Task 2 · Problem and solution · Travel
Travel for people with disabilities
A problem-solution essay on disabled travellers, where the band 9 answer treats a journey as a chain that fails at its weakest link.
The question
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Many people with physical disabilities find it difficult to travel for pleasure, even within their own country. What problems do they face, and what measures could be taken to make travel easier for them?
A 250-word discursive essay — the half of the paper that carries two thirds of the marks. This prompt is original, written in the standard format for teaching purposes — it is not taken from any past paper.
What separates the three answers
The 6.5 lists ramps, hotels and cost; the 7.5 sees that unreliable information deters more than a known barrier; the 9 explains that every link in a journey belongs to a different organisation, so nobody answers for the traveller stranded between them.
The three answers
Band 6.5
289 words (the task asks for at least 250)The answer works. It addresses the task, the reader follows it, and the meaning survives — but ideas stay general, linking is mechanical, wording repeats, and small errors are visible throughout.
The answer
Nowadays travelling is very popular, and it is important for everybody because it helps people to relax and learn new things. However, for the people with physical disabilities it is still very difficult to travel, even inside their own country. In this essay I will discuss the main problems they face and suggest some solutions for them.
The first problem is the transport. Many buses and trains do not have ramps or lifts, so a person in a wheelchair can not get on them easily. Also, the stations are often very old and there are many stairs. Another problem is the hotels and the tourist places.1 Many hotels say on their website that they have accessible rooms, but when the person arrive, the bathroom is too small4 or there is a step at the door. Moreover, travelling is very expensive for disabled people, because they often need a helper and they have to pay for two persons.
There are several solutions for these problems. Firstly, the government should make a law that all the new buses and trains must have ramps and all the stations must have lifts. Secondly, the hotels should give the correct information on their websites, and there should be a inspection to check it5. Thirdly, the government can give some discount for the helper3, so the cost of the travel will be less. Finally, the staff in airports and hotels should get training about how to help disabled people in a good way.2
In conclusion, disabled people face many problems when they travel, such as the transport, the hotels and the cost. If the government and the companies work together, these problems can be solved and everybody can enjoy the travelling like the other people.
What an examiner notices
1. Task response
“Another problem is the hotels and the tourist places.”
Tourist places are named and then never mentioned again; the paragraph goes straight to hotel bathrooms. A problem announced but not described has not really been identified.
2. Task response
“Finally, the staff in airports and hotels should get training about how to help disabled people in a good way.”
A solution to a problem the essay never raised. In a problem-solution answer each remedy should answer something already identified, and 'in a good way' says nothing about what the training would contain.
3. Lexical resource
“the government can give some discount for the helper”
The usual phrasing is 'offer a discount on' a ticket, and the person is a 'carer' or 'companion'. The idea is sound; the wording is assembled word by word.
4. Grammatical range and accuracy
“but when the person arrive, the bathroom is too small”
A missing third-person ending. The sentence is otherwise well built, which is typical of this band: the structure is there, the accuracy is not.
5. Grammatical range and accuracy
“there should be a inspection to check it”
'An inspection' before a vowel sound. 'It' also has to be traced back to 'the correct information', which the reader can do only with some effort.
One honest caveat
Band labels here describe what each piece of writing demonstrates against the four published assessment areas, paraphrased in plain language. They are teaching illustrations produced for this site, not official material, and no sample has been marked by a test provider. Real scripts are marked whole; two answers with the same label can still look quite different from each other, and nothing on this page can promise anyone a particular result.
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