Some people like to do only what they already do well. Other people prefer to try new things and take risks. Which one do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.
Sample Response
Some people prefer to take on challenges, explore new opportunities and embrace risks. Others, on the contrary, prefer to remain in their comfort zone and engage in no risky thing at all. Both groups of people have their reasons. Personally, I believe that taking on challenges and doing new things brings about more possibilities, improves the world and helps us enjoy our life to the fullest.
History teaches that successful people are always risk-takers. They succeed and change the world because they are not afraid of failure and do novel things. This is why people have to walk out of their comfort zone and try new things. And their mentality to try new things makes them tolerant of failure and helps them reach a new height. For instance, Michael Faraday, Marie Curie, and Thomas Alva Edison, to name just a few, were highly curious and worked hard to find new answers when they could have been easily satisfied with one or two of their early inventions and work. Their work, risk-tolerance and dedication made them famous and helped change the world.
On the contrary, people who take no risks at all and always do the same things, be it in their profession, hobby, or daily habits and choices, are less susceptible to failure because they have little to lose. In a sense, they are happy because they are not constantly trying to fight against all odds. For instance, people, who have always been in the same profession, scarcely changed their living place and never tried investing money in new ventures, often enjoy a relaxed lifestyle. Their mantra is that expect less, and regret less.
Personally, I think that trying and experiencing new things and embracing challenges help us constantly evaluate ourselves on the one hand and open up new potentials on the other hand. It also helps us set new goals and reach them. Life is too short to stay in one place, eat the same food and do the same thing over and over again. People need changes and challenges because they make our lives more meaningful, exciting and beautiful.
To conclude, I believe that people's aspiration for learning new things, inventing something new and solving problems have developed our civilisation, and that is why we should not be afraid to fail and take on new challenges and risks.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural risk phrase Original: engage in no risky thing at all Suggested revision: avoid taking any risks Why it matters: The original negative noun phrase is not idiomatic.
- 2. Remove redundant noun Original: Both groups of people Suggested revision: Both groups Why it matters: ‘Groups’ already implies groups of people in this context.
- 3. Use plural lives Original: life Suggested revision: lives Why it matters: Multiple people possess separate lives, so the plural is required.
- 4. Avoid absolute generalisation Original: successful people are always risk-takers Suggested revision: many successful people are risk-takers Why it matters: ‘Always’ makes an unsupported universal claim.
- 5. Use precise innovation phrase Original: do novel things Suggested revision: try novel approaches Why it matters: The revised collocation more clearly expresses innovation.
- 6. Fix comfort-zone idiom Original: walk out of their comfort zone Suggested revision: step outside their comfort zone Why it matters: The standard expression is ‘step outside one’s comfort zone’.
- 7. Use direct continuation Original: And their mentality to try Suggested revision: Their willingness to try Why it matters: The revision avoids an unnecessary sentence-opening ‘And’ and the awkward noun ‘mentality’.
- 8. Use plural idiom Original: reach a new height Suggested revision: reach new heights Why it matters: The established expression for greater achievement is plural.
- 9. Place adverb naturally Original: could have been easily satisfied Suggested revision: could easily have been satisfied Why it matters: The adverb normally precedes the perfect infinitive ‘have been’.
- 10. Clarify mixed nouns Original: work Suggested revision: achievements Why it matters: ‘Work’ is vague and does not coordinate precisely with ‘inventions’.
- 11. Use contrast transition Original: On the contrary, people Suggested revision: In contrast, people Why it matters: ‘In contrast’ compares groups without suggesting the prior point is false.
- 12. Use probability phrase Original: less susceptible to failure Suggested revision: less likely to fail Why it matters: The revision states the probability more directly and naturally.
Suggested Rewrites
- engage in no risky thing at all avoid taking any risks
- Both groups of people Both groups
- life lives
- successful people are always risk-takers many successful people are risk-takers
- do novel things try novel approaches
- walk out of their comfort zone step outside their comfort zone
Why this response received Band 7.5
The essay gives a clear preference for taking risks and supports it with reasons about innovation, resilience, self-development, and a specific group of historical examples. Its main limitation is overgeneralisation and occasional awkward language, particularly claims that successful people are always risk-takers and that cautious people share one lifestyle. Prioritise qualifying these claims and developing one precise personal or real-world example that directly demonstrates the stated benefits.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
A clear preference is maintained and supported by several relevant reasons and examples, though some claims about successful and cautious people are overly absolute.
Qualify the generalisations and develop one historical or personal example with a clear risk, outcome, and link to the preference.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is well paragraphed and moves logically through the preferred view, the alternative, further justification, and a clear conclusion.
Avoid repeating the position with ‘Personally’ and vary or remove mechanical contrast phrases such as ‘On the contrary’.
Lexical Resource
The essay shows a good range of language for risk, achievement, and personal growth, with occasional awkward collocations and imprecise phrasing.
Replace ‘no risky thing’, ‘reach a new height’, ‘changed their living place’, and ‘open up new potentials’ with natural precise alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied mix of complex and simple sentences is generally controlled, but agreement, tense parallelism, relative-clause punctuation, and complement errors recur.
Revise structures such as ‘their mantra is to expect less’, maintain parallel tenses in examples, and check agreement with collective or abstract subjects.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people like to do only what they already do well. Other people prefer to try new things and take risks. Which one do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.