In recent years some countries have experienced very rapid economic development. This has resulted in much higher standards of living in urban areas but not in the country sides. This situation may bring some problems for the country as a whole. What are these problems? How might they be reduced?
Sample Response
Over the past few years, a number of countries have experienced rapid economic growthenormously raised their economic status. Consequently, this has made the living standards of urban areas higher than the rural areas, which could bring some serious problems in the future for such countries.
First of all, it is undeniableit is a deniable fact that due to better educational opportunitieshigher opportunities in studies as well as in employmentemployments, a large number of people from rural areas move to big cities. This phenomenon results in overpopulation and automatically makes accommodation more expensivemakes the accommodations expensive. Another noticeable problem is the social gap between the urban areas and the rural areas. The rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer. This could lead to a growing crime rategrowing number of crime as villagers want an equal level of living standards as urban citizensas that of urban citizens.
Another problem is that putting emphasisAgain, putting emphasis on developing urban areas is not a prudent idea by governmentsby the government. In many developing countries, rural areas are still the base and root for the overall economy of the country while cities are getting the benefits of the modern development. This is an uneven distribution and would bring many negative effects. In the long run, the economic development would be hampered becausewould hamper since the rural people are deprived of the advancement.
Numerous measuresmethods can be taken by governments of these countries to overcome these problems. FirstAt first, all the basic needs such as hospitals, schools, universities, factories, banks and companies should be built in rural areas as well and their standards should be equal to those in urban areasequal to as that of urban areas. Due to this, the people will have fewer reasons to leave their hometowns and migrate to cities. SecondAt second, there will be less competition in every field, so higher opportunities of employments and studies will be available.
Hence, in conclusion, although there are several problems related to urban economic development,although there are several problematic issues related to the economic development in cities, but in my view, the government can and must solve these problems as early as possible before they become unsolvable.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response addresses both parts of the task with a clear sequence of national problems and relevant government measures, making the central argument easy to follow. Its main weakness is that several solutions remain broad and are not consistently paired with the problems identified; the most valuable improvement would be to connect each issue to a specific remedy while polishing awkward collocations and recurring grammatical errors.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response answers both parts of the question, identifies several national problems, and gives relevant government measures. Development is clear, though some points are general and the reduction measures could be more directly matched to each problem.
Link each problem to a specific remedy, such as rural investment for migration pressure and public services for inequality.
Coherence and Cohesion
Paragraphing is logical and progression is easy to follow. Some connectors are mechanical or slightly inaccurate, and the conclusion repeats the position rather than synthesising the main answer.
Use topic sentences that name the problem or solution, then avoid overusing broad connectors such as again and due to this.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide enough for the topic, with terms such as overpopulation, social gap, and uneven distribution. Several collocations and word forms are unnatural.
Replace awkward phrases with natural academic collocations such as employment opportunities, housing costs, crime rates, and rural development.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentences is attempted and meaning is usually clear. Errors with articles, plurals, verb patterns, and linking clauses occur regularly.
Edit noun phrases for article use and check that each subordinate clause is attached cleanly to a main clause.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In recent years some countries have experienced very rapid economic development. This has resulted in much higher standards of living in urban areas but not in the country sides. This situation may bring some problems for the country as a whole. What are these problems? How might they be reduced?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.