Api for writing task 2 v1.

text-samples/c-ielts-1.csv

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+QUESTION,ANSWER,GRADE
+"News editors decide what to broadcast on television and what to print in newspapers. What factors do you think influence these decisions? Do we become used to bad news? Would it he better if more good news was reported?","It has often been said that “Good news is bad news” because it does not sell newspapers. A radio station that once decided to present only good news soon found that it had gone out of business for lack of listeners. Bad news on the other hand is so common that in order to cope with it, we often simply ignore it. We have become immune to bad news and the newspapers and radio stations are aware of this. While newspapers and TV stations may aim to report world events accurately, be they natural or human disasters, political events or the horrors of war, it is also true that their main objective is to sell newspapers and attract listeners and viewers to their stations. For this reason TV and radio stations attempt to reflect the flavour of their station by providing news broadcasts tailor-made to suit their listeners’ preferences. Programmes specialising in pop music or TV soap operas focus more on local news, home issues and up-to-date traffic reports. The more serious stations and newspapers like to provide “so called” objective news reports with editorial comment aimed at analysing the situation. If it is true, then, that newspapers and TV stations are tailoring their news to their readers’ and viewers’ requirements, how can they possibly be reporting real world events in an honest and objective light? Many radio and TV stations do, in fact, report items of good news but they no longer call this news. They refer to these as human interest stories and package them in programmes specialising, for instance, in consumer affairs or local issues. Good news now comes to us in the form of documentaries the fight against children’s cancer or AIDS, or the latest developments in the fight to save the planet from environmental pollution.",6
+"We are becoming increasingly dependent on computers. They are used in businesses, hospitals, crime detection and even to fly planes. What things will they be used for in the future? Is this dependence on computers a good thing or should we he more auspicious of their benefits?","Computers are a relatively new invention. The first computers were built fifty years ago and it is only in the last thirty or so years that their influence has affected our everyday life. Personal computers were introduced as recently as the early eighties. In this short time they have made a tremendous impact on our lives. We are now so dependent on computers that it is hard to imagine what things would be like today without them. You have only got to go into a bank when their main computer is broken to appreciate the chaos that would occur if computers were suddenly removed world-wide. In the future computers will be used to create bigger and even more sophisticated computers. The prospects for this are quite alarming. They will be so complex that no individual could hope to understand how they work. They will bring a lot of benefits but they will also increase the potential for unimaginable chaos. They will, for example, be able to fly planes and they will be able to co ordinate the movements of several planes in the vicinity of an airport. Providing all the computers are working correctly nothing can go wrong. If one small program fails — disaster. There is a certain inevitability that technology will progress and become increasingly complex. We should, however, ensure that we are still in a position where we are able to control technology. It will be all too easy to suddenly discover that technology is controlling us. By then it might be too late I believe that it is very important to be suspicious of the benefits that computers will bring and to make sure that we never become totally dependent on a completely technological world.",6
+"The chart below shows the amount of money per week spent on fast foods in Britain. The graph shows the trends in consumption of fast-foods. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information shown below.","The chart shows that high income earners consumed considerably more fast foods than the other income groups, spending more than twice as much on hamburgers (43 pence per person per week) than on fish and chips or pizza (both under 20 pence). Average income earners also favoured hamburgers, spending 33 pence per person per week, followed by fish and chips at 24 pence, then pizza at 11 pence. Low income earners appear to spend less than other income groups on fast foods, though fish and chips remains their most popular fast food, followed by hamburgers and then pizza. From the graph we can see that in 1970, fish and chips were twice as popular as burgers, pizza being at that time the least popular fast food. The consumption of hamburgers and pizza has risen steadily over the 20 year period to 1990 while the consumption of fish and chips has been in decline over that same period with a slight increase in popularity since 1985.",7.5
+"You have had a bank account for a few years. Recently you received a letter from the hank stating that your account is $240 overdrawn and that you will he charged $70 which will he taken directly from your account. You know that this information is incorrect. Write a letter to the bank. Explain what has happened and say what you would like them to do about it.","Dear Sir, I am writing in reply to a letter I received from you a few days ago. In your letter you state that I am $240 overdrawn and that you will be charging me $70.I would like to point out that the reason I am overdrawn is because of a mistake made by your bank. If you look through your records you will see that I wrote several weeks ago explaining the situation. For the last twelve months, I have been paying $300 a month for a car I bought last summer. The monthly payments were taken directly from my bank account. However, two months ago I sold the car and I wrote to you instructing you to stop paying the monthly instalments. I received a letter from you acknowledging my request, but, for some reason, nothing was done about it. Another $300 instalment has been paid this month and this is the reason why I am overdrawn. I would like you to contact the garage where I bought the car explaining your error. I would also like you to ask them to return the money. Yours faithfully, P Stoft",8

