雅思Task2中经常会让大家讨论关于使用网络、使用私家车等话题；而一旦需要大家讨论网络或者私家车给我们的生活带来的好处的时候，大家的反应是不是：方便呀！诚然，“方便”本身没有错，使用convenient/bring convenience这样的表达也没有错，但我们万万不能止步于此哦！
肇启越 Dora
新航道雅思阅读、雅思写作主讲。英国埃克塞特大学TESOL专业硕士学位
如果要对“方便”进行扩展，那么我们需要思考的问题就是：“方便”具体是指什么呢？有两个非常好用的思考方向提供给大家：节省时间、避开麻烦。
我们以“网上购物online shopping”为例
与传统的店内购物相比，网上购物毫无疑问给消费者节省了不少时间。但请注意，这里节省的“时间”，准确来说指的是“我们作为消费者到这家店里想买东西但没有买到，而要跑去另一家店的时间”，即消费过程（在店内挑选）额外的时间（毕竟我想大家应该都有过逛某橙色软件半小时一小时也没下单的时候吧），这主要是因为实体店的店铺大小有限，因而所提供的货物种类、数量都有限。相反，网上购物给了我们无限的选择空间，哪怕是比较价格也只需要点击屏幕或者切换界面就可以；同时，网购的东西还可以送货上门，又得一分！
那么当我们把以上这些内容都表达出来 的时候，单独的“convenient”就可以扩 展成足够详细的一段文字了：
It is convenient for consumers to shop online since there is a wider range of choices available in online stores. For example, even the largest supermarket or shopping mall is limited in the products it can make available because of the limits of its physical size. By contrast, the virtual world provides an unlimited amount of space for shoppers to browse for the products they want. Consumers simply choose from the choices on their screen, and their products are delivered right to their front door within a couple of days at most.
接下来，让我们再扩展一下使用“私家车private cars”的便利之处。这时候简单地“省时”可能不好用了，因为大家都知道乘坐地铁并不会有堵车的风险；但由于包括地铁在内的公共交通有固定时间表，人们出行如果一旦没能赶上那一班车，下一班就可能需要等待一段时间，那么很有可能会耽误自己接下来的行程；而驾驶私家车出行时间安排则要灵活得多。所以简而言之，驾驶私家车出行带来的“方便”在于能让我们避免一些麻烦：
Though most cities today have fairly advanced transportation systems like the bus and underground, they usually have a rather fixed timetable, and tend to be extremely crowded, especially in rush hours. This means people might be late for their work or some important appointments once they did not catch the bus or train. If they drive their own car, however, these problems may well be avoided. At the same time, when people plan to take their family for a trip out of town, they may also enjoy the flexibility of when to start off and when to return, rather than spending time waiting for the bus to arrive.
最后，下次我们再想表达某事给我们带来便利的时候，请大家在convenient/convenience之后一定要扩展其具体表现，才能使段落的论述更为清晰。同时“节省时间”“避开麻烦”也是两个非常常见的思考方向，大家下次可以用起来哦！
