One of the consequences of improved medical care is that people are living longer and life expectancy is increasing. Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages. IELTS Writing Task 2

Bhargavee Sisodia

08 Oct 2024

The IELTS exam is intended for people who want to relocate overseas in order to pursue international work opportunities or gain admission to foreign universities. The four sections on reading, writing, speaking, and listening are all equally important whether you're writing for the Academic or General IELTS Training test. Academic and General Task 2 requires you to produce a response to a specific argument or assertion. The time limit is 40 minutes, and the word count is 250. 

Criteria of IELTS Scoring System: Writing Task 2

The band score for writing assignment 2 will be calculated using four criteria as described in the grading system. While the scoring range is 0 to 9, the majority of students obtain 6 to 9 points. The following criteria need to be met:

• Task Achievement: This section focuses on providing an effective response to the inquiry. You should be able to present material correctly and answer questions while remaining on topic. You must meet all of the criteria for providing a solution based on the type of question, adhere to the essay structure, and write at least 250 words.
• Coherence and cohesion: This section will assess your ability to structure materials. Your mark will be based mostly on how well you utilize the correct words, connect the paragraphs, prevent repetition of material and terminologies, and make your answer understandable. Try to make your sentences less lengthy and complex.
• Lexical Resource: This section assesses your command of terminology. Using precise language and avoiding spelling and word structure problems can help you perform better on this section of the test.
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy: This section assesses your ability to employ a number of appropriate grammatical structures and tenses. In addition, you should employ proper punctuation and sentence structure, such as tense, phrase structure, and subject-verb agreement

Types of essays: IELTS Writing Task 2

There are six types of essays, but you will only receive one and identify the type of essay. The essay topic you're given determines the essay's approach and structure, as well as the task achievement component of the scoring criteria. So, let's start with an overview of the many types of essays.

• Discussion: You will be given a statement or argument and must discuss both sides of that argument. You may be requested to express your thoughts on a particular viewpoint with which you agree or disagree. Please keep in mind that you should only provide your opinion if specifically solicited.
• Advantages and disadvantages: When writing an essay in this structure, you must discuss both the benefits and downsides of a particular topic. This style of essay may also need you to express your opinion. If so, you must express your opinion; if it is not required, you must ignore it and refrain from providing one.
• Two Questions or Direct Questions: The purpose of this essay is to write a straightforward article with relevant examples. The inquiry will have one or more questions to which you must provide direct responses.
• Opinion-based: Here, you have to express your views or points of dispute on a given issue, whether you agree or disagree. If you agree with the argument, you should just explain that point of view rather than the dispute.
• Problem-Solution or Cause-and-Effect Essay: This style of essay requires you to identify the underlying cause of the problem given in the question and propose appropriate solutions.
• Balanced opinion: In these essays, you must discuss an argument and demonstrate that you agree with some of it while not disagreeing with others. You can't be objective, instead, choose one side with which you agree more than the other while staying marginally in accord with the other. 

Deleting Words in IELTS Writing

In IELTS writing, you can make changes, and it is advisable to delete words and correct mistakes whenever you are proofreading. It is done by drawing a straight line through the word that is to be crossed out and many students prefer it this way; it is recommended to make this line thick and clear so that the examiner can easily identify the correction that had to be made. Also concerning the edition, if you want to add words to your sentences, you can do it with the help of the “∧” symbol. Still, make sure these additions do not complicate the readability of the result. It is okay to make changes as one writes, but when many corrections are being made, they may well signify poor planning. To avoid or reduce any form of alteration, it is wise to ensure that you have a plan that is well laid down before writing the essay. 

This planning should, therefore, capture all your leading topics of discussion and subtopics so as to write coherently and with full understanding. The other factor regarding the writing is that the writing should also be easy to read. Hence, if the examiner cannot decipher some of these words or even the whole sentence, then the particular part will be deducted, hence may be a real setback to your score. Hence, it becomes crucially important that the crossed-out words are underlined and that the inserted words are neat and legible. Writing your essays in cursive before the test is a good way of ensuring that when the time comes to write the test, you don’t obscure your writing, hence losing marks. Following these steps will help you avoid common mistakes and make your writing as clear and, therefore, as high-scoring as possible.

IELTS writing task 2 topics:

One of the consequences of improved medical care is that people are living longer and life expectancy is increasing. Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the  disadvantages.

The question will explicitly address the statement's advantages and disadvantages. The first sentence of each question will contain a statement. The next sentence will include phrases like "Do you think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?" If you see "Do you think" in the question, you may be certain that you are being asked to share your opinion. This means this is an advantage-disadvantage essay where you need to share your opinion. However, if no such phrase is specified in any question, you are not required to express your opinion. In some cases,  it will include the phrase "discuss the advantages and disadvantages." In that case, your opinion is not required.

Structure of Advantage/Disadvantage essays:

• Introduction: Please rephrase your question. If your opinion is asked, express it.
• Body Paragraph 1: In the opening sentence, specify whether you are discussing advantages or downsides, and then rephrase the topic. Then, write about either the benefits or disadvantages.
• Body Paragraph 2: If you mentioned advantages in the preceding paragraph, include negatives here and vice versa.
• Body Paragraph 3: This is optional. If you need to divide up the preceding paragraphs into smaller chunks, include a third body paragraph.
• Conclusion: Rephrase the question, and if your opinion is asked, express it.