text-samples/c-ielts-2.csv

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+QUESTION,ANSWER,GRADE
+"The table below shows the consumer durables (telephone, refrigerator, etc.) owned in Britain from 1972 to 1983. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information shown below","The chart shows that the percentage of British households with a range of consumer durables steadily in- creased between 1972 and 1983. The greatest increase was in telephone ownership, rising from 42% in 1972 to 77% in 1983. Next came central heating ownership, rising from 37% of households in 1972 to 64% in 1983. The percentage of households with a refrigerator rose 21% over the same period and of those with a washing machine by 14%. Households with vacuum-cleaners, televisions and dishwash- ers increased by 8%, 5% and 2% respectively. In 1983, the year of their introduction, 18% of households had a video recorder. The significant social changes reflected in the statistics are that over the period the proportion of British houses with central heating rose from one to two thirds, and of those with a phone from under a half to over three-quarters. Together with the big increases in the ownership of washing machines and refriger- ators, they are evidence of both rising living standards and the trend to lifestyles based on comfort and convenience.",8
+"Fatherhood ought to be emphasised as much as motherhood. The idea that women are solely responsible for deciding whether or not to have babies leads on to the idea that they are also responsible for bringing the children up. To what extent do you agree or disagree?","I believe that child-rearing should be the responsibility of both parents and that, whilst the roles within that partnership may be different, they are nevertheless equal in importance. In some societies, it has been made easier over the years for single parents to raise children on their own. However, this does not mean that the traditional family, with both parents providing emotional support and role-models for their children, is not the most satisfactory way of bringing up children. Of crucial importance, in my opinion, is how we define 'responsible for bringing the children up'. At its simplest, it could mean giving the financial support necessary to provide a home, food and clothes and making sure the child is safe and receives an adequate education. This would be the basic definition. There is, however, another possible way of defining that part of the quotation. That would say it is not just the father's responsibility to provide the basics for his children, while his wife involves herself in the everyday activity of bringing them up. Rather, he should share those daily duties, spend as much time as his job allows with his children, play with them, read to them, help directly with their educa- tion, participate very fully in their lives and encourage them to share his. It is this second, fuller, concept of 'fatherhood' that I am in favour of, although I also realise how difficult it is to achieve sometimes. The economic and employment situation in many countries means that jobs are getting more, not less, stressful, requiring long hours and perhaps long journeys to work as well. Therefore it may remain for many a desirable ideal rather than an achievable reality.",8
+"The chart below shows the amount of leisure time enjoyed by men and women of different employment status. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information shown below.","The chart shows the number of hours of leisure enjoyed by men and women in a typical week in 1998-9, according to gender and employment status. Among those employed full-time, men on average had fifty hours of leisure, whereas women had ap- proximately thirty-seven hours. There were no figures given for male part-time workers, but female part-timers had forty hours of leisure time, only slightly more than women in full-time employment. perhaps reflecting their work in the home. In the unemployed and retired categories, leisure time showed an increase for both sexes, as might have been expected. Here too, men enjoyed more leisure time-over eighty hours, compared with seventy hours for women, perhaps once again reflecting the fact that women spend more time working in the home than men. Lastly, housewives enjoyed approximately fifty-four hours of leisure, on average. There were no figures given for househusbands! Overall, the chart demonstrates that in the categories for which statistics on male leisure time were available, men enjoyed at least ten hours of extra leisure time.",6
+"Prevention is better than cure. Out of a country's health budget, a large proportion should be diverted from treatment to spending on health education and preventative measures. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?","Of course it goes without saying that prevention is better than cure. That is why, in recent years, there has been a growing body of opinion in favour of putting more resources into health education and preventive measures. The argument is that ignorance of, for example, basic hygiene or the dangers of an unhealthy diet or lifestyle needs to be combatted by special nationwide publicity campaigns, as well as longer-term health education. Obviously, there is a strong human argument for catching any medical condition as early as possible. There is also an economic argument for doing so. Statistics demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of treat- ing a condition in the early stages, rather than delaying until more expensive and prolonged treatment is necessary. Then there are social or economic costs, perhaps in terms of loss of earnings for the family concerned or unemployed benefit paid by the state. So far so good, but the difficulties start when we try to define what the 'proportion of the budget should be, particularly if the funds will be diverted from treatment. Decisions on exactly how much of the total health budget should be spent in this way are not a matter for the non-specialist, but should be made on the basis of an accepted health service model. This is the point at which real problems occur the formulation of the model. How do we accurately measure which health education campaigns are effective in both medical and financial terms? How do we agree about the medical efficacy of various screening programmes, for example, when the medical establishment itself does not agree? A very rigorous process of evaluation is called for, so that we can make informed decisions.",6.5

