IELTS WRITING TASK 2

PROBLEMS - SOLUTIONS

I. LINGUISTIC COMPONENTS

PARAPHRASING SKILLS

Expressing the same idea in different words, sentences and structures. There is no need for you to replace all the
words and phrases in the original sentence.

Example: Both governments and individuals should be responsible for protecting wild animals as human
activities are destroying their habitats.
• Tip 1: Active – Passive structure
Human activities are destroying their habitats.
 Their habitats are being destroyed by human activities
• Tip 2: Word forms (Usually nouns => verbs and verbs => nouns)
Both governments and individuals should be responsible for protecting wild animals.
 Both governments and individuals should take responsibility for the protection of wild animals.
• Tip 3: Dummy subjects (it & there)
Both governments and individuals should be responsible for protecting wild animals.
 It is both government’ and individuals’ responsibility to protect wild animals.

• A combination of these tips

 It is both government’ and individuals’ responsibility to protect wild animals as their habitats are being
destroyed by human activities.

BRAINSTORMING SKILLS

You can narrow the topic and focus on some main aspects to find the ideas:
- Personal aspect
- Social aspect
- Culture
- Education
- Economics
- Politics
- Environment
- Education
- Science and Technology
- Moral and Psychological Aspects…

For example:
Question: “Eating habits have changed over the last 50 years. In your opinion, what are the reasons for this
phenomenon?”
 Step 1: Underline the key words and narrow the TOPIC
TOPIC => reasons for change in humans’ eating habit
Step 2: Brainstorming: Try to use NOUN PHRASE when you brainstorm the ideas
• Individual aspect: people these days too busy with job and study => no time for home cooking =>
consume more fast food or convenient food => Reason 1: Time constraints
• Culture and Tradition: different types of food from foreign countries => more choice => Reason 2:
Integration of culture and tradition
• Social aspect or economics: People can earn more money => require more (variety of food, flavor,
nutrition value…) => Reason 3: Higher living standard

PRACTICE
Use brainstorming technique to find some supporting ideas for these TOPIC SENTENCES
Car should be banned from city centers.
Brainstorm:
Teacher can support students by raising some questions
• Why should cars be banned?
• What problems do cars cause in the city center?
Paragraph:
Cars should be banned from city centers.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Answer
Brainstorm:
• Cars cause pollution
• Cars cause many accident
• Cars cause traffic congestion/jams
Paragraph:
Car should be banned from city centers. The first reason is that cars release a great amount of carbon dioxide and
other harmful gases into the air. Therefore, a ban on cars in the downtown areas could reduce air pollution, which
would improve people’s health. In addition, cars also the main factor that leads to traffic congestion. This common
practice often makes people waste a lot of their time. Finally, cars cause thousands of accidents each year, so
people should use public transport like bus or subway instead.

A/ IN ORDER TO / SO AS TO / SO THAT
 Very often in IELTS essays, it is useful to explain why something is done.

• Many people move from the countryside to big cities in order to find a better job.
• Instead of going to supermarket for their food, a lot of people have their shopping delivered to their
house, so as to save time.
• Many people prefer to work from home, so that they can avoid commuting to work every day.

Exercise 1: Complete these sentences in a suitable way.

1/ Many young people spend a few months in an English-speaking country after graduating, so as to
improve their English quickly.

2/ Many people take a gap year between school and university, in order to ...

3/ The government should increase tax on junk food, so as to ...

4/ It is common for retired people to move out of cities and buy a house in the countryside, so that ...

5/ It would be a good idea to charge for plastic bags in supermarkets, ...

6/ Many parents with young children only work part time, ...

B/ WORD-BUILDING
Exercise 1: Complete these sentences with the correct form of the words in brackets. Use a dictionary to
help you if necessary.

