Many businesses find it very difficult to assign enough time and resources to research and development. What could a government do to encourage more company spending in this area?
Sample Response
I strongly agree with the statement that research and progress cannot be flourished just by the individual efforts of private sector companies without enough support and cooperation of governments. Almost all the reputed companies fix some budget for research and development of their products but personal or company's interests put aside the common and noble cause of research due to short of resources. Governments need their part to play to promote the culture of research going side by side with companies for the common cause of development. There are lots of measures which government can do. But I share with you here, some options in my mind.
For example, some government organisations can be established to create an environment of trust and security among people and companies to monitor and regulate the process of research such as Federal development authority, Ministry of health sciences etc.
Moreover, funding resources should be provided to companies, researchers and even students of universities who are working on valuable research areas for the noble cause of humanity. A committee can be made to review the projects submitted and pass them on to the selection procedure. The selected candidates should be awarded funds or scholarships for their projects to complete within the fixed period of time. I quote you here my own example, being working as research scientist in a cancer hospital. One of my projects is still in the papers due to the limited supply of funds.
To sum up my talk, I would like to say that governments, especially of undeveloped countries have to take some measures to support and promote the culture of research in private sector companies and community. Otherwise, we will lose the cream of our young minds and their life-changing abilities by spoiling their ideas and frustrating their minds.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use active verb form Original: research and progress cannot be flourished Suggested revision: research and development cannot flourish Why it matters: 'Flourish' is intransitive and should not be used in the passive voice.
- 2. Correct support preposition Original: of Suggested revision: from Why it matters: Assistance is received 'from' governments in this context.
- 3. Use correct reputation adjective Original: the reputed companies Suggested revision: reputable companies Why it matters: 'Reputable' means having a good reputation and is the intended adjective.
- 4. Use budget collocation Original: fix some budget Suggested revision: allocate a budget Why it matters: Companies 'allocate a budget' for an activity.
- 5. Use concise R&D phrase Original: research and development of their products Suggested revision: product research and development Why it matters: The revision uses the standard compact form for research related to products.
- 6. Use parallel modifiers Original: company's Suggested revision: corporate Why it matters: Parallel adjectives are needed to modify the shared noun 'interests'.
- 7. Correct shortage phrase Original: due to short of resources Suggested revision: because of limited resources Why it matters: 'Short of' cannot follow 'due to' in this noun phrase.
- 8. Correct fixed expression Original: Governments need their part to play Suggested revision: Governments need to play their part Why it matters: The fixed expression is 'play their part'.
- 9. Use collaboration phrase Original: going side by side with companies Suggested revision: by working alongside companies Why it matters: The revision describes government-company cooperation naturally.
- 10. Correct measure collocation Original: lots of measures which government can do Suggested revision: many measures that governments can take Why it matters: Governments 'take measures', and the plural noun needs a plural subject.
- 11. Remove redundant noun Original: funding resources Suggested revision: funding Why it matters: 'Funding' already means financial resources.
- 12. Use natural student phrase Original: students of universities Suggested revision: university students Why it matters: The attributive noun phrase is the natural way to identify this group.
Suggested Rewrites
- research and progress cannot be flourished research and development cannot flourish
- of from
- the reputed companies reputable companies
- fix some budget allocate a budget
- research and development of their products product research and development
- company's corporate
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response recognises the need for government support and proposes regulatory bodies, project review, grants, and scholarships, supported by a relevant personal funding example. Its main limitation is alignment with the task: direct public funding is discussed more than incentives for companies to spend their own resources. Prioritise concrete mechanisms such as tax credits, matched funding, and public-private research partnerships.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Relevant government actions are proposed, but the discussion only partly explains how they would increase company spending specifically.
Develop two direct business incentives, such as research tax relief and grants conditional on matching private investment, and explain their effects.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response has a recognisable introduction, measures, example, and conclusion, though paragraph balance is uneven and the opening is unnecessarily broad.
Begin with a direct answer, then give each incentive its own balanced paragraph containing mechanism, result, and example.
Lexical Resource
There is adequate vocabulary for research, funding, regulation, and development, but frequent awkward collocations reduce precision.
Use natural phrases such as 'research cannot flourish', 'allocate an R&D budget', 'lack resources', 'fund promising projects', and 'developing countries'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex structures are attempted, but frequent errors in passive forms, articles, agreement, prepositions, and sentence construction reduce control.
Write shorter sentences and correct forms such as 'governments have a role', 'a committee could review proposals', and 'I work as a research scientist'.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Many businesses find it very difficult to assign enough time and resources to research and development. What could a government do to encourage more company spending in this area?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.