IELTS Writing 2 Practice Test 28 Topic: Some people think that old buildings should be knocked down
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Contents
The Essay Writing section of the IELTS Writing Module can be a difficult task for many IELTS Aspirants. Thus, it is vital that you polish your essay writing skills before attempting the IELTS.
Below is a sample IELTS Essay for the IELTS Essay topic:
Some people think that old buildings should be knocked down and give way to the new buildings. To what extent do you agree or disagree? How important are old buildings to us?
Outline
Essay type
Opinion essay
Introduction
- State your opinion clearly (whether you agree or disagree). Explain in brief what you are going to write in the body paragraphs.
- Nowadays, city planners are very often confronted with controversy about whether an old building should be demolished or maintained.
Body
- Paragraph 1: Poor in condition and low in quality, some buildings pose a danger to people inside as well as pedestrians.
- Paragraph 2: Reconstruction of such structures will trigger damage to cultural heritage and prevent architects from getting inspired by their predecessors.
Conclusion
- Restate your opinion with a clear and direct sentence
Sample Essay
Every property has its value and lifespan. So do the buildings. Nowadays, city planners are very often confronted with controversy about whether an old building should be demolished or maintained. I think that old buildings should be destroyed and new buildings should be constructed in their place. I will discuss my point of view in the next few paragraphs.
If we talk about old buildings that possess no exceptional value while becoming dilapidated, entire destruction is an acceptable and understandable decision. Poor in condition and low in quality, some buildings pose a danger to people inside as well as pedestrians. Also, they might stand in the way of a new road line or impede other urban development projects. Whether they have been reinforced or not, these buildings can blemish the landscape and hardly justify continued maintenance. Replacing such buildings with new ones meets the renewed needs of the city.
There is no doubt that some old buildings are of archaeological, aesthetic, or architectural significance. They might either be important to a culture or unique in terms of architecture. Reconstruction of such structures will trigger damage to cultural heritage and prevent architects from getting inspired by their predecessors. Because of their uniqueness, antique buildings are supposed to act as a source of tourism income, if maintained well. But it is to be noted that the cost of maintenance is very high and it is questionable whether the money spent on them will be rewarding.
Although many people are in the favour of retaining old buildings that they enhance the stature of a country, most of them also degrade the impression because of their rusty, broken structure.
In summary, though old buildings must be preserved for the sake of cultural heritage, their continued maintenance is an unnecessary overhead to the government. Instead, they can be demolished, and new buildings can be constructed.
Vocabulary
- Confronted
- Demolished
- Possess
- Exceptional
- Dilapidated
- Pedestrians
- Impede
- Reinforced
- Blemish
- Renewed
- Archaeological
- Aesthetic
- Predecessors
- Preserved
- Overhead
- Demolished
Band 9 Sample Essay
Construction and destruction of new and old buildings respectively have always been a matter of contention amongst the school of thought of architects and construction planners. Some say that the crumbling down of the older derelict building should be made more intensive and that it should be replaced by the newer ones. I completely agree with this standpoint and in the upcoming paragraphs, I shall be talking about the same.
The first supporting idea of the entire obliteration of the old denuded buildings is the redundancy it has in the terms of adding values of any sort to the ambience of the city or region they are present in. From the monetary aspect, if we look at it as an asset, it doesn’t have anything to provide or juice out any benefit from. It stays as a drab occupant that otherwise if had been replaced by an efficient property, could have generated a substantial revenue and economy from. Moreover, owing to the distending population size, many a time such repudiated buildings create an unnecessary dearth of space and therefore curb the potential development of a progressive asset. Then, reconstruction of such debilitating buildings doesn’t seem to be a prudential and justifiable action to go ahead with as it takes a considerable amount of money to convalescence such hollow structures, the money could, however, be used for creating new ones that would be sturdier as well as much economical to invest on.
Another important reason that would make the inclination more angled towards the ravaging of old buildings would be the potential threat that it carries for the people that are inhabitants of such buildings and even for the people or living beings and the properties nearby. Given that they are old and rickety, they are generally not even able to bear the shocks of earthquakes and are the first ones to get decrepit from such catastrophes. In such cases too, the establishment of the new buildings are far more pragmatic, profitable and much safer.
Although the older buildings of cultural and traditional essence are the major sources to ensnare and enamour the tourist-gaze, the underlying ill effects of such worn-out structures are doing more harm than good. Moreover, the ones that are neither of heritage importance nor are they sturdy or reconstructable, are blatantly pointless to have.
Conclusively, it could therefore be stated that building newer buildings upon the destruction of the older ones is a better alternative, more often than not.
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Courtney Miller
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4 Comments
brown
Posted on May 3, 2022
Buildings are structures that makes up practically most societies, many people are of the opinion that old buildings should be demolished and replaced by new buildings. In subsequent paragraph I would be disagreeing to this view and stating the importance of old buildings to the society at large.
Some buildings although very ancient were constructed with more solid building materials than most of the new buildings of present times, for example, in Nigeria as a country most cases of collapsed buildings were said to be structures which are still below 10years of age, making the weakness of this newly erected structures evident compared to old buildings which may have lasted for several decades till date.
The value of these ancient constructions is however to not be overlooked as many of them has deep rooted historical meanings attached to them. A good example would be the building of the first ever hospital in Nigeria which was set up by the Europeans, located in Ibadan since the 19th century serving as a significance of the development brought by the Europeans to the country.
In conclusion, old buildings are not to be replaced by new once as they also are important to us, due to the aforementioned reason.
Reply
kasturika
Posted on May 4, 2022
Band Score – 5
Concentrate on the correct usage of articles, verb form, prepositions, subject verb agreement and punctuation.
The word count is low at 205. It has to be a minimum of 250 words.
Pay attention to spellings and expand more on your ideas.
Use C2 level words.
pandety
Posted on Nov 25, 2021
Buildings are an essence of every society that exists on our planet. Some people think that Old buildings in the society should be knocked off and some other believes contrary to it. I disagree with the statement that Old buildings should be knocked off to give way for new buildings.
Old Buildings in the city is a part of heritage and speaks volumes about the history and legacy of the place. These buildings can be renovated in order to improve their structural strength and make them safe liveable places. Old Buildings are a witness to many changes and events that a city has gone through in time recorded history. For instance in a city like Delhi there are many old buildings that are being renovated to ensure safety along with restoring its heritage. Many Tourists visit the city and find these old buildings quite attractive and feel happy about the same.
Some People are emotionally connected with old buildings that have been part of their professional or personal life. People living in these buildings have often inherited these properties from their parents or grand-parents. The respective families feel happy and consider it as a blessing from their elder’s .The house that I currently live in was inherited from my grand-parents and have lot of memories of my childhood. In any New building all the valuable stories and memories would be lost forever and the emotional connect cannot be restored.
In conclusion I would believe that Old buildings should not be demolished and should rather be renovated to serve both its purpose of restoring the heritage and ensuring safety of all the occupants of the building.
Reply
Janice Thompson
Posted on Nov 26, 2021
Band score: 5
Concentrate on the usage of articles, subject verb agreement, prepositions
Take care of punctutations.