Many countries spend a lot of money on improved transport for urban areas while neglecting rural transport. What are the problems associated with this? What are some possible solutions?
Sample Response
It is observed that most nations are inclined to fund more towards improving the city transportation services while ignoring the countryside transportation. In my opinion, there are some related issues, and we can also draw some conclusions from them.
To start with, metropolitan cities have huge business parks and corporate offices where travelling to and fro has become a hectic routine for most working professionals. They are in dire need of having an efficient mode of transport in order to make the travel journey easier and quicker, even the labour workers building the bridges, skywalks, highways, etc. need essential commutation services, there are many sea or harbour projects initiated near the coastal areas to enrich the travel experiences to different places in less time. All these advancements in transportation services had made life easier for the people living in the cities but simultaneously have not created a better impact for the people living in the countryside.
People would migrate to better cities for career or work prospects, leading to a population decrease in rural areas. Furthermore, this would have a negative impact on farming or rural activities like Agriculture, Livestock production, etc. which is the livelihood for most of the people in the countryside. Poor food transportation services can cause huge problems, Thus, rural areas’ transportation should not be neglected as they are the backbone of food production in the nation. Also, many people who are below the poverty line are losing their life, due to insufficient medical facilities in rural areas.
The development of rural areas with top-notch infrastructure amenities by the government is necessary to prevent urban migration and enhance the standard of living in outlying communities. Additionally, all elected representatives from rural areas have to request government funding for the development of the industrial sector in rural areas, which would increase the number of jobs available for youth. In conclusion, because rural areas are the foundation of every nation, they must flourish alongside urban areas. However, the government ought to put more effort into improving rural areas, as doing so will have numerous positive economic effects for the country.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct funding phrase Original: fund more towards improving Suggested revision: allocate more funding to improving Why it matters: “Allocate funding to” is the natural collocation for directing public money.
- 2. Use concise term Original: the city transportation services Suggested revision: urban transport services Why it matters: This is a more concise and natural term for transport in cities.
- 3. Use standard term Original: the countryside transportation Suggested revision: rural transport Why it matters: “Rural transport” is the standard concise expression in this context.
- 4. Avoid redundancy Original: metropolitan Suggested revision: major Why it matters: “Metropolitan cities” is redundant because both words convey an urban setting.
- 5. Use precise wording Original: travelling to and fro has become a hectic routine Suggested revision: commuting has become a stressful routine Why it matters: “Commuting” expresses regular work travel more precisely and concisely.
- 6. Correct the tense Original: had Suggested revision: have Why it matters: The present perfect fits developments whose effects continue in the present.
- 7. Correct the collocation Original: simultaneously have not created a better impact for Suggested revision: have not had the same positive impact on Why it matters: “Have an impact on” is the correct collocation and makes the comparison clear.
- 8. Use suitable modal Original: would Suggested revision: may Why it matters: “May” appropriately describes a possible consequence rather than a fixed hypothetical result.
- 9. Remove repetition Original: for career or work prospects Suggested revision: for better career prospects Why it matters: “Career” and “work” prospects overlap, so one precise phrase is sufficient.
- 10. Use natural phrasing Original: a population decrease Suggested revision: a decline in the population Why it matters: This is the more natural collocation for describing demographic reduction.
- 11. Fix sentence boundary Original: problems, Thus, Suggested revision: problems. Thus, Why it matters: A full stop is needed because “Thus” begins a new independent sentence.
- 12. Use standard phrase Original: rural areas’ transportation Suggested revision: rural transport Why it matters: The possessive construction is unnatural; “rural transport” is idiomatic.
Suggested Rewrites
- fund more towards improving allocate more funding to improving
- the city transportation services urban transport services
- the countryside transportation rural transport
- metropolitan major
- travelling to and fro has become a hectic routine commuting has become a stressful routine
- had have
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response identifies several relevant consequences of neglected rural transport and maintains a generally understandable progression. Its main limitation is uneven task coverage: substantial space explains urban transport needs, while the proposed remedies concern broad rural development more than transport itself. The highest-priority improvement is to replace that material with specific transport solutions and explain how each one addresses a stated rural problem.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both problems and solutions are addressed, but the discussion is uneven and several points are only loosely connected to rural transport.
Develop two specific transport-related problems and pair each with a practical, clearly explained solution.
Coherence and Cohesion
Paragraphing provides a broadly clear sequence, although the first body paragraph is internally crowded and delays the central response.
Give each paragraph one explicit task-focused purpose and divide long chains of ideas into a controlled progression.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary range is adequate and includes several less common expressions, but frequent collocational choices sound imprecise or unnatural.
Use more natural combinations such as invest in rural transport, reliable services, and access to healthcare instead of inflated phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses both simple and complex forms, but recurring run-ons, agreement problems, and punctuation errors weaken control.
Break the longest sentences into complete units and check tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, and comma boundaries.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Many countries spend a lot of money on improved transport for urban areas while neglecting rural transport. What are the problems associated with this? What are some possible solutions?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.