The best way to solve the world’s environmental problem is to increase the cost of fuel for cars and other vehicles. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
Raising fuel prices is believed to be the best solution to the planet’s environmental problem. Although this measure may reduce the amount of toxic fumes that are released into the atmosphere to some extent, I believe there are several more effective alternatives to tackle environmental issues.
On the one hand, such a policy may help to lower emissions from certain modes of transport. As the price of fuel increases, commuters may resort to using public transport instead of using their own vehicles in order to save money. Moreover, drivers who are unwilling to spend more money on petrol will be encouraged to use vehicles that run on renewable and environmentally-friendly energy sources as an alternative, such as electric cars and bicycles. As a consequence, the number of privately-owned vehicles travelling on public roads would be significantly reduced, which in turn would significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere each year. This would effectively enhance the air quality.
However, as environmental issues stem from many causes, there are several more suitable ways to address these problems. People’s lack of awareness and knowledge about such problems is one of the primary underlying issues that results in pollution. Therefore, the government must educate the public about the current state of their environment and negative lifestyles in order to reduce the long-term impacts of their ignorance. Additionally, water pollution is a severe issue in many developing countries these days and is often found downstream from industrial zones where factories discharge toxic waste without proper treatment. Such an issue requires governments to implement stricter regulations to minimize the negative health impacts and help sustain the economy.
In conclusion, since each problem requires a unique solution, it is justifiable to say that increasing the price of fuel is not the single best resolution for environmental issues.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Avoid repeated wording Original: instead of using their own vehicles Suggested revision: rather than driving their own vehicles Why it matters: This replacement avoids repeating 'using' and states the transport choice more naturally.
- 2. Remove unnecessary hyphen Original: environmentally-friendly Suggested revision: environmentally friendly Why it matters: An adverb ending in '-ly' is not normally hyphenated before an adjective.
- 3. Remove unnecessary hyphen Original: privately-owned Suggested revision: privately owned Why it matters: The '-ly' adverb and participle should not be joined with a hyphen.
- 4. Reduce repetition Original: which in turn would significantly reduce Suggested revision: thereby significantly reducing Why it matters: This participle phrase avoids repeating 'would significantly reduce' while keeping the causal link clear.
- 5. Use natural collocation Original: enhance the air quality Suggested revision: improve air quality Why it matters: 'Improve air quality' is the more natural collocation in this context.
- 6. Match subject and verb Original: results Suggested revision: result Why it matters: The plural relative-clause subject 'issues' requires the plural verb 'result'.
- 7. Use precise reference Original: impacts of their ignorance Suggested revision: impacts of this lack of awareness Why it matters: This wording refers precisely to the lack of awareness already identified and avoids an overly broad label.
- 8. Correct the collocation Original: single best resolution for environmental issues Suggested revision: single best solution to environmental issues Why it matters: A problem normally has a 'solution to' it rather than a 'resolution for' it.
- 9. Use general reference Original: their Suggested revision: the Why it matters: The general environmental condition is meant here, so the definite article is clearer than the possessive.
- 10. Clarify the internal shift Suggested revision: Signal the move from public awareness to industrial water pollution more explicitly so the two measures form a clearer progression. Why it matters: The paragraph changes from education to regulation abruptly, even though both points support the same overall argument.
Suggested Rewrites
- instead of using their own vehicles rather than driving their own vehicles
- environmentally-friendly environmentally friendly
- privately-owned privately owned
- which in turn would significantly reduce thereby significantly reducing
- enhance the air quality improve air quality
- results result
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response presents a clear, consistently maintained position and develops a persuasive comparison between fuel-price measures and broader environmental policies, supported by specific causal explanations. Its main limitation is occasional imprecision in examples and phrasing, particularly around renewable transport and public lifestyles. The highest-priority improvement is to sharpen these claims with more precise examples and explicitly show why the alternatives are more effective than fuel-price increases.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response fully addresses the proposition with a clear position and well-developed explanations of both the policy's limited value and stronger alternatives.
Make the comparative judgement even more explicit by directly weighing the likely impact of each alternative against a fuel-price increase.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through well-focused paragraphs, and cohesive devices generally guide the reader smoothly without obscuring relationships.
Reduce minor repetition, especially in the transport paragraph, by varying sentence links and consolidating closely related consequences.
Lexical Resource
A wide and generally precise vocabulary supports detailed discussion, though a few combinations such as renewable vehicles and negative lifestyles are imprecise.
Choose more exact collocations for environmental behaviour and transport technology so that otherwise sophisticated claims remain fully natural.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a wide range of complex structures with strong control, and the few errors, such as subject-verb disagreement, do not impede meaning.
Proofread long sentences for isolated agreement and reference errors while preserving the effective variety of subordinate structures.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
The best way to solve the world’s environmental problem is to increase the cost of fuel for cars and other vehicles. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.