The key to solving environmental problems is simple: present generations must have a less comfortable life for the sake of future generations. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
It is argued that to solve issues regarding the environment, individuals ought to be required to abandon their luxurious lifestyle for the benefit of those to come. Personally, I totally disagree with this because degradation of the environment will continue with people lacking the awareness of how to conserve it; meanwhile, advancements in technology will be certain to make it easier to tackle issues faced by nature.
The primary reason supporting my stance is that even if people now sacrifice their comfortable life, a positive impact on the environment may not necessarily come to fruition. In other words, without sufficient knowledge regarding how to protect the environment imparted to future school pupils, they will be unconscious of the how detrimental their irresponsible behaviour such as wasting water may be to nature. As a consequence, simply asking present generations to make contributions takes no effect.
Another point I consider relevant is that rapid technological development makes the methods to be employed to mitigate the environment even more diverse and efficient, meaning that it is of no necessity to encourage present generations to yield their satisfying lifestyles. Although the environment has been under pressure since the First Industrial Revolution, human beings have been endeavouring to reverse this dilemma and so far, made tremendous progress. It is then not difficult to expect further steps towards minimising the adverse influences of human life on nature.
In conclusion, I completely disapprove of the viewpoint that present generations are obliged to give up their comfortable lifestyles to provide a better natural environment for future ones to inhabit. For one thing, the attempts people make now might be in vain if no proper education on environmental protection was delivered to future children; for another, technological advances will make these efforts unnecessary.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use plural noun Original: lifestyle Suggested revision: lifestyles Why it matters: The plural subject individuals requires the plural noun lifestyles in this general statement.
- 2. Clarify condition Original: will continue with people lacking Suggested revision: will continue if people lack Why it matters: An if-clause expresses the intended condition more accurately than with plus a participle.
- 3. Use precise phrase Original: issues faced by nature Suggested revision: environmental problems Why it matters: Environmental problems is a clearer and more natural term than issues faced by nature.
- 4. Use plural noun Original: life Suggested revision: lives Why it matters: The plural noun people requires lives when referring to their individual lifestyles.
- 5. Fix clause structure Original: unconscious of the how detrimental Suggested revision: unaware of how detrimental Why it matters: The extra article makes the embedded how-clause ungrammatical, and unaware is the natural adjective.
- 6. Use natural teaching verb Original: imparted Suggested revision: taught Why it matters: Knowledge is more naturally described as being taught to pupils in this sentence.
- 7. Use gerund subject Original: make contributions takes no effect Suggested revision: making contributions has no effect Why it matters: The activity must be expressed as a gerund phrase, which takes the singular verb has.
- 8. Correct verb object Original: methods to be employed to mitigate the environment Suggested revision: methods used to protect the environment Why it matters: An environment is protected rather than mitigated; problems or effects are mitigated.
- 9. Use natural construction Original: it is of no necessity Suggested revision: there is no need Why it matters: There is no need is the idiomatic construction for expressing lack of necessity.
- 10. Choose natural wording Original: yield their satisfying lifestyles Suggested revision: give up their comfortable lifestyles Why it matters: Yield is not used for relinquishing a lifestyle, and satisfying does not convey material comfort here.
- 11. Correct collocation Original: reverse this dilemma Suggested revision: address this problem Why it matters: A dilemma is resolved, while the environmental problem described here can be addressed.
- 12. Complete verb phrase Original: and so far, made tremendous progress Suggested revision: and have so far made tremendous progress Why it matters: The coordinated present-perfect construction requires the auxiliary have.
Suggested Rewrites
- lifestyle lifestyles
- will continue with people lacking will continue if people lack
- issues faced by nature environmental problems
- life lives
- unconscious of the how detrimental unaware of how detrimental
- imparted taught
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response presents a consistent position, organises two distinct reasons clearly, and uses a strong range of sentence structures and topic vocabulary. Its main limitation is that several explanations remain speculative or loosely connected, while awkward collocations and a few structural errors weaken precision. Strengthen each body paragraph with a more concrete causal explanation and revise unnatural phrases so the argument reads as fully convincing and controlled.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response directly answers the question with a consistent position and two relevant reasons, though their support is sometimes speculative or insufficiently grounded.
Make each reason more convincing by explaining its causal link to the claim and adding a specific relevant example.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through clear paragraphs, with effective overall sequencing despite some formulaic transitions and lengthy sentence connections.
Use more natural internal links and shorten densely connected sentences where the logical relationship could be clearer.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and appropriately academic, but several inaccurate or unnatural collocations limit precision.
Revise combinations concerning environmental mitigation, awareness, and lifestyles to use conventional, exact phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a wide range of complex structures, although several agreement, coordination, and clause-construction errors remain noticeable.
Check complex sentences for parallel verb forms, clean clause boundaries, and consistent tense choices.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
The key to solving environmental problems is simple: present generations must have a less comfortable life for the sake of future generations. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.