Đáp án tham khảo Ielts writing task 2 2015 - 2016

are the reasons? What are the effects on society and family life? 
ANSWER: 
In recent years, the decision of parents to start a family later in life has become an increasingly 
popular trend. There are a number of reasons for this trend, which is having a significant 
impact on both family life and on the community as a whole.” 
There are two important reasons why more people nowadays are deciding against having 
children when they are young. Firstly, rather than embarking on parenthood, many individuals 
consider that building their own successful careers is top-priority. If they had to split their 
time between working and bringing up their offspring when they were in the early stages of 
their careers, their performance at work and promotion prospects could be negatively affected. 
Secondly, delaying childbirth could give young people countless opportunities to enjoy their 
lives. For example, this choice may let young couples have a richer social life, pursue their 
interests and hobbies or even to travel the world. 
However, this tendency could have negative consequences in terms of both family life and 
society. An important concern for a family is that raising children could be a huge challenge 
for older parents. Even though they might have a high socioeconomic status, as well as great 
experience and knowledge, it may not be easy for them to communicate with and relate to their 
children, due to the generation gap. Another negative factor is that getting pregnant after 35 
years of age oftentimes carries more potential health risks. Specifically, this could increase 
the danger of having a miscarriage or stillbirth for older mothers, and babies might be at greater 
risk of having Down’s syndrome. Consequently, this could negatively affect the quality of the 
future workforce. 
In conclusion, there are a number of reasons why more and more people prefer giving birth later 
in life. As a result, there could be negative influences on individual families and the society at 
large. 
312 words 
COMMENT 
This is an excellent essay with a lot of strong points. I have never seen this topic before. It is a 
very interesting one. I hope that you don‟t mind if I e-mail Simon with this topic question [not 
your essay, of course]. Let me know. 
In paragraph 2, you suggested two very relevant reasons for this trend. You explained both of 
them fully and you supported your second point with an example. In paragraph 3, you focused 
exclusively on negative impacts. You argued both point convincingly and at length, again giving 
real-life examples to support your ideas. 
Written by Ngoc Bach 
Website: www.ngocbach.com 
Page: https://www.facebook.com/tuhocIelts8.0/ Page 88 
The topic sentences were ideal. You identified your arguments perfectly in paragraph 2. In 
paragraph 3, you referred first to ‘the first impact’. I think that the identification of your second 
argument will be clearer if you write: ‘Another impact is....‟ This would be more effective than 
‘Furthermore, ....’ 
As your sentences were also linked very smoothly, my score for task response is 9 and for 
coherence/cohesion my score is 9. 
VOCABULARY 
 to start a family later in life (lập gia đình muộn): to begin a family later rather than 
earlier; in the past couples used to start their families at younger ages, like 22, 23 or 24; 
nowadays they are having babies, which is how you start a family, in their late 20s or 
even 30s and 40s; “They decided to start a family later in life, preferring to work on their 
careers during their 20s and early 30s. They finally had their first baby when they were 
both 38 years old.” 
 increasingly popular trend (xu hướng phổ biến ngày càng gia tăng): increasingly 
means more and more so, as in something is happening more often, popular means that a 
lot of people are doing it; and a trend is something that a lot of people do at once, like a 
fad or a style; in this case it means that something is being done by more and more people 
at this time; “Taking a gap year before going to university is an increasingly popular 
trend among young people.” 
 having a significant impact on (có ảnh hưởng sâu sắc/lớn tới): significant means to be 
important or notable; to have an impact on means to affect something in some way, either 
positively or negatively; “This heat is having a significant impact on our ability to work 
outside. It‟s just too hot!” 
 community as a whole (cộng đồng chung): a community is a group of people, can refer 
to a small or large group of people, like a neighborhood, school or church community or 
as a large group of people, like a city, a culture, a nation of people; “The mayor wants to 
work with the community as a whole, rather than with just a few special interest groups 
here and there.” 
 deciding against (quyết định không): to decide means to make a decision or a choice 
about something; against means to make a decision not in favor of something; “They are 
deciding against going to Europe this summer. Instead, they are going to stay home and 
take summer school classes.” 
