IELTS Essays Band 9 | IELTS Writing 9.0

2023-08-08 09:37:07 Hi team

Time for a few more quick writing fixes. Here are some common mistakes to avoid.

. Don't use "etc."

This is pretty straightforward.

. Don't write main ideas that are only one sentence.

When you present an idea, always make sure there is an expansion sentence. This will help prevent you from writing an underdeveloped idea or an unnecessarily long sentence.

. Don't use fake data and statistics.

There are much better ways to expand on your ideas. Say something meaningful. No native speaker was ever taught to do this in school. I don't know who started this craze, but it isn't an example of good writing. It's ok to refer to research, but do it generally - don't include any fake percentages.

. Don't start sentences with 'but', 'and' or 'so'.

These are coordinating conjunctions. Their job is to join independent clauses (generally). You will see this rule broken in journalism, but it might be considered too informal by some examiners.

. Don't say 'kids'.

It's too informal.

#IELTSToptips #Writing9

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2023-08-05 16:30:28 #Essay264 #Writing #Task2

Discuss both views

Q: Some think scientists should be allowed to send messages into space to communicate with other life forms while others believe this is too dangerous.
Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.

Answer:

Many are of the belief that contacting possible alien life is a desirable goal, while others are wary of the potential dangers. In my opinion, though this satisfies basic human curiosity, the risk is too great relative to the benefits.

The reason to try to communicate with extraterrestrials is to learn more about the universe. Some might claim alien life could have technology or insight to share, but the chances of this are too small to justify the effort. Instead, the average person and the scientist alike simply want to learn if there are other forms of life. Humans have dreamed of aliens in novels and films for decades and some feel every attempt to realise these dreams is warranted. If alien life is discovered, not only would it satisfy this desire but it might also help humanity understand their own origins, place in the universe, and answer fundamental existential questions.

However, curiosity alone is not enough to condone accepting even the smallest chance of the danger inherent in alien contact. The likelihood of an alien life form turning against humanity like a scene from a science fiction film are infinitesimally small but the consequences are too great to ignore. In the event that aliens were found and hostile to humanity it could pose a serious problem and in the worst case scenario threaten the survival of the human race. This far-fetched but disastrous downside logically dictates the more sensible approach of continuing to develop human technology and wait until the distant future to venture to locate alien life.

In conclusion, the self-interested pursuit of other life forms has too much potential for species-threatening danger to be advisable. Instead, governments should focus on maximising resources for more advanced technology.

Total words: 289

Band: 7.5+

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2023-08-03 18:02:14 ​​ IELTS Simon Writing Task 2 Lessons Collection - Best ever

IELTS-Simon: Writing Task 2 lesson 1

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IELTS-Simon: Writing Task 2 lesson 7

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IELTS-Simon: Writing Task 2 lesson 9

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IELTS-Simon: Writing Task 2 lesson 11

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@Essays_band9-Road to band Open / Comment

2023-08-03 15:44:59 ​​#Essays263 #Writing #Task1

Bar chart

Q: The chart below shows the amount of time that 10 to 15-year-olds spend chatting on the Internet and playing on games consoles on an average school day in the UK.

Answer:

The bar chart compares the time spent by 10 to 15-year-olds in the UK on two activities, namely chatting online and playing computer games.

Overall, we can see that playing computer games is marginally more popular than chatting on the Internet. However, completely different trends can be seen if we look at the specific figures for boys and girls.

Boys aged between 10 and 15 clearly favour playing on games consoles over chatting online. According to the chart, while 85% of boys play computer games every day, only 55% chat online daily. Furthermore, the majority of boys play on their consoles for more than one hour each day, and 10% do this activity for four hours or more.

By contrast, girls prefer chatting online. Close to 70% of 10 to 15-year-old girls engage in online conversation each day, compared to about 50% of this cohort who play computer games. Of the girls who do play on consoles, most of them play for less than an hour, whereas most girls who chat online do so for more than one hour, and nearly 10% chat for four hours or more.

