Sample response & feedback

Free Public Libraries vs Internet Access

Question

Some people think that the government should provide free public libraries in every town, while others think that this is a waste of money because people can access information on the internet. Discuss both viewpoints and give your own opinion.

Annotated response

17 correction notes

Showing 17 correction notes.

Some people debate about establishing free libraries in each town. However, some people are convinced that it wastes while we have access to the internet to gain information at home.

One can obtain online resources from all over the world at any time, while a library’s publications can’t provide up-to-date information the way can. We can even get the identical book but the version online , which does not prevent us from the author wants to express. Additionally, some sites feature rare documents, books, and special collections traditionally only available in libraries. Almost at no cost and merely a few mouse clicks away, the user can read newspapers, magazines, journals and encyclopedias from any part of the world. Moreover, the internet around us shows the possibility that many people do not need a library to attain information. We can just move our fingers, tap the screen of our phones, and get the answer to whatever we are curious about.

But on the other hand, it is reasonable for people to gain more knowledge more conveniently by establishing more free libraries. The library provides a comfortable and quiet place to read books and creates a harmonious atmosphere for the public to be aware that we all desire to gain more inspiring viewpoints. Most importantly, this produces an invisible force pushing me to read more efficiently and further along the academic path that interests me the most. Furthermore, in remote parts, people do not have or do not have the infrastructure to for browsing sites.

To conclude, I believe both arguments are relevant. But government-run libraries are becoming obsolete because of the advancement in information technology and the lack of time as the general public finds it time-consuming to go to a library. Even so, libraries are helpful for people who cannot access the internet.

Overall assessment

Why this response received Band 6.5

The response covers both viewpoints with generally clear paragraphing and a reasonable range of vocabulary and structures. Its main limitations are uneven explanation of how the arguments affect public funding, an unresolved decision about provision in every town, and recurring awkward phrasing. The qualification about people without internet access is relevant but needs to lead to a clearer policy judgement.

IELTS criteria

How each score was decided

TR Task Response

6.5

Both viewpoints are addressed with relevant ideas and a conclusion is reached, but some arguments are underdeveloped and the final position is somewhat qualified rather than fully resolved.

CC Coherence and Cohesion

6.5

Ideas are organised into clear paragraphs with logical overall progression, though linking is at times mechanical and cohesion within paragraphs is uneven.

LR Lexical Resource

6.5

There is an adequate range of vocabulary for the topic with some apt expressions, but occasional awkward or imprecise collocations reduce precision.

GRA Grammatical Range and Accuracy

6.5

A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the ideas, but article errors such as “access to internet” and the verb construction “avail computers” reduce accuracy, alongside some awkward sentence structures.