July 20th IELTS Writing Task 2 Question

Today (July 20th) the IELTS writing task 2 question was reported. Below you can see the essay question.

 

IELTS Essay Question: July 20th 2017

Billions of dollars are spent on space research. This is a waste of money. More money must be spent on improving the problems of people on earth .To what extent do you agree or disagree.

The topic of Space Exploration and Space Travel is for Academic students only. It is not an easy topic to write about so make sure you prepare ideas for this topic.

 

Comments

  1. kevin says

    hi liz, can you share some insights/ techniques on how to answer questions in writing task 2 which you only have a small or no idea about ..

    thanks so much…

  2. Hi Liz,

    You website is very helpful. I am preparing for my IELTs on 19th August. I paid someone for my writing correction. I lost mark for bring 2 ideas in the main paragraph. I was suggested 1 idea in one main paragraph. I am in your advance writing class and many essays have 2-3 ideas in each main paragraph. I am confused. Do i use wrong person to correct my tasks?

    • The examiner is looking for a central topic for each paragraph. This means that for adv/disadv you put all advs together – that is one central theme. When you have an opinion essay, each reason to support your idea is put in a body paragraph to extent it. It’s all about being logical.

  3. Prashanth says

    Hi I had written ielts on July 20th, and my result is L7,R7W6S7. I was confident of getting writing 7 as well. But its only 6. In my essay I stated that spending on space research is a waste of money so they should invest on improving the standand of life of people.
    In 1st para, I wrote money should be spent on meeting basic amenities of life like food, shelter, potable water and education. Gave example of most developing countries people lead hand to mouth existence.
    2nd para, I said, money should be spent on health care to prevent , treat and cure communicable diseases.
    I conclusion I wrote space research is not the need of the day.
    It brief of my essay. Plz say whether my ideas are wrong or write? Am planning for revaluation.

    • I think the problem is that you didn’t explain why space research isn’t worth the money. You needed to show that space research brings little benefits, great risks and great costs. So, you should have had a paragraph explaining your view on that. You can’t ignore one part of the essay question. Your view was: In my opinion, space research should have reduced funding so that the money can be used on basic amenities and health care. That would give you three body paragraphs. Do you understand my point?

      • Prashanth says

        Thank you. I got your point

        • Prashanth says

          However, I totally agreed its waste of money and was clearly stated with examples where to spend. If I totally agree then also we need to explain the other side? Am really depressed. Every time I lose reading, but this I git reading and lost writing. It’s totally disheartened me.

          • I don’t understand your comment about mentioning the other side. Your opinion is that you think spending more money on space research is a waste of time and money should be spend on something else. This is your opinion and your essay will explain your whole opinion.

            If you are asked: Should we do A or B. Your FULL opinion will be, we will do B but not A. You will then explain why you will do B and why you will not do A. This is about presenting a full opinion which addresses the whole essay question.

            Underline the key words in the essay question and make sure you address them. Don’t skip 50% of the question.

  4. Parvinder says

    Many parents are unhappy because of increasing amount of violence in their children by computer games, TV programs, and other leisure activities.
    what harms the violent leisure programs can result for children?
    what are the solutions for this problem?
    What could be possible answer for this
    Tomm is my Writting test so plz help asap
    Thanks in advance

  5. RAJ SHERGILL says

    My IELTS LRW WAS ON 20th July WRITING TASK 1 was a pie chart about earning and value of dairy product in Australia and task 2 was about money spend on space research is waste of money it can be used for solving other problems of public.SPEAKING INTRODUCTION Questions WAS ABOUT HOMEWTOWN AND MIRROR
    CUE CARD WAS DESCRIBE A SPEACH WHICH FOUND MORE INTERESTING ALSO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS RELATED TO TALKING AND GIVING SPEACH TO CHILDRENS AND IN SOCIETY

  6. halimaa says

    thank you mam Liz, you are very affable and sincere teacher.

  7. Jasmeen saini says

    Tomorrow is my exam.
    I am so afraid.

