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Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

Describe a good law in your country.

You should say:

• what it is
• how you know about it
• what people think about this law 

and explain why you think that it is a good law.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

Sample Answer 1:
As a citizen of the United States of America, I am aware of some excellent laws which ensure social justice, human rights, prevent influential people to use their power and make the USA one of the safest countries in the world. ‘Fair Housing Act’ is a law that I think is quite a significant and excellent law and for this cue card topic, I would like to talk about it.

The Fair Housing Act was first adopted in 1968 and it has gone through several amendments up until now. This law was implemented to ensure fair housing policy and to eliminate the discrimination on rent or sale for any property in the USA. The legislation was in place to make it illegal for anyone to refuse to sell, rent or make housing available to someone based on their race, colour, sex, religion, country of origin, family status, or handicap. The Fair Housing Act also protects citizens in mortgage landing circumstances, making it illegal for anyone to discriminate when appraising property or require different fees or contacts of someone just because of their race, colour, national origin or religion.

I first learned about this law from an assignment one of our teachers gave us during our second term in college. We were supposed to complete a lengthy and thorough assignment on housing rent discrimination in Michigan state. As part of the assignment, I had to study the acts and laws related to housing rent and property sale. Later on, I read a newspaper editorial that explained some unfairness on renting houses in the USA and how laws prohibit it.

I think most people believe that this is a vital law in place to reduce racism and social prejudice. For some people, it is quite a life-saving law. Most of my friends think that this is quite an important law in place.

I personally believe that this law protects thousands of US citizens to be unfairly treated while renting or purchasing a property. This act ensures the equal rights of US citizens and maintains social justness. Laws are meant to establish the fact that all human beings are equal and they should never be discriminated against due to their economic conditions, sex, race, social status, country of origin, religion colour, and this law I am talking about perfectly reflects this important issue and makes housing rules fair. Without this law, there would have been widespread discrimination on property renting and selling. Doubtlessly this is one of the most important laws in our country. 

Model Answer 2:
I think all laws are good because they all are aimed to bring good for a country and its citizens except, of course, some “unruly” and “pathological law violators” would always try to disregard them at the expense of greater benefits. Anyway, today, I would like to talk about one such good law which was introduced and passed in our parliament in the year 2016 in order to effectively deal with the systematic challenges which are plaguing the road transport sector in India.

The name of the bill is the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016 which I first came to know about in July 2016. This bill has a number of provisions which include a hefty increase in the fines for traffic rules violators, cancelling the registration of motor vehicles, sending unruly drivers to jail, and improving services for disabled people because of suffering fatal injuries in road accidents. For example, driving with a disqualified license, which attracted a penalty of Rs 500 before, will now cost the violators Rs 10,000, thanks to the new Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill 2016. Finally, with the help of the new law, e-governance services will improve so that the drivers can get learning licenses online and increase the validity period of their drivers’ licenses. The common people are really happy about this law, and they expect the provisions of this law to be enforced strictly.

In my opinion, it is a very good law primarily because it will go a long way to address the horrible situation on Indian roads and highways where accidents kill about 17 people every hour. Besides, this law will allow the drivers to receive their learners’ licenses and increase their validity periods easily and quickly online. Finally, this law is a good law also because it will provide some much-needed comforts and hope for the “disabled” people by providing them better services.

Sample Answer 3:
Smoking is undoubtedly a bad habit with numerous detrimental impacts on smokers and on society as a whole. Not a single benefit of smoking could be found until today and so the government of Australia has become rigid on the issue of smoking here and there. I welcome a law that bans smoking in public places and which ensures that cigarettes are sold in plain packets.

Besides, the government has also initiated plain packaging for tobacco products. It points out that all tobacco products should be sold in a generic packet. There should be no advertisements for tobacco products on the packets. And all the brands will have the same colour in their pack. Any sort of imagery or branding is banned after the recent law that came into force in 2012. However, the brand name of the cigarette brand should be placed in a preset font and on a specific part of the packet. The health warning should be mentioned clearly. The plain packaging system is also introduced in some other states but Australia is the leading one in the case.  

When the stringent anti-smoking law came into force, it was publicised on mainstream media. I came to know about the issue from the mass media reports and other publications. Moreover, there were some silent moves by the tobacco companies and they tried to stop the process of plain packaging. But they were a failure. Despite the barriers from the tobacco companies, the government implemented the law and made it a must for them to sell cigarettes in plain packets. Disobeying the law is subject to severe punishment in terms of monetary fine and sentence for imprisonment.

People across the country and islands are highly satisfied with the anti-smoking law provisions. In fact, it was troublesome to tolerate cigarette smoke in public transports and places like bus stoppages, medical centres, theatres, schools, colleges, shopping malls and other public places. This was a big problem for the non-smokers to comply with the cigarette smoke. As a result, the number of health disorders was on the rise. But with the initiation of the new anti-tobacco law, now the non-smokers are relieved to a great extent. The rate of smoking in public places has reduced to a great extent. Besides, there is a decline in cigarette sell as well. So, it appears that people have accepted the law gladly and abiding it as much as they can.   

This is really a good law for the state. Smoking is detrimental both for smokers and non-smokers. Besides, smoking cigarettes is also harmful to the environment. The attempt from the government to stop the use of tobacco is really appreciating. It is anticipated that someday the use of tobacco will come down to a great extent and that is the expectation from everyone.

