Simone Braverman's Blog: IELTS-Blog.com, page 125

IELTS essay, topic: High-rise vs. low-rise buildings, which solution is better for a growing population?

Some cities create new housing for their growing populations by constructing a smaller number of high-rise buildings. Other cities create more of low-rise buildings. Which solution is better, in your opinion?

Sample Essay

Rising population in urban areas leaves governments with no choice but to build more houses to meet the demand. However, when it comes to construction, there is more than one way to build new homes. Some cities prefer to construct fewer residential towers, while others build a larger number of low-rises for their residents. In this essay both options will be discussed and a viable solution will be suggested.

One advantage of tall buildings is that they can accommodate a large number of people while having a small footprint. This type of construction is popular in central city areas where land is scarce and expensive. For example, in New York City high-rise buildings have significantly reduced housing problems, by as much as 55% in the last few years. As a result of this strategy, rents tend to decrease which has a further positive impact on the economies of such cities. However, tall buildings offer little or no privacy, they force certain rules and regulations upon residents, and attract higher maintenance costs.

Given a chance to voice their opinion, many individuals would prefer to live in low-rise buildings or even build their own houses. This option might be more attractive for big families and for older generation people who like to have their own personal space. Accessibility is also a concern for the elderly as taking the stairs when the lifts break down may not be an option for them. In addition, one or two-story houses are easier and cheaper to maintain compared to modern apartment towers. The downside of this type of dwellings is that they occupy much more land, and since land is cheaper on city fringes, new estates tend to be built away from city centres. This increases commute time to work for their residents and negatively affects their quality of life.

In conclusion, high-rise and low-rise buildings have their unique advantages and disadvantages. In my opinion, high rises are more suitable for younger residents and should be built in the areas where young population is prevalent, closer to the city centre and employment opportunities. Senior citizens should have a supply of lower dwellings available in quieter locations. Such flexible approach can be a good way to address the needs of growing city’s population.

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IELTS Essay, topic: Some people believe that the problem of illegal drugs can be solved by legalising all drugs (agree/disagree)

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is likely to score IELTS Band 9.

Set 3 General Training book, Practice Test 12

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Some people believe that the problem of illegal drugs can be solved by legalising all drugs. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Answer

Illegal drugs have become a worldwide problem in modern day society. The trading of drugs is widespread in nearly all countries and the number of people consuming drugs worldwide is high. It has been suggested simply to legalise all recreational drugs to solve the problems associated with them. I personally agree partially with this proposal, because I can see many advantages, yet also many disadvantages.

One positive aspect of legalising these drugs would be that the number of criminal activities committed to obtain them would decrease. Fewer people would therefore be imprisoned and have a criminal history that prevents them from progressing in life. Additionally, essential police resources would be freed up and devoted to other areas. Finally, high taxes could be imposed on the legal product, allowing governments to have better resources to improve the infrastructure of their countries.

Although legalising all illegal drugs could result in several positive effects, there are many negative effects that could be possible. As a result of the legalisation, I personally believe that it would become acceptable to use drugs and people would no longer pay attention to the damage that drugs cause. Schools might no longer educate teenagers and adolescents about the negative effects drugs have on people, resulting in more teenagers experimenting with them, as they would believe that this is a normal aspect of life. This would result in a higher number of drug addicts and potentially in more deaths, because it would be easier to obtain a large amount of illegal drugs and therefore the chances of overdosing would also increase.

In conclusion, I partially agree with the proposed action. Nonetheless, I think that an age restriction should be placed on drug use, as teenagers and adolescents could easily become addicted if all illegal drugs are legalised. This group of people is highly at risk of becoming addicted and potentially dying as a result of drug use and therefore should only be allowed to consume drugs after reaching a certain age.

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How to go from Band 6 to Band 7 in the IELTS Speaking Test

The most frequently asked questions we get from people preparing for the IELTS Speaking test are

1. What am I likely to get for Speaking in the real test?

and

2. How can I score higher?

And fortunately, we have the answers!

In today’s video Hugo, a student from Taiwan and a native Chinese speaker, is taking our interactive IELTS Speaking test.