IELTS writing task 2 topics with answers

Now that you understand the essay's structure and how to identify the sort of question, let's look at how your response will affect your mark. For bands 6, 7, and 9, we provided solutions along with an explanation of why the approach was appropriate for that band.

One of the consequences of improved medical care is that people are living longer and life expectancy is increasing. Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the  disadvantages.

Band 6

Improved medical care have resulted in people living longer lives and increasing life expectansy. Although there are advantages and disadvantages of this argument, I am of the opinion that the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages.

One of the benefits of enhance medical care is that individuals are living longer lives with higher life expectancies. There are several advantages to it, the primary being that advancements in technology have greatly aid in the treatment and cure of terminal diseases like cancer and also, detecting various diseases has become faster, which also helps in quicker and more timely precautions, treatment, and cure. Also lots of procedures like open-heart surgeries has been replaced with less compliceted processes.

People are living longer and have higher life expectancy as a result of enhanced medical care. This have its own sets of disadvantages as well. For example, the advancements in technology promise cures for several terminal diseases, which also cause financial burdens to certain individuals, but in certain cases, the treatment doesn't end up working and thus, the reason for spending an exorbitant amount of money completely goes to waste. Also, a lot of people doesn’t take their health seriously because the advanced medical system is a safety net of easy cure.

One of the upsides of increased medical care is that individuals are living longer lives. There is various advantages and disadvantages to this argument, although I believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages because of several factors, like advanced treatment for the cure of terminal diseases, early detection of diseases, and less compliceted procedures. 

Clarification on the band: The grammatical errors in the Grammatical Range and Accuracy part of the evaluation have been underlined and are in italics. The spelling errors in the Lexical Resources portion of the evaluation are in italics. The lengthy sentences are in bold which is categorized as cohesion and coherence in the evaluation. 

Band 7

Advances in the medical field have made people live longer due to a raise in the life expectancy of the people. There are some advantages and disadvantages to this development, but I content that the positive outcomes vastly surpasses the negative ones.

Advanced necessary medical treatments result in a further increase in life expectancy, and there are certain advantages to this. Medical advancement in various fields has gone a notch higher and has been able to cure diseases which was in the past considered terminal like cancer. Diagnestic capabilities, particularly when applied to diseases, have significantly been enhanced since the identification of illnesses at a tender embryonic stage has resulted in enhanced interventions. Besides, advanced techniques has done away with some drastic operations like open-heart surgaries, and the risk of such operations, as well as the time taken to heal from them, has also been reduced.

However, the gains that come with an enhanced life span due to a better health prospect pose some disadvantages, too. For example, health-related expense offsets are enormous when it comes to adopting remuneretive medical technologies, which exert pressure on individuals and families. Some of the time, even though much money is spent on treatment, the results are not as expected, and this lead to desperation. Further, owing to new technologies and treatments, some people neglect their health problems and use only medical care to improve their conditions without think about the basic requirements of one’s body

In conclusion, as far as the continuetion of lives extends the enhancement of medical care, the benefits of these improvements, involving applications of treatment, disease diagnosing, and painless procedures, is much more than the drawbacks. Thus, I am fully convinced that the advantages of the enhancement of the medical care quality to people’s health and their life duration outweigh the mentioned problems.

Clarification on the band: The grammatical errors in the Grammatical Range and Accuracy part of the evaluation have been underlined and are in italics. The spelling errors in the Lexical Resources portion of the evaluation are in italics.

Band 9

Advancements in the medical domain have resulted in increased life spans. Even as this can be viewed from both a positive and negative lean, I want to argue that the impact of the positive angle far outshines those of the negative.

Modern trends towards the development of various types of medical treatments have contributed towards augmented life expectancy, bringing with it several noteworthy advantages. The social inventions in the medical field have grown to unprecedented heights to the extent of providing cures for maladies once deemed terminal, such as cancer. The specificity of the diagnostic approaches has improved, and so has the efficiency of the diagnostic technologies, especially those used in diagnosing diseases at their early stage and, therefore, undertaking preventive and much more effective therapeutic approaches. Furthermore, advanced approaches have made it possible to avoid many of the intrusive approaches, which include old-fashioned open-heart operations, thereby lessening the likelihood of complications and resulting in the reduction of the healing period.

However, the increase in human life through advanced medical improvement has its demerits. As has been pointed out above, the high cost of medical technologies puts a lot of pressure on individuals and may sometimes break the back of their families. There are circumstances in which, although significant money is spent to cover the costs of services, the expected healing is not achieved, and the family can feel utter disappointment and hopelessness. Also, access to advanced technologies may make some people lax and develop treatments for ailments that, if not treated medically, could have been controlled by simple personal practices.

Thus, despite the fact that the extension of life by means of better healthcare necessarily comes hand in hand with advantages and disadvantages, in my opinion, the advantages clearly outweigh the negatives, encompassing advanced treatment modalities, refined diagnostic capabilities, and minimally invasive procedures

Clarification on the band: There are no grammatical or spelling problems or word repetitions. The sentences are well-written, and the vocabulary is advanced. 

Conclusion

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