IELTS Writing Task 2 part 2

IELTS Writing Task 2 part 2

LESSON 7

IELTS Writing task 2:

You must write an essay in response to a question. You must write 250 words or more. You should spend around 40 minutes on this part of the test. Task 2 is worth 2/3 of your total mark on the Writing test. General Training and Academic are essentially the same for Task 2, but different for Task 1. There are certain types of questions you will be asked, such as opinion, discussion etc.

Assessment

• Task Achievement (25%)
• Coherence and Cohesion (25%)
• Lexical Resource (25%)
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy (25%)

Academic writing task 2 is formal essay.

The common types of essays are:

• Opinion (agree or disagree)
• discussion
• advantage/disadvantage
• direct questions
• solutions.

All words will be counted, even small or repeated words.

Academic Writing module: Task 2

'Agree or disagree' questions are the most common questions in both IELTS Academic and General Training modules. You can either answer them like a 'for and against essay', looking at both sides of the argument, or you can put forward your own personal opinion and take one side of the argument, i.e. 'agree or disagree'. You should write at least 250 words. There is no choice of questions. It provides two thirds of the mark for the writing test, so you should spend two thirds of the time (40 minutes) on this part of the exam.

Academic Writing module: Task 2 'Agree or disagree' questions

Governments around the world spend too much money on treating illnesses and diseases and not enough on health education and prevention. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Academic Writing module: Task 2 'Agree or disagree' questions

Sample answer I very much agree with the statement that governments are not spending their health budgets in the best possible way. If governments continue to spend such large sums of money on treating illness and disease instead of preventing these diseases, then perhaps they should rename our national health services ‘national illness services’! Governments will probably argue that it is necessary to spend a large proportion of health budgets on treating illness because the general population do not live healthy lifestyles and so become ill. They would argue that most people do not listen to health campaigns. Also, they would say it is not possible to prevent many illnesses and diseases such as flu and many types of cancer, as well as accidents and emergencies. The problem with this argument is that it is very negative because it assumes that people are stupid and refuse to lead healthy lives. However, when people have the right information, they often do the right thing – in my country than in the past. I believe that the main reason for this is government health campaigns, including very strong health warnings on the products.

Academic Writing module: Task 2 'Agree or disagree' questions

In my opinion, governments can do a lot to prevent not only illnesses and disease, but also accidents. Why don’t governments spend more money on installing speed cameras on roads to make people drive more slowly? That would reduce the number of accidents. To summarise, I really think that there is a lot that governments can do to prevent illness and disease to make the world a healthier place to live. In particular, rich governments can spend more money on scientific research to find the causes of new diseases such as AIDS, while governments from less well-developed countries can spend money on providing clean water for all their people. In this way, the world will have less need for expensive cures and hospitals. (311 words)

Academic Writing module: Task 2 'Opinion essay' questions

Should the international community do more to tackle the threat of global warming? What do know about the global warming?

Academic Writing module: Task 2 'Opinion essay' questions

Task 2 in the IELTS exam asks a question about a social topic such as the environment, education or the media. You must answer this question by giving your opinions, along with reasons and examples, in an essay. You must write at least 250 words and you should spend about 40 minutes writing the essay. It is important to use a standard essay structure consisting of separate paragraphs: an introduction (one paragraph), followed by the main body of the essay (two or three paragraphs), and then a conclusion (one paragraph). The introduction to a Task 2 essay can describe the topic of the essay, give background information to it and list various opinions about it. You should also briefly state your own view, which you then go on to explain and support in the main body of the essay.

Academic Writing module: Task 2 'Opinion essay' questions

Sample answer Global warming has long been recognized as a serious problem by most climate scientists. Governments around the world have begun to take the necessary measures to address it. However, as our understanding of the scale and nature of the problem is still developing, efforts to tackle global warming need to be reassessed from time to time. Recent evidence suggests that some risk factors associated with climate change may have been overstated. Sea levels are now expected to rise by approximately one metre, not two metres, as previously thought. This is because some glaciers and ice sheets appear to be contracting, the Arctic, for example, while others, such as the Antarctic, appear to be expanding. Also, it is now thought that the Gulf Stream is unlikely to vanish. It may, therefore, be possible to scale back plans for flood defences in coastal areas.

Academic Writing module: Task 2 'Opinion essay' questions

However, there is also evidence that some of the consequences of climate change may have been understated. Tropical forests are now believed to be more vulnerable to drought. Hurricanes and typhoons may become more severe. Greater efforts should therefore be made to protect vulnerable populations, especially in tropical areas. Buildings in storm-prone areas may also need to be re-designed to withstand high winds. These recommendations, however, address the symptoms of global warming, not the root cause: the generation of greenhouse gases. Whatever the precise scale and nature of the consequences of global warming, they are all undesirable. Clearly, more needs to be done to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. Stricter emissions targets should be set and use of alternative sources of energy encouraged. It would be profoundly irresponsible to do nothing about the causes of global warming. (280 words)

Reference

https://www.ielts-exam.net/ielts_writing_samples_task_2/1024/

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