Prohibitive – Word Of The Day For IELTS

Prohibitive – Word Of The Day For IELTS Speaking And Writing

Prohibitive  /prəˈhɪbətɪv/ (Adjective)

Meaning:

• prohibitive costs are so high that they prevent people from buying or doing something
• a prohibitive rule prevents people from doing things

Synonyms:

Expensive, Exorbitant

Examples:

• The cost of land in Tokyo is prohibitive 
• However, many companies find the cost of planning and implementation prohibitive.
• The cost of uniforms and books was becoming prohibitive and the gang scene was worsening at school
• Trade will reduce welfare when transport costs are sufficiently close to prohibitive and increase it when they are sufficiently low

Exercises:

Try to use this word “prohibitive” in your writing

IELTS Writing Task 2 Topic

It is neither possible nor useful for a country to provide university places for a high proportion of young people. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Sample Essay:

Furnishing the young generations with tertiary education play an indispensable part in the government’s policies. However, most policy makers reckon that it is infeasible and inefficient to offer the vast majority of the youth higher education. From my perspective, I completely agree with this statement for the following reasons.

It proves impossible for a country to provide entry to tertiary education for all young people. The first reason is the prohibitive tuition fees and the inability to afford them of the majority of youths. College or university undergraduates are supposed to learn from experiments, purchase costly materials during a term, let alone other field trips if one majors in practical fields of study like engineering or medical. All of these plus the fact that many students from rural areas find it tough to meet only the annual tuition fees, especially in poverty-stricken countries. This leads to the second reason in which I mean government have other priorities such as universal education, health care system to invest in.

It also does not seem useful for the whole country once the state wish to accommodate the youth with higher education. This is primarily because there is no guarantee that students will become successful and contribute to the well-being of their nation after finishing their education. There are the cases when distinguished graduates fail to secure a decent job and thus become unemployed, exacerbating the burden on society as a consequence. Even worse, some are likely to slack off with their studies or even drop out of school as they either take higher education for granted or find no motivation in furthering their knowledge, given the thought that tertiary education is subsidised or free of charge.

In conclusion, it’s my firm belief that not only it is neither possible nor useful for a country to provide university places for a high proportion of young people

Play an indispensable part in (collocation) participate in something in a important way

Let alone: not to mention or think of someone or something

Major in (verb) specialise in something

Poverty-stricken (a) extremely poor

Accommodate sb with sth (verb) provide sb with sth

Contribute to (verb) to donate something to some cause

Well-being (noun) The state of being healthy, happy, or prosperous

Secure a decent job (collocation) obtain a good job

Exacerbate (verb)  to make a problem become worse

Slack off (verb)  to work less hard than is usual or necessary; become lazy

Take something/somebody for granted (idiom) to fail to appreciate someone/the value of something

Subsidise (verb) to pay some of the cost of goods or services so that they can be sold to other people at a lower price

Free of charge (phrase) without paying any money