IELTS Writing Task 2 essay with model answer

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

People living in large cities have to face many problems in everyday life. What are those problems?

Should the government encourage people to move to regional towns?

Discuss both sides and give your opinion

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer:

The glitz and glamour of the city life may be enchanting for some but those who live in metropolises encounter a number of issues in their day to day life. In this essay I will discuss the main problems associated with this issue. Moreover, I completely agree that authorities should encourage the citizens to move to remote areas.

Submit Task For Review ($15)

People living in modern day megacities face a number of problems everyday. Firstly, the daily commute to work is a nightmare for most. This is because many offices in large cities are located in a central business district ; usually the most expensive region of the city. Meanwhile, most workers live in far away suburbs where they can afford a decent-size dwelling. As a result, employees can end up spending as much as 2 hours travelling back and forth between their homes and offices every day, mostly stuck in traffic. Secondly, the congestion from millions of vehicles in the big cities causes severe pollution especially during winter months when most large cities are blanketed in thick smog. In fact, pollution levels in cities like New Delhi and Beijing was so high last year that the local governments had to impose restrictions on the number of vehicles running on the road, leading to even more disruption in the day-to-day lives of the office going residents.         

Owing to these problems, some people have suggested that governments should motivate people to move to remote areas. I agree with this solution primarily because it solves the main issues faced by megacities. In fact, authorities ought to introduce incentives for companies to shift their offices to regional towns. If companies relocate to these remote areas, they will no longer need to rent offices in expensive real estate, and will be able to hire local talent. This will have a knock on effect on other services too. For instance, once offices start cropping up in regional areas, cafes, pubs, schools and hospitals will follow too. Furthermore, as regional towns are much smaller, people will be able to live closer to their workplace, thus improving their overall quality of life. In fact, I still fondly remember the days when I used to work in a small regional town with a population of just 100,000. My workplace was so close to my apartment that I used to come home to have lunch everyday.

In conclusion, everyday problems in large cities vary from long commute times to unhealthy levels of pollution. I agree that authorities should encourage people to move to regional towns to alleviate this issue.

Total Words: 430

Task Achievement: 9

Coherence & Cohesion: 9

Lexical resources: 9

Grammar: 9

Overall Score: Band 9