A street near you has become very dirty recently, and you are concerned about this. Write a letter to the council that is responsible for this street. In your letter: - Explain why it has become dirty recently. - Say what problems it has caused. - Give some suggestions to solve the problems
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam,Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to you to outline an area I feel the dirty streets of Ottawa needs attention. Please allow me to explain. While travelling through the streets on my way to work, I came across dirty and foul-smelling cornersdirty and stingy corners. Garbage was scatteredThe garbage was littering on the roads , causing the roads to becomedue to which roads have become breeding groundsa breeding ground for mosquitoes. This situation has createdIt creates serious disruptiona huge havoc for people using those streetspedestrians and people who pass those streets. Simultaneous constructions of Metro train tracks and roads with arrival of monsoon had only worsened the situation. Recently, I have seenOf late I have seen homeless children becoming illfalling sick because of the unsanitary conditionsbecause of the dirt. I am sure I am not the only one to appreciate your efforts in renovating the street roads and metro tracks. If you could coordinate the construction workorganize these activities so thatin such a way that sufficient road space remains availablethe free space and road equation could be balanced, it would be helpful for the common people of the Yours faithfully, [Name]city.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The letter communicates its concern and gives relevant causes and consequences, including construction, monsoon conditions, mosquitoes, and illness. Its main limitation is that the proposed solution is vague and sometimes difficult to interpret; the highest-priority improvement is to request specific council actions, such as scheduled waste removal and safer management of construction areas, while proofreading persistent grammar and collocation errors.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and all three bullet points are addressed, although the proposed remedy is vague and only briefly developed.
Give two concrete council actions and explain how each would reduce the street's litter, health risks, or disruption.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas move broadly from the dirty conditions to their causes, effects, and a request, but the single-block presentation and some awkward links weaken the flow.
Use separate paragraphs for the cause, resulting problems, and requested solutions, with clearer transitions between them.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a sufficient range of topic vocabulary, but several inaccurate combinations such as dirty and stingy corners and road equation reduce precision.
Choose natural complaint-letter phrases such as foul-smelling areas, accumulated rubbish, and access for pedestrians.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys the message, though recurring agreement, article, tense, and clause-control errors reduce accuracy.
Proofread each sentence for subject-verb agreement, articles, and consistent verb forms, especially in descriptions of the recent causes.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
A street near you has become very dirty recently, and you are concerned about this. Write a letter to the council that is responsible for this street. In your letter:
- Explain why it has become dirty recently.
- Say what problems it has caused.
- Give some suggestions to solve the problems
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.