IELTS|Upper-Intermediate|24. Number one website

Well, the website I’m going to talk about is called CD Baby.

Um, it sounds like a music website for babies, but it isn’t that at all. What it is is, it’s basically a site where you can listen to ordinary people. I mean people who aren’t famous, you know, not professionals. You can listen to their music, and they might be a solo artist or a band or whatever. You can buy their CDs on the site, or just play some selected tracks — there are all sorts of… many different types of music like jazz, blues, folk or rock. So … what people do is they make a CD in a recording studio somewhere. I don’t know whether some people set up the recording equipment in their own home, you know, there’s so much software around that you can use if you have the right kind of knowledge and skill, and, um, then they have to make some copies of their CD and send them to CD Baby. I meant to say earlier — it’s an American site … I think it’s based in Oregon, so the CDs have to be sent there. And there are a few online forms that you have to fill in because you’re basically selling something over the Internet. Um, it’s mainly young people who put their music on the site — though there’s no age limit — and they’re usually talented musicians and composers. Some of them might have their own bands or play regularly somewhere and they hope a talent scout will spot them on the website! As well as musicians, anyone can listen to the site and order the CDs online if they want to. I love this website because you get to hear original music, and whatever you choose, it’s always really good.

Well, the website I’m going to talk about is called CD Baby.

Um, it sounds like a music website for babies, but it isn’t that at all. What it is is, it’s basically a site where you can listen to ordinary people. I mean people who aren’t famous, you know, not professionals. You can listen to their music, and they might be a solo artist or a band or whatever. You can buy their CDs on the site, or just play some selected tracks — there are all sorts of… many different types of music like jazz, blues, folk or rock. So … what people do is they make a CD in a recording studio somewhere. I don’t know whether some people set up the recording equipment in their own home, you know, there’s so much software around that you can use if you have the right kind of knowledge and skill, and, um, then they have to make some copies of their CD and send them to CD Baby. I meant to say earlier — it’s an American site … I think it’s based in Oregon, so the CDs have to be sent there. And there are a few online forms that you have to fill in because you’re basically selling something over the Internet. Um, it’s mainly young people who put their music on the site — though there’s no age limit — and they’re usually talented musicians and composers. Some of them might have their own bands or play regularly somewhere and they hope a talent scout will spot them on the website! As well as musicians, anyone can listen to the site and order the CDs online if they want to. I love this website because you get to hear original music, and whatever you choose, it’s always really good.

Speaker A

Oh, absolutely. I mean, a significant advantage for anyone is that you can stay in touch with so many people using sites like Facebook. Another is that it really doesn’t matter how far away they are. Friends that you might otherwise lose can look at your photos and chat to you at night.

Speaker B

They could be right — yeah, a lot of people would agree with that. To be fair, I think it depends on how much time they spend on it and what purpose they use it for. If they come straight home from school and spend three hours in their room chatting on social networking sites, then I’d say there aren’t many benefits to doing that.

Speaker C

I think so, yes. Although it provides a lot of useful information. I think one of the main drawbacks of using it in education is that children just copy what they read and don’t bother trying to understand it. A real benefit to children of using books is that they’re often better written or they’re designed with a certain age group in mind.

We can express advantages and disadvantages with these words and dependent prepositions:

🔹advantage/disadvantage

— of a situation/circumstance/action

— for someone/something affected by the advantage/ disadvantage

The advantage for young people of knowing how to drive is that they are more independent.

🔹give/have an advantage over someone/something, e.g.

Cycling has several advantages over driving; for example, you don’t have to find somewhere to park the car.

🔹benefit (noun)

— of a situation/circumstance/action

— to/for someone/something affected by the benefit

The benefit of work experience to young people is that they learn things they wouldn’t learn at college.

🔹benefit (verb) from a situation/circumstance/action, e.g.
Francesca’s health has benefited from the fresh sea air.

🔹be of benefit to someone/something affected by the benefit (expression), e.g.
I hope this book will be of benefit to you.

🔹drawback:

— of/to a situation/circumstance/action

— for someone/something affected by the drawback

The drawback of modern medicine for governments is its high cost.

Note: The phrases pros and cons and ups and downs are informal and best avoided in written work.

Intonation

Speakers use intonation to show that they are engaged in a discussion and to help the conversation flow. Conversely, a monotone with little intonation or movement of the voice often denotes lack of interest, lack of engagement or even hostility.

This is important when you introduce your arguments, particularly if you want to disagree with the examiner but maintain a friendly, interested tone.

The voice moves most on the stressed syllables, so deciding where to place stress in a sentence will help with intonation, too.

Speaker A Speaker B

Speaker A: Some people say it isn’t good for children to use the Internet a lot in their free time — what do you think?
Speaker B: That could be right — yeah, a lot of people would agree with that.

Speaker A Speaker B

Speaker A: Would you agree that the Internet has a negative effect on children’s social lives?
Speaker B: Oh, well, actually, I think it has a positive one.

Some people say we’ve reached the point where technology is intruding on our private lives. Would you agree?

A. Oh, completely. There are CCTV cameras everywhere.

B. I don’t think people notice really — they’re just used to it.

C. I would, yes. Everywhere you go, there are screens of one kind or another.

D. Well, you can’t stop it — new developments are happening all the time.

E. I’m not sure. In some ways it’s a nuisance, but in others it isn’t.