In today's world of advanced science and technology, we still greatly value our artists such as musicians, painters and writers. What can arts tell us about life that science and technology cannot?
Sample Response
Various technological and scientific developments have tremendously enhanced our lifestyle and the way this is expanding, we are expected to have a far better lifestyle in the future than the current era. We have already ushered in a new era of previously unknown and unimaginable feats of technological development thanks toand the thanks go to scientific discoveries and inventions alonethe scientific discovery and invention alone. Despite this, the arts, cultureDespite this, arts, culture and traditions still have so much to teach us and this is why we still value arts and artists. One thing the arts teach usOne thing arts teach us that science cannot explainwhere science is silent is the appreciation of life. In science, there is little valuethere are a little value of beauty if something does not work. Thus a piece of abstract art has no meaning in science but has great stories to tell when we consider it artconsider it an art. In the world of arts, beauty matters in and of itselfbeauty matter in and of themselves whereas in science, the only true measure is whether it works or not. Arts offer us a spiritual outlook onof life while science teaches us just the opposite. We are surrounded by nature which is a rare combination of science and artcombination or science and arts. If we leave out art and beauty from naturethe arts and beauty from nature, it would become a dull theory of how molecules work together. To give an example, if we listen to the music of Mozart, we can learn about harmony and joy through the medium of music or if we read classical novels, the past world reveals itself to us. Moreover, when we look at the starslook back at the stars onin a dark night, we appreciate the beauty and the arts teach usand arts have taught us to appreciate this beauty. The great artists tell us about the true joys of life. Thus a classic book can teach us more about life than a biology book can. We do not need to understand the arts to appreciateunderstand arts to appreciate music, books or art exhibitionsexhibition but we need to understand scientific theories to understand how something really works. The artists reflect life and teach us to learn about our inner valuesinner-value. When we start appreciating arts, we start living life to the fullestliving the life to its fullest and live for others. So to say, science and technology have made our physical world more comfortable in this century and will keep bringing new wonders in our daily life, arts and humanities have taught us to appreciate life, to live for a reason.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response’s strongest feature is its thoughtful contrast between scientific utility and the arts’ capacity to reveal beauty, joy, history and inner values, supported by relevant cultural examples. Its main limitation is that these insights are repeated and sometimes overgeneralised within one unstructured paragraph. Prioritise grouping the material into distinct ideas—emotional appreciation and human experience—and develop each with precise comparisons rather than repeatedly asserting that science is silent.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response directly answers the question with several relevant insights and examples, but repetition and broad claims about science limit the depth of evaluation.
Develop two clearly differentiated lessons from art and qualify the comparison by explaining what art uniquely contributes rather than dismissing science generally.
Coherence and Cohesion
The discussion has an identifiable progression from beauty to spirituality, history, and purpose, but the lack of paragraphing and repeated ideas weaken cohesion.
Use an introduction, two focused body paragraphs, and a conclusion, with each body paragraph developing one distinct contribution of art.
Lexical Resource
There is sufficient range for abstract discussion of science, beauty, culture, and spirituality, but frequent inaccurate collocations and word forms reduce precision.
Replace awkward expressions such as “the current era,” “inner-value,” and “live the life to its fullest” with natural alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response attempts varied and complex sentences, but recurring errors in agreement, articles, prepositions, and clause boundaries are noticeable throughout.
Check subject–verb agreement and sentence boundaries, especially in sentences beginning “In the world of arts” and “So to say.”
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In today's world of advanced science and technology, we still greatly value our artists such as musicians, painters and writers. What can arts tell us about life that science and technology cannot?
Your response
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