IELTS Writing Task 2: Problem / Solution Essay 2

 

Problem / Solution Essay 2

The internet has transformed the way information is shared and consumed, but it has also created problems that did not exist before.

What are the most serious problems associated with the internet and what solutions can you suggest?

• You should spend about 40 minutes on this task to write at least 250 words. 

An IELTS problem solution essay will usually ask for problems and solutions (note plural), so try to include two of each. This leads logically to an essay with two body paragraphs, like the model answer above. Try to describe each solution together with the problem it solves in order to be as coherent as possible. And remember, your solutions don’t have to be original, or even realistic, in order to get a high score. The IELTS examiner is only interested in your use of language, not in the quality of your ideas.

IELTS Writing Task 2: Problem/Solution Essay 1

 

Problem / Solution Essay 1

Some people think that children nowadays are spending an excessive amount of time watching TV or using a computer or mobile phone.

Describe some of the_problems that too much screen time can have for children, and what can be done to tackle them.

• You should spend about 40 minutes on this task to write at least 250 words. 

The topic of this essay is about the amount of time children spend using screens (TV, computer, mobile phones).

By looking at the instruction words, we can see this question also asks for problems and solutions in the plural form (although remember it is ok to focus on a single problem and solution in the exam).

Notes   Producing ideas for your answer

Problems:

• Childhood obesity
• Addiction
• Mental health issues
• Targeted junk food adverts

Solutions:

• Government incentives for active children
• Limited screen time imposed by parents
• Lessons to educate children on the dangers of too much screen time
• Restrictions on adverts at certain times

 Introduction

 There are three key things to include in your  problem/solution introduction:

•  Paraphrase the given IELTS statement and   question
•  State the problem/cause/solution
•  State what your essay will do

To successfully paraphrase the statement, you can use synonyms, change the word order or change the word class (e.g from a noun to an adjective). The tricky part is making sure you keep the meaning of the statement the same. 

IELTS Statement: 

Some people think that children nowadays are spending an excessive amount of time watching TV or using a computer or mobile phone.

Describe some of the problems that too much screen time can have for children, and what can be done to tackle them.

Paraphrased Statement:

Nowadays, governments and health experts around the world  have become increasingly  concerned about the general health of children. They are particularly worried about problems caused by too much time spent in front of a TV, computer or mobile.

You can also briefly state what your essay will do using an outline statement. Here's an example sentence:

This essay will look at these problems in more detail and propose some solutions.

Main Body

For each problem or cause you write about, you should create a topic sentence which introduces each main idea.

Here are some possible ways you could structure your topic sentences.

• One major problem connected to is..
• Another issue is that...
• A final problem is the...
• One cause of _____ is ..
• One reason for _____ is ...
• A further way to explain ________ is ...
•  One contributing factor to _________ is...

You could also use the structure that + a clause. 

Here are some examples:

One major problem connected to childrens' health is lack of exercise.

Another issue is that there are a large amount of junk food advertisements on television aimed at children.

As well as language for problems, you will also need to introduce solutions to these problems. Even though the topic of your essay will be different, you can learn language chunks/sentence starters to do this. 

Take a look at these examples:

• To deal with this problem,_________ could ....
• The way forward might be for ______ to ...
• The solution is for people to .... 
• In order to solve this issue, _____ should ......

When you provide a solution, it is a good idea to keep the actor of the sentence more general, for example:

• The government
• Schools
• Parents

You can also learn lexical chunks related to solutions to common problems. Here are just a few suggestions for the model answer:

• The government could bring in a law to ban junk food advertising.
• The government could allocate more money to healthy eating campaigns.
• Parents could set aside time in the day to do activities as a family away from screens.
• Schools could employ more physical education teachers to improve students' fitness levels.

Body Paragraph 1:

One major problem connected to childrens' health is lack of exercise: in recent years, the amount of time children spend being sedentary in front of a screen has increased drastically, and as a result, childrens' fitness levels have plummeted. This is a significant problem in the USA, for example, where children spend an increasing amount of time watching a TV screen. To try and solve this problem, governments should implement incentives for children that spend more time being active, such as giving vouchers for sport equipment or free tickets to sporting events.

