Simone Braverman's Blog: IELTS-Blog.com, page 129

IELTS Band 9 essay, topic: Today’s governments struggle to create enough housing for increasing populations while protecting the environment (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 Academic book, Practice Test 7

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

One of the major problems that faces today’s governments is creating enough satisfactory housing for their increasing populations whilst still trying to protect the environment.

Discuss this statement and give your opinion.

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

You should write at least 250 words.

Answer

In a world with an ever-growing population, providing housing is one of the crucial tasks of all governments. At the same time, however, the environment has to be protected from too much destruction and deforestation. Different solutions have been created to solve these problems. One significant solution could be increasing the height of buildings.

When looking at the skyline of metropolitan cities, skyscrapers are becoming increasingly visible. The reason for this is simple: housing has to be provided, while the environment should suffer the least amount possible. Decreasing the building footprints of houses and therefore the destruction of environment, while increasing the height, is an effective solution in overcoming this dilemma. This resolution also has its faults though, as increasing height also means that sunlight reaching the streets will decrease and that housing will be built more densely in order to save space.

Another possible solution is to increase building costs to pressure the population into living in smaller areas, which would save space. As this impacts members of the community unevenly depending on their wealth, this would encourage unequal living standards and conflicts as a result of this. Therefore, this is not a plausible solution to the problem.

In my opinion, finding the perfect way to minimise environmental damage while increasing housing is a problem to which there is no simple solution. Many governments are currently relying on height to solve the problem, but this is not attractive to many people. Any solution chosen should be one that causes the fewest problems.

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IELTS preparation tips from people who scored Band 8 or higher

Today we would like you to meet two test takers who scored Band 8+ in IELTS and shared some tips and recommendations.

Introducing Lucie Olivova – the winner of our IELTS Results Competition from Czech Republic. Lucie got an Overall Band Score of 8.5 with three amazing 9’s in Listening, Reading and Speaking – and no, she isn’t a native English speaker, but some things she did in her preparation helped her get very, very close to that level.

When we asked Lucie what helped her achieve this wonderful score, she said:

“Thank you very much for the information and for creating this competition in the first place – I believe it is a nice way to add a layer of appreciation for people successfully passing the test.

As for my tips and recommendations –

1. I would say immersion is really important when learning any language.

2. Listening to podcasts or music, watching television or videos, reading books or newspaper in that language really helps you get familiar with many daily used expressions.

3. Reading specifically I think is a great help for spelling – seeing words in writing repeatedly gives you the “feel” for correct spelling.

4. A truly important thing is getting familiar with the test format so that no new question type surprises you on the test day.

5. Last but not least, practice writing as much as possible and make sure you know what structure is expected for each writing task. You need to know what an essay should look like and it is really helpful to have experience writing it in a limited time – do not only read about how to write an essay, give it a try a few times! To enhance your essay, try to use some special grammar, but only if you are sure you are able to use it correctly with confidence.

Good luck to everyone!”

Our second test taker with a high IELTS result is Chethan from India, who got an Overall Band Score of 8.0, with 8.5 in Listening and 9 in Reading.

Chethan is a native Kannada speaker, and here is what he told us about his IELTS preparation:

“I gave a couple of mock tests for reading and listening to check my standing. I found that I scored around 34 to 36 in both tests. So I was pretty confident on these two modules.

For speaking and writing I needed some help and feedback without which I could not improve. So I went for a training session which was highly recommended by many. I mainly focused on speaking and writing. The trainers were both British Council certified trainers and they helped me a lot. In fact, they did an initial mock test and found my speaking to be average but writing was bad. In fact I could not complete my writing tasks on time due to me not writing in a long time.

They planned a few sessions where they would walk me through each section of speaking and writing one at a time. We worked on setting up a flow as below

1. Mindmap the ideas and points for the topic at hand (2 – 5 minutes)

2. Formulate the structure of the essay / letter based on the type of essay / letter (2 – 3 minutes)

3. Assign the mindmap points as Introduction, Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, so on. (2 -3 minutes)

4. Expand the points above by thinking of additional support points (2 – 4 minutes)

5. Start writing the essay / letter (12-20 minutes)

6. Review the content for basic errors like spelling, grammar (2 – 5 minutes)

Then, gradually, we worked on getting them together so that the last week we practiced with few mock tests taking up full sections in one go.

