enormousswayinthisregard.ApopularfiguresuchasMichaelJacksonwould neverbe
sowellknownwereitnotforthemedia'sextensivereachintoeverysociety onthe
globe.
ThusIwouldarguethatthemassmedia'sinfluenceiscertainly great.Indeed,with
technologicaladvancementssuchastheInternetbringingevenmoreformsof
electronicmediato ourhomesandworkplaces,itislikelythemedia'sinfluencewill
growevenstronger.
Sample 136
Therisinglevelsofcongestionandairpollutionfoundinmostoftheworld's
citiescanbeattributeddirectlytotherapidlyincreasingnumberofprivate
carsinuse.Inordertoreversethisdeclineinthequality oflifeincities,
attemptsmustbemadetoencouragepeopletousetheircarslessandpublic
transportmore.
Discusspossiblewaystoencouragetheuseofpublictransport.
Youshouldwriteatleast 250 words.Youshouldspendabout 40 minutes onthistask.modelanswer:
Anyonewholivesinacityisawareoftheincreasing numberofcarsontheroadand
thekindsofproblemsthiscreates:trafficjams,airpollutionandlongercommuting
periods.Aseconomiesgrowandaccesstocarsspreadstoincreasing numbersof
people,thistrendislikelytoworsen.Thesolution,itwouldseem,isfor governrnment
toencouragetheuseof publictransportin urbanareas,thus decreasing dependence
onthecar.
Onewaytostimulatepublictransportuseistomakeprivatecarusemoreexpensive
andinconvenient.Theintroduction oftollsalong urbanmotorwayshasbeensuccessfully
employedinmanycities.Othersuchmeasuresarehigh-priced permitsforparkingin
urbanareasandtherestriction ofparkingtoalimited number ofcars.Facedwith high
costsorno placeto park,commuterswould perhapsbe
morewillingtoabandontheircarsin
favourofbusesortrains.
Therearealsolesspunishingwaysofspurring publictransportuse.Theconstruction of
freecarparksatsuburbantrainstationshasprovensuccessfulin quiteanumberof
countries.Thisallowscommutersto drivepartoftheway, buttakepublictransportinto
thecentral,mostcongested, urbanareas.
Indeed,making publictransportmorecomfortableandconvenientshouldworkto
attractmorecommutersand decreasetrafficcongestion.Publictransportthatis
convenientandcomfortableretainsits passengers,muchlikeany businessthat