In the developed world, average life expectancy is increasing. What problems will this cause for individuals and society? Suggest some measures that could be taken to reduce the impact of ageing populations.
Sample Response
Our ancestors did not live longer thandidn't live more than 50-60 years. In past centuriesIn the last centuries the life expectancy was about 50-55 yearshad been about 50-55 years and now it is 60-70 years in developed countries. In Norway for example, it is more than 80 years for women. The question is whetherthat "this is a gain or a burdenIs this it a gaining or draining for human beingshumans being to live longer?" The increase of life expectancy has two negative consequences. It affects a person’s experience of life in later lifein his/her last years, and it is also a burdenit also is a burden on the society in several ways. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss both.
There are many factors that affect the length of our lives. Thanks to the scientific developments, medical achievements and increasing life quality in the last decades, life expectancy has risenraised from what it had been before. People are more concerned and informed about their health and we tend to seek help from doctors more than before. At the same time, access to medical help is easier than ever. Diseases are discovered and diagnosed more precisely and quickly and the treatments are more effective. Since elderly people are more frail and fragile, the incidence of diseases is higher among them. Hence, more resources like money and manpower should be used to keep older people on their feetto keep older people on feet.
Furthermore, in my opinion, the rise of life expectancy is the a quantitative measure of life spanquantitative measurement of life. Age is a number and it does not depict all the aspects of life. Quality of life often declines as people become olderThe quality of life is significantly reduced the older we become. Elderly people are usually struggling with both mental and physical problems and often they have a lonelysolitude and sorrowful life in the last years of their life. The life expectancy has increased quantitatively, but in my opinion not enough in terms of qualitynot qualitatively enough! We should help people to live longer, and more importantly better. To conclude, I believe that living longer can be a gainto live longer can be a gaining if we can help the elderly livehelp elderly to live a peaceful and valuable life as well. Of course, it will burden the society in several ways, but the society is nothing without the people in it.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response identifies relevant consequences of longer lives, particularly pressure on healthcare resources and declining quality of life, and it communicates these concerns with generally effective topic vocabulary. However, it devotes substantial space to explaining why longevity has increased while barely addressing the requested measures; prioritise a dedicated solutions paragraph covering healthcare planning, later retirement, community care, and preventive support for healthy ageing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The essay discusses problems caused by longer life expectancy, especially healthcare burden and reduced quality of life. However, it gives almost no concrete measures to reduce the impact, so one key part of the task is underdeveloped.
Add a full solutions paragraph covering healthcare planning, later retirement, community care, and support for healthy ageing.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay has visible paragraphs and a generally logical movement, but it spends too much space on background about why life expectancy increased instead of answering the two task questions.
Make each body paragraph correspond to the task: problems for society, problems for individuals, and measures.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is often effective, with phrases such as life expectancy, medical achievements, resources, and quality of life. Some word choices are unnatural or overly rhetorical.
Use precise terms such as ageing population, healthcare costs, social isolation, public resources, and preventive care.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response attempts complex grammar and is usually understandable, but tense, article, and sentence-structure errors are frequent.
Use present perfect for changes up to now and avoid question forms embedded awkwardly in statements.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In the developed world, average life expectancy is increasing. What problems will this cause for individuals and society? Suggest some measures that could be taken to reduce the impact of ageing populations.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.