Write a letter to the Mayor, the head of a municipal government, about a situation in which some adolescents let their dogs run wildly. In your letter: - describe how the adolescents let their dogs run wild - explain why this creates a dangerous situation - complain about the situation
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing this letter to complain about a serious problema severe condition in my neighbourhood created by some teenagers who make ordinary citizens' lives difficultmake the life of ordinary citizens difficult especially by letting their dangerous dogs roam freely in the streets. I have been residing in this town for the last five years. It was a peaceful locality up until recently. The situation deteriorated, perhaps because some new families settled in here lately who have teenage children who they have no control over. These youngsters all have untrained bulldogs who accompany them all the time. The main cause for concernThe cause of concern is that they often let the dogs rungo free and chase after themrun behind them as if they are competing. This creates fearfear and terror among other local residentswell-disposed residents. MoreoverOn the contrary, they behave badly towards elderly peoplemisbehave with the elderly and use offensive words in publicin the open streets. Given this worrying situationIn this worrisome and tense situation, I would expect you to take appropriate actiontake proper actions to restore peacerestore the peacefulness in the neighbourhood. This would be a great reliefa sigh of relief for all residents. I sincerely hope that you will take immediate actionwould take immediate actions against all those involved in creating havoc in this peaceful community. Yours faithfully, Mubashir Noorani
Why this response received Band 7.0
The complaint has a clear formal purpose, describes the dogs being released, and requests prompt municipal action in an appropriately serious tone. The main limitation is that the actual danger is asserted mainly through fear and terror rather than supported with a specific risk or incident; awkward linking and collocations also reduce precision. Add concrete consequences of the dogs' behaviour and organise the description, danger, and requested remedy into distinct paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter clearly complains, describes the dogs running free, and asks the mayor to act, but the danger to residents is not developed with a concrete example.
Explain a specific risk, such as a dog chasing a child, causing a fall, or threatening a pedestrian, to substantiate the danger.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response moves broadly from background to the problem and requested action, but the single dense paragraph and the illogical linker 'On the contrary' weaken cohesion.
Group the background, dangerous behaviour, and requested action into separate paragraphs and use a suitable additive linker such as 'Moreover.'
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary shows reasonable range and suits a formal complaint, but recurring awkward collocations include 'severe condition,' 'well-disposed residents,' 'proper actions,' and 'restore the peacefulness.'
Use more natural formal combinations such as 'serious problem,' 'local residents,' 'appropriate action,' and 'restore peace.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A variety of complex structures is generally controlled and meaning remains clear, despite occasional article, agreement, and relative-clause errors.
Correct structures such as 'families settled in here lately who have teenage children who they have no control over' by clarifying the relative clauses and pronouns.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Write a letter to the Mayor, the head of a municipal government, about a situation in which some adolescents let their dogs run wildly. In your letter:
- describe how the adolescents let their dogs run wild
- explain why this creates a dangerous situation
- complain about the situation
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.