You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic: CCTV Closed circuit television (CCTV) is increasingly used to monitor public spaces. Some people feel safer as a result, while others believe that it invades privacy. Discuss both views and give your opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Sample Essay with Corrections
Expert Feedback
The essay effectively addresses the task by discussing both views on CCTV and providing a clear opinion. Key strengths include a clear structure and logical flow of ideas. However, critical areas for improvement include grammatical accuracy, particularly with subject-verb agreement and verb forms, as well as the need for more varied vocabulary to avoid repetition. Structural changes made include correcting grammatical errors, enhancing transitions between paragraphs, and ensuring proper subject-verb agreement. Suggestions for further improvements not implemented in the corrected version include incorporating specific examples or statistics to strengthen arguments and further diversifying vocabulary. The tone used is appropriate for an academic essay, maintaining a formal and objective stance throughout.
Detailed Scores
What this means:
The essay is generally coherent, with a logical flow of ideas. However, some transitions between points could be smoother. For example, the shift from discussing the benefits of CCTV to the concerns about privacy could be better linked with transitional phrases to enhance the overall cohesion.
How to improve:
- Use a clear paragraph structure
- Connect ideas with appropriate linking words
- Maintain logical progression
- Use referencing effectively
What this means:
The essay demonstrates a basic range of grammatical structures, but there are several errors that affect clarity, such as subject-verb agreement ('CCTV cameras has') and incorrect verb forms ('is invade privacy'). While the meaning is generally clear, these errors detract from the overall quality. More complex sentence structures and careful proofreading could enhance grammatical accuracy.
How to improve:
- Use complex sentence structures
- Maintain grammatical accuracy
- Use a variety of sentence patterns
- Check for common grammar errors
What this means:
The vocabulary used is adequate but somewhat repetitive, with terms like 'CCTV' and 'public spaces' appearing frequently. There are also some inaccuracies, such as 'CCTV cameras has' instead of 'CCTV cameras have.' To improve, the writer could incorporate a wider range of vocabulary and synonyms to avoid repetition and enhance sophistication.
How to improve:
- Use a wider range of vocabulary
- Demonstrate awareness of collocations
- Avoid word repetition
- Use more sophisticated vocabulary accurately
What this means:
The essay addresses the task by discussing both views on CCTV and providing a clear opinion. However, it could be improved by offering more specific examples and a more developed argument. For instance, citing specific studies or statistics on crime rates related to CCTV usage would strengthen the argument.
How to improve:
- Address all parts of the task fully
- Support ideas with specific examples
- Develop each point thoroughly
- Stay relevant to the topic
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