One thing that worked in my favour was the scheduling of the Speaking Test. It was scheduled 5 days after my paper exam. So I focused only on the 3 sections at first and worked through many practice papers. The practice helped as I was getting a consistent score of 36 and more in Reading and Listening and this is reflected in my actual score. Once my exam was over, I practiced speaking with my wife sometimes and sometimes sitting in front of a mirror. I could not get a hold of my trainers during this time and I had to rely on my wife’s feedback mostly.”

Many thanks to Lucie and Chethan for providing these tips, and congratulations on their wonderful IELTS scores!

If YOU got a high score in IELTS, no matter when – this month, last month, a few months ago – we want to hear from you! We would like to extend our warm invitation to everyone who is happy with their IELTS score. Take part in our IELTS results competition today, and share your IELTS tips when you win!

Learn how to enroll here.

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IELTS test in India – January 2020 (Academic Module)

Our friend P. took an IELTS speaking test in India and below are the questions that she remembered and shared:

Listening test

Part 1. About a lounge and accommodation options.

Questions: fill in the blanks.

Part 2. About sports event.

Questions: multiple choice, map labelling.

Part 3. About business studies.

Questions: multiple choice, matching answers to information on the recording.

Part 4. Research on smell.

Questions: 10 fill in the blanks.

Reading test

Passage 1. About noise in urban area.

Questions: fill in the blanks, match statements to scientists and organizations, multiple choice questions.

Passage 2. About existence.

Questions: matching information to paragraphs, fill in the blanks, match a scientist to his/her opinion.

Passage 3. About texting on TV.

Questions: matching headings to paragraphs, multiple choice, match statements to people and company names.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We were given a bar chart to describe, showing the generation of wind energy in megawatts for four different countries from 1985 to 2000.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Some think that economic progress is completely dependent on the country’s success, while others believe that other factors are also important. What are the different factors contributing to the success of a country? Do you believe that only one factor is important, compared to others?

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IELTS Speaking test in Canada – January 2020

Y. took the IELTS test in Canada and remembered the following Speaking questions:

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?

– Can I see your ID?

– Do you work or are you a student?

– What do you like best about your studies?

– Do you like to study in the morning or afternoon?

– Did you learn art in primary school?

– Did you like art as a subject?

– Have you ever visited an art gallery or exhibition?

– Do you have paintings on your walls at home?

– Have you ever considered becoming an artist?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Talk about a job that you wouldn’t like doing. Please say

– what job it would be,

– what you would have to do, and

– how doing this job would make you feel.

Part 3 (Discussion)

– Do you know someone who does this job?

– What is important about a job, the salary or how it makes you feel?

– Are there many people with jobs that pay well but aren’t interesting?

– Is being hardworking a quality that people are born with, or can it be developed?

– What can help people do their jobs better?

– Can a job affect a person psychologically?

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IELTS test in India – January 2020 (Academic Module)

Our friend N. took an IELTS speaking test in India and below are the questions that she remembered and shared:

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We were given pie charts showing the figures for electricity consumption in different sectors in Australia between 2007 and 2010. We had to summarize and describe the information.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Nowadays international tourism is the biggest industry worldwide. Unfortunately, sometimes it creates tension between people from different cultures, instead of better understanding. Why do you think it is happening and how can it be improved?

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?

– Can I see your ID?

– Where are you from?

– Do you work or study?

– What do you study?

– Where do you study it?

– Why did you choose this subject in your studies?

– How good are you in preparation for exams?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Talk about an instance when a child made you laugh. Please say

– When was it?

– Who was the child?

– Why did he/she make you laugh?

Part 3 (Discussion)

– Is it easy to teach children?

– Do you think they are quick learners?

– Why is that?

– Do you think the society should take care of children or parents?

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Our friend I. took IELTS in Nigeria and remembered the following questions:

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a letter)

You have a job that you want to leave. Write your employer and say

– Why do you want to leave?

– When do you want to leave?

– What did you like or dislike about the job?

Writing Task 2 (an essay)

Many people find it difficult to speak in front of and to present to an audience. It is believed that this skill should be taught in school. Why is this important? To what extent do you agree or disagree with it?

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?

– Can I see your ID?

– Where are you from?

– Do you work or study?

– Where do you work?

– Do you like your job? Why?

– What do you like more, the job or the people you work with?

– Do you like listening to your own voice?

– Did it change a lot since your childhood?

– Why did it change, in your opinion?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Talk about a particular day when you looked up in the sky and saw something special. Please say

– What did you see in the sky?

– What effect did it have on you?

– When was it, and where were you?

Part 3 (Discussion)

– Who were you with?

– Why do people study the planets today?