1/ One of the biggest advantages of living in a large city is that there is a wide range of entertainment and
a great cultural life. (entertain)

2/ My uncle is quite well off, and he lives in a really posh ……………… (neighbor)

3/ I come from a really ……………… city. There are lots of factories, and it's not very beautiful to look
at. (industry)

4/ The city center used to be full of cars, but last year the council ……………… it. Now it's really nice to
walk around center without there being any traffic. (pedestrian)

5/ A lot of people really enjoy the ……………… of living in a big city. In a small town, everyone knows
you and knows your business, but in a city you can have more freedom. (anonymous)

6/ In some areas of big cities, a lot of people are living in ………………, and there is a lot of crime and
many social issues. (poor)
II. PARAPHRASING
The ability to write a sentence with the same idea to the original sentence, but the vocabulary and grammar
must be different. This is a very important skill in writing task 2.
Step 1: Use synonyms (words with the similar meanings)
Example 1: The government should support local businesses.

Step 2: We can use Passive-active, Word forms, False Subject, Synonym phrases
Example 2: The authorities should assist local companies.
Passive-active
The local companies/ should be assisted/ by the authorities.
Word form
Assist (v) → assistance (n) should assist → should provide assistance for
The authorities should provide assistance for local companies.
False Subject (it is, there is)
It is important for S.O to do S.th
It is important for the authorities to assist local companies.
Synonym phrases
The authorities = national leaders
The national leaders should assist local companies.
Synonym phrases + False subject
The authorities should assist local companies.
It is important for national leaders to assist local companies
Synonym phrases + False subject + Word form
The authorities should assist local companies.
It is important for national leaders to provide assistance for local businesses.
 Example 1: Many people say that exercise is important to our health but others believe that a good
eating habit is more essential.
Find the suitable pairs
Many people say that physical activities/ physical strength
exercise the key
important It is often said that
health a balanced diet
good eating habit healthy body

Paraphrase the sentence:

____________________________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Use at least 2 methods to paraphrase the given sentences.
1/ Tourism has negative environmental impacts on tourist areas.
Paraphrase the sentence:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2/ Many people say that the government should close some natural tourist destinations but the others
think we should open these places for the visitors.
First S + V: Many people say that the government should close some natural tourist destinations.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Second S + V: The others think we should open these places for the visitors.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
III. ANALYZE THE SAMPLE

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic:

In many parts of the world, children and teenagers are committing more crimes? What are the causes.
How should these young criminals be punished? (GOVERNMENT)
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
ESSAY:
The rising number of teenage criminals worldwide has become a daunting problem. Given that juvenile
delinquency imposes serious threats towards the society, I will suggest some reasons leading to this problem,
and propose some measures of penalty for these young criminals.
Family issues and prolonged exposure to harmful contents in the media, in my opinion, are the two substantial
causes. In many cases, children grown up in families with frequent domestic violence are psychologically
negatively influenced. Without the ability to differentiate right from wrong, these children are likely to blindly
duplicate toxic behaviors observed from other family members, potentially leading to committing crimes.
Another possible reason is directly related to the media. Government agencies these days cannot impose
adequate strict censorship on the flow of information on TV or the Internet. These sources of information
sometimes contain toxic contents such as pornography or violence, which can make the exposed children
commit illegal behaviors. A prime example is more sexual harassment cases being committed by young
offenders who got access to adult videos available on the Internet.
In order to fight the young law-violators, there are two feasible measures. The first one is increasing the level
of punishment, especially the longer imprisonment, which not only gives underage violators more time
isolated from the public to be re-educated but also acts as a warning for other potential teenage criminals.
Another effective measure is to hold re-education programs for young prisoners, which can equip them with
moral lessons and allow them to think carefully about their past crimes. This method can transform young
criminals psychologically and ethically and can make them become law-abiding citizens after being released.
To conclude, domestic issues from family and harmful information are blamed for the seriousness of juvenile
delinquency, and the problem can be tackled by imposing stricter punishment and educational programs for
the young prisoners.
(300 words)
IV. BRAINSTORM AND PLAN YOUR ESSAY
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Many museums and historical sites are mainly visited by tourists but not local people. Why is this the
case and what can be done to attract more local people?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.