Body Paragraph 2:

Another issue is that there are a large amount of junk food advertisements on television aimed at children. This means that children are being targeted to buy unhealthy junk food and processed meals which can lead to weight and Paragraph other health problems due to the high amounts of fat and sugar in the food. The answer could be for the government to ban these adverts at certain times of the day. If they did this, children would not be subjected to these unhealthy marketing tactics.

Conclusion 

Always make your conclusion easy to identify for the examiner by starting with:

• In conclusion,...
• To conclude,...
• To sum up,...
• In summary,...

Now you will need to paraphrase (again) what you have written for your introduction in your own words. Compare out model answer introduction and conclusion:

Introduction

Nowadays, governments and health experts around the world have become increasingly concerned about the general health of children. They are particularly worried about problems caused by too much time spent in front of a TV, computer or mobile. This essay will look at these problems in more detail and propose some solutions.

Conclusion

To sum up, there is no doubt that the problem of too much screen time is becoming increasingly serious for the youth of today.Unless action is taken urgently, these problems will only intensify. My opinion is that responsibility for reducing the amount of time in front of a screen lies mainly with the government, but also with the parents.

  

You can also include the following points in your conclusion (it is not necessary to

include all the points):

• State the seriousness of the problem (we've used the phrase increasingly serious)
• Suggest who you think should solve the problem (we've gone with a balance between the government and parents)
• Make suggestions about what to do in the future (we've kept this general: 'reducing the amount of screen time')
• State what might happen if nothing is done to solve the problem (again, we've kept this general to reduce the word count: 'these problems will only intensify')

Problem Solution Sample Essay

Quiz created by Veronika Bebekh with GoConqr

IELTS Writing Task 1: Map 4

Describe information in a map

Don't panic if you get a map question for your Writing Task 1! Sometimes the information you are given is in the form of maps or ground plans. Often these are not difficult to understand and they always take place over time.

As you can write on the question paper, so feel free to make notes as you analyse the maps. It is a good idea to circle, underline or highlight the points you want to write about. It can also be helpful to number them according to which you think is most important.

Remember the more you plan what you are going to write about, the easier it is to write about it and also have time to think about your grammar and spelling.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The maps below show the town of Langley in 1910 and 1950.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Quiz created by Veronika Bebekh with GoConqr

IELTS Writing Task 1: Pie Chart 4

IELTS Writing - Pie charts

Using this 5 steps process to plan and write IELTS pie chart essays will help you to achieve high marks in Task 1:

1)  Analyse the question

2)  Identify the main features

3)  Write an introduction

4)  Write an overview

5)  Write the details paragraphs

In this lesson, we’re going to work thorough each step as we answer a practice question and I want to start by highlighting the importance of steps 1 and 2. It is essential that you learn how to do this planning stage properly if you hope to write a high-scoring essay.

Before we begin, here’s a model essay structure that you can use as a guideline for all IELTS Academic Task 1 questions.

Ideally, your essay should have 4 paragraphs:

Paragraph 1 – Introduction

Paragraph 2 – Overview

Paragraph 3 – 1^st main feature

Paragraph 4 – 2^nd main feature

We now have everything we need to begin planning and writing our IELTS pie chart essay.

Top Pie Chart Vocabulary Words

The Task:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The pie charts show a breakdown of sources of income for the upkeep of Castle Keep, an ancient monument, in 1850and 1950. 

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

IELTS Writing Task 1: Pie Chart 3

IELTS Writing - Pie charts

In Writing Task 1, you may be asked to describe pie charts. 

Pie charts are usually in percentages which add up to 100 per cent. You need to .. know verbs that help you describe proportion, e.g. account for.

