Band 6+: The local authorities are planning to build either a shopping mall or a parking lot in an empty area close to where you live. As a concerned citizen, you would like to discuss the plan at the next neighbourhood meeting. Decide which is the better option and write the text of your speech in which you provide arguments for it appealing to the logic and emotions of your neighbors. Write between 200 and 220 words.

Hello dear neighbours. We are aware of the fact that an empty area next to our house is to be built with either a shopping center or a parking place. We all understand that modern life requires new facilities all around us, so we cannot resist transformation of this area. However, I suppose that the new parking lot would be much better than the erection of a mall.

First of all, with a new parking area, no one would have to search for a place to leave a car. This thing would considerably reduce traffic congestion in the evenings. Moreover, parking lot won’t attract masses of people going to and fro everyday right under our windows, as would happen in case of a shopping mall, so we would not suffer from much noise caused by them.

On the other hand, shopping center will allow us to buy whatever we need in a matter of minutes; however, the downsides of its erection clearly overweigh advantages. For instance, with a skyrocketed number of people visiting the mall, traffic jams and constant noise will become an order of a day.

To sum up, the best option for us is to advocate for the construction of the parking lot instead of the shopping center, as it will certainly bring more advantages and less headache.