The government and individuals are spending too much money on national celebrations like the new year or festivals. Do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
People have different views about whether public expenditure on national occasions such as New Year or festivalssuch as new year or festivals is too much nowadays. While I agree that governments and individuals are spending a significant amount of money on suchthose celebrations, I would argue that this activity is necessary and therefore can be considered acceptable.
It is true that a large amount of money is currently spent on some important national celebrationscelebrations of a country. Firstly, governments are allocating a proportion of their budget to eventsspending a proportion of their budget on holding events to celebrate these occasions. For example, a great deal of money is spent on fireworksmuch money is being paid for fireworks on New Year’s Eveeve in many countries around the world. Secondly, individuals also spend money on celebrationsspend money to have celebrations and parties with their families, which is a common practice in many placescommon habit in many areas. For instance, my parents and I often have a special dinner on the last day of the yearthe final day of every year.
However, I believe there are significantgreat benefits of public spending on national celebrations, and therefore it is completely justifiable. The first advantage is that this is a great way to preserve the culture of a nation. To illustrate, Lunar New Year is an important part of Vietnamese culturethe Vietnamese culture, and holding celebrations for this occasion is necessary to remind younger generations of this tradition. Additionally, since these occasions are usually the only times for family members to have time and enjoy together, it is understandable that people would want to spend money on something that makes them happy. Finally, as there are only a few national celebrations in a year, the amount of money spent on those days is unlikely to be too much.
In conclusion, I disagree with the idea that people and governments are spending too much money on national occasions.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response presents a clear and consistent position and supports it with relevant cultural and family-based reasoning, while maintaining strong progression throughout. Its main limitation is that the discussion of how much is spent remains somewhat general, so the argument would be more convincing if it compared the scale of expenditure with its benefits and refined a few awkward expressions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response directly answers the question with a clear position and develops relevant reasons for considering the expenditure acceptable.
Deepen the evaluation by comparing the scale of the spending with the cultural and personal benefits rather than mainly asserting that it is justified.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through a clear introduction, two focused body paragraphs, and a concise conclusion, with effective linking throughout.
Make the first body paragraph more argumentative so that it contributes more directly to the reasoning developed in the second paragraph.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally precise, with effective language for public expenditure, cultural preservation, and family occasions.
Refine a few unnatural combinations such as family members having time and enjoying together to improve idiomatic precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of sentence structures is used accurately, and the few grammatical slips do not impede communication.
Polish article use and phrasing in expressions such as an important part of Vietnamese culture to achieve more consistent control.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
The government and individuals are spending too much money on national celebrations like the new year or festivals. Do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.