Some people believe that there should be fixed punishments for each type of crime. Others think that the circumstances of a crime, and the reason for committing it should be considered when deciding on the punishment. Discuss both views.

The

first

common strategy used by examiners is to replace the correct word or phrase with a definition. By doing

this

they can test whether students know the correct language. In

this

, case the correct word for “fixed punishments for each type of crime” is “mandatory sentencing”. Other examples include replacing “tourists” with “visitors to other countries” and replacing “gap year” with “work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies”. The

second

strategy that examiners use to test students is to use non-academic phrasing. A common example of

this

is “Some people believe…” which is used in the example question above. Academic essays are about presenting ideas objectively and drawing conclusions. What an individual believes is unimportant – only the ideas are important. Using

this

phrasing serves no useful purpose and distances the writer from the ideas being presented. An academic writer must take responsibility for the ideas they are putting forward, rather than distancing themselves from them. The

third

strategy used by examiners is to present two extreme points of

view drawing

Accept comma addition

view, drawing

some students into thinking that there are only two alternatives when there is a range of possibilities resulting in incorrect language choices.