You have just read an article in a national newspaper which claims that town centres in your country all look very similar to each other. You don’t fully agree with this opinion. Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper. In your letter: - say which points in the article you agree with - explain ways in which your town centre is different from most other town centres - offer to give a guided tour of your town to the writer of the article
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,
I have recently readcome across an article, published in your national newspaperpublished in your popular daily newspaper, which discussedtried to shed some light on the appearancelooks of town centres in our countryour town centres in our country. I am writing to thank you for the article, and express my opinion on that.
Overall,No doubt, it was rather well writtenrather well-written, and I do agree with most of the points that were presented in the article. For example, I agree with the author when he says that the areas of most of the town centres have expanded over the years. I also agree with the fact that the number of parking spaces in and around the city centres has become relatively low.
However, I do not agree with the author when he claims that city centres in our countryDelete, pretty much, look the same. For instance, my city centre looks different since it has managed to preserve many of its old buildings, unlike many other city centres. But, if the author of the article does not believe what I am saying here about my city centre, I would be more than happy to give him a guided tour so that he can witness this fact and get some more insight about it.
Yours faithfully,
Morris Buchanon
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter has a clear formal purpose, covers all three bullet points, and moves logically from agreement to disagreement and an offer of a tour. Its main limitation is that the town's distinctiveness is supported by only one fairly brief example, while several expressions and punctuation choices are awkward. The highest-priority improvement is to develop the contrast with another specific local feature and express comparisons more naturally.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and every bullet point is addressed in a suitable formal register, though the town's distinctive character is only briefly developed.
Add another concrete difference, such as the town centre's layout, public space, or local architecture, to strengthen the response to the second bullet point.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a clear sequence and are grouped into purposeful paragraphs, with generally effective reference and linking.
Make the final paragraph more concise so the disagreement, supporting example, and tour offer each stand out clearly.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a sufficient range of formal and topic-specific vocabulary, but some collocations are awkward and city centre is repeated frequently.
Replace phrases such as the looks of our town centres and get some more insight about it with more precise, natural alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are generally well controlled and meaning remains clear, despite several unnecessary commas and minor construction issues.
Remove commas that separate verbs from their shared subject and avoid inserting commas around short adverbial phrases such as pretty much.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have just read an article in a national newspaper which claims that town centres in your country all look very similar to each other. You don’t fully agree with this opinion. Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper. In your letter:
- say which points in the article you agree with
- explain ways in which your town centre is different from most other town centres
- offer to give a guided tour of your town to the writer of the article
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.