The best way to solve the world’s environmental problems is to increase the cost of fuel. To what extent do you agree or disagree
Sample Response
The overconsumption of fossil fuels has become a major topic of concern recently. Some people suggest that increasing the fuel price can be the solution to cope with environmental issues. Personally, I believe that other measures should also be given equal consideration.
Firstly, increasing the fuel expense cannot minimise the global dependence on fuel. It should be first noted that even when the price of fuel increases significantly, people still cannot cut down the tremendous demand for petrol at once. For example, in daily life, people still need to use their cars despite the fluctuation in the petrol price. Another clear reason is that petrol is also intended for other applications in manufacturing industries and agricultural purposes. If the price of fuel increases, the national economy could suffer many unfavourable consequences.
When it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, some measures should be taken to mitigate the problems of overconsuming fuel. The most practical measure at the moment is to reduce the demand for resources in daily activities like traveling or production. This can be done by encouraging people to turn to mass-producing energy-efficient products like hybrid cars or implementing new saving energy technology in manufacture. Besides, the most sustainable solution is to lower the reliance on fuel by taking advantage of alternative resources. Wind and tidal power in the Netherlands, nuclear power in Japan, and solar power in the United States have all proven their efficiency in energy in energy production. These could be employed in other parts of the world to minimise the global dependence on fossil fuel.
All existing data above shows that only increasing the fuel price will not reduce the global warming effects. Some strong alternative measures need to be implemented to tackle this situation.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use concise wording Original: major topic of concern recently Suggested revision: major recent concern Why it matters: The revision conveys the same meaning more concisely.
- 2. Generalize price reference Original: suggest that increasing the fuel price can Suggested revision: suggest that increasing fuel prices can Why it matters: The plural form is more natural when making a general claim about fuel prices.
- 3. Fix verb-noun pairing Original: the solution to cope with environmental issues Suggested revision: a solution to environmental issues Why it matters: A solution takes the preposition to and does not combine naturally with to cope with here.
- 4. Use standard collocation Original: fuel expense Suggested revision: cost of fuel Why it matters: Cost of fuel is the standard phrase for the price consumers pay.
- 5. Correct adverb position Original: It should be first noted Suggested revision: It should first be noted Why it matters: First is more naturally placed before the passive verb phrase be noted.
- 6. Correct demand collocation Original: cut down the tremendous demand Suggested revision: drastically reduce the enormous demand Why it matters: Reduce demand is the appropriate collocation, while drastically conveys the intended scale.
- 7. Use formal adverb Original: at once Suggested revision: immediately Why it matters: Immediately is more precise and formal in this context.
- 8. Remove redundant framing Original: For example, in daily life, Suggested revision: For example, Why it matters: The example already concerns everyday car use, so the extra framing is redundant.
- 9. Use general plural Original: despite the fluctuation in the petrol price Suggested revision: despite fluctuations in petrol prices Why it matters: Plural nouns better express recurring changes in prices generally.
- 10. Clarify fuel use Original: intended for other applications Suggested revision: used for other purposes Why it matters: Used for other purposes states the intended meaning directly and idiomatically.
- 11. Restore parallel nouns Original: in manufacturing industries and agricultural purposes Suggested revision: in manufacturing and agriculture Why it matters: The coordinated objects should use parallel noun forms.
- 12. Use formal noun phrase Original: problems of overconsuming fuel Suggested revision: problems caused by excessive fuel consumption Why it matters: Fuel consumption is the standard formal noun phrase, and caused by clarifies the relationship.
Suggested Rewrites
- major topic of concern recently major recent concern
- suggest that increasing the fuel price can suggest that increasing fuel prices can
- the solution to cope with environmental issues a solution to environmental issues
- fuel expense cost of fuel
- It should be first noted It should first be noted
- cut down the tremendous demand drastically reduce the enormous demand
Why this response received Band 7.0
The essay presents a consistent disagreement with fuel-price increases as the single best solution and offers a clear sequence from limitations to alternatives. Its central weakness is that several claims and examples are imprecisely expressed, especially the proposed route to energy-efficient consumption, which weakens both development and clarity. The priority is to explain fewer solutions more concretely and revise recurring word-choice and grammatical problems.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response addresses the proposition directly, maintains a clear position, and presents relevant alternatives, although some supporting reasoning is insufficiently precise.
Clarify how each proposed measure would reduce fuel use and connect every example explicitly to solving environmental problems.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas are arranged in a clear introduction, two focused body paragraphs, and a consistent conclusion, with generally effective progression.
Tighten the longer second body paragraph by giving each solution a distinct explanatory sequence rather than clustering several loosely connected examples.
Lexical Resource
The response shows a broad environmental vocabulary, but recurring awkward collocations and word-form choices reduce precision and naturalness.
Use established combinations such as fuel prices, energy-saving technology, manufacturing, and renewable energy, and remove accidental repetition.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentence forms is attempted successfully, but errors in parallel structure, noun phrasing, and clause construction recur.
Simplify overloaded sentences and check that coordinated nouns and verb phrases follow the same grammatical pattern.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
The best way to solve the world’s environmental problems is to increase the cost of fuel. To what extent do you agree or disagree
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.