ielts writing

This essay topic was seen in a recent IELTS test in the USA.

Even though experts believe that walking is a great way to improve one’s health, very few people walk nowadays. Why aren’t people walking? What can be done to encourage them to walk more?

Sample Band 8 Essay

The benefits of walking are numerous, and experts recommend it as a good way to keep healthy and fit. Despite this, the number of people who walk on a daily basis is on the decline. The reasons for this are manifold, but there are also several solutions that may help people walk more.

Lack of time is the most common reason people cite for not engaging in any form of physical activity. These days most people have hectic schedules that involve juggling their work and home responsibilities. As a result, they are often too exhausted or pressed for time and therefore opt for faster and more comfortable forms of transport, such as cars, bikes or public transport. Another major reason for the reduced number of pedestrians on the roads is a lack of safety. Most full-time workers are not free to walk during the day, and will skip it in the evenings or early morning hours, if they do not feel safe enough to do so.

Fortunately, there are quite a few solutions to this issue. One is making walkers safe, which means the government should ensure that there are enough sidewalks and streetlights available in every suburb, so that pedestrians can walk or jog safely whenever time allows. Another useful option is to create special walking tracks and parks in neighbourhoods where people can get some much-needed exercise in the evenings. The added benefit of promoting the healthy lifestyle and walking in the community makes this solution even more attractive.

To conclude, the pressures of daily life and lack of safely while walking reduce the popularity of this healthy practice. Governments can reverse this trend by creating more green spaces for people to walk in and addressing their safety concerns.

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This essay topic was seen in a recent IELTS test in South Korea

In many countries, a lot of food is wasted. Why do people waste food? How can we reduce the amount of food waste?

Sample Band 8 Essay

Despite the fact that millions of people in the world go hungry every day, a surprisingly large amount of food gets wasted daily in certain parts of the world. In my opinion, the main reason for this is that people in the first-world countries tend to only buy food that is aesthetically pleasing, and fortunately, there are some ways to tackle this issue.

It is shockingly sad to know that large amounts of perfectly edible food in the form of fresh produce get sent to landfills, and the main reason for this is that these foods do not meet the standards of perfection set for fruits and vegetables by consumers and grocery stores. For example, veggies and fruit that are misshapen or have a few spots on them are still good enough to eat, yet they are often left on shelves to rot in favour of something that looks less damaged. In addition, a lot of customers confuse the ‘best by’ and ‘use by’ dates, thinking that foods that have passed their ‘best by’ dates are no longer fit to eat. Another major reason for food wastage is that people often overestimate the amount of produce they require on a weekly or monthly basis, and most of it ends up getting thrown out instead of being used.

There are many ways to reduce the amount of food being wasted, and I think one of the best ideas is to increase people’s awareness of just how much good food is disposed of, only because of our superficial biases as to how food should look. Raising the awareness of the staggering number of people that go hungry in third-world countries would make it harder to throw away an apple just because it is a little bruised. Also, teaching people how to better plan their monthly food requirements would help them not to overspend on food that they do not need; it would be great for the environment and their budget. The role of the government in this endeavour is indispensable as such task would be too great for any smaller organisation.

To conclude, the wasting food is a serious issue that merits increased awareness from both people and the leaders of the world. It is unacceptable to discard any food when there are so many people who are starving, and hopefully our joint effort can help improve the current situation.

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