Useful phrases for writing essays:

The following is a list of phrases that can be used when writing an essay. Notice that they have a
formal style and that they do not contain contractions.

Establishing the purpose of the essay (introduction)

This essay critically examines...
The paper will review the research conducted on...
The aim of this paper is to examine...
The essay seeks to...

Giving opinions/stating facts

It is vitally important to...
I would like to point out that...
It is doubtful that...
Without a doubt...
It would be infinitely preferable to...

Giving somebody elses opinion

It has recently been suggested that...
According to Dr...

Giving examples
In the case of...
This is an example of...
For instance...

Presenting arguments in order

Firstly...
Secondly...
In addition to what has already been mentioned...

Summarising your opinion

In the end,...
All in all,...
In conclusion,...

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Writing Task - ESSAY

Layout:

4 paragraphs:

1) Include statement declared in the task.

2) Give 2/3 reasons for the statement.
3) Give 2/3 reasons against the statement.
4) Conclude by summing up and giving your opinion.

Style:

Formal, so:

No contractions, phrasal verbs, idioms;

Avoid using the first person singular as far as possible;
Use passive voice as much as possible;
Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence;
Justify your ideas with examples;
Do not include any new ideas in the conclusion.

Useful expressions to introduce arguments/points:

Generally speaking/ There is no doubt that/There are many advantages to +

ing/It is a well-known fact that/It is thought/believed/claimed that/One
point of view is/For one thing,/Another argument is/Far from + ing/ There
are those/people who believe that/ On the one hand/On the other hand,/In
contrast with/Contrary to the above ideas,/On the contrary,/ /Others feel/argue
that.
Discourse markers: All types:- concession, cause, result, time, reason,
contrast, emphasis, summing up, etc.
Firstly,/secondly,/In addition,(to this,)/Furthermore,/Moreover,/What is more,/
However,/ Therefore, /In spite of + ing/ Despite + ing/Nonetheless,/
Although/Since/As/Because/Owing to/Due to/No matter how/what/All the
while/In the meantime,/nevertheless,/Regardless of/As a matter of fact,/As a
consequence,/All in all,/ On the whole,/Another point worth mentioning
is/Taking everything into account,/My belief is that../The way I see it is

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CPE Essay: Computers, friends or
enemies?
CPE Writing task: After a class discussion on computers and the future,
your English teacher has asked you to write an essay entitled "Computers:
friends or enemies?" for her and your classmates to read.
Computers: Friends or enemies? (title)
(introduction)
There has come a time in which we have become too dependent on
computers. We rely on them to do very delicate tasks like controlling space
vessels and under-water fast trains, but we also need them to perform
ridiculous others such as calculating a two-digit equation. It is yet to be
known whether computers will prove to be our best friends who will make
our lives easier or an enemy who will take over our places as we become
useless and lazy.

(P1 Arguments pro computers)

On one hand these machines do wonders when it comes to saving up time;
take travelling or printing for instance. In ancient times people would have
to walk for days to go from one village to another and books had to be
handwritten. Furthermore computers are used for medical reseach and
was it not for them the cure for many deadly diseases would not have been
discovered. They have also proved themselves invaluable in physics,
chemistry and biology, where numerous experiments on DNA and even
cloning are currently being carried out.

(P2 Arguments against computers)

On the other hand we have grown so fond of technology and gadgets that
we do not even use our memories to store basic information such as our
telephone numbers any more. What for, if we can record them in our
pocket-size laptops. but even more worryingly is the fact that the
development of artificial intelligence and the creating of superintelligent
robots could result in a world which is controlled by computers.

(conclusion)
Even when these arguments may seem exaggerated and we may not think
we are at a real risk of ending up living in a world which is entirely
dominated by computers - the way it happens in science fiction B movies-,
I do fear we might become so dependent on them that our abilities would

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be diminished. So as I see it perhaps it would be a good idea to go back to
counting with fingers.