dear friends, this is an exercise for ielts test, thank you for you kind help! Question: Some people think that schools should select students according to their academic abilities while others believe that it is better to have students with different abilities study together. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. The issue of whether academic abilities should be regarded as the sole criterion in terms of selecting students has sparked off an intense debate. Some people hold that academic abilities should be served as the only standard, while others claim that it should be combined with other capabilities as a consideration. I personally advocates the lateral idea. On the one hand, advocates of the idea point out that it is of paramount significance for universities to give a higher priority to academic abilities. That is mainly because absorbing theoretical knowledge is the first step to become proficient in a variety of domains, which means application could be achieved only after systematic study of theoretical knowledge. What is more, equipping with academic abilities is conducive to make more achievements in one’s career. One person without enough academic capabilities and knowledge is less likely to competent the job and make great achievements. On the other hand, opponents of the idea incline to believe that the selecting standards should include not only academic abilities but also a series of other abilities or characteristics such as perseverance and responsibility. First and foremost, Given that universities are considered as a platform to foster students’ different kinds of skills in an attempt to make them suit in the society better, they had better take comprehensive skills into consideration when selecting appropriate students. In addition, it is widely known that even though one person possesses academic knowledge, it does not mean that he or she could has the job well done. By contrast, one person equipped with both academic abilities and a wide range of other abilities may more likely to succeed in the career. To conclusion, I concede that although academic abilities are of great importance for universities to choose students, they should not be considered as the only criterion. Instead, they should focus more on those students with a variety of talents.