  8. Ravinder Kaur says

    Hi Liz,

    I would like to thank you for your immense support and clear guided lessons which has helped the students prepare for their big day. Please note the below questions asked during speaking test held in New Delhi on 27th July, 2017
    Part I:
    Tell me something about your work?
    What do you like the most about your job?
    Do you celebrate birthdays?
    Do you remember your childhood birthday celebration?
    Does your country celebrate birthdays?
    Do you know any historic place?
    Part II:
    Cue Card:
    Describe the moment when people were smiling:
    when it was.
    Whom you were with
    What has happened.
    Part III
    Emotions and Practicality
    Is young generation more practical or the elder ones
    Any moment when you have to hide your emotions
    Does practicality hamper right decision making

  9. Ankit says

    Hi Liz,

    I am following your instruction and tips from Last few months. I am going to appear exam next week. I have one question for the moment regarding 2 different commonly used words

    – Confirmation
    – Conformation

    What is the exact difference, if you can elaborate with few sentences, rather than grammatical explanation?

    I google it but I am seeing only grammatical differences.

    Thanks
    Ankit

  10. Eslam Gamal says

    As a response to this,
    Space research and exploration has brought many benefits to mankind, thus it is reasonable to think that an adequate amount of money should be spent on this field. Others may suggest to better benefit of this money by solving earth’s problems. In this essay both opinions will be elaborated separately.
    People are born with the instinct of being continuously eager to learn more about the world around us, as a result of this creativity is made and new inventions are released every year. As a live example recent researches on space has helped us to discover new materials. Looking into another aspect space research has undeniably contributed significantly on knowing how our world operates which has given us a much better understanding of life.
    On the other hand, our planet is facing a lot of mere problems concerning things like pollution, overpopulation and diseases, hence we should maximize our efforts by spending more money to solve these problems. As an example building hospitals, institutions and most importantly provide the help for people in need.

    In conclusion, I disagree that money spent on space research is a waste of money, simple because of the major benefits we attained from such researches that concerns our survival. Another point to take into account is that only developed countries are involves in such fields, thus less people are likely to suffer from poverty in these countries as their wealth allows them to do so.

  11. Arubah says

    Hello Liz, I had speaking exam today and the topic was
    Describe your favourite Tv programme.
    It was a common topic and i did we. I have attempted ielts twice previously and gotten 7.7 in speaking each time. But while talkin about of game of thrones i used the word
    BASTARD twice. instead of saying illgitimate children. but it was in the spur of the monent. Can u please tell me if it is going to effect my band score?

    • It won’t affect your score. Luckily the speaking test is informal.

      • Arubah says

        Oh thankyou for responding so quickly. i just came out of the exam and i was so worried.. i even thought of skipping the w,r and l module πŸ™ as i wont be able to get 7 in speaking. Thanks you r great help. God bless u.

        • You definitely should put it behind you and put all your energy into LR&W. I also like Game of Thrones and I’m sure that word would slip out too if I was talking about it πŸ™‚

    • Arubah says

      7.5*

  12. Mosses job says

    The satellites that revolve around earth and man’s first foot steps on moon envisage human being’s advancements in space Astro science .Since this field of science has brought plethora of benefits to man kind i believe that it is not necessary to relocate the money of space exploration for other human welfare activities
    Enhanced communication is the one of the main advantages that human enjoy as result of space exploration. Satellites that humans deployed in the outer space have enabled mankind to communicate via mobile phone and internet,which enabled humans to transfer information in fraction of seconds in between any parts of world ,like email and social media.Moreover, this technology assists man in navigation.It is fact that travelling to unknown location was a real troublesome for man is yester years , whereas though the GPS (global position system ),which is a fruit of space science have enabled human to travel to any part of the world with help of any one Google maps and Microsoft area map are an example for this .
    At the same time when we consider the national budget of world nations ,a major share if money is utilized for various human welfare schemes like medical care , education and defence which is comparatively much more than budget for space studies.More over as space studies help man kind in finding new planets to establish civilization in case of apocalypse ,so space studies are necessary .In addition to this as sectors like agriculture and farming are benefit through weather forecast from satellites,this brach of science can be said to be a necessity of 21st century
    In conclusion ,there are many areas like communication, navigation and weather forecast that have benefifed humas to attain a better life ,so man should fund sufficient amount of money for Astro science .

  13. Aburakhia says

    Hi Liz,

    Can I send you an email please ? I want to share my story with you. Can you send me an email and I will reply back with my story?

  14. Huge amount of money is allocated by state on space exploration in both developed as well as developing countries .In my view some money should be spent on space programs but government should give perority to human setbacks . so I disagree.

    one of the main significant reason of this is incurable diseases because lots of people hunt by these such as cancer and epidemic and so on .hence, government should invest money in health sector so that ,people live healthy as well as longer life .

    in addition to this, space programs need considerable amount of money and natural resource like as fuels , which is becoming a cause of pollution . Besides this , these type of programs has no any guarantee of success. Therefore , these are waste of money as well as time consuming . many a times , intelligent and potencial scientist lost their life.

