Some governments say how many children a family can hare in their country. They may control the number of children someone has through taxes. It is sometimes necessary and right for a government to control the population in this way. Do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
It is understandablecertainly very understandable that some governments should consider ways to limitstart looking at ways of limiting their populations to a sustainable figure. In the past, populations were partly regulated by frequent warswar and widespread disease, but in recent years the effects of those factors have diminishedhave been diminished. Countries can facecan be faced with a population that is growing much faster than theshe nation's food resources or employment opportunities and whose members can be condemned to poverty by the need to feed extra mouths. They identify population control as a means ofto raising living standards.
But how should it be achieved? Clearly, this whole area is a very delicate personal and cultural issue. Many people feel that this is not a matter for the state. They feel this is one area of life where they have the right to make decisions for themselves. For that reason, it would seem that the best approachthe best. Approach would be to work by persuasion rather than compulsion. Thiscompulsion This could be done through educationby a process of education that explains howpoints out the way a smaller family can providemean an improved quality of life for the family members, as well as less strain on the country's perhaps very limited resourcescountry's perhaps very limited, resources.
This is the preferred way. Of course, ifOf course if this doesdocs not succeed within a reasonable timeframea reasonable time scale, it may be necessary to consider other measures. These could includeSuch as tax incentives or child-benefit payments for small families only. These fallare midway between persuasion and compulsion.
So, yes, itSo. Yes. It is sometimes necessary, but governments should try very hard to use persuasion firstpersuade first. They should also remember that this is a very delicate area indeed, and that social engineering can create as many problems as it solves.as it solves?
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response offers a thoughtful, qualified position and develops a logical progression from the need for population control to persuasion and, if necessary, fiscal measures. Its main limitation is sentence-level control, as fragments, misplaced stops, missing punctuation, and a few word-form errors repeatedly interrupt otherwise sophisticated writing. The priority is to proofread sentence boundaries and punctuation so the strong reasoning and vocabulary read smoothly.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response directly answers the question with a clear qualified position and develops relevant reasons for persuasion before limited financial controls.
Strengthen the case further by explaining more precisely when fiscal control becomes justified and how its risks would be contained.
Coherence and Cohesion
The argument progresses logically from the population problem to preferred and fallback responses, with clear paragraph-level focus.
Integrate the very short third paragraph more fully and remove sentence fragments that disrupt the flow within paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
A flexible and precise range includes sustainable figure, persuasion rather than compulsion, tax incentives, and social engineering, despite a few slips.
Proofread word forms and collocations such as means of raising, and correct typographical substitutions before submission.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are often handled accurately, but fragments, misplaced full stops, missing sentence punctuation, and an incorrect final question mark recur.
Check every sentence boundary so dependent phrases remain attached to complete clauses and statements end with appropriate punctuation.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some governments say how many children a family can hare in their country. They may control the number of children someone has through taxes. It is sometimes necessary and right for a government to control the population in this way. Do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.