Some people think that cities are the best places to live. Others prefer to live in a rural area. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of living in the city to living in the countryside.
Sample Response
Many people consider living in cities and they think that this is more advantageous while another group prefers living in the countryside as they find it as a better alternative. Living in a city and in an urban area, both has their advantages and disadvantages. First of all, living in a city is very stressful as the life is very busy and competitive there. Cities have lot more vehicles, industries and a large population and that pollutes the environment which is very harmful to the health. It is particularly tough for low earning people as the expenses in living in a city is always higher. People suffer from many health problems that live in a city and especially they suffer a lot in the old ages. Recently I have read a book and this book reveals some surprising facts about living in a city. I was pretty surprised to find that ''people who live in country sides have more life expectancy than live in an urban area.'' On the other hand, city life offers numerous facilities and opportunities compared to the living in urban area. For instance, job opportunity and to run small businesses have better prospects in a city than in the countryside. People can easily find a new job in case s/he loses a job and there are many other earning prospects in a city that could not be found in a village. For economically solvent people, the city offers many social and entertainment facilities like Cineplex, sports event in stadiums, amusement parks, museum etc. Opposite to this, rural areas do not offer many opportunities for social life and lacks the entertainment facilities. Also, people can’t purchase everything they need from a village market and markets are very rare in most of the urban areas. Regarding this, I would like to mention my own experience that I had a few days back. I went to a rural area called Tillo and I had my cell phone damaged there. I could not find any phone servicing centre there and I had to go to the city to have it repaired. In conclusion, both the cities and rural areas have their advantages and disadvantages.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use prefer living Original: consider Suggested revision: prefer Why it matters: "Consider living" means contemplate the option, whereas the sentence describes a preference.
- 2. Remove as after find Original: find it as a better alternative Suggested revision: find it a better alternative Why it matters: The verb "find" takes an object complement directly without "as".
- 3. Remove unnecessary article Original: as the life is Suggested revision: as life is Why it matters: General "life" is uncountable and does not require "the".
- 4. Fix cost phrase Original: the expenses in living in a city is always higher Suggested revision: the cost of living in a city is always higher Why it matters: "Cost of living" is the natural singular phrase and agrees with "is".
- 5. Fix misplaced clause Original: health problems that live in a city Suggested revision: health problems when they live in a city Why it matters: The original relative clause incorrectly describes the health problems as living in the city.
- 6. Use in old age Original: in the old ages Suggested revision: in old age Why it matters: The standard expression for the later stage of life is "in old age".
- 7. Use simple past Original: Recently I have read Suggested revision: I recently read Why it matters: The simple past is appropriate for a completed reading event.
- 8. Join countryside Original: country sides Suggested revision: the countryside Why it matters: "Countryside" is one word and normally takes the definite article.
- 9. Use longer expectancy Original: more Suggested revision: longer Why it matters: Length is compared with "longer," not "more".
- 10. Add comparison subject Original: than live in an urban area Suggested revision: than those who live in an urban area Why it matters: The comparative clause needs a subject matching the people in the first clause.
- 11. Use compared with Original: compared to the living Suggested revision: compared with living Why it matters: The comparison is between two ways of living, and no article is needed before the gerund.
- 12. Use plural opportunities Original: opportunity Suggested revision: opportunities Why it matters: The general category requires the plural countable noun.
Suggested Rewrites
- consider prefer
- find it as a better alternative find it a better alternative
- as the life is as life is
- the expenses in living in a city is always higher the cost of living in a city is always higher
- health problems that live in a city health problems when they live in a city
- in the old ages in old age
Why this response received Band 5.5
The response provides several concrete city disadvantages and advantages, supported by examples about employment, entertainment, costs, health, and access to services. However, the countryside's positive qualities are scarcely developed, some urban and rural references are confused, and the single unbroken paragraph weakens the comparison; the highest-priority improvement is to organise a balanced, accurate comparison with separate paragraphs for each setting and clearly matched advantages and disadvantages.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Relevant city benefits and drawbacks are developed with examples, but countryside advantages receive limited direct treatment and some comparisons are inaccurate.
Develop at least two clear rural advantages and compare each directly with the corresponding feature of city life.
Coherence and Cohesion
A broad shift from city drawbacks to city benefits and rural limitations is visible, but one long paragraph and uneven grouping weaken progression.
Use separate focused paragraphs for city advantages, city disadvantages, countryside advantages, and countryside disadvantages.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient vocabulary for employment, health, pollution, services, and entertainment, but frequent repetition and inaccurate word choices reduce precision.
Use precise terms such as cost of living, low-income residents, life expectancy, rural area, and access to amenities.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Some complex sentences are attempted, but frequent agreement, article, plural, relative-clause, and sentence-boundary errors reduce control.
Check subject-verb agreement and noun number first, then divide overloaded sentences into complete grammatical units.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people think that cities are the best places to live. Others prefer to live in a rural area. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of living in the city to living in the countryside.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.