Updated: Aug 28, 2019
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Some say that due to heavy traffic governments need to build more roads in metropolitan cities, while others argue this isn't the right solution.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
This question was provided by one of my students who took the test at the UNSW test centre in Sydney last Saturday. We will tackle this question in class today and provide you with a sample answer below. Many thanks to my students for providing the questions and the answers to these blogs.
SAMPLE ANSWER: Student: Kaz Japan - Words: 276 - Band: 6.0
Some people suggest that governments make more roads in big cities because of traffic jams, whereas others insist that it will not work out well and they should find another way. I completely disagree with the former idea. This essay will first discuss why I cannot agree with it and then provide some examples from my knowledge.
Firstly, I believe public transport options such as trains are more effective when it comes to reducing the number of traffic jams because they can also drive fast and do not need to stop at traffic lights as cars do. For instance, my home town, Tokyo, has a huge train network which enables citizens to go anywhere they want quickly. They do not feel any stress as long as they get on the trains. As a result, Japanese people can arrive at meeting points on time and they do not feel it is necessary to own private cars.
Furthermore, public transport can also reduce air pollution which contributes to global warming because they do not emit carbon dioxide; it is more environmentally friendly. Trains run on electric power and many buses these days can run on electric cables or batteries. For example, the Japanese government encouraged Japanese people to use electric trains instead of private cars to reduce the environmental impact caused by petrol powered cars. Consequently, they succeeded in reducing the amount of congestion and improving the air quality around Tokyo.
In conclusion, I emphasize building a lot of car lanes in large cities is not the best way to tackle the traffic problem. We have better methods as I stated before and we should take it seriously.