Band 5+: In many countries small shops and towns centers are going out of business, because people tend to drive to the large out-of-town stores. This results in an increase in car use and it also means that people without cars have limited access to out-of-town stores. Do you think advantages of such development outweigh its disadvantages?

In contemporary society, local shops struggle to compete with larger out-of-town stores, and some citizens prefer to travel to larger cities to shop. Consequently, people without cars have limited access to out-of-town stores, which can lead to an increase in the use of cars. Although large out-of-town stores offer a wide range of consumer goods, I believe that it may affect people’s health and daily lives, as well as the environment.

One such advantage of large stores is the wide access to consumer goods. People often prefer to drive to large out-of-town stores because they provide consumers with large assortiments, ranging from vegetables and meats to sweet and household items, wheares small town-centre shops often have limited access to consumer needs. For instance, People can buy a wide range of products in advance rather than visiting small shops every day, where the items they need may sometimes be unavailable. Therefore, going shopping to large stores are convinient for people

Despite these advantages, I still believe that going to large-out-town stores can be detrimental to the environment. Small town-centre shops may collapse, if people tend to drive to large stores. This leads to increasing number of cars, which has detrimental effects to the environment due to vehicle emissions. In addition, such emissions can negatively affect people’s lungs and cause chronic diseases. Another disadvantage of driving to larger shops is that it can be more expensive and take people’s time. People who tend to go to large out-of-town stores often have to spend a lot of money on fuel. Moreover, the products in large stores are often more expensive than those in small shops. As a result, this can significantly affect people’s economies, as they they spend half of their income on products and fuel. Nevertheless, going to out-of-town stores can take a lot of people’s free time, which can lead to strees and other health problems, such as back pain and mental health.

In conclusion, although large out-of-town stores provide a wide range of products, driving to such stores have detrimental consequences to the environment and people’s health.