Should a city try to preserve its old, historic buildings or destroy them and replace them with modern buildings? What is your viewpoint on this issue? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
Sample Response
It is believed that old, historic buildings are not useful to the community and they occupy space on already-valuable landin an already premium location. Take Colosseum of Rome for example, the building occupies a lot of space in the middle of a city but it has more advantages that compensate for the opportunity cost of the landloss of premium due to land cost. It can be argued that historiccontemporary buildings have more advantages than disadvantages by analysing the cultural impactimpact due to culture and tourism revenue generated by these buildingsrevenue from tourism in these buildings.
The rich culturecultural and heritage of our ancestors can only be passed down to future generations through such structures. The structure is evidence of history and providesportrays itself to provide a view of how lifestyles have evolvedcomparison of lifestyle evolution throughout recorded historysince the recorded history. As an illustration, the Eiffel TowerEiffel tower standing tall in the centre of the city was built about a century ago. It clearly does not haveis not having any useful money generating purpose apart from tourism. However, the future generations can take it as proof ofas a proof for the existence of engineersscholars who could build skyscrapers which could last several centuries without the use of modern technology and equipment. The pride of owning such an engineering marvelsuch engineering marvel is priceless.
Secondly, the government’s spending to preserve this building is benefitted multiple folds through the revenue generating by touring individuals. The revenue generated from the Tirupathi temple, for instance, accounts for the second largest revenue generating source after tax revenue in Andhra Pradeshin case of Andhra Pradesh. Hence, it can be clearly seen that the amount of effort and the time invested by city authorities could fetch a very attractive return onover investment than building modern structures.
On the other hand, due to the migration of people from the countrysidefrom countrysides and population expansion within cities, there is a huge demand for real estate space. There is increasing pressure on local governments to demolish heritage buildings due to inefficient use of space inside them. For instance, Singapore which has a total area of 27 km2 cannot afford to have a large colosseum. These days, though, local bodies are coming up with innovative ideas like moving an entire building by fitting wheels under them. Such techniques can be used instead of destroying the culture and revenue from them.
In short, preserving a historic building within a city proves to be a morehighly valuable proposition than replacing them with modern buildings. Hence it is recommended to city officials for looking into every possible alternative than demolishing the historic monuments.
(by- Vasudevan)
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response develops a substantial case for preserving historic buildings, with clear attention to heritage, tourism revenue, urban pressure, and alternatives to demolition. Its main limitation is an introductory sentence that appears to favour contemporary buildings, conflicting with the sustained position elsewhere, while several examples and expressions lack precision. State the preservation viewpoint unambiguously from the outset and verify or qualify the factual support.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Several relevant reasons and examples support preservation, but the apparent reversal in the introduction and questionable factual details weaken the position.
State the preservation view consistently from the introduction and use accurate, clearly explained evidence for each reason.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas are logically grouped into effective paragraphs covering heritage, revenue, urban pressure, alternatives, and the final judgement.
Make the thesis align with the body argument and tighten transitions so every paragraph advances the same position.
Lexical Resource
The response shows a good range of vocabulary for heritage, tourism, engineering, and urban development, despite recurring awkward collocations.
Refine expressions concerning cultural heritage, tourism revenue, land value, investment returns, and preservation alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A variety of complex structures conveys meaning clearly, but errors with articles, agreement, comparison, prepositions, and verb forms recur.
Edit comparative structures and passive constructions carefully, then check article and pronoun consistency throughout.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Should a city try to preserve its old, historic buildings or destroy them and replace them with modern buildings? What is your viewpoint on this issue? Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.