International Sports Events: Unity or Competition

Some people believe that international sports events, such as The Olympics or the Football World Cup, are a good way to bring countries together. Others say that these events create competition, not friendship, between countries.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

3 sample answers, estimated Band 6.0–6.5. Your turn?

Write it first, then read the sample answers and reviews below. You'll see the gap at once.

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From essays on this question

Essay ideas: International Sports Events: Unity or Competition

WhyThis is aDiscussion essay — it asks you to discuss two opposing views and give your own.

SoWe split the ideas intoFirst view(supports the first view)andSecond view(supports the second view).

First view

4 ideas

Second view

5 ideas

Same question · Different responses

Sample responses and feedback

Response 01

Must fixSuggested

Essay · 399 words · 4 paragraphs · 20 comments

Score details

Response 01
Estimated band6.0/ 9

Overall assessment

The response addresses both views and offers a personal stance, with a clear four-paragraph structure as its strongest aspect. However, ideas are often repetitive and vaguely expressed, and idiomatic or collocational choices such as 'bucket list' and 'save their relationship' weaken precision throughout.

TR

Task Response

Both views are addressed and a position is stated, but ideas are developed in a generalised, repetitive way and the opinion about economic benefit only loosely connects to the question of friendship between countries.

6.0
CC

Coherence and Cohesion

There is a logical overall progression with paragraphing and linking devices, but cohesion is partly mechanical through formulaic connectors, and some referencing and idea links are unclear.

6.0
LR

Lexical Resource

A sufficient range of vocabulary is demonstrated, but meaning is obscured at points by awkward collocations and imprecise phrases such as 'save their relationship by not including the event's results in their bucket list'.

6.0
GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

A mix of simple and complex sentence forms is used with reasonable frequency, though recurring errors in article use, verb choice, and clause construction are noticeable without usually blocking meaning.

6.0

What to work on next

Develop each main idea with more specific, concrete explanation and replace vague or unnatural word choices with precise, natural collocations.

From essays on this question

Useful vocabulary: International Sports Events: Unity or Competition

Practise this question

Write your response

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Part 2

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

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