Different people have different approaches to life. Some prefer daily routines while others enjoy having new experiences. Which category do you fall into and why?
Sample Response
Different people have different approaches to life. Whereas some people like to have daily routines with everything in life going unchanged, others embrace all the new experiences that life has to offer, I consider myself an adventurous person and therefore look forward to new experiences. To get the best out of life, one needs to be open-minded, to go ahead and try new things and to conquer challenges. New discoveries in life are only made by going out of daily routine to have new experiences. For example, Christopher Columbus only discovered the United States of America by going on a voyage to explore the world around him. Today, USA is considered one of the world’s superpowers and has been a place for inventions and new discoveries. Individuals who prefer to have same daily routine usually do not get the best out of life. For instance, scientists of neuropsychology have found a correlation between boredom and depression. Boredom has been found to be commoner in individuals that go through the same life experiences day in day out. This leads to a decrease in the level of endorphins in the brain which is considered to be the “happy mood hormone” thereby predisposing those individuals to depression. Individuals who do not like to try new experiences do not stand out in life. A clear cut example is the founder and CEO of Microsoft, Bill Gates. He decided to drop off school to start a software company and today he is one of the richest and successful people in the world. In conclusion, being open minded and embracing new life experiences can only make one a better person. This is the best way to derive pleasure in life and makes one versatile and diverse.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Remove unnecessary determiner Original: all the new experiences Suggested revision: new experiences Why it matters: All the overstates an unrestricted set and is unnecessary here.
- 2. Remove wordy lead-in Original: to go ahead and try new things Suggested revision: to try new things Why it matters: Go ahead and adds no meaning to the infinitive list.
- 3. Use natural routine phrase Original: going out of daily routine Suggested revision: moving beyond a daily routine Why it matters: Move beyond a routine is the natural expression for changing habits.
- 4. Add country article Original: Today, USA Suggested revision: Today, the USA Why it matters: The abbreviation USA normally takes the definite article.
- 5. Use concise innovation phrase Original: a place for inventions and new discoveries Suggested revision: a centre of invention and discovery Why it matters: The revision expresses the same idea more concisely.
- 6. Add article and verb Original: have same daily routine Suggested revision: follow the same daily routine Why it matters: The noun phrase requires the, and follow collocates naturally with routine.
- 7. Avoid absolute claim Original: do not get the best out of life Suggested revision: may not make the most of life Why it matters: May not makes the generalisation appropriately cautious.
- 8. Use specialist noun Original: scientists of neuropsychology Suggested revision: neuropsychologists Why it matters: Neuropsychologists is the standard noun for specialists in this field.
- 9. Use natural comparative Original: commoner Suggested revision: more common Why it matters: More common is the usual comparative form in formal writing.
- 10. Use people relative Original: that Suggested revision: who Why it matters: Who is the natural relative pronoun for people.
- 11. Punctuate fixed phrase Original: day in day out Suggested revision: day in, day out Why it matters: The fixed repeated expression takes an internal comma.
- 12. Use experience collocation Original: try Suggested revision: have Why it matters: People have experiences or try new things.
Suggested Rewrites
- all the new experiences new experiences
- to go ahead and try new things to try new things
- going out of daily routine moving beyond a daily routine
- Today, USA Today, the USA
- a place for inventions and new discoveries a centre of invention and discovery
- have same daily routine follow the same daily routine
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response gives a clear personal preference for new experiences and supports it with ideas about discovery, mental stimulation, and achievement. Its main weakness is that several examples are historically or causally overstated, while the unbroken paragraph and recurring language errors reduce persuasiveness. Prioritise one credible personal example showing how a new experience produced growth, then organise the reasons into paragraphs and refine articles, collocations, and sentence boundaries.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The chosen category is explicit and supported by several relevant reasons, but the Columbus, depression, and Gates examples contain overstatement or questionable causation.
Replace broad historical claims with a specific personal experience that demonstrates learning, confidence, or adaptability.
Coherence and Cohesion
The reasoning progresses from discovery to mental stimulation and success, but the absence of paragraphing and some loosely linked examples weaken overall flow.
Use one paragraph for personal growth and another for wellbeing or opportunity, each built around a single developed example.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient vocabulary for personality, experience, discovery, and wellbeing, alongside awkward expressions such as "go out of daily routine," "scientists of neuropsychology," and "drop off school."
Use natural combinations such as "break from a daily routine," "neuropsychologists," "drop out of school," and "successful people."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied structures with generally understandable meaning, but comma splices, missing articles, comparison forms, and parallelism errors remain noticeable.
Separate the opening comma splice and correct forms such as "the same daily routine," "more common," and "one of the richest and most successful people."
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Different people have different approaches to life. Some prefer daily routines while others enjoy having new experiences. Which category do you fall into and why?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.