Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Learning about the past has no value for those who live in the present. Include any relevant examples
Sample Response
Some people believe that learning historical events bring no benefits for those who live in the current period. I strongly disagree with the opinion, as I believe that learning about the past has many benefits for every individual and the society as well, and the following essay will discuss it in details.
To begin with, by studying history, people could learn about humanity and how to maintain world peace. From learning about world war one, world war two and other wars, people could learn that war was full of crime and violence. A lot of soldiers and innocent civilians became victims and there were some areas which have been permanently damaged due to wars such as Nagasaki and Hiroshima. By studying about these horrifying events, it is hoped that people all over the world will realise the cruelties of war and should maintain world peace.
Studying about past events also has some positive effects on human's health as well. By learning about the lifestyle of our ancestors such as how they hunt, plant seeds and ate, the scientist could predict some genetic diseases that modern people are facing. Some diseases might be genetically carried from the blood of our ancestors due to their nomadic lifestyles, and people could some research on how to cure these diseases.
In conclusion, it is true that several people think that studying the past has no beneficial outcome to the modern people. I personally do not agree with the statement as I believe that learning about the past events has many benefits for human beings, such as in the politic, medical or economic areas.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Fix verb and agreement Original: learning historical events bring Suggested revision: learning about historical events brings Why it matters: “Learn” requires “about” before events, and the gerund phrase takes singular “brings.”
- 2. Use benefit preposition Original: for Suggested revision: to Why it matters: “Benefits to people” is the more natural relationship in this sentence.
- 3. Use concise time term Original: the current period Suggested revision: the present Why it matters: “The present” expresses the time reference more naturally.
- 4. Generalise people and society Original: every individual and the society as well Suggested revision: individuals and society Why it matters: The general claim needs no definite article before “society,” and the plural is more natural.
- 5. Fix detail expression Original: discuss it in details Suggested revision: discuss these benefits in detail Why it matters: The fixed phrase is singular “in detail,” and the explicit noun clarifies “it.”
- 6. Use present modal Original: could Suggested revision: can Why it matters: The paragraph makes a general present claim, so “can” is more appropriate than “could.”
- 7. Capitalize war names Original: world war one, world war two Suggested revision: World War I, World War II Why it matters: The proper names require capitalization and conventional Roman numerals.
- 8. Use natural war description Original: war was full of crime and violence Suggested revision: wars involve crimes and violence Why it matters: The replacement makes the general statement idiomatic and grammatically consistent.
- 9. Use formal quantifier Original: A lot of soldiers Suggested revision: Many soldiers Why it matters: “Many” is more concise and formal than “a lot of.”
- 10. Remove incorrect preposition Original: studying about these horrifying events Suggested revision: studying these horrifying events Why it matters: The verb “study” takes a direct object and does not require “about.”
- 11. Use direct object Original: Studying about past events Suggested revision: Studying past events Why it matters: “Study” takes the object directly without “about.”
- 12. Remove duplicate addition Original: as well. By learning Suggested revision: . By learning Why it matters: “As well” is redundant because the sentence already contains “also”; the following context keeps the anchor unique.
Suggested Rewrites
- learning historical events bring learning about historical events brings
- for to
- the current period the present
- every individual and the society as well individuals and society
- discuss it in details discuss these benefits in detail
- could can
Why this response received Band 6.5
The essay presents a consistent disagreement and develops a strong, relevant argument that studying war can help societies understand violence and protect peace. Its second argument, linking ancestral lifestyles to modern genetic disease, is less convincing and insufficiently explained, while the conclusion adds political and economic benefits not developed earlier. Prioritise replacing or substantiating that medical claim with a clearer present-day lesson from history, then align the conclusion strictly with the body arguments.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The position is clear and the peace argument is relevant and extended, but the health argument is speculative and the conclusion introduces unsupported areas.
Develop a second credible benefit, such as learning from past public-health responses or policy failures, with a concrete link to present decisions.
Coherence and Cohesion
The introduction, two body paragraphs, and conclusion create clear progression, though the final summary does not fully match the ideas developed.
Make the conclusion summarise peace and health lessons only, or develop political and economic benefits in the body before mentioning them.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is adequate for history, war, health, and genetics, but frequent inaccurate collocations and word forms reduce precision.
Use learning about historical events, modern society, study these events, atrocities of war, human health, inherited genetically, and political fields.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning is generally clear, but agreement, tense, articles, prepositions, relative clauses, and missing verbs cause frequent inaccuracies.
Correct structures such as learning brings, society, in detail, how ancestors hunted and planted, scientists can, and people could conduct research.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Learning about the past has no value for those who live in the present. Include any relevant examples
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.