IELTS Writing Task 2: Small Businesses - Band 6.0 Sample with Full Breakdown
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The Prompt
_It is often said that small businesses are more beneficial for the economy than large corporations. To what extent do you agree or disagree?_
Band 6.0 Sample Answer
Band 6.0 Sample
Small businesses play an important role in the economy. While big companies also contribute, I think small businesses are more beneficial. There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, small businesses create more jobs in local areas. This helps reduce unemployment. When people have jobs, they spend money in their communities. This supports other local businesses. Big companies often move jobs to other countries to save money. This is bad for local economies.
Secondly, small businesses can respond quickly to changes. They are not slowed down by bureaucracy like big companies. This means they can offer better customer service. They can also change their products faster to meet customer needs.
However, big companies have some advantages. They can produce goods more cheaply because they buy in large quantities. They also have more money for research and development.
In conclusion, while big companies have some benefits, I believe small businesses are more important for the economy. They create local jobs and can respond quickly to changes.
Scoring Breakdown
Task Response (TR):
- Presents a clear position throughout the response.
- Addresses all parts of the task but with some relevance limitations.
- Presents, extends, and supports main ideas, but some may not be sufficiently developed.
Coherence and Cohesion (CC):
- Arranges information and ideas coherently but there may be some unclear progression.
- Uses cohesive devices effectively but with some overuse or repetition.
Lexical Resource (LR):
- Uses an adequate range of vocabulary for the task.
- Attempts less common vocabulary but with some inaccuracy.
- Makes some errors in word choice and collocation.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy (GRA):
- Uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms.
- Makes errors in grammar and punctuation that may obscure meaning.
- Has frequent errors in tense and subject-verb agreement.
Vocabulary
- Beneficial (adj) - providing a help or advantage; favorable.
- The new policy will be beneficial for small businesses.
- Bureaucracy (n) - a system of government or business that has many complicated rules and ways of doing things.
- The bureaucracy made it difficult for the startup to get approval.
- Relevance (n) - the quality of being directly related or appropriate to the matter at hand.
- His arguments lacked relevance to the topic.
- Extent (n) - the range or limit to which something happens or is experienced.
- To what extent do you agree with this statement?
- Precise (adj) - exact and accurate; not approximate.
- The precise wording of the contract is crucial.
- Local (adj) - relating or belonging to a particular area or neighborhood.
- Local businesses are the backbone of the community.
- Unemployment (n) - the state of being without a job and actively seeking work.
- The high unemployment rate is a concern for the government.
- Customer service (n) - the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services.
- Excellent customer service is key to retaining clients.
- Quantity (n) - the amount or number of a material or abstract thing not usually estimated by spatial measurement.
- They ordered a large quantity of goods.
- Research and development (n) - the process of developing new products and improving existing ones through scientific investigation.
- The company invested heavily in research and development.
- Advantage (n) - a condition or circumstance that puts one in a favorable or superior position.
- One advantage of electric cars is their low operating cost.
- Response (n) - a reply or an answer to something.
- The company's response to the crisis was swift and effective.
- Economy (n) - the state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money.
- The country's economy has been growing steadily.
- Position (n) - a point of view or an opinion that is stated in an argument or discussion.
- The government's position on the issue is clear.
- Develop (v) - to grow or cause to grow and become more advanced.
- She helped to develop the new product.
- Collocation (n) - the habitual placement of words with a certain syntactic role.
- The collocation of 'strong tea' is more common than 'powerful tea'.
- Tense (n) - a category that locates a situation in time, such as present, past, or future.
- The sentence has a mistake in tense.
- Agreement (n) - harmony or accordance in opinion or feeling.
- The subject and verb must be in agreement.
- Progress (n) - forward or onward movement toward a destination.
- The project is making good progress.
- Support (v) - to give assistance or approval to someone or something.
- The evidence supports his theory.
Common Mistakes
- Lack of Precision: Using vague language instead of precise terms. For example, saying 'a lot' instead of 'many' or 'much'.
- Grammatical Errors: Common errors include incorrect tense usage, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation mistakes.
- Limited Vocabulary: Repeating the same words and phrases instead of using a wider range of vocabulary.
- Poor Coherence: Failing to connect ideas clearly, leading to a disjointed response.
- Insufficient Development: Not fully explaining ideas, leading to shallow arguments.
Other Band Level Samples
View Band 7.0 Sample Answer View Band 8.0 Sample Answer View Band 9.0 Sample Answer
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