 You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

Top Pie Chart Vocabulary Words

The Task:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The pie charts show the percentage of students studying different areas of history  at university department in the UK in 2000 and in 2010.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

 

 

Write sentences about the charts using the words below. Compare your sentences with the prompts.

IELTS Writing Task 2: Discuss Both Views Essay 6 - The key to tackling hunger worldwide

Exam information

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Some people believe that education is the key to tackling hunger worldwide, while others feel, that the answer lies in food aid. 

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience. 

Write at least 250 words.

IELTS Writing Task 2: Discuss Both Views Essay 5 - Factors in reducing world poverty

 

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Some people think that changing people's attitudes to other countries and cultures is an important factor in reducing world poverty. Others, however,  feel that the most important method is trade. 

Which viewpoint do you agree with? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task to write at least 250 words. 

Useful expressions

Introduction

• It is often said that…
• However, many are concerned about…
• While it might be true that…
• I believe....

Introduce the first view

• Some people argue/claim/say/believe that…
• There are those who argue/claim/say/believe that…
• It is often claimed that…

Introduce the opposite view

• Nevertheless, other people claim/argue/believe that…
• However, there are those who claim/argue/believe that…
• However, opponents of… claim/argue/believe that…

Introduce your opinion

• I hold the view that…
• In my view,…
• In my opinion,…

IELTS Writing Task 2: Discuss Both Views Essay 4 - Flexible working environment

Exam information

In Writing Task 2, you are required to write at least 250 words on a topic of general academic interest, which does not require specialist knowledge. You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this task. 

As Task 2 receives double the marks of Task 1, students are tempted to write their answer to Task 2 first. However, it is better to write Task 1 first and stick to the advised time limits for Tasks 1 and 2. 

Note you need to write your answer in paragraphs and answer all parts of the question contained in the rubric. You also need to support your ideas by giving reasons and examples, as stated in the rubric. 

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task to write at least 250 words. 

Quiz created by Veronika Bebekh with GoConqr

Quiz created by Veronika Bebekh with GoConqr

Expand the notes in column A. Create a paragraph relating to statement 1 in exercise 2. Use the items in column B to help you connect the ideas.

Organization	A Ideas	B Connection
Topic	many employees/ workplace/ evolve rapidly/ people choose place/ want to work/ time
Reason	modern technology/ laptops/ tablets/ latest mobile phones/ enable people/ change working practices/suit themselves/ access workplace wherever	this phenomenon is happening because/ as a result of/ as a result/ this is because
Example 1	trainers/ accountants/ designers/ able to access/ main place of work/ electronically	for example/for instance/take for example/a good example is/ a good example of this
Result	work/ cake place/ at home/ in cafes/ hotels/ in office space rented by the hour/airports	further/ then/ the consequence of this is that

IELTS Writing Task 1: Line Graph 5

Annual cinema admissions: by age (United Kingdom)

Writing Tip

Introduction should describe the purpose of the report and say what the overall trends are. For example, if the graph is climbing up or dropping down, you should mention the change or the changes accurately and meaningfully. You need to remember that you are describing a graph to someone who does not see it, so your words must draw the picture. 

Write what the graph is about, its dates and location as well as the right kind of measurements used. You must write in complete sentences. Notes are not acceptable.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graph shows annual cinema admissions by age in the UK. 

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

IELTS Writing Task 1: Line Graph 4

 

Percentage of internet users playing or downloading games, images, films or music

Writing Tip

 How to use your 20 minutes

You have 20 minutes for task 1, so try spending 5 minutes on each paragraph. This might help you to organize your time better.

First 5 minutes

Read the question, make sure you understand the chart, write your introduction by paraphrasing the question.

Second 5 minutes

Look at the chart and try to find 2 general points. Don't look at specific details; look for "the big picture". Write 2 sentences summarising the information.

Final 10 minutes

Describe specific details. Try to break this part into 2 paragraphs because it looks better. You could spend 5 minutes on each paragraph.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graph shows the percentage of the internet users in selected European countries playing or downloading games, images, films or music, along with the European Union average.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.