In recent years, life has become more stressful than it has ever been. As a consequence, more and more people are suffering from stress-related problems. What factors are contributing to this increase and what do you think can be done to overcome the current problems.
Sample Response
Life is faster-paced today than the past and people are forced to work harder and for long hours to save their jobs. The professional and social competitions have skyrocketed and so has the stress-related issues. Our attitude, high competition everywhere and the very job nature demands more of us and as a result, we are suffering from stress-related illness. Our attitude towards our life and self-contentment could be the answer to this problem. Ever changing and challenging job environment, rat-race in the job market, frequent deadlines, lengthy working hours, monthly targets and frequent meetings put us on our toes. We are in constant fear that the employer would pick someone else and we would not be promoted unless we excel in our jobs. Furthermore, technology changes rapidly and that makes the existing skill sets become obsolete and forces people to take more pressure to learn the new technologies. Income and job-related uncertainties are two major pressures on professionals and ambitious and achievement oriented people thus suffer from stress-related issues. Besides, the ever increasing population in the city put more pressures on our immediate environment and resources. As resources become scarce, they also become more expensive which adds more pressure on the already struggling citizens. The growing intricacies of the modern world are compounded by the change of lifestyle and our expectation that pervades all aspects of our life and thus making our life more complex. If we do not know where to stop and when to relax, we will never be able to appreciate the beauty of life and come out from the stress-related problems. To solve this problem, we have to change our attitude towards the life. Life is not about running after money and promotion and once in a while, we have to take breaks. If we know what creates our stress and start living a healthy life as much as possible, we would have a better lifestyle. From the employers' end, there should be some initiatives for reducing the stress at workplace. Moreover, spending quality time with the family members and with people, we care about is another good way to fight stress. Above all, we have to learn to lead a contented life with whatever we have. This is the mantra of a stress-free life. In conclusion, we have got only one life and if we let the modern world intricacies eat it up, we would be the greatest fool in the history. We need to be happy with little and lead quality time with family members to fight the stress-related issues that we acquire due to the competitive and demanding job environment.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add comparison preposition Original: faster-paced today than the past Suggested revision: faster-paced today than in the past Why it matters: The comparison with a past time period requires “in.”
- 2. Keep comparison parallel Original: work harder and for long hours Suggested revision: work harder and longer hours Why it matters: The coordinated comparison needs parallel adjective forms.
- 3. Use uncountable competition noun Original: The professional and social competitions Suggested revision: Professional and social competition Why it matters: “Competition” is uncountable when referring generally to competitive pressure.
- 4. Fix subject verb agreement Original: so has the stress-related issues Suggested revision: so have stress-related issues Why it matters: The plural subject “issues” requires “have.”
- 5. Use concise wellbeing phrase Original: our life and self-contentment Suggested revision: life and contentment Why it matters: The revision removes unnecessary possessives and the awkward compound “self-contentment.”
- 6. Hyphenate compound adjective Original: Ever changing Suggested revision: Ever-changing Why it matters: The compound adjective before a noun should be hyphenated.
- 7. Fix idiomatic noun phrase Original: rat-race Suggested revision: the rat race Why it matters: The fixed expression takes the definite article and is normally written without a hyphen.
- 8. Use precise pressure phrase Original: put us on our toes Suggested revision: keep us under pressure Why it matters: The replacement directly conveys sustained workplace pressure.
- 9. Use concise adjective form Original: in constant fear that Suggested revision: constantly afraid that Why it matters: The adjective construction expresses the ongoing fear more naturally.
- 10. Match present context Original: the employer would pick Suggested revision: our employer will choose Why it matters: The present situation requires a present reference and “choose” is more precise than “pick.”
- 11. Remove redundant change verb Original: skill sets become obsolete Suggested revision: skill sets obsolete Why it matters: After “makes,” the object is followed directly by the adjective complement “obsolete.”
- 12. Use pressure collocation Original: take more pressure Suggested revision: face greater pressure Why it matters: People “face” pressure rather than “take” it in this meaning.
Suggested Rewrites
- faster-paced today than the past faster-paced today than in the past
- work harder and for long hours work harder and longer hours
- The professional and social competitions Professional and social competition
- so has the stress-related issues so have stress-related issues
- our life and self-contentment life and contentment
- Ever changing Ever-changing
Why this response received Band 6.0
The essay identifies a substantial range of causes, including job insecurity, long hours, competition, technological change, urban pressure, rising costs, and personal expectations, and offers relevant personal and workplace responses. Its main limitation is that the single dense paragraph repeats several causes while solutions remain comparatively general; the highest-priority improvement is to create separate cause and solution paragraphs and develop specific employer actions alongside individual coping strategies.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both questions are addressed with numerous relevant causes and several solutions, but the response is unbalanced because causes are more fully developed than employer or policy measures.
Develop practical solutions such as workload limits, flexible schedules, counselling, and protected breaks, explaining how each targets a stated cause.
Coherence and Cohesion
A cause-to-solution sequence is discernible, but the absence of paragraphing, repetition, and abrupt shifts make the long response difficult to navigate.
Use an introduction, two cause paragraphs, one solution paragraph, and a concise conclusion, grouping related ideas rather than listing them continuously.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is adequate and sometimes effective for employment and stress, but frequent awkward phrases such as "the very job nature," "take more pressure," and "come out from" reduce naturalness.
Use precise alternatives such as "the nature of modern work," "face additional pressure," "cope with stress," and "workplace stress-reduction initiatives."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of structures is attempted, but recurring agreement, article, comparative, and clause errors affect fluency throughout the essay.
Correct patterns such as "faster-paced than in the past," "competition has increased, and so have stress-related problems," and "population growth puts pressure on resources."
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In recent years, life has become more stressful than it has ever been. As a consequence, more and more people are suffering from stress-related problems. What factors are contributing to this increase and what do you think can be done to overcome the current problems.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.