In the future, people may have to live on other planets. Some think that it is therefore important to spend money researching other planets such as Mars. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
It is becoming increasingly likely that humanity will someday have to resort tohave to someday resort to the colonisation of other planets. Though some suggest that we should divert important resources to research other planetstowards research of other planets now, I believe it is more pragmatic to focus on our current planet.
Advocates of increased funding for interplanetary research hold that leaving Earth is inevitable. This conclusion is underpinned by studies showing the potentially irreversible and undoubtedly catastrophic effects of climate change. So far the habitats devastated have belonged to remote polar regions and the fragile ecosystems of already vulnerable animals. Climate scientists believe this degradation will rapidly affect the livesextend to the lives of ordinary people and result in global shortages of natural resourcesa global scarcity of natural resources and more intense natural disasters. If these predictions are accurate, thenaccurate then we need a backup plan for evacuating Earthbackup plan involving the evacuation of Earth to ensure human survival and prosperity for future generations.
However, the best safeguard against the doomsday scenarios laid out above is to protectsalvage the planet we currently inhabit. It would require an immense amount of time, money, and resources to colonise even the nearest neighbor to Earth, Mars. Instead of directing those resourcesenergies towards a fantastical plan to terraform an alien planet, the easier option is to invest more in protecting Earth’s environment. Governments could enact stricter regulations on individuals and private companies to cut carbon emissions, while also funding clean energy initiatives. By collectively signing the numerous international accords, policymakers could strike a balance between economic development and environmental conservation. These solutions are both more realistic in terms of the sacrifices entailed and have a much better chance of actual success.
In conclusion, investing in colonising other planets should not be a priority when there are better solutions to current global problems. Interplanetary dreams should be left to private companies or wealthy individuals who are passionate about humanity’s future in space.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The essay is persuasive, well organised, and linguistically assured, with a clear preference for investing in environmental protection and substantial support for that position. Its main limitation is that it repeatedly treats research into other planets as equivalent to immediate colonisation, narrowing the exact issue in the prompt; the priority is to distinguish scientific research from settlement costs and evaluate whether research funding itself is justified.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
A clear position is developed with relevant arguments on human survival and environmental investment, but the response partly shifts from research funding to colonisation.
Address the precise proposal by distinguishing exploratory research from terraforming or evacuation and weighing the value of funding each activity.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay progresses coherently from the opposing rationale to a developed rebuttal, with strong paragraph focus and controlled linking.
Make the transition into the rebuttal explicitly compare research funding with Earth-focused spending to strengthen the argumentative bridge.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible, precise, and topic-appropriate, including effective use of interplanetary research, irreversible, terraform, and environmental conservation.
Refine the few less natural combinations, such as habitats devastated have belonged to remote polar regions and directing those energies, for greater idiomatic precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response demonstrates a wide variety of accurately controlled complex structures, with punctuation and sentence boundaries handled confidently.
Polish occasional dense sentences by clarifying reference and clause relationships, especially where several abstract ideas are compressed together.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In the future, people may have to live on other planets. Some think that it is therefore important to spend money researching other planets such as Mars. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.