Many people prefer to use public transportation while others say that personal cars are the best mode of transportation. Excessive use of private cars is considered to be the main reason for the traffic jam in many cities and that's why the use of public transportation is encouraged. In your opinion what are the pros and cons of using public transport?
Sample Response
While some people choose to use public transportations, others prefer to use their own cars. It is believed that the excessive usage of personal cars has caused congestion problems in big cities and therefore people should use public transportations more often. However, public transportations have their own positive and negative sides and the following essay will discuss them in details.
It is undeniable, that public transportations have some weaknesses. Some people still choose to use their own private vehicles, though the government has encouraged them to use public transports. It is because public transportations are not as safe as private cars and some criminal activities on public buses or trains such as pocket thieves are still being reported. And then public transportations are not reliable in terms of preciseness and accuracy. Many people have complained about the preciseness and the consistency of these public transportations schedules, which impacted to their work or study time.
Despite its weakness points, public transportations bring a lot of benefits for individuals and societies. Firstly, it is clear that the existence of public transportations will automatically reduce traffic problems. Secondly, if the utilisation of public transportations increased, it means that there will be a reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels. Consequently, it will reduce air pollution and global warming issues. Therefore, the governments should encourage their residents to use public transportations.
In conclusion, people have different opinions about public transportations. Some people enjoy using them, while others choose to use their own personal vehicles. Although public transportations have some weaknesses, I do believe that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. I also suggest that the government should improve the public transportation services, therefore more and more people are attracted to use public transportations.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use uncountable transport Original: transportations Suggested revision: transport Why it matters: Public transport is an uncountable category and is not pluralised.
- 2. Use concise wording Original: usage Suggested revision: use Why it matters: Use is the more natural and concise noun in this context.
- 3. Use standard collocation Original: caused congestion problems Suggested revision: caused traffic congestion Why it matters: Traffic congestion is the standard term for overcrowded roads.
- 4. Use uncountable transport Original: transportations Suggested revision: transport Why it matters: Public transport is uncountable when referring to the transport system generally.
- 5. Use task terminology Original: public transportations have their own positive and negative sides Suggested revision: public transport has its own advantages and disadvantages Why it matters: The revision uses the correct uncountable form and precise terms for the two sides.
- 6. Use singular detail Original: details Suggested revision: detail Why it matters: The fixed expression is in detail, with the singular noun.
- 7. Remove the comma Original: It is undeniable, that Suggested revision: It is undeniable that Why it matters: No comma should separate the adjective from its following that-clause.
- 8. Use uncountable transport Original: transports Suggested revision: transport Why it matters: Public transport is uncountable when referring to buses and trains collectively.
- 9. Name the crime Original: pocket thieves Suggested revision: pickpocketing Why it matters: Pickpocketing is the activity being reported, whereas pocket thieves refers awkwardly to people.
- 10. Use a formal connector Original: And then Suggested revision: Furthermore, Why it matters: Furthermore introduces the additional disadvantage more formally and clearly.
- 11. Name service reliability Original: in terms of preciseness and accuracy Suggested revision: in terms of punctuality and reliability Why it matters: Punctuality and reliability are the relevant qualities of a transport timetable.
- 12. Use timetable terms Original: the preciseness and the consistency Suggested revision: the punctuality and consistency Why it matters: These terms accurately describe whether services follow their schedules.
Suggested Rewrites
- transportations transport
- usage use
- caused congestion problems caused traffic congestion
- transportations transport
- public transportations have their own positive and negative sides public transport has its own advantages and disadvantages
- details detail
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response answers the question directly and organizes relevant drawbacks and benefits into clear sections, with sensible links to congestion, fuel use, and pollution. Its main weakness is imprecise language, especially repeated misuse of transportation as a countable plural and several unnatural collocations, while some ideas remain briefly explained. The highest-priority improvement is to develop each point with a concrete consequence while using accurate transport-related vocabulary.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The essay covers both disadvantages and advantages with a clear overall view, though several points are developed only briefly.
Explain one concrete consequence of unsafe or unreliable services and one measurable benefit of increased public transport use.
Coherence and Cohesion
Paragraphing supports a clear progression from drawbacks to benefits and conclusion, although linking is sometimes mechanical and reference is occasionally awkward.
Use fewer formulaic connectors and make pronoun references consistently match the singular concept of public transport.
Lexical Resource
The response has adequate topic vocabulary, but frequent inaccurate forms and collocations such as public transportations, preciseness, and weakness points reduce precision.
Use public transport as an uncountable term and learn natural phrases such as service reliability, pickpocketing, and adverse effects.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning remains clear through a range of sentence forms, but errors in articles, conditionals, agreement, and tense occur regularly.
Review conditional patterns and maintain consistent tense, especially in sentences predicting the effects of increased public transport use.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Many people prefer to use public transportation while others say that personal cars are the best mode of transportation. Excessive use of private cars is considered to be the main reason for the traffic jam in many cities and that's why the use of public transportation is encouraged. In your opinion what are the pros and cons of using public transport?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.