IELTS Essays – Band 9

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.

Set 4 General Training book, Practice Test 18

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Everybody today should pay a small amount from their income in order to help people who are homeless and / or suffering great poverty. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Sample Band 9 Essay

Homelessness and poverty is a terrible but topical issue in both more economically advanced and less industrialised countries. To deal with this, many people feel that a small proportion of everyone’s income should be used to aid the homeless and poor. This could create more opportunities and change the lives of many disadvantaged people for the better.

Though there are certain facilities such as shelters and soup kitchens to aid the poor and homeless, it is clear that this is not enough. In the U.S. alone, a very developed country in itself, nearly two million people are homeless. These facilities can lend a helpful hand; however, they do not help eradicate the problem. Those people who are homeless or poor can have trouble finding jobs, or, if they are lucky to gain employment, the pay may not be enough to support them and their families.

If a small percentage of everyone’s income was used to help build more aid facilities and fund organisations to help the homeless and poor, the suffering of many people could be alleviated. However, this is not a perfect world, and taxes are high enough for many people. A similar argument could be that a portion of the taxes already paid to the government should then be set aside for this cause, but of course government funds are usually stretched to breaking point as it is, as governments have so many financial responsibilities already.

Though the fundamental idea that people should pay a small percentage of their income to help the homeless and poor is admirable, it is unlikely that enough people would agree to it. People need all the money they earn after taxes anyway and, although governments already have too many calls on their available funds, in my view they should prioritise support payments for the homeless.

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This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is close to IELTS Band 9.

Set 4 General Training book, Practice Test 17

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Every household should have a government-imposed limit on the amount of rubbish it can throw away. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Sample Band 9 Essay

The amount of waste people produce can be quite shocking, with every person generating kilograms of rubbish in a single day, and all this can be difficult to manage. This has given some people the idea that there should be a limitation on the amount of rubbish produced per household; however, opinions are divided as to whether this would be the the most effective option.

Having a limitation on the amount of waste produced sounds like a fine solution to a significant problem, with over two hundred and fifty million tons being generated in 2016 by the U.S. alone. Taxing households that break limits would push people to produce less waste and make them more mindful of what can be recycled or composted. However, forcing people to produce less waste might not be attainable.

Households produce as much waste as they need to live their lifestyles. The waste people generate is only a result of the products they purchase, and will most likely wish to continue to purchase. Taxing people may be a cause of resentment, with many of them already struggling to pay their usual bills. In addition, if people produce more than they are allowed, this will encourage littering and dumping, so that they are not caught with more waste than entitled, and this in turn will damage the environment.

Though controlling the amount of waste produced is important, there could be other ways of encouraging lesser output. In my opinion, governments should encourage composting and recycling, which will also reduce wasted material. People should also be more aware of what waste they produce and how it can be reduced. An education drive on these issues would perhaps be more likely to succeed in reducing rubbish than imposing limitations.

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