Today family members eat fewer meals together. Why is this? Is this a positive or negative trend?
Sample Response
In recent years, it has become less common for families to eat meals together. In my opinion, this is related to developments outside the home and is a positive trend overall.
There is now a wide range of public activitiesa great variety of public activities. In the past, families ate dinner togetherfamilies traditionally ate dinner together because it was rare to dine out or attend eventsgo out to restaurants and events. Today, individuals can eat at inexpensive or high-end restaurantscheap or expensive restaurants, attend concerts, go to public parks, and meet a wider range of peoplemeet a wider circle of acquaintances due to the rise of social media. For instance, it is common to learn about an eventnotice an event while scrolling through social media, such as a gallery opening or a sports match, and quickly make plans with friends in a group chatmake plans with friends quickly through a group chat. The prevalence and accessibility of such events explains why family meals are now uncommon.
This phenomenon is negative for families but positive for society overall. Reduced time with one’s family can lead to psychological problems as a person must feel loved by family members to support healthy developmentmaximize healthy growth. One method of achieving this unconditional sense of security is through family meals. However, there are other ways for a family to be close and the opening up of society beyond the household is a major benefita massive boon for individuals. People who were stuck at home and bored now have a variety of entertainment options and live overall more fulfilling and richer lives. For example, a person who often goes to concerts will likely make friends from various backgrounds and form lasting memories with them.
In conclusion, family meals are less common because of broader social developmentsdevelopments in society generally and it is positive on the whole given the freedom the average person now possesses. Nonetheless, it is still important to balance time with family and friends.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response gives a clear, nuanced judgement and develops both the social cause and the mixed consequences with specific, relevant examples. Its strongest feature is the coherent progression from increased opportunities outside the home to a balanced evaluation of family and societal effects; the main limitation is occasional imprecision in phrasing and one agreement error. Refine those few awkward expressions and proofread subject-verb agreement to make an already strong argument more consistently precise.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response fully addresses both questions with a clear overall judgement, well-developed reasoning, and relevant examples.
Strengthen the causal analysis further by acknowledging whether work schedules or household routines also contribute to fewer shared meals.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through well-focused paragraphs, with cohesive devices and referencing used smoothly and unobtrusively.
Refine the transition from the family-level drawback to the wider social benefit so the evaluative shift is even more seamless.
Lexical Resource
A wide and precise vocabulary range supports nuanced discussion, with only occasional awkward phrases such as maximize healthy growth.
Replace the few overextended or slightly unnatural expressions with more idiomatic academic phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is handled accurately, with only rare slips such as the subject-verb disagreement in prevalence and accessibility explains.
Proofread compound subjects and adverb placement to eliminate the remaining isolated errors.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Today family members eat fewer meals together. Why is this? Is this a positive or negative trend?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.