Some people say that it is necessary to use animals for testing medicines intended for human use. Others, however, think it is cruel and unnecessary. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
People have different views about whether animal testing for medical research is necessary or not. From my perspective, animal testing plays an integral role in the medicine industry, in spite of the drawbacks it brings.
There are two major reasons why some people oppose the idea of using animals for medical experiments. Firstly, it is believed that such experiments are cruel and inhumane, and therefore should be prohibited. Every year, many animals are subjected to medical experimentation and have to suffer physical pain and even deprivation of food and water. Additionally, in order to implement research on animals, large amounts of money are expended on the establishment of facilities and human resources. This can be a burden on a country’s national budget, preventing the government from investing in other more important aspects like education and housing.
Despite the above mentioned disadvantages, in my opinion, animal testing is necessary.
Humans are still reliant on animal testing for many purposes, including developing new medications and checking the safety of medical products. In fact, the most powerful supercomputers are currently unable to understand the workings of the human body, and complex organs such as the brain and heart, which is crucial for medical research and development. More importantly, due to biological similarities, medical research needs to be implemented on animals, which will bring about better outcomes in medical research compared to other methods. Over many years, chimpanzees, the closest relatives of humans, have been used to investigate advanced treatments for cancer and heart disease, and until now, there is still no better alternative.
In conclusion, although animal testing may be cruel and cost a significant amount of money, it still needs to be conducted because of the unique benefits.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use the industry term Original: medicine Suggested revision: pharmaceutical Why it matters: Pharmaceutical industry is the conventional term for the field that develops medicines.
- 2. Make the phrase concise Original: in spite of the drawbacks it brings Suggested revision: despite its drawbacks Why it matters: The shorter possessive construction expresses the same concession more naturally.
- 3. Remove unnecessary wording Original: have to suffer physical pain and even deprivation of food and water Suggested revision: suffer physical pain and even deprivation of food and water Why it matters: Suffer already conveys that the experience is imposed, so have to is unnecessary.
- 4. Correct research collocation Original: implement research on animals Suggested revision: conduct animal research Why it matters: Research is conducted rather than implemented.
- 5. Repair awkward collocations Original: are expended on the establishment of facilities and human resources Suggested revision: are spent on facilities and personnel Why it matters: Money is spent, while personnel correctly refers to the people employed for the research.
- 6. Use a precise noun Original: other more important aspects Suggested revision: other important areas Why it matters: Areas is a clearer noun for public spending fields such as education and housing.
- 7. Use the correct verb Original: implemented Suggested revision: conducted Why it matters: Medical research is conducted rather than implemented.
- 8. Avoid repetition and compare Original: bring about better outcomes in medical research compared to other methods Suggested revision: produce better research outcomes than other methods Why it matters: The revision removes repeated wording and forms the comparison directly with than.
- 9. Use the time marker Original: Over Suggested revision: For Why it matters: For appropriately introduces the duration over which the testing has occurred.
- 10. Use present perfect Original: until now, there is still no better alternative Suggested revision: no better alternative has yet been found Why it matters: The present perfect correctly describes the situation continuing up to the present.
- 11. Remove redundant alternative Original: necessary or not Suggested revision: necessary Why it matters: Whether already expresses the two alternatives, so or not is unnecessary here.
- 12. Sentence rewrite Original: In fact, the most powerful supercomputers are currently unable to understand the workings of the human body, and complex organs such as the brain and heart, which is crucial for medical research and development. Suggested revision: In fact, even the most powerful supercomputers are currently unable to model fully how the human body and complex organs such as the brain and heart work, which makes animal testing crucial for medical research and development. Why it matters: The rewrite repairs the faulty coordination and gives which a clear grammatical reference.
Suggested Rewrites
- medicine pharmaceutical
- in spite of the drawbacks it brings despite its drawbacks
- have to suffer physical pain and even deprivation of food and water suffer physical pain and even deprivation of food and water
- implement research on animals conduct animal research
- are expended on the establishment of facilities and human resources are spent on facilities and personnel
- other more important aspects other important areas
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response’s strongest feature is its clear position, supported by a well-developed explanation of why animal testing remains necessary despite ethical and financial objections. The main limitation is occasional imprecision in the opposing case and several awkward grammatical or lexical constructions; explaining more directly why opponents consider testing unnecessary and tightening sentence control would make the discussion more complete and authoritative.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views and the writer’s opinion are clearly addressed with relevant explanation and a concrete medical example.
Explain the claim that testing is unnecessary more directly rather than focusing mainly on cruelty and public cost.
Coherence and Cohesion
The discussion progresses logically and cohesive devices are clear, although the isolated transition paragraph weakens paragraphing slightly.
Integrate the one-sentence position statement into the following paragraph to create a more unified progression.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a wide range of relevant academic vocabulary, with occasional awkward or imprecise collocations.
Use more natural phrasing for conducting research, funding facilities, and describing the medical or pharmaceutical industry.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A variety of complex structures is used successfully, though some agreement and reference errors reduce precision.
Check relative-clause agreement and antecedents carefully in long sentences about bodies, organs, and research outcomes.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people say that it is necessary to use animals for testing medicines intended for human use. Others, however, think it is cruel and unnecessary. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.