I nte r nati o nal e n g LI s h lan g uag e testi n g syste m

Many people feel violent media encourages real-life violence among young 

people. What do you think causes young people to behave violently?

Keywords: violent media, real-life violence, young people

Qualifying words: many, encourages

Action words: What do you think causes young people to behave violently?

Reworded question: What incites violence among young people?

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IELTS Academic Task 2: How to write at a band 9 level

20

More than one university degree is required to get ahead in many profes-

sions today. In the future, it is likely that people will attain a number of 

degrees before even starting work. Respond to this argument.

Keywords: university degree, professions

Qualifying words: more than one, get ahead, a number of, before even starting

Action words: Respond to this argument.

Reworded question: Do you agree that people will need to get a number of degrees 

to be competitive in the workplace of the future?

Using your new understanding of keywords, qualifying words and action words, write 

your own IELTS Task 2 essay question. Then identify the keywords, qualifying words, 

and action words you included in the question. If needed, refer to the lexical tables 

earlier in this chapter for wording ideas. For feedback on your question, post your 

work to the 

ieltsnetwork.com

 forum.

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Keywords:

Qualifying words:

Action words:

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IELTS Academic Task 2: How to write at a band 9 level

21

1.4

T

he

 

thesis

Now that the question has been broken into keywords, qualifying words and action 

words, an aligned essay can be written. All IELTS essay questions require the candi-

dates clearly state their position on the topic, and in the case of an argument essay, 

this declaration occurs in the first paragraph as a thesis. (Declaring a position in a 

discussion essay will be explained in section 2.7.)

An essay’s thesis is only one sentence long, but it is the most important sentence in 

the entire argument essay. It is the sentence that establishes a direction for the essay 

and acts as the primary link between the essay and the Task 2 question. Thus, if it is 

not composed correctly, it will cause the entire essay to be off-topic to some degree. 

Despite the criticalness of its role, a thesis is very easy to write. In fact, the thesis can 

borrow words directly from the essay question.

To illustrate, in the example question from section 1.3, the thesis can only be one of 

two things: