An original GRE "Analyze an Issue" practice prompt on the internet's effect on society — write a timed response, then compare it against three model answers.

সমাজের উপর ইন্টারনেটের প্রভাব নিয়ে একটি মৌলিক GRE "Analyze an Issue" অনুশীলন প্রম্পট — সময়বদ্ধ উত্তর লিখুন, তারপর তুলনা করুন।

30min
Timeসময়
1
Taskটাস্ক
0–6
Score Rangeস্কোর সীমা

How to use it: Start the timer, plan for ~5 minutes, then write your essay in the box below. When you're done, open the checklist and the model responses to self-assess.

ব্যবহারের নিয়ম: টাইমার শুরু করুন, পরিকল্পনা করুন, তারপর রচনা লিখুন।

Issue Prompt

"The widespread availability of information through the internet has done more to help society than to harm it."

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement above and explain your reasoning. In developing your position, consider ways the statement might or might not hold true, and explain how these considerations shape your position.

30:00
Aim for 400–600 words.0 words

Self-Assessment Checklist

লেখা শেষে নিজেই যাচাই করুন — প্রতিটি সঠিক হলে টিক দিন।

0 / 8 checked

Model Responses

Compare your essay against these three model responses, written at different score levels on the official 0-6 rubric.

আপনার রচনাকে বিভিন্ন স্কোর স্তরের এই তিনটি মডেল উত্তরের সাথে তুলনা করুন।

Model Response Score 6

On balance, the internet's widespread availability of information has helped society more than it has harmed it, but this conclusion depends heavily on how well a society manages the internet's genuine capacity to spread misinformation — a capacity the statement's optimism should not obscure.

The benefits are substantial and well documented. During the 2010-2011 Arab Spring uprisings, activists used social media and internet access to organize protests and share information that state-controlled media suppressed, demonstrating the internet's power to counter information monopolies held by authoritarian governments. On a more everyday level, the availability of free educational resources, from open university lecture series to medical information for patients managing chronic conditions, has meaningfully expanded access to knowledge that was previously gated behind expensive institutions or specialists, particularly benefiting people in developing countries who now have access to the same information as those in wealthier ones.

Yet the same openness that enables this benefit also enables serious harm, and the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated this vividly: false claims about vaccines and treatments spread through social media at a scale and speed that public health authorities struggled to counter, in some cases directly contributing to preventable illness and death. Algorithmic recommendation systems on major platforms have also been shown to amplify sensational or polarizing content because it drives engagement, contributing to the echo chambers and political polarization that many researchers link to the internet's growth over the past decade.

A critic might argue that this harm is severe enough to outweigh the benefit, but the comparison is not symmetric: misinformation is a real cost, but it is also a manageable one, addressable through media literacy education, platform accountability, and improved fact-checking infrastructure, whereas the foundational benefit of open access to information is difficult to replicate through any other means. Societies that invest in these safeguards appear to capture much of the internet's benefit while limiting its harm, suggesting the net outcome is not fixed but depends on deliberate choices.

In conclusion, the internet has done more to help society than to harm it, largely because its core benefit, democratized access to information, has no comparable substitute, but this net benefit is conditional on serious, ongoing efforts to counteract the misinformation the same openness makes possible.

Why this scores a 6: Takes a clear position while directly acknowledging the strongest form of the opposing case rather than a weak version of it; cites specific, accurately described events (Arab Spring, COVID-19 misinformation, algorithmic amplification) on both sides of the argument; the conclusion is conditional and precise rather than a flat restatement, reflecting genuine synthesis of the tension explored in the body; sophisticated transitions and sentence variety throughout. উভয় পক্ষের শক্তিশালী উদাহরণ ও শর্তসাপেক্ষ উপসংহারের কারণে এটি ৬ স্কোর পায়।
Model Response Score 4–5

I agree that the internet has done more to help society than harm it, because access to information has many important benefits for people around the world.

One reason is that the internet allows people to learn new things easily, whether it's for school, work, or personal interest. Before the internet, people had to rely on libraries or experts, but now information is available instantly to almost anyone with a connection.

Another reason is that the internet helps people stay informed about important events happening around the world, which can help hold governments and organizations accountable when their actions are exposed to the public.

However, I do think the internet has caused some harm too, such as the spread of false information, which can confuse people or even be dangerous, like during health crises when people believe incorrect information. This is a real problem that societies need to address.

In conclusion, even though the internet has some negative effects like misinformation, I believe its benefits, like access to knowledge and government accountability, outweigh the harms overall.

Why this scores a 4–5: The position and structure closely mirror the score-6 essay's logic (benefit of access vs. harm of misinformation) and a real counterpoint is raised — but no specific event, platform, or study is ever named, so every claim remains at the level of general assertion rather than concrete, developed evidence. যুক্তির কাঠামো সঠিক কিন্তু নির্দিষ্ট উদাহরণের অভাবে এটি ৪-৫ স্কোরের পর্যায়ে থাকে।
Model Response Score 3

I agree that the internet has helped society more than it has harmed it because now everyone can find information easily whenever they need it.

Before the internet people did not have as much access to information but now anyone can look things up which is very helpful for learning and staying informed about the world.

Some people say the internet is bad because of fake news but I think the good parts of the internet are more important than the bad parts overall.

In conclusion the internet has helped society a lot because information is easy to find now and this benefit is more important than any problems it might cause.

Why this scores a 3: The essay repeats "information is easy to find, so it helps" across all four paragraphs without introducing a second distinct supporting point, never names a specific example of any kind, and the counterargument about "fake news" in paragraph 3 is dismissed in the same sentence rather than explored. The conclusion is nearly identical to the introduction. একই যুক্তির পুনরাবৃত্তি ও উদাহরণের অভাবে এই উত্তর ৩ স্কোর পায়।