The Changing World: Environment, Technology and Social Change
What this domain asks you to do
This domain deals with contemporary issues: urbanisation, transport, plastic waste, deforestation, renewable energy, social media, education, employment and globalisation. You must read an opinion or report, identify the writer's stance, and produce your own reasoned response using cause, effect, contrast and recommendation language.
Concepts and vocabulary
- Environment: sampah plastik, pencemaran, penebangan liar, banjir, daur ulang, energi terbarukan, perubahan iklim.
- Technology: media sosial, kecanduan gawai, berita palsu (hoax), privasi, literasi digital.
- Urbanisation: urbanisasi, kemacetan, permukiman kumuh, transportasi umum, polusi udara.
- Connectors of argument: oleh karena itu, sebagai akibatnya, meskipun demikian, sebaliknya, selain itu, dengan demikian.
- Hedging and stance: seharusnya, sebaiknya, perlu dipertimbangkan, menurut saya, di satu sisi ... di sisi lain.
Traps that appear in questions
- Cause vs correlation: a text may say banyak orang pindah ke kota, sehingga kemacetan meningkat - the question asks for the effect, so answer kemacetan, not urbanisasi.
- Writer's stance: meskipun demikian signals the writer's real opinion often follows the contrast, not before it.
- Passive constructions hide the agent: sampah dibuang ke sungai - who does it may be unstated; do not invent an agent.
- Numbers and units: persen, ton, hektar, kilometer; a question may ask about a rate rather than a total.
- Modal verbs: harus (obligation), bisa/dapat (ability), mungkin (possibility) - swapping them changes meaning.
Worked example
Text: Penggunaan kantong plastik sekali pakai terus meningkat. Akibatnya, jumlah sampah plastik di sungai bertambah dan risiko banjir meningkat. Oleh karena itu, beberapa daerah menerapkan larangan kantong plastik.
Question: What measure have some regions taken? Answer: they have banned single-use plastic bags. To write your own response, use the pattern: issue + evidence + recommendation, e.g. Saya setuju dengan larangan ini karena ... Namun, pemerintah juga perlu menyediakan alternatif yang terjangkau agar ...
Rule of thumb
For opinion questions, use a two-sided structure: acknowledge the other view with memang benar bahwa ..., then state your position with namun and support it with one concrete example. This satisfies criteria for depth of argument.