 embarking on parenthood (bắt đầu trở thành bậc cha mẹ): to embark on something 
means to start something; in this case it means to become a parent; parenthood is what 
you call the role of being a parent; you are always a parent once you have children, but 
this refers to the time you spend raising them; childhood is they time period when you 
Written by Ngoc Bach 
Website: www.ngocbach.com 
Page: https://www.facebook.com/tuhocIelts8.0/ Page 89 
were a child; “They will be embarking on parenthood this summer, when their new baby 
is born.” 
 top-priority (ưu tiên số 1): top means the highest point and priority means something 
that you want to do more than other things, so top-priority means the thing you want to 
do the most, above everything else; “They think that making money is the top-priority in 
their lives right now.” 
 to split their time between (chia sẻ thời gian cho): to split means to break into parts; 
in this case it means to spend some of your time doing one thing and some of your time 
doing another thing, splitting your time into parts; “They split their time between New 
York and Los Angeles.” 
 bringing up their offspring (nuôi nấng/chăm sóc con cái): to bring up means to raise; 
this is what you do as a parent with your children; you educate them, nurture them, etc.; 
offspring refers to your children; “They are bringing up their offspring in a very strict 
household.” 
 huge challeng (thách thức lớn): huge means large or giant in this case; the challenge is 
very big; it‟s difficult or tough; “Raising children and working is a huge challenge that 
not everyone wants to undertake.” 
 high socioeconomic status (tình trạng tài chính tốt, vững chắc): your socioeconomic 
status refers to how much money you have and therefore your status or place in society; if 
it‟s high, it means you have a lot of money: “Even though they have a high 
socioeconomic status, they really aren‟t that smart.” 
 generation gap (khoảng cách thế hệ): the experience of not understanding your parents 
or grandparents and them not understanding you due to being raised during different time 
periods, in a different cultural setting; “They were able to bridge the generation gap by 
watching old and new movies together and discussing them.” 
 negative factor (nhân tố tiêu cực): negative meaning not good; factor is something that 
affects something else; a negative factor is like something that you have to consider 
because it might not be good; “The one negative factor about this job is that I have to get 
up so early.” 
 oftentimes carries more potential health risks (luôn mang tới những rủi ro sức khỏe 
tiềm ẩn): oftentimes just means often or many times; to carry more potential risk means 
that it is possible to have health problems because of something; in this case, it is possible 
that a woman can suffer a health problem if she has a baby later in life, like after 35; 
“Undergoing certain procedures oftentimes carries more potential health risks than doing 
nothing.” 
 Specifically (đặc biệt): used when you want to provide something specific, certain details 
about something or you want to say something very clearly; “She specifically said she did 
not want to work full time, just part time.” 
 having a miscarriag (sẩy thai): this is what happens when a woman does not carry the 
fetus to full term (a baby), it usually happens early on in the pregnancy; “She isn‟t 
worried about having a miscarriage.” 
Written by Ngoc Bach 
Website: www.ngocbach.com 
Page: https://www.facebook.com/tuhocIelts8.0/ Page 90 
 Down’s syndrome (Hội chứng Down): a genetic chromosome 21 disorder causing 
developmental and intellectual delays; “Even though their child has Down‟s syndrome, 
they are so happy to be parents and they love her very much.” 
 Consequently (Vì vậy, do đó): used to say something that happens because of something 
else; something is a consequence or result of something else; “She didn‟t study for her 
test; consequently, she failed.” 
 future workforce (lực lượng lao động tương lai): refers to the fact that young people 
will be workers in the future; “The future workforce will face new challenges never 
experienced before.” 
 negative influences on individual families (ảnh hưởng tiêu cực tới các tế bào gia 
đình): negative meaning bad; influences meaning effects; on individual families refers to 
each nuclear family - a couple and their children, rather than families in general; “Based 
on the research, the negative influences on individual families could be lessened with 
more support from the government.” 
 the society at large (toàn xã hội): people in general; the community as a whole; 
“Violating human rights doesn‟t just affect individuals, it affects the society at large.”