IELTS Writing Sample #127
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Present a written argument or case to an educated reader with no specialist
knowledge of the following topic:
People who have original ideas are of much greater value to society than
those who are simply able to copy the ideas of others well.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
You should write at least 250 words.
Use your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with
examples and with relevant evidence.
model answer:
I certainly agree that people who come up with new ideas; in other words those
who 'invent' or 'discover' things are terribly important to society as a whole.
However, I also think there is a role in society for good imitators.
No one would deny that key individuals must be thanked for providing us with
certain facilities that we use every day. Where, would we be, for example,
without basic items such as the washing machine, the television and, more
recently, the computer? These items are now used so regularly that we tend to
take them for granted.
In fact, the society we live in today has become increasingly consumer-oriented,
and while it may be possible to constantly update and improve consumer goods,
not everyone where I live can afford the prices of these innovations.
Furthermore not everyone lives in an area that has accessibility to the latest
models on the market. For this reason, there is a value to be placed on being
able to provide good copies of expensive items.
Having said that, certain innovations have a more serious impact on our lives
than consumer goods and cannot easily be replicated. Vital medicines like
penicillin and vaccines against dangerous diseases also exist because people
made continual efforts to develop them. Scientific ideas such as these enable us
to live longer and escape illness.
(225 words)