You will see the examiner ask questions and Hugo answer them, and you can learn from that, but wait – it gets better. After Hugo finishes his Speaking test, Adam (our Speaking examiner) shows his estimated Speaking score and explains why that is what Hugo would get in IELTS. And here comes the best part – Adam explains what Hugo needs to start doing to go from Band 6 to Band 7.

If you missed last week’s video, let us introduce Adam. Adam was an active IELTS Speaking examiner for 10 years and has an enormous amount of experience in assessing test takers’ Speaking ability. His feedback gives you a very rare opportunity to see how you are being assessed and scored in IELTS.

When you understand what your problems are and what you need to fix to get a higher score, it has an amazing effect on your exam preparation. It gives you a clear goal to work towards, and you don’t have to guess anymore!

The breakdown of Hugo’s score by the 4 IELTS criteria (Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation) is shown at the end of the video, and also in his evaluation report here.

The questions are shown on the screen while Hugo answers them. You will see that every question has a number (Q1, Q2, etc) and the examiner in his evaluation report is referring to Hugo’s little mistakes in every question. It’s great to watch the entire video first, including Adam’s commentary where he talks about Hugo’s performance and score, and then go back to the specific questions as you read the evaluation report. It will help you understand what exactly the examiner means when he says something like

Q7 – ‘it brings me surprise’ – is not quite accurate, try ‘it always surprises me’ or ‘there is always something surprising to experience each time’

Download Hugo’s speaking evaluation report here.

Try and answer the same questions in your own words, and perhaps even record yourself. It will provide an opportunity to listen to your pronunciation and see what needs work.

If you’d like to get your Speaking evaluated just like Hugo did, you can – go here to learn how.

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IELTS Essay, topic: Nowadays celebrities earn more money than politicians, what are the reasons for this?

Nowadays celebrities earn more money than politicians. What are the reasons for this? Is it a positive or negative development?

Sample Essay

Nowadays celebrities make more money compared to people working in politics. This essay will look at the possible causes of this tendency and explain why, in my opinion, this is a negative development.

There are two main reasons why celebrities generate more income than politicians. One of them is that with the advent of the Internet, there are more ways available for celebrities to earn money, such as online streaming services. For example, singing a song in a YouTube video with some advertisements enables them to easily make a few million dollars. Another cogent reason for this is the growing global concerns over excessively high remuneration for political leaders, which can easily lead to public discontent. In response to such criticism, many governments have decided to reform the reward system for lawmakers, sending their salaries on a downward trend.

I personally believe that this development is relatively negative for several reasons, with the main one being the potential corruption scandals this issue can create. The enormous salary gap between celebrities and political leaders might discourage the legislators from putting in work or even motivate them to commit crimes such as money laundering. In addition, the relatively low salary for stressful jobs of governors may deter people with foresight on politics from becoming politicians. This is particularly undesirable because it would result in low level of citizens’ loyalty to their incompetent government, creating unstable society with more crime and other social problems.

In conclusion, the fact that celebrities are paid more than political leaders now is caused by a wider variety of income sources available to them, and supported by the social norm that a politician should not be a profit driven professional. However, I believe this is a negative trend which may lead to more political corruption and less talented governments.

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IELTS Examiner Explains How Speaking Test is Scored

For most IELTS test takers the only time they get to see their Speaking examiner is during their Speaking test. And then, your interaction is limited to the actual testing – there is no chance to chat or ask the examiner what he/she thought of your performance and why. All you get after the Speaking test is your overall score, and you don’t get an explanation why.

Today you have a very rare chance to see feedback from a real Speaking examiner where he explains the exact reasons why Alina (the test taker in this video) got her scores in each criterion, and how her overall score was worked out.

First, a short introduction: everyone, meet Adam. Adam was an active IELTS Speaking examiner for 10 years and has an enormous amount of experience in assessing test takers’ Speaking ability. You can be confident that his estimate is very close to your real IELTS score, and in the last 5 minutes of this video he is explaining what scores Alina would get in the real test and (the most useful part!) the reasons why. This is the kind of feedback you would NEVER get in an IELTS test, but learning from it can make ALL the difference to scoring higher!