More Ideas to talk about this Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card topic:

Topic: Describe a good law in your country.

1. The hike in the minimum wage for workers is a very good law in the UK. I came to know about the law from a local newspaper here in Yorkshire. People are happy with the decisions, particularly since the law has changed the lives of working-class people. This is a good constitution because it helps to elevate the lives of working-class people across the country. They are having access to a decent life. So, I think, this is a good law for the country indeed.

2. The child abuse prevention act of the USA government is a great law. I came to know about the law during a research work about child molestation in the country. People also have welcomed the law warm-heartedly. The law prohibits all forms of child abuse and the violators will be punished severely after the law provisions. The law also has ordered to reduce juvenile harassment and all sorts of negligence to the children in the country.

3. Escorting females to the police station by female police officers is a great law in India. I came to know about the law through a television advertisement. The common people have admitted that this is a good law for the country. Earlier, to control situations or violence, the police force used to take control of everything and the male police members used to arrest everyone including females. But such arrests created unwanted situations. Hence the law orders to use of female police officials to arrest females or deal with them. So, I think this a good law in reality.

4. Law in Japan orders all foreigners to keep their passports all the time. This is a very good law to prevent unwanted crimes and situations. I came to know about the law from a newspaper article. People of the country have also praised the regulation to an extreme extent. This is the law that will help make all the foreigners in the country aware and they would not dare to get involved in criminal activities. Considering the ground, this is an effective law, I believe.

5. Drinking alcoholic beverages is usual in Thailand but if someone takes a photo with the beverage, that is a punishable offence. While reading an article on the Internet, I came to know about the law. There is a mixed reaction among the Thai people about the law. Some of them have praised it while some others oppose it. But I think this is a good law because it will refrain people from posting photos with alcohol. It will help to reduce moral degradation as well because often such photos go viral that may have detrimental impacts on society.

Part 3 - Detailed Discussions

Q. Do you think laws are acceptable to the people? Why is that?
Answer:  I think that most people, by and large, are ready to accept any laws primarily because they are law-abiding citizens, and they respect the laws. Then, of course, some people accept the laws because they are “afraid” of the consequences of violating the laws. Besides, since most people are law-abiding citizens, because of the good education and upbringing they receive, they fully understand that without the rule of laws, anarchy, chaos and criminal behaviour will come to “consume” the entire society and country, which will keep nobody safe. Therefore, whether they like it or not, they accept the laws. 

Q. Is there any situation wherein people may disobey some laws? Why is so?
Answer:  Basically, there are two different kinds of situations wherein people may disobey the laws. First, if a situation comes when a person is not able to meet his/her basic needs, such as food and medicines, in order to survive, the chances are really high that he or she will disobey some laws, no matter how harsh the punishment is. Secondly, if a person feels that some laws are falling short of ensuring “justice” on a continuous basis, in the name of ensuring some “vague rule of laws”, it is only to be expected that people will disobey those laws. Interestingly, some people violate laws just because they do not know them or take the laws very lightly.

Q. Do people like being a police officer in your country?Why/why not?
Answer:  No, I don’t really think that people in my country exactly like to become police officer primarily because they know that they won’t be able to do their jobs in a professional manner due to the political pressure from the top. They don’t like this police job also because the police force in my country is way too much “stretched” and “ill-equipped” to deal with the regular law and order situations, let alone facing the bigger “security threats”. Finally, police forces in my country don’t exactly receive a good salary package, for the very demanding service they provide to their country, which would encourage the people to become a police officer. 

Q. What qualities should a good police officer possess?
Answer:  Just like any other professional, a police officer should also be honest, punctual, hard-working, well-educated, intelligent and helpful. However, in addition to those qualities, I just mentioned above, one has to be really tough, both physically and mentally, in order to maintain the law and order of the land effectively and efficiently, if someone wants to be considered a good police officer. Finally, one also has to be really patient, brave and “unbiased”, in order to become a good police officer, so that he can act “prudently” in a tricky security situation which threatens the lives of innocent people.

Q. Should people be penalised when they use mobile phones while driving?
Answer:  Yes, I think that people should be “penalized” for using mobile phones while driving because this particular habit clearly threatens the ‘road safety and security’ issues. In fact, according to the National Safety Council (USA), cell phone use, while driving, leads to 1.6 million crashes each year. Besides, nearly 390,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving also. Finally, 1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving. Now, if these statistics are not enough to scare the “unruly” drivers, then the only thing left to do is to “punish or penalize” them for their dangerous habit of using mobile phones while driving.

Q. What laws should be introduced so that people do not violate traffic rules? Why do you think so? 
Answer:  Traffic laws that force people to pay hefty fines for violating traffic rules can be a good start. But, for serious violations, there should also be such laws that cancel car registration, driving licenses and then take them to prison for long term punishment. Finally, there should also be some provisions in the laws that will force the traffic rule violators to help the “injured and suffering persons” until they are ‘reasonably’ recovered from the wounds/damages of the accidents. I think that these kinds of laws will work to a large extent because they will make people pay “heavily” for their ‘irresponsible and criminal behaviour’.

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