Some people think history has nothing or little to tell us, but others think that studying the past history can help us better understand the present. Discuss the two views and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
History tells us abouttells about the old civilisations, their strategies, their way of living, global conflicts and how people overcame themworld conflict and the ways people overcame it. So I don't agree that history has little to tell usa little to tell us.
The basic characteristics, sufferings, crisescrisis and wit are the sameare same for all agesall the ages of the human kind. The way people struggled to achieve a better life in the primitive time is very much similar to the present time. The ways may be different, butdifferent but the theme is the samethe theme is same and there is a lot of evidencethere is lots of evidence that the study of historypast history revealsreviles new insightsa new invention for people todayto the present people. Though it is true that history itself is disputed as it has been
How could we know about the great people who sacrificed their liveshad sacrificed their lives for the betterment of the world or those who have cruelly tried to cause people to sufferbring suffering for people? History tells us a lot about the people of all centuries. History suggests the different techniques that can be malevolent or beneficial for a country by presenting practical evidence. Again, history tells us about the devastating wars and potentially warns us about the conflict of nations. History teachessuggests us about good and evilthe good and evil and helps us to choose the appropriate way.
Why this response received Band 5.0
The response has a clear opinion and offers several relevant reasons why history can guide present-day choices, especially through past achievements and conflicts. However, it is under length, barely examines the opposing view, and leaves one sentence unfinished, so the required discussion is substantially incomplete. The highest priority is to add a developed paragraph explaining why some people consider history of limited value, followed by a clear conclusion.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
A clear opinion and relevant benefits of history are presented, but the opposing view is not properly discussed and development is limited.
Develop the view that history has little value with reasons or an example, then weigh it against your own position.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response has a broadly understandable progression, but the unfinished second paragraph and absent conclusion disrupt the argument.
Give each view a complete paragraph and finish with a conclusion that restates the judgement.
Lexical Resource
There is some range in words such as “civilisations,” “malevolent,” and “devastating,” but inaccurate choices sometimes obscure meaning.
Prioritise accurate collocations and word forms, replacing unclear phrases such as “reviles a new invention.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Some complex sentences are attempted, but frequent agreement, article, and sentence-completion errors weaken control.
Check every sentence for a complete clause and correct basic patterns such as subject-verb agreement and article use.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people think history has nothing or little to tell us, but others think that studying the past history can help us better understand the present. Discuss the two views and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.