The number of cars keeps increasing, so road systems should be expanded. Some people think the government should pay for it, while others think the car owners should pay for it. What’s your opinion?
Sample Response
With growing incomes, it is not surprising that everyone wants to live a lavish lifestyle. Every other individual owns a car these days. That is why road systems have to be expanded. All this requires money. That is why the debate has arisen as to who should pay for this expansion. Some opine that the government should pay while others contend that the car owners should pay. I tend to agree with the latter.
To begin with, higher cost for car owners would encourage public transport use. This would definitely be better for the environment as there would be less pollution and less usage of natural resources like petrol and diesel. People would also be encouraged to do car pooling so that the added expenses are shared. Moreover, shorter journeys may be made on foot or bicycle which would lead to a healthier nation.
In addition, it would be unfair if government pays all the money out of the taxes. In this way even those people who are not using the roads for their private vehicles would also be taxed. Moreover, government has so much else on its shoulders such as basic healthcare and education which would be advantageous for all.
Admittedly, better roads means lesser congestion, lesser traffic jams and therefore lesser pollution and faster mobility which would be better for the big businesses. Therefore, this cost should be met by the big companies and not the average taxpayer.
To put it in a nutshell, I pen down saying that expanding the road system is the need of the hour and most of the cost should be met with by the car owners and big companies and some paid by the government
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct quantifier meaning Original: Every other individual Suggested revision: Many people Why it matters: ‘Every other’ literally means alternating members of a group, which is not the intended claim.
- 2. Clarify reference Original: All this Suggested revision: Expanding roads Why it matters: Naming the action makes the reference precise and avoids a vague demonstrative.
- 3. Use plural noun Original: cost Suggested revision: costs Why it matters: The argument concerns multiple added expenses, so the countable noun should be plural.
- 4. Use precise collocation Original: less usage of natural resources Suggested revision: lower consumption of natural resources Why it matters: ‘Lower consumption’ is the more natural expression for using fewer fuel resources.
- 5. Use correct verb Original: do car pooling Suggested revision: carpool Why it matters: ‘Carpool’ is the idiomatic verb for sharing a car journey.
- 6. Complete parallel phrase Original: on foot or bicycle Suggested revision: on foot or by bicycle Why it matters: The second transport mode needs ‘by’ to form a grammatically parallel expression.
- 7. Fix conditional grammar Original: if government pays Suggested revision: if the government paid Why it matters: This hypothetical condition needs the definite article and a past-tense verb.
- 8. Use natural funding phrase Original: out of the taxes Suggested revision: from general taxation Why it matters: ‘From general taxation’ clearly and idiomatically identifies the funding source.
- 9. Add introductory comma Original: In this way even Suggested revision: In this way, even Why it matters: A comma should separate the introductory phrase from the main clause.
- 10. Add definite article Original: Moreover, government Suggested revision: Moreover, the government Why it matters: ‘Government’ requires the definite article when referring to the country’s governing body.
- 11. Use formal wording Original: has so much else on its shoulders Suggested revision: has many other responsibilities Why it matters: The revision states the intended idea directly in an appropriately formal register.
- 12. Fix subject-verb agreement Original: means Suggested revision: mean Why it matters: The plural subject ‘roads’ requires the plural verb ‘mean’.
Suggested Rewrites
- Every other individual Many people
- All this Expanding roads
- cost costs
- less usage of natural resources lower consumption of natural resources
- do car pooling carpool
- on foot or bicycle on foot or by bicycle
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response offers a clear general preference and supports it with relevant points about transport use, fairness, public spending, and business benefits. Its main limitation is that responsibility shifts from car owners to companies and partial government funding without a fully explained allocation, while several awkward phrases weaken precision. The highest-priority improvement is to define the proposed funding split early and develop each payer's responsibility consistently.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The question is addressed with a clear general position and relevant support, although the eventual three-way funding proposal is not fully developed.
State the complete funding position in the introduction and justify the respective shares for motorists, businesses, and government.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response follows a clear paragraph sequence and uses linking devices effectively, but the late introduction of companies slightly weakens progression.
Introduce every major strand of the position before developing it and integrate the business point with the main funding argument.
Lexical Resource
There is enough vocabulary to discuss funding, transport, and public policy, but recurring awkward collocations and overused idioms limit precision.
Replace formulaic phrases and inaccurate combinations with direct expressions such as reduced congestion, fuel consumption, and shared costs.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer uses both simple and complex structures, though agreement, article, punctuation, and sentence-control errors recur across the response.
Edit for subject-verb agreement, articles before government and cost nouns, and cleaner control of the long concluding sentence.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
The number of cars keeps increasing, so road systems should be expanded. Some people think the government should pay for it, while others think the car owners should pay for it. What’s your opinion?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.