You have just read an article in an international travel magazine which contained some information about your town that is incorrect. Write a letter to the editor of the magazine. In your letter: - correct the information in the article - explain why it is important for the magazine to give - correct information - suggest what the magazine should do about this situation
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, A couple of weeks ago, your popular international travel magazine, in its 250th edition, published an article about my hometown in an effort to provide a bit more exposure to the travel-related activities in it. DeleteWell, while I appreciate this effortthis noble effort of yours, I regret to inform you that there is a factual error in your article that requires immediate correction. In fact, your article in question says that the migratory birds visit our town during the month of April while the correct information is that they start to visit our hometown from early February. Importantly,By the way, correcting this information in your magazine is vital to the livelihoods of many peoplevery important for the livelihood of many people in my hometown because they rely heavily onthey heavily rely on visitors’ spendingthe tourist spending of the visitors who visit our town to seewho come to visit our town in order to see these migratory birds. Therefore, I would like to ask you to issuerequest you to please issue a correctioncorrectional notice in your magazine’s next issuepublication correcting this errorabout the previous mistake so that prospective touriststhe prospective tourists do not become confuseddon’t get confused about the timing of the migratory birds’ visit to my hometown.
Thank you for your considerationThank you for your consideration in advance. Yours faithfully, Antonio Perez
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter clearly corrects the date, explains the economic importance of accurate information, and requests a notice in the next issue, maintaining an appropriately formal purpose. Its main weakness is a dense single-paragraph presentation combined with repetitive and occasionally over-elaborate wording. The priority is to use separate paragraphs for the error, its consequences, and the requested remedy, while choosing concise editorial language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The factual correction, its importance to local livelihoods, and the requested response are all fully developed in a suitably courteous letter.
Specify that the correction should state the February arrival period prominently so prospective visitors can plan accurately.
Coherence and Cohesion
The reasoning progresses clearly from the error to its consequences and remedy, but one dense body paragraph and repeated nouns reduce cohesion.
Use three body paragraphs and replace repeated references to the magazine, article, and hometown with clear pronouns where appropriate.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a strong range for correction and economic impact, although phrases such as 'noble effort' and 'correctional notice' are overly elaborate or imprecise.
Prefer concise editorial terms such as 'article,' 'incorrect date,' 'local tourism income,' and 'correction notice.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are handled accurately and errors are infrequent, though some structures are unnecessarily wordy and the request pattern is awkward.
Use a direct form such as 'I would be grateful if you published a correction in the next issue' and trim redundant purpose clauses.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have just read an article in an international travel magazine which contained some information about your town that is incorrect. Write a letter to the editor of the magazine. In your letter:
- correct the information in the article
- explain why it is important for the magazine to give
- correct information
- suggest what the magazine should do about this situation
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.