Adam said, “I’m pleased to be working with very reputable professionals at IELTS-Blog.com. I was a speaking and writing examiner for 10 years and I’ve taught IELTS for 12 years. This video was made to show why Alina received a 5.5 and ways for her to improve. While you’re watching try to guess why she received a 5.5. Remember there are four categories, Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. We will do more of these videos with speakers from other countries and scores, so you can better understand what is expected before the next time you sit an IELTS Speaking test.”

In the video you’re about to watch Alina, an IELTS test taker from Russia, is taking an interactive Speaking test online. You will see the questions Adam is asking and Alina’s answers to them.

The breakdown of her score by the 4 IELTS criteria (Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation) is shown at the end of the video, and also in her evaluation report here.

The questions are shown on the screen while Alina answers them. You will see that every question has a number (Q1, Q2, etc) and the examiner in his evaluation report is referring to Alina’s little mistakes in every question. It’s great to watch the entire video first, including Adam’s commentary where he talks about Alina’s performance and score, and then go back to the specific questions as you read the evaluation report. It will help you understand what exactly the examiner means when he says something like

Q4 – ‘family banding’ should be ‘family bonding’

Download Alina’s speaking evaluation report here.

It would be a good exercise for you to make a list of any mistakes or inaccuracies you hear while watching this video, and then compare your notes to the examiner’s feedback. What would you do better? What vocabulary could you use instead?

Try and answer the same questions in your own words, and perhaps even record yourself. It will provide an opportunity to listen to your pronunciation and see what needs work.

If you’d like to get your Speaking evaluated just like Alina did, you can – go here to learn how.

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IELTS Essay, topic: Should governments or teachers be responsible for what is to be taught in schools (opinion)?

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is likely to score IELTS Band 9.

Set 3 General Training book, Practice Test 11

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Should governments or teachers be responsible for what is to be taught in schools?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Answer

In modern day society, it is essential for a child to be educated in order for him or her to have success later on in life. Children are typically educated in schools, which are run by the government. The government officials therefore decide what is taught to the children and what is not. Personally, I believe that it is better if governments are responsible for the subject matter covered in school and not the teachers.

It is a common goal to supply all children with the same opportunities in life, meaning that the same core knowledge should be taught to all children to offer them the same benefits. Naturally, some children will be better at certain subjects than others and will therefore obtain a more detailed degree of knowledge, yet every child should be taught the same core knowledge. Education provides opportunities, because certain types of education will enable children to pursue certain careers later on in life.

Supplying the same core knowledge is an essential concept, yet it has not been put into action in several countries. In Germany, for example, the syllabus taught depends on the region of the country. In certain regions, children attend school for thirteen years and in other regions for twelve years. This raises the question whether or not the children obtain the same degree of knowledge and that the children attending school for thirteen years are at an advantage compared to those attending school for twelve years. Already one can see that problems arise when the regional government decides upon the core knowledge taught to students. If teachers had a say in what knowledge should be taught to students, the subject matter would become even more complex. The core knowledge would not only vary from region to region, yet also from school to school, providing unfair advantages and disadvantages for certain students.

In conclusion, the government of a country should decide upon what knowledge is taught in schools, as the situation would become too complex if all teachers were responsible for this aspect.

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IELTS essay, topic: Can the society cope with the larger number of elderly people and how?

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is likely to score IELTS Band 9.

Set 3 Academic book, Practice Test 12

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

With the improvements in today’s health care, society has to care for more and more elderly people.

Do you feel that society will be able to cope with the increase in numbers of elderly people today and how can it be managed?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Answer

In current society, the life expectancy in western countries has increased significantly. Also, fewer babies are being born, causing the relative percentage of elderly people to increase. These people have to be taken care of, causing the question to rise whether this number of elderly people can be cared for.

