as in nuclear, solar and wind power. The crisis has also underscored the importance of investing in robust gas and power network infrastructure to better integrate regional markets. The EU’s RePowerEU, presented in May 2022 and the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act , passed in August 2022, both contain major initiatives to develop energy efficiency and promote renewable energies. 

The global energy crisis can be a historic turning point

Energy saving tips

1. Heating: turn it down

Lower your thermostat by just 1°C to save around 7% of your heating energy and cut an average bill by EUR 50-70 a year. Always set your thermostat as low as feels comfortable, and wear warm clothes indoors. Use a programmable thermostat to set the temperature to 15°C while you sleep and 10°C when the house is unoccupied. This cuts up to 10% a year off heating bills. Try to only heat the room you’re in or the rooms you use regularly.

The same idea applies in hot weather. Turn off air-conditioning when you’re out. Set the overall temperature 1 °C warmer to cut bills by up to 10%. And only cool the room you’re in.

2. Boiler: adjust the settings

Default boiler settings are often higher than you need. Lower the hot water temperature to save 8% of your heating energy and cut EUR 100 off an average bill.  You may have to have the plumber come once if you have a complex modern combi boiler and can’t figure out the manual. Make sure you follow local recommendations or consult your boiler manual. Swap a bath for a shower to spend less energy heating water. And if you already use a shower, take a shorter one. Hot water tanks and pipes should be insulated to stop heat escaping. Clean wood- and pellet-burning heaters regularly with a wire brush to keep them working efficiently.

3. Warm air: seal it in

Close windows and doors, insulate pipes and draught-proof around windows, chimneys and other gaps to keep the warm air inside. Unless your home is very new, you will lose heat through draughty doors and windows, gaps in the floor, or up the chimney. Draught-proof these gaps with sealant or weather stripping to save up to EUR 100 a year. Install tight-fitting curtains or shades on windows to retain even more heat. Close fireplace and chimney openings (unless a fire is burning) to stop warm air escaping straight up the chimney. And if you never use your fireplace, seal the chimney to stop heat escaping.

4. Lightbulbs: swap them out

Replace old lightbulbs with new LED ones, and only keep on the lights you need. LED bulbs are more efficient than incandescent and halogen lights, they burn out less frequently, and save around EUR 10 a year per bulb. Check the energy label when buying bulbs, and aim for A (the most efficient) rather than G (the least efficient). The simplest and easiest way to save energy is to turn lights off when you leave a room.

5. Grab a bike

Walking or cycling are great alternatives to driving for short journeys, and they help save money, cut emissions and reduce congestion. If you can, leave your car at home for shorter journeys; especially if it’s a larger car. Share your ride with neighbours, friends and colleagues to save energy and money. You’ll also see big savings and health benefits if you travel by bike. Many governments also offer incentives for electric bikes.

6. Use public transport

For longer distances where walking or cycling is impractical, public transport still reduces energy use, congestion and air pollution. If you’re going on a longer trip, consider leaving your car at home and taking the train. Buy a season ticket to save money over time. Your workplace or local government might also offer incentives for travel passes. Plan your trip in advance to save on tickets and find the best route.

7. Drive smarter

Optimise your driving style to reduce fuel consumption: drive smoothly and at lower speeds on motorways, close windows at high speeds and make sure your tires are properly inflated. Try to take routes that avoid heavy traffic and turn off the engine when you’re not moving. Drive 10 km/h slower on motorways to cut your fuel bill by around EUR 60 per year. Driving steadily between 50-90 km/h can also save fuel. When driving faster than 80 km/h, it’s more efficient to use A/C, rather than opening your windows. And service your engine regularly to maintain energy efficiency.

Analysis and forecast to 2026

Fuel report — December 2023

Europe’s energy crisis: Understanding the drivers of the fall in electricity demand

Commentary — 09 May 2023

Where things stand in the global energy crisis one year on

Commentary — 23 February 2023

The global energy crisis pushed fossil fuel consumption subsidies to an all-time high in 2022

Commentary — 16 February 2023

Fossil Fuels Consumption Subsidies 2022

Policy report — February 2023

Background note on the natural gas supply-demand balance of the European Union in 2023

Report — February 2023

Analysis and forecast to 2025

Fuel report — December 2022

How to Avoid Gas Shortages in the European Union in 2023

A practical set of actions to close a potential supply-demand gap

Flagship report — December 2022

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