Total words: 192

Band:

@Essays_band9-Road to band Open / Comment

2023-07-31 13:31:06 IELTS Writing

(Task 1 | Fractions)

Here comes a number of fractions to express percentages:

4% = A tiny fraction.
24% = Almost a quarter.
25% = Exactly a quarter.
26% = Roughly one quarter.
32% Nearly one-third, nearly a third.
49% = Around a half, just under a half.
50% = Exactly a half.
51% = Just over a half.
73% = Nearly three quarters.
77% = Approximately three quarter, more than three-quarter.
79% = Well over three quarters.

#Writing9 #TopTips #Task1

@Essays_band9-Road to band Open / Comment

2023-07-28 19:00:51 Hi guys

Just a few quick vocabulary tips.

In essays and most task ones as well (with the exception of letters to a friend), formal language is expected to be used. When I say formal, I don't mean language you would use when communicating with the queen, but there are many expressions that are more for speaking than for writing.

Let's look at a few common ones. The following words are more for speaking.

- get
- lots of
- some (this depends on the situation... only use it if you feel there is no other alternative)
- idioms (almost all are informal)
- way too much
- heaps of

#IELTSToptips #Vocabulary

@Essays_band9-Road to band Open / Comment

2023-07-27 18:00:59 Vocabulary of #Essay262

average life expectancy - how long most people live
longer and longer - more time
retirement - after stopping working
poses a number of problems - causes a lot of issues
tensions - strains
remedied - fixed
government action - governments helping
conflict - problems
increased burden - more pressure
generally - overall
process - the way
fully integrating - becoming part of
challenging - having trouble
quieter lifestyles - calm life
disputes may arise - conflicts come up
in the habit of - used to
hosting loud parties - having noisy parties
particularly in cases where - especially when
taking care of older relatives - looking after grandparents
strain - pressure
require more medical support - need more hospital care
treat conditions - deal with medical problems
ranging from - including
arthritis - achy joints
translates to - means
proportion - ratio
foster societal resentment - increase animosity in society
ageism - disliking older people
best fixes - better remedies
achieved - accomplished
ease - make less of a problem
integration - mix
generations - people of different ages
providing better retirements plans - funding pensions
social security benefits - retirement fund in the U.S.A.
rarely - not often
cover - pay for
depend on - rely on
conscientious - careful
more substantial - larger
medical expenses - money for medicine
anticipate - look forward to
trend - pattern
set aside funds - save money for
advanced treatments new medicines
well into their 80s - past 85 or so
measures combined - efforts together
alleviate - fix
weight - pressure
supporting older populations - helping old people
pressures resulting from - strains coming from
life span - how long you live
countered - fixed
forward-thinking - anticipating
governmental policy - laws of the government

#Writing9 #Vocabulary

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2023-07-25 17:15:01 #Essay262 #Writing #Task2

Problem / Solution

Q: Nowadays people live longer after they retire.
How does this affect individuals and society?
What can be done about this?

Answer:

As average life expectancy rises, people are living longer and longer after retirement, which poses a number of problems for individuals and society. In my opinion, these tensions can be remedied through government action.

People retiring older can lead to conflict between individuals and an increased burden on society generally. For the young, the process of fully integrating older people into society can be challenging. For example, many older people have quieter lifestyles and disputes may arise with younger individuals who are in the habit of hosting loud parties or coming home late at night, particularly in cases where young people are taking care of older relatives. The strain on society can also be great as older people require more medical support to treat conditions ranging from arthritis to cancer to heart disease. This translates to a greater proportion of taxes going to the older generation and can foster societal resentment and ageism.

The best fixes for these problems can be achieved by governments. Firstly, governments can ease the integration of generations by providing better retirements plans for individuals. For example, in the United States, social security benefits are rarely enough to cover retirement and so many must depend on their children. As for society, governments must be more conscientious in planning for more substantial medical expenses. The government should anticipate this trend only continuing in the future and set aside funds to research and apply advanced treatments for retired citizens well into their 80s. These measures combined would alleviate some of the weight of supporting older populations.

In conclusion, the pressures resulting from growth in the average life span can be countered with forward-thinking governmental policy. This will only become more important in the future as people live even longer.

