You recently read an article in a newspaper about your childhood friend with whom you have lost contact for a long time. Write a letter to the editor. In your letter: - Say which edition and when did the article appear - Explain why you lost contact with your friend - Say how you want them to help you to get back in touch
Sample Response
Dear Sir or MadamDear Sir, This lettermail is in reference to an article about a local-cuisine chefarticle on the chef of local cuisine titled "Thai Gourmet Specialist" published in your daily "Bangkok Post" in the 5th edition on the 7th of this month. I was thrilledoverwhelmed after reading the article as it is about my friend Barry, a very dear childhood friend with whom I had lost contact for over a decade. Barry and Imyself were born on the same day in the same hospital and were inseparable for most of our childhood. However, when we were in Grade 5in our grade 5, my father wasgot transferred to another country for work reasonsfor professional compulsion. We stayed in touch by letterover letters for a few years, but unfortunately our contact gradually fadedthe contacts fizzled out over time as we got busy with our respective lives. Coming across such an exceptional piece on Barry brought back memories from my childhood which are worth reminiscing. I would like to rekindle my friendship with Barryrekindle the friendship with Barry again and so I would be grateful if you couldfor that I request you to kindly provide me with his contact detailsinform me his contact details. If this conflictsIf it is conflicts with your confidentiality protocol , I would be grateful if you could pass onthen I request you to kindly pass on my contact details and message to him. I will be looking forward to your kind reply as well that of my friend's at the earliest. Yours faithfullythankfully, RITA
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter covers every requested point with a clear account of the lost friendship and a practical, confidentiality-aware request to the editor. Its range of expression is a strength, but awkward collocations and several grammatical errors, especially in the final request and closing, reduce precision; the priority is to simplify formal phrasing and proofread pronouns, verb forms, and sentence links.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all bullet points are developed with relevant detail, and the suggested alternative for protecting confidentiality is thoughtful.
State the edition and publication date more conventionally and use a standard formal closing to maintain an appropriate relationship with the editor.
Coherence and Cohesion
The account moves logically from identifying the article to explaining the separation and requesting help, with generally clear connections between ideas.
Divide the letter into distinct paragraphs for the article, the history of the friendship, and the requested action.
Lexical Resource
The response shows a good range of less common vocabulary, but several choices are awkward or imprecise, including professional compulsion and inform me his contact details.
Prefer natural formal collocations such as professional reasons, provide me with his contact details, and pass my message on to him.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex sentences are attempted successfully, but errors with pronouns, clause structure, and coordination recur and occasionally disrupt fluency.
Correct forms such as Barry and I and if this conflicts, and rebuild the final sentence so each coordinated element is grammatically complete.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently read an article in a newspaper about your childhood friend with whom you have lost contact for a long time. Write a letter to the editor. In your letter:
- Say which edition and when did the article appear
- Explain why you lost contact with your friend
- Say how you want them to help you to get back in touch
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.