Writing Task 2: Problem & Solution Essay: Question 4
Syllabus W.task2
As urban populations expand rapidly in many parts of the world, the demand placed on freshwater supplies is increasing, and a number of fast-growing cities now face the risk of shortages during the driest months of the year.
What are the causes of this, and what solutions can you suggest?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
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Worked solution
Examiner notes: why this is a band 9 response
Task Response
The introduction paraphrases the trend and outlines the causes-then-solutions structure the prompt requires. Two distinct causes (outdated, leaking infrastructure and cross-sector competition for the same water sources) are each explained with a mechanism and grounded in a specific figure, and both are answered directly by a matching solution, so the response covers the full two-part question rather than defaulting to climate change as a single catch-all cause.
Coherence & Cohesion
Topic sentences clearly announce each idea (“A primary cause is…”, “A second cause is…”, “Two solutions follow from these causes”), and “Merrowdale” and “Dr Okoye’s audit” are referenced consistently across the causes and solutions paragraphs, keeping the argument tightly linked rather than reading as two unconnected lists.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise and academic without being unnatural: “distribution networks”, “leak detection”, “non-drinking purposes”, “cross-sector competition” (implied through “compete… for water drawn from the same… sources”). Collocations are accurate (“kept pace with”, “freeing up higher-quality freshwater”).
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
The response shows confident control of complex structures: a colon introducing supporting detail, a non-defining relative clause (“a scale of loss that makes existing supply far less effective…”), and a passive participle clause (“without any new source being found”). There are no errors of tense, agreement or word form anywhere in the response.
Common pitfalls specific to this task
See commonMistakes above: the most damaging is treating climate change or drought as the entire explanation, which overlooks the infrastructure and competing-demand causes that a band 9 response on this exact prompt is expected to identify and pair with concrete, matching solutions.