Many students seem to think that the following is true:
long, complex sentences = difficult = high score
But this isn't necessarily correct. First, long sentences are just short sentences (or clauses) that have been linked together, so it's not difficult to write them. Second, you won't get a high score if your long sentences are full of mistakes.
The best writers use a mix of long and short sentences. This is the ideal style to aim for because it makes your writing 'smoother', more varied, and easier to read.
Thanks Simon. I think it's worth noting, too, that complex sentences are not always complicated sentences, or even long ones.
Complex does not= complicated. For band 6+, the writing band descriptors encourage you to use 'a mix of simple and complex sentence forms'.
Here's an example of a complex sentence: Pete doesn't play football now, because he's too old!
It isn't a complicated sentence. If you want to know more about complex sentences, just Google it or watch a video like this one (there are lots of others to choose from): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDGwrS7WuC4
Posted by: Pete Walton | January 20, 2020 at 22:37
Great point Pete. Thanks!
Posted by: Simon | January 21, 2020 at 11:05
Despite a large number of gyms, a sedentary lifestyle is gaining popularity in the contemporary world.
What problems are associated with this?
What solutions can you suggest?
In the modern world, more and more people prefer an inactive lifestyle although many gymnasiums are available in society. Although the rise in social issues and diseases among people are the indispensable concerns linked with such a living practice, people themselves and a government can certainly take a few steps in order to mitigate both the problems.
The pressing problem associated with a sedentary lifestyle is that people will become isolated and disconnected with the real world. This is mainly because such individuals are usually lazy in nature and thus avoid meeting with people in their close circle, such as parents, friends, and relatives. This would cause them many relationship issues with others. To overcome this challenge, people should follow a compulsory rule of meeting their loved ones on weekends, festivals, and holidays, regardless of feeling tough. This increase in interactions would allow people to discuss ups and downs of their lives with others who are trustworthy or to offer help to needy friends, and as a result, people will no longer suffer from social problems.
The other major concern is that people would suffer from many illnesses, such as obesity, diabetes, or cardiac disorders. Owing to the lack of enough physical activities, people could not be able to digest the food they eat. This means that they will accumulate a lot of fat in their body and hence their metabolism will be hampered significantly. Such a physiological state is favorable to many life-threatening health conditions. The sort out this issue, state health authorities should initiate public awareness campaigns to make citizens aware of the dangers of living a sedentary life. This education would persuade people to do yoga, jogging or even weight training, and hence to become healthier.
To conclude, when people live a lifestyle that involves least or no physical movement, they are highly likely to get detached from the closed ones and to suffer from serious health problems, but some self initiatives and government’s educational programs are the best solutions to these challenges.
Posted by: Vishaal | January 21, 2020 at 12:55
I should add this to my comment above: see Simon's blog from the Archive:
https://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2017/02/ielts-grammar-compound-and-complex.html
Posted by: Pete Walton | January 21, 2020 at 15:30
Vishaal
Googling around, it seems that you have taken the question from one of two websites. Please be aware that both of these websites show non-native influences. For example, one has on its home page:
"This type of questions gives you an issue" :note the grammar error here.
The other states:
"At this website, you can access many apps, tips, and other resources without accounts and logging in" (which again contains some unusual English).
Posted by: gigi | January 22, 2020 at 12:21
Vishaal
The following phrase would seem to be unlikely in an IELTS question: "a sedentary lifestyle is gaining popularity in the contemporary world." The phrase 'gaining popularity' seems unusual in this context. After all, a sedentary lifestyle is not a fad in the same way that a vegan or Atkins diet might be.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=*+method+is+gaining+popularity%2Ctechnique+is+gaining+popularity%2C*+approach+is+gaining+popularity&year_start=1900&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CThis%20method%20is%20gaining%20popularity%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctechnique%20is%20gaining%20popularity%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CThis%20approach%20is%20gaining%20popularity%3B%2Cc0
https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=%22lifestyle+is+gaining+popularity%22&num=10
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=At+this+website%2Con+this+website&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1980&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t4%3B%2CAt%20this%20website%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bat%20this%20website%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BAt%20this%20website%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bat%20this%20Website%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Con%20this%20website%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bon%20this%20website%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BOn%20this%20website%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bon%20this%20Website%3B%2Cc0
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=without+accounts%2C+without+an+account&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1980&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t4%3B%2Cwithout%20accounts%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bwithout%20accounts%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BWithout%20accounts%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cwithout%20an%20account%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bwithout%20an%20account%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BWithout%20an%20account%3B%2Cc0
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=this+type+of+questions%2C+this+type+of+question&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1980&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t4%3B%2Cthis%20type%20of%20questions%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bthis%20type%20of%20questions%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BThis%20type%20of%20questions%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2Cthis%20type%20of%20question%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bthis%20type%20of%20question%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BThis%20type%20of%20question%3B%2Cc0
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=gives+you+an+issue%2C+creates+an+issue&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1980&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ccreates%20an%20issue%3B%2Cc0
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&ei=x0AoXvDEHOyc4-EP7Ke16A0&q=%22a+sedentary+lifestyle+is+associated+with%22&oq=%22a+sedentary+lifestyle+is+associated+with%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3...11150.18749.0.19277.24.23.1.0.0.0.352.3042.0j14j2j1.17.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..7.2.566...33i10k1.0.rpB4P6ya5iQ
Posted by: gigi | January 22, 2020 at 12:40
Vishaal,
gigi is right. The fact that your question contains the phrase "a sedentary lifestyle is gaining popularity" shows me that it isn't a real IELTS question.
I haven't checked the sites that you're using, but I would be cautious if I found language mistakes on a website that is supposed to be helping you.
Posted by: Simon | January 23, 2020 at 10:52