Nowadays, a growing number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor. Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?
Sample Response
Nowadays, the trenda tendency of trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor is gaining traction. I consider this development to be negativeas a negative one since the side effectsside effects of these treatments are unknown and their effectivenesseffectiveness is not the same for all.
One of the main reasons why alternative waysway of treating yourself can bring more damage than a traditional visit to the doctortraditional visit to doctor is the fact that those methods have unpredictable side effects. While conventional treatment methods are usually tested for side effects under different conditions and on different groups of peopletested on side effects with different conditions or kinds of people, alternative medicines can have unpredictable outcomes as there is no institution that can guarantee their safetyminimal influence on health. It is well known that pharmaceuticals commonly suggested by specialists should have warnings about possible reactions such as mood changes or skin reactionssuch as change in mood, effects on skin. In contrast, alternative remediesmedication is not expected to have such precautions written. As a result, people might get more serious health issues than they had before treating themselves with non-traditional methodsuntraditional methods.
Another significant reason why the trend of treating yourself with alternative methods might be more dangerous is that these treatments are not suitable for all. As alternative medicines are not manufacturedmanifactured on the scale of traditional ones, the former products are not tested for having the same effecthaving same influence on different people, which might be risky due to the fact that everyone has differentall have different physiological features to some extent. Conversely, traditional medication that doctors suggest has information about what impact these products have or can have on people with allergiesallergy, pregnant womenwoman or other health conditionsother distinctions.
To conclude, I believe that as alternativeuntraditional treatments often do not inform people about side effects and do not consider physiological differences, this trend can eventually cause more harm to people than visitingthe traditional visit to a specialist.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The essay presents a clear and consistent position throughout, arguing effectively that turning to alternative treatments is a negative development. The main ideas are well supported with logical explanations regarding safety and testing, though the body paragraphs somewhat overlap in focus. To achieve a higher score, broaden the range of supporting arguments and refine grammatical precision around article usage and prepositions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
You present a unequivocal position and address the prompt directly with relevant, developed main points.
Introduce distinct supporting arguments across paragraphs rather than focusing both on testing and safety limitations.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay has a clear overall structure with logical paragraphing and appropriate linking words.
Ensure smooth transitions between similar ideas to prevent your body paragraphs from feeling slightly repetitive.
Lexical Resource
You use a good range of topic-specific vocabulary with mostly clear meaning, despite minor spelling and word-choice errors.
Focus on precise word combinations and correct spelling, such as fixing 'manifactured' and using 'unconventional' instead of 'untraditional'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex sentence structures is used, but occasional grammatical errors with articles and plural forms persist.
Proofread carefully for missing articles, such as 'a traditional visit to the doctor' or 'pregnant women'.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Nowadays, a growing number of people with health problems are trying alternative medicines and treatments instead of visiting their usual doctor. Do you think this is a positive or a negative development?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.