A friend has agreed to look after your house and pet while you are on holiday. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - give contact details for when you are away - give instructions on how to care for your pet - describe other household duties
Sample Response
Dear Benjamin, Hope you're doing great. As per our earlier discussion, I'm writing to remind you thatrefresh your mind that you'll be looking after my house and pet during my vacation starting on 4 Novemberstarting from 4th November. Thank you for agreeing to house-sit for me, and I owe you a big one. You can contact me by email, mobile phone or Facebook. I'll check my emailemails and Facebook regularly. In case of an emergency, feel free to calldial me on my mobile phone. I’ve written the numbers on a sticky note which I’ve left on the fridge. I've already stored the necessary food for my cat ininside the kitchen cabinet. I've written down the feeding schedule on the back of the kitchen door. Just make sure the cat drinks plenty of fresh water every day. At night, my cat sleeps in a small bed made for her in the storeroom. She usually sleeps around 9:00 pm, so you've to place her in the living room at that time. You're welcome to use things in my house as if they were yours. Moreover, please switch on the garage lights after sunset and turn them off in the morning. Also, pick up the newspaper from the lawn every morning. Hope to seemeet you soon. Warm wishes, Mansoor Afzal
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter gives practical contact options, detailed feeding and watering instructions, and clear household tasks, all in a warm tone suited to a friend. Its strongest feature is the useful specificity of notes, supplies, lights, and newspapers. The main limitation is a contradictory sleeping instruction, since the cat's bed is described as being in the storeroom but Benjamin is told to place her in the living room; prioritise unambiguous care directions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully addressed with relevant practical detail, although one pet-care instruction is internally inconsistent.
Clarify whether the cat should sleep in the storeroom or living room and give a specific emergency contact number or veterinary contact.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter progresses logically from contact arrangements to pet care and household duties, with generally clear sequencing.
Use short paragraphs for contact details, cat care, and household tasks so the instructions can be followed more easily.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and appropriate for informal house-sitting instructions, but a few expressions are unnatural.
Replace 'refresh your mind', 'dial me on my mobile phone', and 'you've to' with 'remind you', 'call me', and 'you have to'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A good range of structures is mostly accurate, with minor fragments and contraction errors that do not obstruct meaning.
Write complete forms such as 'I hope you're doing well' and 'You need to put her in her bed at around 9 p.m.'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
A friend has agreed to look after your house and pet while you are on holiday. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- give contact details for when you are away
- give instructions on how to care for your pet
- describe other household duties
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.