Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree) · Globalisation
Whether hosting global sporting events wastes money
An agree-or-disagree essay on the cost of hosting major tournaments, where the band 9 answer separates the infrastructure that survives from the monuments that do not.
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 countries spend large amounts of public money on hosting international sporting events. Some people believe that this money is wasted. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
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 costs and benefits and concludes that it depends. The 7.5 decides. The 9 identifies which half of the spending is investment and which half is a monument, and shows that hosts keep choosing the monument for reasons that have nothing to do with sport.
The three answers
Band 6.5
257 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
In these days, many countries are spending a huge amount of the public money for hosting the international sporting events like Olympics. Some persons think that this money is wasted. In my opinion, I partly agree with this statement, because there are some benefits also for the host country.
On the one hand, it is true that these events are very expensive.2 The government has to build the new stadiums, the roads and the accommodation for the athletes, and this cost is very high. After the event is finished, many of these stadiums are remaining empty because the local people do not need such big buildings. Also, the money can be spend on the hospitals4 and the schools, which are more necessary for the ordinary citizens. So in this way we can say that a lot of this money is wasted.
On the other hand, hosting a big event give many advantages. The country becomes famous in all over the world and more tourists are coming, which is good for the economy3. Also the young generation get inspiration from the athletes5 and they start doing sports, so the health of the nation is improving. Moreover, many people get the jobs during the construction period, and the transport system of the city is also becoming better.
In conclusion, I agree that sometimes the money is wasted when the stadiums are not used after the event, but I also think that the countries are getting many benefits from these events, so it depends on the planning of the government1.
What an examiner notices
1. Task response
“so it depends on the planning of the government”
The essay closes by returning the question to the reader. 'It depends' is not a position, and nothing earlier tells us how far the writer agrees.
2. Coherence and cohesion
“On the one hand, it is true that these events are very expensive.”
Paired with 'On the other hand' in the next paragraph, this sets up a balance the essay never actually strikes. The two sides are listed, never weighed.
3. Lexical resource
“more tourists are coming, which is good for the economy”
The essay's entire economic vocabulary. A stronger answer would say what the tourists spend on, and for how long.
4. Grammatical range and accuracy
“the money can be spend on the hospitals”
The past participle is missing after the passive, and definite articles sit before two generic plurals in the same clause.
5. Grammatical range and accuracy
“the young generation get inspiration from the athletes”
A singular collective subject with a plural verb. The same failure appears three sentences earlier in 'hosting a big event give many advantages'.
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.
Compare another question
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Advertising aimed at young children
An agree-or-disagree essay on prohibiting adverts for under-twelves, where the band 9 answer locates the wrong in the absence of an informed party rather than in the desire adverts create.
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Banning cars from city centres
An agree-or-disagree essay on car-free centres, where the band 9 answer recasts the question as one about how scarce urban land is allocated.
- Task 2 · Opinion (agree or disagree)
Community sentences instead of prison
An agree-or-disagree essay on non-custodial sentencing, where the band 9 answer accepts the reform and rejects the line the question draws.