Common Mistakes

Problems Paragraph 

Our problems paragraph will have this structure:

Sentence 1- State problem

Sentence 2- Explain what problem is

Sentence 4- What is the result of this problem

Sentence 5- Example

State problem: The foremost problem caused by climbing sea levels is the flooding of peoples’ residences.

Now that we have stated the problem, we must explain what this is. You should always consider your audience to be someone with no specialist knowledge in this area and you, therefore, need to explain what everything means. Don’t assume that the IELTS examiner is an educated person and knows what you are talking about. These assumptions will stop you writing what you need.

Explain: Millions of people all over the world live in coastal areas and if the sea rises by even a few feet, they will be inundated with water and lose their property.

Now that we have explained what our main point is we need to explain why this is a problem. First, explain the what and then the why. 

Result: Shelter is one of the most basic of human needs and widespread flooding would cause millions of people to become homeless, not to mention losing all of their possessions.

Now we must give an example of what we are talking about. When we give an example, it should be as specific as possible.

An example of a very general example would be:

Lots of people in the world have experienced floods recently. 

This is far too general to be considered a good example.

Example: The devastation brought about by widespread flooding was clear for all to see during the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, in which millions of people were displaced.

This example is much more specific. Stating a place and/or date can help you make your examples more specific.

Our second paragraph will look like this:

The foremost problem caused by sea levels creeping up is the flooding of peoples’ residences. Millions of people all over the world live in coastal areas and if the sea rises by even a few feet, they will be inundated with water and lose their property. Shelter is one of the most basic of human needs and widespread flooding would cause millions of people to become homeless, not to mention losing all of their possessions. The devastation brought about by this was clear for all to see during the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, in which millions of people were displaced.

Now we must move on to our solutions.