You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic:

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of working from home.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

1 Before you read the model essay below, discuss if you think these chunks are connected with the advantages or disadvantages of working from home.

1 greater freedom    2 attend meetings    3 extremely tempting

4 rush-hour traffic     5 feel cut-off     6 make a personal phone call

2 Read the essay to check if your answers to Exercise 1 were the same as the

writer's opinion.

Over the last two or three decades, the way that business is done has changed dramatically due to major advances in technology. As a result, a growing number of people are now choosing to work from the comfort of their own home. However is this development positive, or are there more drawbacks than advantages? In this essay, I will explore the pros and cons of working from home and try to draw some conclusions.

I will start by looking at the advantages. One of the major plus points of working remotely is the fact that you do not have to commute to work. Millions of people worldwide have to deal with rush-hour traffic to make their way to the office. Obviously, this is not necessary if you turn your home into your place of work.

Secondly, working at home gives you much more freedom to manage your working day. For example, if you work in an office, you are often asked to attend meetings, and your timetable is decided for you. This is not the case when you work in an office at home.

On the other hand, it can be very easy to get distracted if you are in your home environment. For instance, it is extremely tempting to turn on the television, go and relax in the garden or make a personal phone call. Clearly, these distractions will dramatically reduce how much work you produce. Another major disadvantage of  working from home is that people have much less contact with their colleagues. This can make them feel cut-off, despite the extra freedom they have working from home. What's more, daily contact with people at work is often how good friendships are made.

To conclude, there are both positives and negatives to this way of working. In spite of the fact that it removes travel issues and gives us greater freedom, many people find it difficult because of distractions at home and feeling isolated. Personally, I believe it is important to keep work and home life separate to find the right work-life balance.   (345 words)

Structure and linking

in spite of / despite

A useful way to link ideas in your writing is by using in spite of and despite. After in spite of or despite, we use:

a a noun (e.g. the weather)

b a pronoun (e.g. this/that/ these/his)

c (not) verb + —ing (e.g. having, being)

1 Match these examples (1-3) to the rules in the box above (a-c).

1 Working from home is becoming increasingly popular, despite having several

major disadvantages.

2 In spite of these problems, many people still choose to work at home.

3 Despite the distractions, many people still choose to work at home.

2 Underline the grammar pattern in each of the three examples in Exercise 1.

3 Rewrite the ideas in these sentences using despite or in spite of as indicated in brackets.

1 Millions of people work in the comfort of their own home. However, they are not very productive. (despite)

Despite not being very productive, millions of people work in the comfort of their own home.

2 Although rush-hour traffic around London is awful, hundreds of thousands of workers commute on a daily basis, (in spite of)

3 There are many clear advantages to using email for business communication.

However, it often leads to breakdowns in communication, (despite)

4 Although using email can cause breakdowns in communication, it is still used widely in business, (in spite of)

4 Focus on the use of although and however in Exercise 3. How is it different from the use of despite / in spite of?

5 Rewrite the sentences in Exercise 1 using although and however.

6 Connect these ideas with despite or in spite of.

1 still buy a newspaper / advances in wireless Internet connection

2 is good for your health / people never ride a bicycle to work

3 millions of students study abroad / language barrier

4 extremely difficult at times / excitement / starting own business

5 advantages of owning a pet / cause problems

You can also use despite the fact that / in spite of the fact that + subject + verb (clause). Despite the fa ct that working from home has several disadvantages, it is becoming increasingly popular.

In spite of the fact that technology is improving, working away from the office still has its problems.

7 Highlight the subject + verb in the examples in the box above.

8 Choose three sentences from earlier exercises in this section and rewrite them using despite the fact that or in spite o f the fact that.

9 Scan the model essay in this and other units of the book to find examples of despite / in spite of.