Skip to main content

Hot Off The Press

ECPE Writing - Sample Article (Banning Cars from the City)

This is the fourth sample article that conforms to the writing section requirements of the ECPE (Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English) of the University of Michigan.  My first post to deal with articles , explains what needs to be present in the piece of writing candidates compose. Examiners are looking for articles that elaborate on ideas and have solid arguments; are well organized; make use of a wide lexical and grammatical range; have an original ring to them (in other words,

C2 Sample Essay 17 (Teen Unhealthy Eating Habits & Disorders)

Writing at C2 level (Proficient User) on English language examinations is the same no matter the awarding body when it comes to writing essays. If you are a candidate giving an exam in English, make sure you read my blog post What do I do with the sample writing found on this blog? to get the most out of the sample essays provided by yours truly. 

The following topic was taken from a Michigan State University English Language Examinations publication (Go For MSU - CELP (C2), Super Course System). As you will notice, the topic is similar to what candidates would expect in any other C2 level examination in that examiners expect a well-organized, coherent and cohesive discussion of the issue with arguments, explanations and examples. 

If you are not taking an exam but need ideas on the topic of eating disorders and unhealthy eating habits, then read on and note down what you deem useful. Don't forget: paraphrase to avoid plagiarism!







MSU –CELP Writing Sample Essay


Nowadays, teenagers seem to be suffering from a variety of eating disorders. On the one hand, obesity amongst the young is at record levels while at the same time, anorexia nervosa is becoming more and more common, sometimes with fatal results. Why have young people’s eating habits become so unbalanced? What could parents and teachers do to ensure young people have healthier diets? Support your opinion with examples and explanations.


            The pace of life is such in our days that our lifestyles have become hectic, stressful and a persistent race against the clock. Nutrition, it would seem, is one area which has suffered as a result of this hustle and bustle of daily life, with teenagers becoming susceptible to eating disorders such as obesity or anorexia. The causes behind such disorders are not complicated to deduce, making solutions to these problems then become readily available.
            To begin with, there are three main reasons why adolescents fall prey to eating disorders. The first is the pressure put on their time which forces them to grab a quick bite instead of allowing them to sit down to a home-made, healthier meal. Extra-curricular activities, mounds of assignments and text book pages to cover, pressure from their parents to achieve high grades in school all contribute to less time available for nourishing meals. Add to this the fact that parents are also chained to jobs which allow them little time to prepare nutritious lunches and dinners, and you end up with the perfect formula for obesity.
Another related cause of unhealthy eating has to do with the availability of fast food. This extremely tasty kind of food is present in almost every supermarket and diners selling it are found in practically all major cities and towns. How can anyone resist the delicious burgers, hotdogs, tacos and pizzas that are effortlessly obtainable, speedily delivered and in most cases reasonably priced? With so many additives and taste enhancers, teens are sure to get hooked and are bound to become overweight leading some to become anorexic in order to combat the extra pounds this type of food entails.
The final reason deals with anorexia and the images the media presents viewers with. Thin models prancing about in adverts or on catwalks and magazine covers promoting extremely lean, almost skeletal bodies push teens to compel themselves to look like the unattainable ideal image the media endorses, regardless if that body is dangerously thin.
To counterbalance all this, it is the job of teachers and parents to show youngsters the way. First off, parents should budget their time and have meals prepared beforehand so that their children can take healthy, balanced lunches with them to school or, if they expect not to be home by dinner, have home-cooked, ready-to-heat meals waiting in the fridge. This will ensure that children have no excuse to complain about having to spend time cooking for themselves on the one hand, while on the other a wholesome meal is guaranteed. Both parents and teachers should also talk freely about body image, advertising gimmicks, the dangers of obesity, binge eating and purging by sitting down with their children or students and watching documentaries on the topic or striking up heart-to-heart conversations. Schools should even incorporate cooking lessons to demonstrate how just a few minutes of fun and creativity can give you the nutrients you need to stay healthy, monitor your weight and give you energy. Last but not least, teachers and parents ought to set a good example and eat healthily themselves, as no teen is likely to take an adult seriously when they see that adult doing the precise opposite of what they preach.
          Taking everything into account, once the causes of obesity, anorexia and other eating disorders become clear, the ways to combat them also become evident. Teenagers must become aware of the dangers of eating unhealthy food or purging to stay thin or else will have to face severe health issues in later life.

Popular posts from this blog

Writing Letters of Complaint - Useful Phrases

Whether it's to complain about something you bought or a service you found was unsatisfactory, as part of your job or because you are preparing to take an exam in English at B2 or C2 level, it is a fact that you should know the basics about writing or even orally expressing your dissatisfaction.  The following post should help you organize your letter or email (even an oral statement, if necessary) as well as give you some useful phrases you can use.

Virginia Woolf - The Legacy (Overview)

When a wife dies and leaves her husband her diary, all is possible. In Gil bert Clandon's case, the legacy his wife leaves him is much more than he could ever have imagined.  Virgi nia Woolf signs an exceptional short story which questions the foundations of marriage, people's need for communication by any means possible a nd their inclusion in a mutually beneficial partnership . When one reneges on that contract, the other will seek new outlets to grow , as p ersonal d evelopment in any marriage is inevitable. If that development is undertaken without any consideration for one's spouse, then problems will unavoidably ensue.

Tobias Wolff - Powder (Overview)

"Powder" is a short story intended to quickly state the obvious - a father's bond to his son is always a difficult thing to forge when parents aren't on good terms with each other. The level of difficulty in achieving this increases as fathers aren't used to explicitly explaining to their sons that they are trying to forge a stronger bond at a particular moment in time to begin with. Accordingly, the complications the father in this particular story is required to overcome are not only the time constraints the mother has placed on the trip as a whole or the mistrust towards her husband she has allowed her son to bear witness to which the father feels he must compensate for, but also the disparity in character traits that father and son exhibit. Having read the story for the first time, students predominantly respond to the query "What was the story about?" either with "I didn't get it. Some father and son skiing" or "S

Nadine Gordimer - An Intruder (Overview)

The short story An Intruder was incorporated in Nadine Gordimer's short story collection Livingston's Companions, published in 1970. As such, it must be read and viewed through the prism of her somewhat earlier works which dealt with South African society's inequality and the problems arising from the diseased status quo of the times. An Intruder focuses on relationships between characters and how perceptions of a situation differ in the eyes of each individual based on a combination of nature and nurture, or at the very least that is what Gordimer would have the reader gauge. What made James Seago what he is? Why is Mrs Clegg, Marie's mother, such a typical depthless wishful socialite with an exaggerated respect for higher social status? Couldn't Marie judge the merit of the man who treats her like a child or is she turning a blind eye to his behavior because it suits her? Whatever the answers to these questions, the one certainty we have is that the noti

C2 Sample Essay 8 (Parenting)

Writing at C2 level (Proficient User) on English language examinations is the same no matter the awarding body when it comes to writing essays. If you are a candidate giving an exam in English (IELTS, CPE, ECPE, CELP, LRN, ESB, TOEFL), make sure you read my earlier post What do I do with the sample writing found on this blog? to get the most out of the sample essays provided on Argute Legacy .     The topic of this essay is to discuss what the responsibilities of parenting are. If you are not taking an exam but need to discuss this topic, then read on and note down what you deem useful. If you intend to use this essay as part of an assignment, remember to paraphrase so as not to plagiarize. The topic is similar to what candidates expect in any other C2-level examination in that examiners want to see a well-organized, coherent and cohesive discussion of the issue with arguments and examples written in approximately half an hour. Whether or not you agree with the