You have missed some important papers accidently in a taxi. Write a letter to the manager of the Taxi company. In your letter: - Give the details of your journey - Explain why those papers are important for you - Suggest what can the manager do
Sample Response
Dear Sir/ Madam,
My name is Sam. I am writing this letter to you to ask for your help in finding my missing documents.
I called a taxi from your company yesterday at about 9 am to go from my house on the 5th Avenue to Hindus Cooperation on the 9th Avenue. We took the shortcuts which passed through the North Tunnel and arrived at the destination at about 10.30 am.
When I got to my company, I realised my documents had gone missing. They are extremely important to me because they are the proposals for a huge project my team is working on. I reckon I must have accidentally left the papers in the taxi.
Can you kindly contact the driver I had yesterday and asked if he had seen any of my documents in his car? They should all be in a red folder with my name on them.
Thank you and please keep me updated if you have any information about my documents.
Best regards,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use standard salutation Original: Dear Sir/ Madam, Suggested revision: Dear Sir or Madam, Why it matters: Use the conventional wording for a formal letter to an unknown recipient.
- 2. Remove street article Original: on the 5th Avenue Suggested revision: on Fifth Avenue Why it matters: Named avenues normally do not take the definite article in this construction.
- 3. Remove street article Original: on the 9th Avenue Suggested revision: on Ninth Avenue Why it matters: Use the avenue name without the definite article.
- 4. Use precise destination Original: got to my company Suggested revision: arrived at my office Why it matters: This phrasing more naturally describes reaching your workplace.
- 5. Keep formal tone Original: reckon Suggested revision: believe Why it matters: A more formal verb suits a request to a company manager.
- 6. Clarify driver reference Original: the driver I had yesterday Suggested revision: the driver who collected me yesterday Why it matters: The relative clause clearly identifies the driver from the journey.
- 7. Match verb form Original: and asked if Suggested revision: and ask whether Why it matters: After “Can you,” the coordinated verb should remain in its base form.
- 8. Sentence rewrite Original: We took the shortcuts which passed through the North Tunnel and arrived at the destination at about 10.30 am. Suggested revision: We took a shortcut through the North Tunnel and arrived at the destination at about 10.30 am. Why it matters: Use the idiomatic singular phrase and describe the route directly.
- 9. Sentence rewrite Original: Thank you and please keep me updated if you have any information about my documents. Suggested revision: Thank you for your assistance. Please keep me informed if you receive any information about my documents. Why it matters: Separating the thanks from the request creates a clearer formal closing.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Sir/ Madam, Dear Sir or Madam,
- on the 5th Avenue on Fifth Avenue
- on the 9th Avenue on Ninth Avenue
- got to my company arrived at my office
- reckon believe
- the driver I had yesterday the driver who collected me yesterday
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter gives clear journey details, explains the papers’ importance, and makes a practical recovery request in a suitably polite tone. Its main limitation is a small cluster of awkward or inaccurate constructions, especially in the request to contact the driver, along with an incomplete closing; a careful final edit for verb forms, articles, and a full sign-off would make the response more polished and professionally convincing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all three bullet points are covered with relevant detail, and the polite tone generally suits a request to a company manager.
Complete the closing with the sender’s name and keep every expression consistently formal.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information progresses logically from the journey to the loss, the importance of the papers, and the requested action, with effective paragraphing.
Link the discovery of the loss to the requested search a little more smoothly to strengthen continuity.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a sufficient range of relevant vocabulary, including precise references to the route, project proposals, and identifying folder.
Replace less natural choices such as “called a taxi” and “my company” with more idiomatic formal wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A good range of simple and complex structures is mostly well controlled, and the few errors do not impede meaning.
Correct the verb pattern in “contact the driver ... and asked” and review article use in place names.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have missed some important papers accidently in a taxi. Write a letter to the manager of the Taxi company. In your letter:
- Give the details of your journey
- Explain why those papers are important for you
- Suggest what can the manager do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.