Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A zoo has no useful purpose. Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer.
Sample Response
Keeping wild animals in cages for public exhibition is a tradition that people have practised for a long timepeople are performing for a long and for the majority of peoplefor majority people this provides entertainment and education for childrenthis is an amusement and educational purpose for kids while others consider itothers think it to be a very inhuman act. This is a much-debated issue and I personally see no value in zoological gardensfind no usefulness of a zoological garden where these animals and birds of different kinds are kept for public entertainment. First of all, the idea of keeping wild animals in cages is really a brutal one and humanshuman should not be proud of actsact like this. Who has given us the power and authority to forciblyforcefully bring animals to zoos and then laugh while watchingthen being hilarious watching their activities? Do our weapons and brains makeDo our weapon and brain makes us superior and powerful enough to decide the lives of other species? No, if we are superior to those wild animals, it is our humanity and superior capacity for thoughtsuperiority of thinking power and where would that humanity is when we cageencage other species? There are thousands of amusement parks and children parks and we should not make a zoo that would only represent our brutality and the outcry of the animals.
Have we ever thoughtthough if a more intelligent species arrives in our territory and cages us as we doencases us like we do to other animals, how pathetic that would be for us? Many people would say that zoos serve educational purposesthose are educational purposes and allow children to learn aboutand to let the kids know about those animals. But in a zoo what we see are cagedencaged animals in distress and helplessnesswith their dismay and helplessness. Children would never learn the true nature of those animals if they learn about themwhen they would learn it from a zoo. Animal Planet and Discovery channels are two better alternatives for children to learn about those wild animals than the zoo. Zoos in many countries are usedZoo is many countries are used for commercial purposes and no matter what the authorities do; they can’t ensure a free life for a bird which should be flying in the sky rather than trying to escape from the cage. In conclusion, the zoo serves no useful purpose and there are no good reasons to put the animals and birds in cages.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response maintains a forceful, consistent rejection of zoos and develops relevant concerns about animal suffering, weak educational value, and commercial exploitation. Its strongest feature is the clear ethical position, but much of the support relies on rhetorical questions and broad assertions rather than specific evidence, while language errors are frequent. Prioritise replacing the rhetorical sequence with one concrete example and a carefully explained rebuttal of conservation or education claims.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
A clear position is maintained and supported through relevant ethical and educational arguments, although much of the support remains general or rhetorical.
Address a plausible conservation or education benefit of zoos and rebut it with one specific, fully explained example.
Coherence and Cohesion
The argument progresses from cruelty to educational value and alternatives, but two oversized paragraphs and repeated rhetorical questions weaken organisation.
Divide the response into focused body paragraphs and use topic sentences to distinguish animal welfare, education, and commercialisation.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficient for animal welfare and ethics, but frequent inaccurate choices and collocations reduce precision and naturalness.
Use precise phrases such as ‘kept in captivity’, ‘educational benefit’, ‘observe their natural behaviour’, and ‘commercial exploitation’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer attempts varied complex forms, but frequent errors in agreement, verb patterns, articles, questions, and clause construction limit control.
Replace long rhetorical questions with shorter declarative sentences and check subject-verb agreement and auxiliary-verb patterns carefully.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A zoo has no useful purpose. Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.