When people grow older, they can also develop more health issues, resulting in more visits to doctors and hospitals, and an increased usage of pharmaceuticals. Due to the current large numbers of elderly people, the pressure put onto health care systems is increasing. In many western countries, the state provides most of the health care system. Therefore with increasing numbers of old people, higher percentages of state funding have to be allocated to health care and this could cause shortfalls in other areas, for example education. This change in the distribution of money can therefore impact society negatively.

Society should be able to handle these changes. Governments will have been able to predict the changing demographic situations in their countries and plan accordingly. This might indeed lead to other sectors in society having money taken away from them, but caring for the elderly is one of the key responsibilities of today’s governments. For the future, it might be necessary to ensure that an extra insurance charge is levied on people’s salaries in order that any future financial shortfall is met. This would be unpopular, but would allow governments to have the necessary funds available.

In conclusion, society today and in the future should be well able to deal with caring for their elderly. It is only a question of careful long-term forecasting and planning.

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IELTS Speaking Band 7.5 Full Test with Examiner’s Feedback

The video you are about to watch features a Polish student, Magda, who is answering questions from Speaking Test 18 in “High Scorer’s Choice” IELTS Practice Tests book series.

Magda is doing a full simulated IELTS Speaking test with an examiner, who is asking her typical IELTS Speaking test questions. This video shows you what happens on the test day in the real examination room.

IELTS Speaking Test has 3 parts.

In Part 1 you should expect personal questions on familiar topics, for instance about your job or studies, your home, your family, etc.

Part 2 is different, because you receive a single topic to talk about for 1 to 2 minutes, with 4 bullet points you should cover in your speech. Another difference between Part 2 and the other parts is that in Part 2 you get 1 minute preparation time and you can write down some ideas to talk about. This doesn’t happen in Part 1 or Part 3.

Part 3 is a longer discussion where the examiner asks you questions related to Part 2 topic. You are expected to give longer, more elaborate answers and talk in-depth about the topics your examiner brings up.

Here is how you can learn from this Speaking test video

1. Get familiar with everything that happens in the Speaking test. It will help you feel prepared when it’s your turn.

2. Listen to the questions the examiner asks and how Magda answers them. Then think about what YOU would say in response to these questions.

3. Spot Magda’s mistakes and avoid them when you speak.

4. Go over Examiner’s Feedback below to learn how he rated Magda’s performance and why (he also points out some of her mistakes!)

5. You can even use this as a Listening exercise, and switch on subtitles on YouTube to understand every word on the recording.

Watch the video on YouTube here:

Examiner’s Feedback

This section shows you what goes on in the examiner’s mind when he rates a Speaking test. Make sure you read this before looking at the scores he gave Magda in every criterion, because this explains the reasons she got those scores.

Speaking Test, Part 1 – 0:22

In section 1, Magda showed that she had a good and confident command of English. Although she was occasionally a little hesitant (due to nervousness and to access ideas rather than language it seemed), she spoke mostly fluently and communicated what she wanted to say coherently all the way through. She also used some humour at appropriate times to express her feelings. Magda had a good resource of lexis and she only occasionally used an awkward word or phrase (i.e. “fast-pacing”). There were also some examples of higher-level language, i.e. “holistic view”). Magda’s grammar usage was varied and accurate. She had an almost negligible Polish accent, which did not affect communication in any way. Magda’s answers were slightly short. She just achieved the time required for section 1, but developing her answers more would have been more impressive.

Speaking Test, Part 2 – 4:24

Magda spoke clearly, coherently and fluently in section 2. She mostly spoke quite slowly, but this is not a problem – people talk at different speeds. Magda also again used humour to add to what she wanted to say. Her vocabulary range was again very good, though I felt that “and” was used too many times to help develop her monologue. Although it was not wrong, it sounded a bit awkward. Magda’s grammatical range was again good and accurate, though not without error, i.e. “vacations” and “how much sacrifices”. Magda’s accent was again non-intrusive and allowed excellent communication.

