Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-17

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many countries nowadays, consumers can go to a supermarket and buy food produced all over the world.

Do you think this is a positive or negative development?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

These days, supermarkets have become increasingly common in many countries, people can go to one place and buy a wide range of products that are produced all over the world, from there. There is debate over whether it is a positive development or has negative consequences. However, I am of the opinion that it is more beneficial as compared to negative side.

The primary advantage of this is people spend less time on shopping and use their free time for other activities. Many individuals spend their weekends visiting different markets to purchase various items, which can take up a considerable amount of their time. For instance, I purchase my clothes from one market and household products from another, and travelling between these two locations can take several hours, sometimes requiring me to spend an entire day shopping. Supermarkets can help address this problem by allowing consumers to purchase a wide range of products in one place.

The another benefit is due to mega stores, carbon emissions can also be reduced. Without supermarkets, people may need to visit different places to buy various products, which increases their overall travel time. Spending more time on the road can lead to higher fuel consumption and carbon emissions, which contribute to environmental pollution. Furthermore, transportation costs can be reduced because manufacturers can deliver large quantities of products to supermarkets instead of supplying numerous individual shops. Despite these advantages, there are also notable downsides, the small investers have less oppotunities and local products may not compete well in bigger markets.

In conclusion, I would argued that positive development outweigh the negative development. super markets can reduced overall shopping time beside pollution due to cars can be surged down, although there are some drawbacks that can be overtaken with passage of time.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The student addresses all parts of the task by discussing whether the availability of global food in supermarkets is a positive or negative development, establishing a clear position from the introduction that it is beneficial. The main ideas are generally relevant, such as time-saving and reduced carbon emissions from consolidated shopping trips. However, some ideas lack full extension and suffer from minor logic leaps. For instance, the claim that mega stores reduce carbon emissions because people visit fewer individual shops is supported to some degree, but the argument touches superficially on supply chain logistics. Additionally, the third paragraph introduces downsides like 'small investers have less oppotunities' in a rushed manner without adequate expansion. Overall, the response meets the criteria for Band 6.0 as it addresses all parts of the task, though certain ideas are somewhat under-developed.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with clear paragraphing, dividing the introduction, two body paragraphs (one for advantages, one acknowledging a minor downside), and a conclusion. However, cohesion is frequently faulty or mechanical. In the first paragraph, the sentence structure relies heavily on comma splices, such as 'supermarkets have become increasingly common in many countries, people can go to one place...', which disrupts logical flow. Cohesive devices are sometimes inaccurate or misused, as seen with 'The another benefit' instead of 'Another benefit' or 'An additional benefit'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, such as ending the first sentence with 'from there'. Paragraphing is used appropriately, but internal cohesion requires better control, placing this criterion at Band 6.0.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, attempting some less common lexical items such as 'carbon emissions', 'fuel consumption', and 'supply chain' concepts. However, there are noticeable spelling and word-choice errors that detract from precision. Examples include 'investers' instead of 'investors', 'oppotunities' instead of 'opportunities', and awkward phrasing such as 'small investers have less oppotunities'. Furthermore, repetitive use of phrases like 'positive development' and 'negative development' limits lexical flexibility. While communication is not impeded and the student demonstrates a sufficient working vocabulary, the frequency of lexical inaccuracies places this performance firmly at Band 6.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The student attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, utilizing relative clauses and conditional structures. However, grammatical accuracy is inconsistent. The writing contains frequent punctuation errors and run-on sentences, notably comma splices like 'These days, supermarkets have become increasingly common in many countries, people can go to one place...'. Other errors include tense or modal misuse in the conclusion: 'I would argued that positive development outweigh' and 'super markets can reduced overall shopping time beside pollution due to cars can be surged down'. These errors occasionally cause the reader hesitation, although they do not completely impede overall understanding. This performance corresponds to a Band 5.5 due to the persistence of basic grammatical and structural inaccuracies.

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