– Were there any changes in the way people study planets now, compared to the past? Why?

– Why wasn’t astronomy taught in schools in the past?

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IELTS Speaking test in India – January 2020

Our friend S took an IELTS speaking test in India and below are the questions that she remembered and shared:

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?

– Where do you live?

– Do you like living in the countryside?

– What do you do there?

– Would you want to live there in the future?

– Do you have friends?

– Are you a good friend?

– Do you have childhood friends? Why?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Describe an experience when you were with a group of people and you got bored. Please say

– What were you doing?

– Who was there with you?

– Why did you get bored?

Part 3 (Discussion)

– Do you get bored easily?

– What types of work are boring?

– What are the causes of boredom?

– In the future do you believe that all boring work will be done by robots?

– Do you think boredom can be useful sometimes? Why?

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IELTS Band 9 essay, topic: The world today is a safer place and governments should stop spending large amounts of money on their armed forces (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 2 Academic book, Practice Test 1

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

The world today is a safer place than it was a hundred years ago, and governments should stop spending large amounts of money on their armed forces.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

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

You should write at least 250 words.

Answer

It is now some time since the whole world was involved in one war. The world nowadays is no comparison to the past, when millions of soldiers were lost on the battlefield. As the world today is significantly safer than previously, it can be argued that governments should stop spending large amounts of money on their military forces.

The last World War dates back nearly seventy years and, since 1945, no conflict has taken place in western countries. Thus, people have suggested that spending money on necessities within society instead of armed forces is more useful. However, this is very difficult, as even though no significant conflict has taken place in western countries, they are still involved in the conflicts of other countries. For example, the US contribution in the Iraqi war has only recently ended. For such involvement of military forces in foreign lands, countries still need to have strong armed forces, in case they are needed.

In some countries like the UK, the military is already significantly weaker than it has been in the past. However, historically, a hundred years is not that long and because no conflict has happened recently, this does not mean that there will be no conflict in the future. At the outbreak of World War Two, the UK was seriously under-prepared, as it had been thought that the horrors of World War One had convinced everyone of the uselessness of war.

In conclusion, certain armed forces are necessary for major countries even though the world is safer than a hundred years ago. They might need to intervene in conflicts in other countries and world peace is by no means assured for the future.

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IELTS test in Sri Lanka – January 2020 (General Training)

Our friend N. shared the following IELTS test questions after a recent IELTS exam in January in Sri Lanka:

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a letter)

Your Manager has asked you to do a presentation at the upcoming training session. Write a letter to your manager and say

– What is the topic of presentation?

– What is the benefit of conducting a session on that topic?

– What are your requirements for conducting this presentation?

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Nowadays children watch too much TV. Why is this happening, and what can be done to prevent it?

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?

– Can I see your ID?

– Where are you from?

– Do you work or study?

– What do you do?

– What do you enjoy the most about your work?

– Let’s talk about voices.

– How did your voice change over the years?

– How different is your voice compared to others in your family?

– Do you like your voice? Why?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Talk about an instance when you had to hide the truth from a friend. Please say

– Who was your friend?

– What happened there?

– Why did you have to do it?

Part 3 (Discussion)

– How did TV news change over the years?

– Is it necessary to be honest to become successful?

– How are celebrities affected by social media?

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IELTS test in Singapore and Japan – January 2020 (Academic Module)

Our friends N and E remembered the following questions after taking their tests in January in Singapore and Japan. The two tests were taken on the same day and the questions were identical.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

We were given a line graph showing information about population growth in some countries by different age groups. We had to summarize and compare the information.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Some people believe that face to face communication is always more powerful than written communication. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give your own opinion and include relevant examples.

Speaking test

Part 1 (Interview)

– What is your full name?

– Can I see your ID?

– Where are you from?

– Do you work or study?

– What do you do for work?

– Do you enjoy your work?

– How are things changing at your workplace?

– Let’s talk about numbers.

– What numbers do you consider good? Why?

– Are you good at math?

– Do you think you will be using more math in the future?

– Let’s talk about laughing.

– Do you think it is important to laugh with your friends?

– When was the last time you laughed?

– What was the reason?

– What usually makes you laugh?

– Do you laugh at yourself sometime? Why?

Part 2 (Cue Card)

Describe an event that got you interested. Please say

– What was it?

– Where and when was it?

– Why was it interesting?

Part 3 (Discussion)

– What personal events do people celebrate in your country?

– Why do you think countries are holding international events such as the Olympic Games?

– What do they benefit from it?

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