text-samples/ielts-idp-com.csv

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+QUESTION,ANSWER,GRADE,COMMENT
+"You live in a room in college which you share with another student. However, there are many problems with this arrangement and you find it very difficult to work. Write a letter to the accommodation officer at the college. In your letter describe the situation, explain your problems and why it is difficult to work, say what kind of accommodation you would prefer","Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with my room-mate. As you know we share one room, I can not study in the room at all any more if I still stay there. She always has friend visiting and has parties in the room. They make lots of noise and switch on the radio very loudly, for me this environment is very difficult to study and I need a quiet room. Even borrows my things without asking, it is very impolite. I request you can give me a new room next term because I have been asked her has parties in other place many times they still have parties in the room. I really can not stay in the same room with her. I would be grateful if you could change me a single room. Your faithfully, Catherine",5,"The answer is below the word limit and there is some repetition of the task rubric. (Length is a common problem in General Training scripts.) Answers that are short lose marks because of inadequate content and may also lose marks because there is insufficient material in the answer for the examiner to give credit for accuracy and coherence. Despite these problems, the introduction to the letter is appropriate and the purpose of the writer is clear. The points are not always linked together well and punctuation is sometimes faulty. The sentences are kept quite simple and mistakes occur as soon as more complex structures are attempted."
+"In Britain, when someone gets old they often go to live in a home with other old people where there are nurses to look after them. Sometimes the government has to pay for this care.","Who should be responsible for our people. It is true that the old Peoples situation gets worse in the many countries. The first question must be what they want’s and what they needs? Especially their necessity are more benefit more respect more quiet life. If they have been working for a long time in the any company or in the Public Sector and when they get old that’s means during their retire’s time company or Government must be responsible of their welfare, it is just my opinion. They should take care of them. In addition to company or Government. If they have good money they can look after themselves. We can do something to make easier their life for example an organization or a voluntary association, unions. The families or Relative’s responsibility depends on their wealthy situations. If they could do they should do anything. Government’s or their former place could supply them with life insurance and a good Social Security Policy. The Social community center or old age pensioner like in the Britain are very useful for them. For all of them life is hard and gets harder, in the their old ages. They expect more attention and good life. The old people, if don’t want lost them. We should do anything that what we able to do.",5,"There are quite a lot of relevant ideas in the answer but they are not always well supported and sometimes they are unclear.There are some areas in the answer where the organisation becomes weak and the reader finds the message difficult to follow. Nevertheless, the writer’s view is apparent and there is a logical flow to th points given. There are a lot of mistakes in the answer and some parts, such as the conclusion, are very hard to follow because of these errors. Although there is some appropriate vocabulary, sentence control is very weak."
+"These days, more and more people move away from the area where they were born and brought up when they become adults. Do the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?","It is certainly the case in my local area that many young people choose to leave their home village or town as soon as they finish college or when they first get full-time employment. There are several advantages to this. Firstly, it gives the individuals better opportunities to find more suitable jobs. This means they have much greater flexibility in the careers they can choose and are no longer forced to take the work available in the local area. A second benefit is that they have the chance to meet and work alongside a wider variety of people, which enriches their social and professional lives. Another relevant point is that moving to a place where they are anonymous allows people greater freedom to behave as they wish, without worrying about what those around them think. However, there are a number of drawbacks to this development, the most serious being loss of support. It is important for humans to feel that they are part of a community and can rely on family and friends for help, on a day-to-day basis. In a place where individuals know few people it is easy to become isolated and lonely. Related to this point is the fact that when people know very little about their neighbours, it is hard for mutual trust to develop. When people have lived in the same place or village all their lives, their personal and family backgrounds are widely known and this information can help others make reliable judgements, building personal and business relationships. On balance, I feel that this trend brings more negative outcomes than advantages and that it is leading to real problems of isolation and erosion of identity",6.5,"Overall, your answer demonstrates a clear understanding of the question and presents relevant ideas and arguments. Your essay structure is well-organized with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You have effectively addressed both the advantages and disadvantages of people moving away from their birthplace when they become adults."
