There is too much noise in many public places in cities. What are the causes of this problem? What can be done to solve the problem?
Sample Response
Public areas in cities today are becoming increasingly noisy. In my opinion, this change is caused by rapidly growing urban populationssurging urban populations and changing attitudes toward behaviour in public spacesshifting attitudes to personal space. The best solutions involve innovative urban design.
The underlying reasons for higher noise levels in public spaces are growing urban populationsresidential figures and changes in social behavior. Firstly, the migration of individuals from the countryside to cities has been well documented over the last century. This trend shows no sign of abating and Deleteit is self-evident that more residents talking, drivingoperating vehicles, and interacting in public areas will create more noise. Moreover, people are now less self-conscious. This is a uniquely modern trend and is most apparent on social media. Most people are now comfortable making videos in public, taking photos, and talking loudly on their phones. This psychological shift has its benefits but one drawback is itsthe contribution to noise levels.
The most realistic solutions are measures taken by the authoritiesadaptations by the authorities. I strongly believe that the trends themselves cannot be countered since they follow the dictates of human nature. Attempting to ban phones in public or restrict residency numbers in certain cities would in fact createengender greater problems. Instead, governments can make myriad minor adjustments. Public spaces could include more sound-absorbing featuresinclude more structures, such as trees and statues, in order to absorb sound. On public transport, there could be more sound-absorbent materialssofter padding so that sound does not bounce and travel as far. There may also be steps that could be taken in terms of traffic and residential areas that would encourage more spread out cities with lower density. These are minor solutions to a large problem; however, their impact, however, their impact in the aggregate would be meaningful.
In conclusion, although cities are becoming noisier as they become more populous and people are more open today, this can be remedied if authorities devise innovative countermeasuresnovel counters. In the future, this issue will only become more pressing.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response addresses both parts directly and develops a clear causal chain from urban growth and changing public behaviour to practical design-based remedies. Its main limitation is that some proposed measures, particularly statues and softer padding, are asserted more than demonstrated, while a few collocations sound unnatural. The highest-priority improvement is to explain the likely scale and mechanism of each solution with a more concrete example.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both causes and solutions are addressed directly, with relevant ideas extended through explanation and examples.
Demonstrate more convincingly how each design measure would produce a meaningful reduction in city noise.
Coherence and Cohesion
The argument progresses logically through well-focused paragraphs, and cohesive devices guide the reader smoothly.
Tighten the long solution paragraph by grouping the design measures around one explicit organising principle.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide and flexible, although expressions such as "residential figures" and "novel counters" are slightly unnatural.
Choose more idiomatic collocations, such as "urban population" and "innovative measures," while retaining the current range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide variety of complex structures is used accurately, with only minor punctuation and phrasing lapses.
Review punctuation around conjunctive adverbs such as "however" to eliminate the remaining sentence-boundary slips.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS Writing Task 2
There is too much noise in many public places in cities. What are the causes of this problem? What can be done to solve the problem?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.