Many people say that we have developed into a “throw-away” culture, because we are filling up our environment with so many plastic bags and rubbish that we cannot fully dispose of. To what extent do you agree with this opinion and what measures can you recommend reducing this problem?
Sample Response
Environmentalists today are campaigning for “reduce, recycle and re-use” in a bid to save the world, but we as a nationnation, have adopted “replace” as our mantra. This consumer attitude and other factorsThis and many other factors are leading to a throwaway society. In this essay, I shall discuss some steps that can be taken to solve this problem.
To begin with, modern lifestyles havemodern lifestyle has contributed greatly to the increasing amount of waste and garbage we produce every day. In other words, we have turned into a materialistic and consumer societymass-consumption society where we consume more and discard moreuse more and throw away more than ever before. Once new things are acquired, we dispose-off these “unwanted” things to second hand shops or just in the trash cans. The solution lies in changing our attitude. We should get old things repaired and try to use them as long as possible.
Secondly, the markets today are flooded with cheap, single-use itemssingle-use-only things that are more in demand than high priced quality items. Our houses and closets seem to be overflowing with goods that are greater in quantity but lower in valuemore in quantity and less in value. FurthermoreThen, there is excessive packaging used by companiestoo much packaging done by the companies in a bid to make their productsthings more attractive. Here too, the onus lies with us. We should not buy things with excessive packaging. This will deter companies from using excessive packagingdoing too much packaging. We can also bring our own shopping bagsour own personal shopping bags instead of using plastic bags provided by stores and shops. Besides, the government can enforce stricter laws requiringon companies to use biodegradable packaging.
Furthermore, plastics, scrap metal and glassplastics, waste metal, glass can be recycled. Companies can also contribute by developing new recyclable raw materialsnew raw material which is recyclable and will ultimately lead to less wastegarbage.
To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that, individuals, business and the government can share the responsibility to reduce the amount of waste material and to save the earth. If we do not take steps to tackle this problem urgentlyon a war footing, our Earth will become uninhabitableun- inhabitable.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response presents a clear, logically organised range of practical measures involving consumers, businesses, and government, supported by relevant explanations. Its main limitation is that the degree of agreement with the stated opinion remains more implicit than explicit, while some ideas are expressed through formulaic or awkward language. State the position unmistakably in the introduction and develop the recycling point with the same depth as the earlier solutions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response addresses both the throw-away culture and relevant measures, with a generally clear position and adequately developed solutions.
State the exact extent of agreement explicitly and expand the briefly presented recycling proposal with a concrete explanation.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through causes and solutions, with clear paragraphing and generally effective linking.
Integrate transitions more naturally and develop the short fourth paragraph so that the progression feels less list-like.
Lexical Resource
A sufficient range of topic-specific vocabulary conveys ideas precisely despite occasional awkward collocations and word-form choices.
Replace inaccurate forms such as dispose-off and un-inhabitable with standard expressions and refine collocations around products and packaging.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A variety of sentence structures is used with generally good control, although minor agreement, article, and punctuation errors remain.
Proofread noun agreement and article use, especially in lists and references to businesses, materials, and consumer goods.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Many people say that we have developed into a “throw-away” culture, because we are filling up our environment with so many plastic bags and rubbish that we cannot fully dispose of. To what extent do you agree with this opinion and what measures can you recommend reducing this problem?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.