+"The average standard of people's health is likely to be lower in the future than it is now. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?","I completly disagree with the written statment. I believe that most of the people in the world have more information about their health and also about how they can improve their healthy conditions. Nowadays, information about how harmful is to smoke for our bodies can be seen in many packets of cigars. This is a clear example how things can change from our recent past. There is a clear trend in the diminishing of smokers and if this continues it will have a positive impact in our health. On the other hand, the alimentation habbits are changing all over the world and this can affect people’s health. However every one can choose what to eat every day. Mostly everybody, from developed societies, know the importance of having a healthy diet. Advances such as the information showed in the menus of fast food restaurants will help people to have a clever choice before they choose what to eat. Another important issue that I would like to mention is how medicine is changing. There are new discovers and treatments almost every week and that is an inequivoque sintom of how things are changing in order to improve the world’s health.",5.5,"A clear position is presented from the outset, supported by relevant ideas. These would require further development to achieve a higher score. The response is under-length, however. Information and ideas are generally arranged coherently and there is a clear overall progression. Cohesive devices are used effectively, but paragraphing is not always logical. A range of vocabulary is attempted, although there are some errors in spelling, word choice and word formation. There also appears to be some interference from the test taker’s first language, e.g. ‘alimentation’, but these features do not make the answer difficult to understand. There is a mix of sentence forms, but the level of error is too high to achieve a higher band score."
+"The average standard of people's health is likely to be lower in the future than it is now. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?","Recently, there have been a lot of discussions about health and whether it is going to improve or not. In my opinion, I think that people will become unhealthier in the future than they are now. There are many reasons that support the idea of people becoming unhealthy in the future. Firstly, one reason is that of food. People tend to eat more fast food nowadays. They tend to treat themselves with sweets and chocolate whenever they want. This appears to be because people are busier now than they used to be. So, people don’t have a chance to cook or even learn the art of cookery. Also, having a lot of unhealthy food can lead to obesity and it could be a serious issue in the future. Another reason is that technology is developing everyday. Young people enjoy buying new gadgets and the latest devices. This has a negative impact on their health, especially when they enjoy video games. Spending long hours looking at a screen can lead to bad eyesight and obesity as well. Yet another reason is that laziness is a big issue. Different forms of exercise might disappear in the future because people don’t like sports. Also, people prefer spending most of their time on the internet and the internet is growing every single day. Other people might disagree and say that health will improve in the future. They believe that new sports and new ways to exercise will appear in the future. However, I don’t think it can happen since the majority of people spend less time outdoors. Moreover, other people believe that technology will try and help people improve their health. For example, there have been some games released on the Wii console that makes people exercise but technology is developing more in a negative way. For instance, many phone industries are developing new applications everyday and today’s generation likes to follow every trend. This prevents people to go outside to exercise. They like to spend more time on the internet downloading new programmes or reading gossips about celebraties. This affects people’s health badly. In conclusion, I believe that people’s health is affected negatively by fast food, technology and sports and it will be a problem in the future.",7.5,"The test taker presents a clear position at the outset and explores some ideas to support this. An alternative position is also considered, but rejected. This is a strong response, but there is rather too much emphasis on technology: other aspects of the proposition could also be considered, e.g. less physical work and more sedentary work, greater reliance on cars meaning less exercise, aging populations in some countries leading to more complex health issues. Ideas are organised logically and there is a clear progression throughout the response, with good use of cohesive devices and logical paragraphing. The response could perhaps be improved by breaking down paragraphs 2 and 3. There is a wide range of vocabulary with good use of less common items as well as evidence of higher level features, such as ‘softening’, e.g. ‘They tend to’, ‘This appears to be’, and ‘might disagree’. Errors in spelling and word formation are rare. There is also a variety of complex structures with frequent error-free sentences, though some errors do occur and there is some overuse of rather short sentence forms."