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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 2 Band 4.0 Example

Original task prompt, user essay, band score, and related examples in the same report workspace.

366 words AcademicTask 2
Task 2

Illustrative target band for this original model answer.

Plan your answer

Try your own response before reading the samples.

Ideas to explore

  • Explain how carrying many passengers in one train can reduce emissions per traveller compared with relying on individual cars.
  • Connect reliable rail services with fewer commuter car journeys, reduced congestion and improved urban air quality.
  • Acknowledge that roads provide direct access to rural areas and destinations not served by rail, so prioritising rail does not require neglecting roads.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce the funding comparison and state clearly whether you agree.
  2. Develop the environmental argument with a cause-and-effect explanation.
  3. Add a separate argument about rail capacity, connectivity or business travel.
  4. Concede the continuing value of roads and clarify that they still require essential funding.
  5. Conclude by restating the priority and describing a balanced approach.
Useful vocabulary & examples
railway investment
Government spending on rail infrastructure or services.

Railway investment can improve the reliability of services between major towns.

well-connected services
Transport services that link effectively with other routes or places.

Well-connected services can make rail a more practical option for commuters.

road congestion
Heavy traffic that slows movement on roads.

Reliable trains may help reduce road congestion during busy commuting periods.

rural access
The ability of people in countryside communities to reach services and destinations.

Road funding remains important for rural access where railway routes are limited.

Task Prompt

Governments should spend money on railways rather than roads. To what extend do you agree or disagree with this statement?

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 4.0

These days, the importance of designing a good transportation network increase with the increasing in the world’s population and the immigrant from villages to cities. So, to achieve this goal it is very important to plan and construct a new roads while the focusing have to be in the railways. This essay is going to explain why rail deserves priority on suitable routes while roads remain essential.

Railways can be useful for moving many people along a shared route. A frequent service between residential areas and workplaces may provide an alternative to individual car journeys. For longer-distance movement of goods, a suitable rail connection can also offer a practical option. The benefit depends on the route, frequency and connections, so building a line alone is not sufficient to establish its value.

Roads remain necessary because many journeys do not begin or end beside a station. Buses, deliveries and access to dispersed communities depend on a usable road network. Even a traveller who completes most of a trip by rail may need a road connection for the final stage. Allowing essential roads to deteriorate would therefore weaken the wider transport system rather than merely favour one mode over another.

The strongest case for rail priority concerns places where demand can support a useful service and where additional road capacity would encourage more traffic into already crowded areas. Public funds can provide a coordinated network that individual operators might not create by themselves. Nevertheless, the expected use and ongoing operating costs should be examined rather than assuming an impressive new project is automatically a sound investment.

In my view, governments should protect basic road access and then give serious consideration to rail where it provides an effective shared alternative. A rural connection and a crowded urban corridor may require different solutions. Transport spending is most defensible when it connects actual destinations and makes the journey dependable, not when it follows a fixed preference without examining local circumstances.

In conclusion, I support greater priority for useful rail projects, but not the abandonment of roads. A connected system with realistic demand and proper maintenance is more valuable than a competition in which one network is expected to meet every need.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Use the direct opening to answer the precise task and keep that judgement consistent.
2
Develop a relevant example through cause and consequence rather than leaving it as a name or list item.
3
Check the quoted clauses in context and qualify statements that imply a guaranteed outcome.

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