The government in many countries has recently introduced special taxes on foods and beverages with high levels of sugar. Some think these taxes are a good idea, while others disagree. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Sample Response
It is rightly said that sugar is a slow poison for humankind which is supported by many scientists also. Many governments across the globe have levied taxes on foods and beverages containing excess sugar. SomeFew believe that it is a good idea; however, others disagree with imposingputting these taxes. Both views are discussed in this essay before giving mythe opinion.
In recent years, local authorities in every nook and corner of the world have become concerned about public healthaware of the health of the people. As a preventive measureaction, they have started imposing additional taxeskeeping some extra taxes on food items that are high in sugar. This decision is warmly welcomed by certain groups in societycertain demographics of the society. Advocates of this idea understand the real purpose of governments behind this step: to encourage their citizens to eat healthilyturn their citizens towards healthy eating. Additionally, they strongly believe that by implementing these taxesby implementing this, people will not only prefer healthy options but also savewill not only prefer healthy options, but they will save a lot of money by not buying unhealthy chocolates and soft drinks. A prime example of this would be the action taken by India, where the government is charging double on buying sweets which have significantly reduced new diabetes patients in a year. Therefore, some people think that these taxes are only helping citizenshelping citizens only.
Conversely, others disagree and claim that it is a preposterous idea. They just believe that charges should be equal on every food item because, in this way, vendors of such items will surely face huge losses in their businesses which are likely to damage the economy and increase unemployment. On top of this, they argue that citizens should have the freedom to choose what they eatfreedom on what they eat, though governments are taking away this basic right by taking this unnecessary step. Moreover, they have suggested that local authorities should insteadrather find different ways to encourage people to do regular exercise. Hence, somefew of them think that it is not at all a good ideathought to levy taxestakes.
To conclude, admittedly, there are a few disadvantagesthere are few disadvantages of introducing taxes on foods and beverages containingconsisting more sugar, but, in my opinion, the advantages outweigh themadvantages are outweighing them, and this idea will positively impact the health of each and every individual.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response has a clear two-sided structure and supplies relevant reasons for supporting and opposing sugar taxes. Its main limitation is that the writer’s own position appears fully only in the conclusion, while several claims, especially the India example, are asserted without convincing support. The highest-priority improvement is to state the opinion clearly in the introduction and develop it through a well-supported argument rather than relying on sweeping or speculative claims.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views are discussed with relevant supporting ideas, but the writer's opinion is delayed and some evidence is insufficiently credible or developed.
State the opinion clearly in the introduction and support it throughout with plausible, carefully explained evidence.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is logically divided and easy to follow, although some linking is mechanical and several long sentences carry loosely connected claims.
Use more precise internal progression within each body paragraph and separate distinct causal claims into clearly controlled sentences.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary shows adequate range for taxation, health, freedom, and economic effects, but recurring collocational errors reduce precision.
Replace unnatural combinations such as 'keeping taxes,' 'freedom on what they eat,' and 'levy takes' with accurate, conventional phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex forms communicates the argument clearly, despite recurring errors in articles, prepositions, agreement, and clause control.
Proofread complex sentences for subject-verb agreement, article use, and prepositions, especially when adding relative or result clauses.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
The government in many countries has recently introduced special taxes on foods and beverages with high levels of sugar. Some think these taxes are a good idea, while others disagree. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.