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User-written IELTS example

Writing Academic Task 2 Band 8.0 Example

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

356 words AcademicTask 2
Task 2

Illustrative target band for this original model answer.

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Ideas to explore

  • Link medical research to prevention, diagnosis and treatment, explaining how each can affect people’s health.
  • Use clean-energy research as an example of science improving daily life while addressing pollution and sustainability.
  • Acknowledge that basic research may have delayed applications, then connect its support to responsible long-term benefits.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce a clear degree of agreement and state the main reasons.
  2. Develop one paragraph on direct improvements to health and living conditions.
  3. Develop a second paragraph on science’s role in long-term social challenges and accessible benefits.
  4. Concede the value of basic research, explain how it fits your position, and conclude with a concise summary.
Useful vocabulary & examples
quality of life
A person’s or community’s general well-being and living conditions.

Medical research can improve quality of life by helping people manage illness.

clean energy
Energy produced with less pollution or environmental harm than conventional sources.

Research into clean energy can support more sustainable transport and homes.

evidence-based decisions
Choices informed by reliable findings rather than guesswork alone.

Scientific research can help communities make evidence-based decisions about food and health.

basic research
Investigation intended to expand knowledge, without necessarily having an immediate practical use.

Basic research may lead to applications that were not obvious when the work began.

Task Prompt

The most important aim of science should be to improve people’s lives. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

User Essay Analysis

Review the public answer with report-style highlights.

Band 8.0

While enhancing human well-being through science is important, I believe that by no means should it be solely the primary goal of science. Equally important are safeguarding the environment and respecting animal rights. In the practice of science, the improvement of human lives should never come at the cost of the environment. As the world’s environment faces pressure from human activity, research should also help protect ecosystems and consider animal welfare.

Scientific work often benefits people, but I disagree that human improvement should automatically outrank every other aim. Environmental protection and responsible treatment of animals are important in their own right. A discovery should not be celebrated merely because it makes human activity easier if its development creates avoidable harm elsewhere.

For example, research into a new production method should consider pollution and resource use as well as its efficiency. A process that reduces costs while damaging the surrounding ecosystem may transfer the burden to other communities or future generations. Environmental science also investigates relationships that are valuable to understand before a direct human application has been identified.

Animal welfare raises a similar issue. The prospect of a useful result does not remove the need to examine whether a method is necessary and whether less harmful alternatives exist. Responsible research requires appropriate safeguards and honest evaluation of both benefits and costs. Treating human convenience as an overriding justification can make those questions too easy to dismiss.

Basic scientific inquiry is another reason to avoid a narrow hierarchy. Some investigations aim to understand the world, and their applications may remain unknown for years. Requiring every project to demonstrate an immediate improvement in people's daily lives could prevent discoveries that later become important.

In my view, human wellbeing should be a major objective, but it should operate alongside environmental responsibility, animal welfare and the pursuit of knowledge. These aims can support one another, although they may sometimes require difficult choices.

In conclusion, science should improve lives where it can, but human benefit is not an unlimited or exclusive priority. A broader set of ethical and intellectual goals offers a more responsible basis for deciding what research to undertake.

Targeted Improvement Tips

1
Make the introduction answer the exact question rather than only announcing that the topic will be discussed.
2
Develop one concrete example for each main reason and state the limit of any broad claim.
3
Revise the quoted phrases in context, keeping the same position and factual scope.

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