Total words: 291

Band: 7.0+

@Essays_band9-Road to band Open / Comment

2023-07-22 21:23:56 Hi guys

I'm noticing a lot of people having trouble with determiners.

If you don't know what a determiner is, it is a part of speech that includes articles, possessive pronouns and words like 'some, any, few' etc.

I recommend that everyone spends some time working on these as they are common sources of grammar mistakes. However, today I want to look at just one of them - the word 'some'.

To me, 'some' has four different uses.

Firstly, 'some' is a useful word to explain that you don't mean every single one. It provides the meaning of somewhere between a few and a lot. For example, see the following sentence.

'Some people believe that screens are bad for young children.'

In this case, 'some' is being used to say that 'not all' believe. It's an important word here and is appropriate for both speaking and writing.

Secondly, 'some' is often used without an important purpose in speaking. For example, I might say the following to my teacher.

'I'm having some problems with my homework.'

If you look carefully, you will notice that 'some' in this sentence does not have an important purpose. The sentence would make perfect sense if you omitted the word 'some'. This somewhat redundant use of the word 'some' is normal in speaking, but inappropriate for writing as it could be considered a bit informal.

For example, here is a sentence I would not write in an essay.

'There are some problems associated with children using screens'.

Instead of 'some' - which feels a bit informal - I'd use 'several' or 'a number of'. Keep this in mind as I see a lot of students using 'some' unnecessarily throughout their essays.

Thirdly, we sometimes use 'some' with singular nouns to emphasise that the noun is random and not particularly important. For example, I might use 'some' in the following way.

'My friend got punched by some idiot on the bus last week.'

In this example, the person (the idiot) is completely random and unimportant in terms of who exactly he was. By using 'some' in this way, I'm just saying he is some random guy - we don't care who he is.

Lastly, 'some' (with strong intonation/emphasis) can be used in speaking to indicate an exception to what is normal. For example:

'I suppose Nicolas Cage has acted in SOME good movies.'

If I say this sentence with heavy emphasis with my voice on 'some', I am inferring that this is the exception. In other words, I'm saying most of Nicolas Cage's movies are rubbish, with only a few exceptions.

#IELTSTopTips #Writing9

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2023-07-19 18:31:17 Vocabulary of #Essay261

claim - argue
no longer - not anymore
key component - crucial part
curriculum - what you’re learning at school
practical reasons - real justifications
sentiment - feeling
serves a purpose - has a reason
proponents - supporters
reform - change
deserve prioritisation - warrants valuing highly
there is little doubt that - it is clear that
21st century - 2000 – 2099
relate to - has to do with
sciences - chemistry, math, biology, physics, etc.
engineering - figuring out how things work
computer science - learning about computers
practical humanities - business and economics
business - learning about money, economics
specialising - focusing on one area
head start - getting ahead
competition - fighting
secure - safe
well-paying - making good money
immediately after - right following that
in contrast - however
completely forgotten - not remembered
tangible skills - concrete abilities
advance - getting ahead
real world - reality
fundamental truths - important facts about life
human condition - people living in the world
tackle - deal with
fundamental philosophical - basic relating to life and death
psychological questions - issues about the human mind
masters - the best at something
19th century Russian literature - books from Russia in the 1900s
Tolstoy - Leo Tolstoy, writer of War and Peace
Dostoevsky - Fyodor Dostoevsky, writer of The Brothers Karamazov
primarily concerned - mainly to do with
human psychology - how people think
fits into - relates to
larger context - what it concerns
man’s search for meaning - finding a purpose in life
exploration - finding out about
relevant - related to
replaced - instead of
steady career - good job
moreover - also
the way in which - how it is done
develop their themes - explore their concerns
aesthetic quality - beauty, art
imparts - gives
careful readers - conscientious
artistic expression - self-expression
see outside the narrow modern confines - expand their worldview
accumulating the most material wealth - getting richer
utilitarian benefits - get something real from it
outweigh - more important than
deeper values - very important
advisable - should be done
emphasised - focused on

#Writing9 #Vocabulary

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