Long distance flight consumes the amount of fuel that a car uses for many years and pollutes the air. Some people think that we should discourage non-essential flights, such as tourists travel, rather than limit the use of cars. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
Air travel consumes enormous amounts of fuel, especially long-haul flights, and contributes significantly to pollution. Some argue that instead of restricting car usage, we should discourage unnecessary air travel. I believe this contention haspossesses merit and should be pursued by the relevant authorities.
Critics argue that private cars are also a major source of pollution. Unlike airplanes, which carry hundreds of passengers at once, most cars carrycontain just one or two people. In cities like Los Angeles, traffic congestion causes vehicles to idle for hours, producing tons of CO2 daily. FurthermoreRelatedly, urban sprawl encourages excessive car dependency, leading to chronic air pollution and health issues such as asthma and lung disease. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over 4 million premature deaths per year are linked to air pollution, much of it from vehicles. Given these facts, it seems unfair to blame flights alone while ignoring the impact of car travel. This is particularly the case as flights connect families and cultures in ways that cars cannotcars never could. A grandmother in India can visit her grandchildren in Canada within a day. A student from Brazil can study abroad in Australia, broadening their educational and career opportunities. If flights were severely restricted, it would not only damage economies but also isolate people from loved ones and life-changing experiences.
However, it is undeniable that long-distance flights burn an extraordinary amount of fuel. A single trip from London to Sydney, for instance, uses thousands of litersmany thousands of liters of fuel, equivalent to what an average car would consume over many years. Airplanes release emissions directly into the upper atmosphere, where they persist for longerlinger longer and contribute disproportionately to climate change. This makes non-essential air travel a major contributor to carbon footprints. Many nations, such as Thailand for example, amass over 20% of the GDP comes from tourism. If international tourists were discouraged from flying, although millions of jobs in hotels, restaurants, and transportation would disappear, it would encourage the growth of sustainable industries outside of tourism. Such a pivot would be a drawback in the short terma negative in the short-term but yield long-term benefits not only for any nation dependent on tourism, but more importantly, for the global health of the environment.
In conclusion, flights contribute significantly to pollution and should be targeted to reduce emissions generally. Investing in better transport infrastructure, promoting electric vehicles, and implementing sustainable tourism policies would also help address the issue without harming economies or restricting essential travel.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response is strongest in its well-developed, specific discussion of both transport emissions and the social and economic value of flying, supported by a clear, broadly favourable stance on discouraging non-essential flights. Its main limitation is that the final recommendation broadens into several transport policies, slightly weakening the requested comparison with limiting car use; prioritise a sharper, consistently qualified position that explicitly weighs those two options throughout.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response addresses the comparison, maintains a broadly clear position, and develops environmental and socioeconomic considerations with relevant examples.
Make the final judgment explicitly state why discouraging non-essential flights should take priority over limiting car use.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through counterarguments and support, with clear paragraphing and generally effective referencing.
Split or more clearly signpost the long counterargument paragraph when it moves from car emissions to the benefits of aviation.
Lexical Resource
A wide vocabulary conveys environmental and economic ideas precisely, although a few collocations are awkward.
Replace strained phrases such as 'amass over 20% of the GDP comes from tourism' with concise, idiomatic wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex structures are controlled across most of the response, with only occasional malformed clauses and punctuation slips.
Edit sentences containing multiple dependent clauses so each grammatical relationship remains clear and complete.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Long distance flight consumes the amount of fuel that a car uses for many years and pollutes the air. Some people think that we should discourage non-essential flights, such as tourists travel, rather than limit the use of cars. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
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