You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
People in the community can buy cheaper products nowadays. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer
It is true that these days people are able to buy many low-priced products. While I accept that this has both benefits and drawbacks, I would argue that there are more disadvantages than advantages.
On the one hand, there are important benefits for the consumer when products are available at a lower price. Firstly, people have the chance to buy more goods when prices are lower on the shelves. Thus, for example, more people can afford to own a smart TV, a laptop or to install air-conditioning in their homes, and therefore enjoy a better standard of living. Secondly, the national economy will be boosted, as production must increase in order to meet the rising demand for such commodities. More jobs will be created as companies expand their sales of consumer goods, reducing the unemployment figures and enabling more people to share in the increasing prosperity.
On the other hand, I believe that there are serious drawbacks, which outweigh these benefits. The principal reason for this view is that cheaper products are almost invariably associated with poor quality. For example, when cheap imports from China first entered the American and European markets, consumers quickly realised that items such as electronic goods either did not work or quickly broke down and the materials themselves were not durable. Another factor is the adverse impact on the environment when there is unregulated expansion of production to provide cheap goods. This is obvious in all sectors of the economy, but most notably in agriculture, where cheap food has been produced at the cost of destroying forests, polluting rivers and damaging the quality of the soil.
In conclusion, as cheaper products are often of low quality and are produced in unsustainable ways, the disadvantages of low-priced goods outweigh the advantages.
295 words.
Vocab Highlights
on the shelves [expression]: on display in the shops, available for customers to buy.
smart TV [noun]: a TV which is like a normal TV but also has the Internet connected to it.
install [verb]: fix equipment into a position, so that it can be used.
prosperity [noun]: the state of being successful, especially at making mone
invariably [adverb]: always.
durable [adjective]: likely to last for a long time.
adverse [adjective]: negative and unpleasant – not likely to produce a good result.
unregulated [adjective]: not controlled by laws or rules.
the soil [noun] : the top part of the earth, in which plants and trees grow.
unsustainable [adjective]: that cannot be continued at the same rate or level.