IELTS Writing Task 2 (Exercises): PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Topic : PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Useful words and phrases:

1. albeit (conjunction)
2. dedicated line (np)
3. effective – ineffective (adj)
4. governmental spending (np)
5. implement (v)
6. individual vehicle (np)
7. interrupt (v)
8. intersection (n)
9. means of transport (np)
10. measure (n): biện pháp, tiêu chuẩn đánh giá
11. meet the demand (collocation)
12. mitigate (v)
13. persist (v)
14. punctuality (n)
15. sustainable – unsustainable (adj) – sustainably (adv)
16. tackle (v)
17. traffic congestion (collocation)
18. traffic intensity (np)

Exercises:

Task 1: Write sentences from given cues. Make changes to the cues when needed.

1. intersection / line / the graph / mark / point / where / we / start / make / profit.
   ________________

2. measure / design / improve / car safety.
   ________________

3. senator / thoroughly / squelch / journalist / who / try / interrupt / him / his speech
   ________________

4. cold weather / be likely / persist / throughout / week.
   ________________

5. It / unclear / how / mitigate / effects / tourism / this island.
   ________________

Task 2: Fill in the blanks with suitable words/phrases

Some people believe the government should spend money on building train and subway lines to reduce traffic congestion. Others think that building more and wider roads is the better way to reduce traffic congestion.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.

The methods of 1___________traffic congestion have become a heated topic of controversy. Some people argue that the construction of larger roads is the answer to the problem. However, I contend that such a solution is 2___________in the long term, while the option to construct railways and subways is a far better 3___________.

There is a common fallacy that 4___________on building larger roads could 5 _____address the problem of traffic congestion. An increase in road size could reduce the 6___________in the short term, but larger roads also mean that citizens are encouraged to purchase more 7_____. This leads to the fact that the roads, 8___________larger, would soon be filled with intense traffic again. For instance, traffic jams returned to Shanghai’s main streets not long after they were expanded in the early 1990s. In brief, if this solution were 9___________, traffic jams would still 10___________in the long run.

Rail and subway systems, however, could ensure that 11___________is 12___________. Unlike cars and buses, trains are capable of transporting hundreds of people simultaneously and thus would 13___________of a vast number of passengers. Moreover, trains do not have to gothrough 14___________or traffic lights, and 15___________ensure their travel is hardly 16___________. In other words, trains are always on time regardless of the level of traffic. This standard of 17___________would encourage many people to choose railways and subways as their primary 18___________, and the number of individual vehicles would decreaseaccordingly. As a result, traffic congestion could be 19___________.

In conclusion, building more and larger roads is an 20___________measure, while train and subway lines would be a much more effective solution for the problem of traffic congestion.

295 words

Key/Answer

Task 1:

1. The intersection of the lines on the graph marks the point where we start to make a profit.
2. These measures were/have been/are designed to improve car safety.
3. The senator thoroughly squelched the journalist who tried to interrupt him during his speech.
4. The cold weather is likely to persist throughout the week.
5. It is unclear how to mitigate the effects of tourism on the island.

Task 2:

(1) mitigating

(2) ineffective

(3) measure

(4) governmental spending

(5) sustainably

(6) traffic intensity

(7) individual vehicles

(8) albeit

(9) implemented

(10) persist

(11) traffic congestion

(12) properly addressed

(13) meet the transport demands

(14) intersections

(15) dedicated lines

(16) interrupted.

(17) punctuality

(18) means of transport

(19) tackled successfully

(20) unsustainable