People who have original ideas are of much greater value to society than those who are simply able to copy the ideas of others well. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Sample Response
Society respects both types of people because inventing itself does not add value to the mankind but implementing and improvising on original ideas are equally important. At the same time, innovators should be credited as they are the ones that triggered minds of others.
It is good to copy ideas of others if someone adding value to original thought. For example, Right brothers invented flying machines couple of generations ago. Several engineers, scientists and researchers improved this idea and made flying safer and accessible to wide range of people. Had this not happened, today we had to travel for months to reach from one corner of the globe to other. If we consider examples of healthcare, lots of improvements have been done over the past ages to original ideas to save lives of people effectively and efficiently. We can find this pattern not only in these industries but in almost all luxuries and comforts we have today. Original ideas laid the foundation for modern innovations of today. So, society respects both categories of people.
On the contrary, original ideas should be credited because without their ideas things would not have been how they are today. For instance, telecommunications industry developed rapidly in last decade. Without the invention of smartphones today, communications would have been dull and difficult. In this ever improving world, new ideas will be developed by organisations and individuals and well recognised by the society. There have been awards and prizes like Nobel Prize that are globally recognised and helped to reach ideas masses and impact day-to-day lives of people throughout our world.
To summarise, societies have been recognising both original innovators and the ones who improved original ideas. Without continued efforts of both, lifestyle stagnates.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural expression Original: triggered minds of others Suggested revision: stimulated others' thinking Why it matters: Stimulated others' thinking naturally expresses the influence of innovators' ideas.
- 2. Add finite verb Original: adding Suggested revision: adds Why it matters: The conditional clause requires the finite verb adds.
- 3. Add definite article Original: to original thought Suggested revision: to the original thought Why it matters: The phrase refers to the specific original thought being copied and therefore needs the.
- 4. Add missing article Original: couple of generations ago Suggested revision: a couple of generations ago Why it matters: The fixed quantity expression is a couple of.
- 5. Add missing article Original: accessible to wide range Suggested revision: accessible to a wide range Why it matters: The singular countable noun range requires an article.
- 6. Use concise transition Original: If we consider examples of healthcare Suggested revision: In healthcare Why it matters: The shorter transition introduces the second example directly.
- 7. Use formal quantifier Original: lots of improvements Suggested revision: many improvements Why it matters: Many is more appropriate than lots of in formal academic writing.
- 8. Correct collocation Original: done Suggested revision: made Why it matters: Improvements are made rather than done.
- 9. Use natural timeframe Original: over the past ages Suggested revision: over time Why it matters: Over time conveys gradual historical development more naturally.
- 10. Remove redundancy Original: modern innovations of today Suggested revision: modern innovations Why it matters: Modern and of today repeat the same time reference.
- 11. Use suitable transition Original: On the contrary Suggested revision: Nevertheless Why it matters: The paragraph shifts emphasis rather than directly contradicting the preceding claim.
- 12. Add clause comma Original: without their ideas things Suggested revision: without their ideas, things Why it matters: A comma is needed after the introductory conditional phrase.
Suggested Rewrites
- triggered minds of others stimulated others' thinking
- adding adds
- to original thought to the original thought
- couple of generations ago a couple of generations ago
- accessible to wide range accessible to a wide range
- If we consider examples of healthcare In healthcare
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response takes a nuanced position that original thinkers deserve credit while people who refine and implement their ideas are equally valuable, and the aviation example supports this view effectively. Its main weakness is that some later examples do not clearly distinguish invention from improvement, while frequent grammatical errors weaken otherwise logical reasoning. The highest-priority improvement is to compare the two contributions directly using accurately structured examples and conditionals.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
A clear qualified disagreement is maintained and supported with relevant examples, though the distinction between original invention and later improvement is sometimes blurred.
Use one matched example to explain separately what the originator contributed and what subsequent developers added to society.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay is logically organized around the value of improvers and originators, with clear paragraphing and a concise conclusion despite some imperfect linking.
Replace On the contrary with a transition that signals a complementary counterbalance rather than a direct contradiction.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is adequate for innovation and social value, but frequent imprecise combinations, missing fixed phrases, and occasional word-choice errors limit control.
Use natural expressions such as build on an idea, benefit humanity, inspire others, and bring ideas to the public.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response attempts varied complex forms, but frequent errors in articles, conditionals, verb forms, and passive constructions reduce grammatical accuracy.
Practise third conditional structures and complete clause patterns, especially in hypothetical sentences about what would have happened without later development.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
People who have original ideas are of much greater value to society than those who are simply able to copy the ideas of others well. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.