Writing task 2 - Virgin attempt

Topic

In recent years, more and more people are choosing to read e-books rather than paper books.
Do the advantages outweight the disadvantages?

Answer

There is a growing trend of people preferring to read the contents via e-books instead of paper books. In my opinion, the pros outnumber the cons in favour of e-books.

Traditionally, paper books have brought a sense of seriousness and respect to the art of book reading. Avid readers opine that reading is an experience by itself and that paper books gives an illusion of direct communication between the author and the reader. One cannot imagine a book library with only tablet computers lying around.

While granting the beauty to the old school way of book reading, it is important to look ahead to the needs of future generations. Younger generation of readers do not prefer the heavy books. They are attracted to the notion that a small thin book-sized computer can hold the contents of countless books. Statistics indicate that the adoption of e-books is higher in the age-group of 10 to 30 years compared to the age-group of 50 years and above.

The most important aspect of e-books is that they are paperless. With ever increasing population and the corresponding demand for books, e-books does nature a great favour. A recent study showed that an average New York Times best seller is responsible for the destruction of hundred trees. While printing industries have invested in recycling papers, they have not found a permanent solution to save tress that are cut for producing books.

In summary, people are justified in switching over to e-books. Though paper books have retained their aesthetic appeal, they cannot offer the convenience and various other advantages that e-books offer.

Self-Review

• Though I thought I would be loquacious as usual, my word count hovered just above 250. 264 is a very good number.
• I pride myself that I am better than even native speakers in getting the singular/plural part of the grammar correct but I got few mistakes. Need to review properly.
• I have highlighted what I thought was wrong grammar. Mostly, I have not used the article "the" properly although I am not sure if I am right about the mistakes. :)

Lessons in time management

• Time taken: 34 minutes.
• It is evident that I can write fast. However, need to test the speed in full fledged test. With task 2 being the last section, the energy levels are bound to be low.
• I have decided to allocate 10 minutes to get my thoughts together. It is worth investing the time.
• It is definitely worth spending good amount of time in the introduction. Paraphrasing is hard especially if the vocabulary is limited.