Speaking Test, Part 3 – 6:51

Magda produced a good section 3, though her fluency was affected by the more demanding questions. Her coherence was not really affected and she communicated her ideas without too many problems and she provided varied and intelligent answers. Magda’s lexical resource was again good and she showed she could access higher-level vocabulary, i.e. “psychological and physiological problems” and “impact significantly”. Her use of the conjunction “moreover” was well used too. There were, however, some moments of awkwardness as well, i.e. “consume themselves in frugal lifestyle” and “retiring people”. Magda’s grammatical range was again appropriately varied and her accuracy was very good, though not without error, i.e. “life expectancy is much, much bigger”, “support system” and “the least problems”. As in the previous sections, Magda’s pronunciation was excellent.

Magda’s IELTS Speaking score

The marking of the IELTS Speaking Test is done in 4 parts.

Fluency and Coherence 7

Lexical Resource 7

Grammatical Range and Accuracy 7

Pronunciation 9

Estimated IELTS Speaking Band 7.5

Need more Speaking tests with Examiner’s feedback? Find them in High Scorer’s Choice book series.

If you’d like to get your own Speaking evaluated, you can – go here to learn how.

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IELTS Letter, topic: complaining to a company about receiving the wrong product

This letter topic appeared in the most recent IELTS exam in Iran. Below is a sample response that is likely to score Band 8 or above in IELTS.

You have purchased a product on a website and received a different product. Write a letter to the company. In your letter

– Describe the product you ordered

– Explain why you aren’t satisfied with the product you received

– Let them know what actions you expect them to take

Answer

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in regard to the laptop case I ordered on your website three weeks ago, order #237891. I have just received a parcel from your company and unfortunately, you sent me the wrong product.

I ordered a black leather laptop bag suitable for 15 inch devices. It has a magnetic closure and 2 large compartments, as well as a zipped compartment on the back for papers. It also has a front pocket for pens and memory sticks.

The bag I received from your company has none of the features I require. It is much smaller than the size I ordered, suits only 13 inch devices, is made of fabric instead of leather and has no shoulder strap. This bag is of no use to me as my laptop cannot fit in it, and its fabric isn’t waterproof which means insufficient protection from the elements. I travel a lot for work and water damage to my laptop is a risk I am not prepared to accept.

To resolve this issue I would like to receive a free return authorisation from your company for the bag you sent me in error, and I would also like to request that you send the correct bag I ordered as soon as possible, as I need it for work. If the bag I originally ordered is unavailable, I would like to receive a full refund to my credit card. I expect to receive a confirmation letter from you within 2 business days.

I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Geoff Johnson.

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IELTS essay, topic: Should copyright materials such as music, films and books be freely available on the Internet (opinion)?

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is likely to score IELTS Band 9.

Set 2 General Training book, Practice Test 10

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

There is a problem today that copyright materials such as music, films and books are freely available on the Internet with the result that the owners of the works lose money.

Do you feel that this is a good or bad thing?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Answer

In modern day society, it has become common to make copyright protected material freely available on the Internet with the result that the owners of the work lose large sums of money. The discussion of whether or not this distribution is of positive or negative nature has therefore been raised. Personally, I believe that this issue has both negative and positive effects.

Distributing copyright protected material freely online can firstly help make this material more popular. Often people are not willing to spend money on a film or song before being exposed to it once, as they cannot be sure that they will enjoy the material they are about to purchase. If they purchase a song or film and then do not like it, the money spent will have been wasted, which is disappointing. Frequently, people purchase copyright protected material that they enjoyed after being exposed to it once, meaning that often owners often receive money at a later stage. An owner’s reputation can additionally improve, because frequently owners who allow their work to be distributed partially or completely online have a more positive reputation amongst customers.

Regardless of the positive effects of the free online distribution of copyright protected material, it can be said that this distribution has several negative effects. Firstly, owners lose large sums of money through it. A lot of time and money can be spent producing the material distributed, as certain spaces and equipment must be rented or bought to produce a certain song or film. Like all other people, artists need money to survive and thus are at a disadvantage when they do not receive money for their work. I personally believe therefore that governments should make sure that when something is performed in public or when work is displayed in public, artists should receive credit and money.

In conclusion, it can be said that the online distribution of copyright protected material has both negative and positive effects. In my opinion, it cannot fully be determined whether this distribution is of a positive or negative nature; one must decide upon this for oneself.

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