    On the other hand , space programs also has own benefits for instance , over population becoming a major problem on earth . If space programs attain success and find other planet for living then there is a possibility of living which can reduce the burden of population.

    to sum up , country should spend their money on space programs only if its citizens are healthy as well as living fit and fine life.

  15. Zipporah Wasilwa says

    Space exploration is not a waste of money because it’s in man’s nature to explore his environment. Suppose no one had ever thought or wondered if there was another little village somewhere else in the world then every group of civilised people would have to grow in there own shell of ignorance.
    It’s not a waste of money because many discoveries have been made as a result of space exploration.
    The plastic industry, the internet were invented by material engineers working on space program which is a large profitable and useful industry and just to mention parts of computer are made of it and obviously you are taking advantage of them right now.
    Space exploration is not wastage of money because it has given us many technologies are are very essential to include satellite which is among the first venture into space for weather forecasting, GPS and internet.
    No It’s through space exploration that one can get away of dealing with poverty and solve it by use of the technologies acquired.
    Space exploration is necessary for the fast and good progress for example R&D in pharmaceutical where the cost might be high but if the benefits are discovered to help mankind directly then the advantages will be high.
    Space exploration is not wastage of money because new products are created as a by product for example the digital watches and many more.
    It’s not wastage of money because many people will have opportunity to be employed in many companies brought about space exploration

  16. Navdeep Kaur says

    hello dear i have got any thing courier at my home nd money is deducted in my account i want to cancel this plzzz

  17. AJ1980 says

    It can be a good answer!
    Governments in some countries spend large amounts of money on space exploration
    programmes. I completely agree with the idea that these are a waste of money, and that
    the funds should be allocated to public services.
    There are several reasons why space programmes should be abandoned. Firstly, it is
    costly to train scientists and other staff involved with space missions, and
    facilities and equipment also come at an enormous cost to the government. Secondly, these
    programmes do not benefit average people in our daily lives; they are simply vanity projects
    for politicians. Finally, many missions to space fail completely, and the smallest
    technological error can cost astronauts their lives. The Challenger space shuttle disaster
    showed us that space travel is hazardous, and in my opinion, it is not worth the
    risk.
    I believe that the money from space programmes should go to vital public services instead.
    It is much cheaper to train doctors, teachers, police and other public service workers than
    it is to train astronauts or the scientists and engineers who work on space exploration
    projects. Furthermore, civil servants do jobs that have a positive impact on every
    member of society. For example, we all use schools, hospitals and roads, and we all need
    the security that the police provide. If governments reallocated the money spent on space
    travel and research, many thousands of people could be lifted out of poverty or given a
    better quality of life.
    In conclusion, my view is that governments should spend money on services that benefit
    all members of society, and it is wrong to waste resources on projects that do not improve
    our everyday lives.

    • Osz Darjo says

      This is an example of good model answer. Coherence,colocation, strong answer which is disagree to the idea with good reasons, good grammer, good conclusion. I will give score 8.

  18. Hi liz,
    May I ask you about the essay question above, to answer this,do I have to just agree or disagree with money should to be spent on improving problems of people on earth,and not to write about space research? Thank you.πŸ™‚

    • The question is: Do you think money should be spent on other things instead of space research? If you agree, then your opinion is that money should be spent on other things and money should not be spent on space research. Your opinion covers both aspects of the question.

  19. Khushwinder Singh says

    Hi Liz,
    How the essays are differentiated between General and Academic, as you said the above topic is for Academic students only.
    Thanks

    • GT students do not need to prepare academic topics, such as space exploration. Most other topics are for both students.

  20. Dharun says

    Well it is very easy to write about space and consolidate the general points. Its an easy topic to complete. Thanks Liz …. your reading preparation methods and writing technique support me lot in today’s exam. But listening is literally hard to me. Once again thanks Liz. And waiting for Tomorrow’s speaking ….

    • Dharun says

      Its in India

    • Good luck tomorrow. Remember the speaking test is informal and your ideas are not marked. Be chatty and open. Expand your answers so the examiner can see the range of your English.

      • Saiyann says

        Thank you LIZ. So, you mean that we can use a wide range of informal and formal English?

        • You can use a wide range of language, formal and informal in IELTS speaking. In IELTS writing, your language will be formal only.

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