The tradition of families getting together to eat meals is disappearing. What are the reasons? What are the impacts?
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Sample Response
Nowadays, it seems that families tend to eat together less frequently. This essay will put forward some explanations for this trend and analyse the potential impactsan analysis of the potential impacts.
The fact that family members do not eat togetherchoose not to eat with each other can be attributedattributable to two reasons. Firstly, since people todaypeople these days tend to have heavier workloads and more hectic schedules than in the past, sitting down to share a meal with their family members may be inconvenientmight not be a convenient choice. Instead, these individuals usually eat out with their friends, colleagues or business partners near their workplace which can be more suitable for their timetable. Secondly, the fast food culture of modern life can change people’s eating habits because fast food can be found everywhere and is usually an inexpensive food choice. For instance, young people in Vietnam often grab a quick meal after a busy day at work or school, which leads them to skipskipping family meals when they return homemeals with their family when they go home.
The trend has both positive and negative impacts on people. In terms of the benefits, people are able to be more flexible in how they use their timemuch more flexible with their time. They will not have to be present at a fixed timeshow up at a fixed hour to have meals with their family and can choose what and when to eateat whatever and whenever they want. However, thisin terms of the negative effects, this can lead to weaker family bondsa weaker family bond. If a family consistentlycontinuously eats separately, family members may not be able to share their thoughts and feelingsshare their thoughts, feelings with each other, and therefore may feel disconnected from one anothermay feel isolated from each other. This will result in a lack of strong family connectionsa lack of deep family connection.
In conclusion, the tendency for family members to eat separatelytendency of family members eating separately is mainly caused by the difference in their schedules or the preference to eat fast food, which can have both positive and negative impacts.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The essay answers both questions clearly and organises its causes and impacts into an easy-to-follow progression, with relevant everyday examples. The main limitation is that the explanations, particularly the fast-food cause and the positive impact, remain somewhat general and could be analysed more deeply. The highest-priority improvement is to extend each point with a clearer causal chain and a more specific consequence.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both reasons and impacts are relevant and clearly presented, but some ideas receive only limited analysis beyond an initial explanation.
Develop the fast-food cause and time-flexibility benefit with more detailed reasoning about how they affect shared family meals.
Coherence and Cohesion
Paragraphing is effective and the sequence from causes to positive and negative impacts is consistently logical.
Use more varied internal linking so relationships are expressed without relying repeatedly on formulaic markers.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is sufficiently varied and generally precise, including effective topic language, though a few phrases are conventional or awkward.
Choose more natural collocations for ideas such as family members eating separately and differences in schedules.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied complex structures with good overall control, although a few errors occur in complementation and noun phrasing.
Correct forms such as “leads them to skipping” and review gerund constructions to improve grammatical accuracy.