A street near you has become very dirty recently, and you are concerned about this. Write a letter to the council that is responsible for this street. In your letter: - Explain why it has become dirty recently. - Say what problems it has caused. - Give some suggestions to solve the problems
Sample Response
Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to you to outline an area I feel the dirty streets of Ottawa needs attention. Please allow me to explain. While travelling through the streets on my way to work, I came across dirty and stingy corners. The garbage was littering on the roads due to which roads have become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. It creates a huge havoc for pedestrians and people who pass those streets. Simultaneous constructions of Metro train tracks and roads with arrival of monsoon had only worsened the situation. Of late I have seen homeless children falling sick because of the dirt. I am sure I am not the only one to appreciate your efforts in renovating the street roads and metro tracks. If you could organize these activities in such a way that the free space and road equation could be balanced, it would be helpful for the common people of the city.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Formal salutation Original: Dear Sir/Madam, Suggested revision: Dear Sir or Madam, Why it matters: Use the conventional full form for a formal letter to an unknown recipient.
- 2. Wrong word choice Original: dirty and stingy corners Suggested revision: dirty and foul-smelling corners Why it matters: Stingy describes unwillingness to spend money and does not describe an unpleasant smell.
- 3. Incorrect verb form Original: The garbage was littering Suggested revision: Garbage was scattered Why it matters: Garbage is the material being left on the road, so littering is not used correctly here.
- 4. Faulty result link Original: due to which roads have become Suggested revision: , causing the roads to become Why it matters: This participle clause expresses the result clearly and supplies the missing article structure.
- 5. Plural agreement Original: a breeding ground Suggested revision: breeding grounds Why it matters: The plural noun roads requires the plural complement breeding grounds.
- 6. Unclear reference Original: It creates Suggested revision: This situation has created Why it matters: This situation identifies the cause clearly and the present perfect matches the recent ongoing problem.
- 7. Uncountable noun Original: a huge havoc Suggested revision: serious disruption Why it matters: Havoc is uncountable and does not take the article a in this expression.
- 8. Avoid repetition Original: pedestrians and people who pass those streets Suggested revision: people using those streets Why it matters: The original phrase repeats the same group rather than identifying two distinct groups.
- 9. Clearer time phrase Original: Of late I have seen Suggested revision: Recently, I have seen Why it matters: Recently is a clearer and more natural time marker in this formal complaint.
- 10. More formal wording Original: falling sick Suggested revision: becoming ill Why it matters: Becoming ill is more suitable for the formal register of a council letter.
- 11. More precise cause Original: because of the dirt Suggested revision: because of the unsanitary conditions Why it matters: This phrase describes the health-related condition more precisely than dirt.
- 12. Specify the action Original: organize these activities Suggested revision: coordinate the construction work Why it matters: Activities is vague, while the requested council action concerns the road and metro construction.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Sir/Madam, Dear Sir or Madam,
- dirty and stingy corners dirty and foul-smelling corners
- The garbage was littering Garbage was scattered
- due to which roads have become , causing the roads to become
- a breeding ground breeding grounds
- It creates This situation has created
Why this response received Band 6.0
The letter communicates its concern and gives relevant causes and consequences, including construction, monsoon conditions, mosquitoes, and illness. Its main limitation is that the proposed solution is vague and sometimes difficult to interpret; the highest-priority improvement is to request specific council actions, such as scheduled waste removal and safer management of construction areas, while proofreading persistent grammar and collocation errors.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and all three bullet points are addressed, although the proposed remedy is vague and only briefly developed.
Give two concrete council actions and explain how each would reduce the street's litter, health risks, or disruption.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas move broadly from the dirty conditions to their causes, effects, and a request, but the single-block presentation and some awkward links weaken the flow.
Use separate paragraphs for the cause, resulting problems, and requested solutions, with clearer transitions between them.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a sufficient range of topic vocabulary, but several inaccurate combinations such as dirty and stingy corners and road equation reduce precision.
Choose natural complaint-letter phrases such as foul-smelling areas, accumulated rubbish, and access for pedestrians.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys the message, though recurring agreement, article, tense, and clause-control errors reduce accuracy.
Proofread each sentence for subject-verb agreement, articles, and consistent verb forms, especially in descriptions of the recent causes.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
A street near you has become very dirty recently, and you are concerned about this. Write a letter to the council that is responsible for this street. In your letter:
- Explain why it has become dirty recently.
- Say what problems it has caused.
- Give some suggestions to solve the problems
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.