Your local newspaper wants to reward people who have contributed a lot to the community. Write a letter to the newspaper. In your letter: - suggest someone - who deserves the reward - mention what they have done to help the community - say what reward you would like to give this person
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am the assistant manager of the Kennedy Women Development Organization. I have recently noticed your advertisement dated 12th April 2025 and writing this letter to recommend a person who I believe deserves the reward you intend to present. My organisation’s director, Mrs Hemamalinee, is the person I would like to suggest for this reward. She has been working for widow women for more than three decades. She is a capable, experienced and talented woman absolutely fitting to receive this award. She utilises her time for other needy women. Both as a director and individually, she has supported many widows and destitute women. With her dedication, support and willingness, she has become a role model in our community. She never differentiates people based on their race, religion, disability and colour. That is, she treats all equally and she is an exemplary personality for many. I would like to suggest a reward for this excellent lady; a trophy printed with her name and her service to the community. This should be an award for her lifetime achievement. Many women who obtained support through her would be utterly happy if she receives this reward. We would be highly thankful if you could nominate Mrs Hemamalinee on your list. Yours faithfully, Niro Renu
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use seen advertisement Original: noticed Suggested revision: seen Why it matters: "Seen" is the more natural verb for encountering a published notice.
- 2. Add auxiliary verb Original: and writing this letter Suggested revision: and am writing this letter Why it matters: The coordinated verb phrase requires "am."
- 3. Use present award Original: reward you intend to present Suggested revision: award you plan to present Why it matters: "Present an award" is the natural collocation, while "reward" is less precise here.
- 4. Use nominate Original: suggest for this reward Suggested revision: nominate for this award Why it matters: A person is nominated for an award rather than suggested for a reward.
- 5. Use widowed women Original: widow Suggested revision: widowed Why it matters: "Widowed" is the adjective describing women whose spouses have died.
- 6. Use ideally suited Original: absolutely fitting Suggested revision: ideally suited Why it matters: This is the natural formal expression for her suitability.
- 7. Describe service naturally Original: utilises her time for other needy women Suggested revision: devotes her time to helping other women in need Why it matters: The replacement uses the correct verb pattern and respectful wording.
- 8. Clarify two roles Original: Both as a director and individually Suggested revision: Both through her role as director and personally Why it matters: This creates a parallel and grammatically complete comparison.
- 9. Clarify dedication Original: With her dedication, support and willingness Suggested revision: Through her dedication and willingness to help Why it matters: The revised phrase clearly connects her qualities to becoming a role model.
- 10. Use discriminates between Original: differentiates people based on Suggested revision: discriminates between people on the basis of Why it matters: This is the precise expression for unequal treatment based on personal characteristics.
- 11. Use everyone Original: all Suggested revision: everyone Why it matters: "Everyone" is the natural pronoun for all people.
- 12. Use inspiring example Original: exemplary personality Suggested revision: inspiring example Why it matters: A person can be an inspiring example, while "exemplary personality" is unnatural.
Suggested Rewrites
- noticed seen
- and writing this letter and am writing this letter
- reward you intend to present award you plan to present
- suggest for this reward nominate for this award
- widow widowed
- absolutely fitting ideally suited
Why this response received Band 7.0
The nomination is clear, appropriately formal, and supported by relevant evidence of long-term work for widows and disadvantaged women, while the proposed lifetime-achievement trophy directly answers the reward request. Its main weakness is linguistic precision: several collocations and sentence structures sound unnatural, and the one-block format limits readability; prioritise clearer paragraphing and more idiomatic descriptions of the nominee's service and award.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The nominee, reasons for recognition, community contribution, and proposed reward are all relevant and developed in a suitable formal tone.
Add one concrete example of a programme or outcome Mrs Hemamalinee created to demonstrate the impact of her three decades of service.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter progresses logically from nomination to achievements and reward, but the single paragraph makes distinct communicative stages less visible.
Use separate paragraphs for the nomination, evidence of community impact, and proposed lifetime-achievement trophy.
Lexical Resource
The response has sufficient range for praise and community service, but several collocations are awkward or imprecise.
Use widowed women, well suited to receive the award, treats everyone equally, and a trophy engraved with her name and contribution.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied structures communicate the recommendation clearly, although missing auxiliaries, condition forms, and punctuation errors occur.
Write I am writing rather than and writing, use would be delighted if she received, and replace the semicolon before the trophy description with a colon.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your local newspaper wants to reward people who have contributed a lot to the community. Write a letter to the newspaper. In your letter:
- suggest someone
- who deserves the reward
- mention what they have done to help the community
- say what reward you would like to give this person
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.