IELTS Writing Task 2 : Sample 31

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You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

In general, people do not have such a close relationship with their neighbors as they did in the past.

Why is this so, and what can be done to improve contact between neighbors?

Write at least 250 words

Response 1

Communication as a whole has plummeted in the last century, not only between neighbours. There are various factors that have caused this rift between neighbours of all sorts.

Neighbours are supposed to be tantamount to a backup family of sorts, in my opinion; at least that's how I perceive the relationship between neighbours to be like- with a few exceptions. These days, however, communication as a whole has been given an entirely new form and meaning. Some would argue that it has lost its meaning, considering the only communication there is now is via smartphones that lack the inherent characteristics of meaningful conversation- leading people to be more engrossed with trends, more than anything. Interactions with neighbours are also thought to be useless or unnecessary in an age where gain is the most imperative aspect of every interaction. Households are far more distracted with modern-day activities within their homes than good old gatherings with the neighbouring families, unfortunately.

In my opinion, food is the solution to most of these sort of problems. Sharing food brings people closer together. One family sharing a dish of good food with their neighbour ultimately forces one to acknowledge the other, resulting in what may seem as guilt that urges the receiving family to return the favours of the initiating family. Bonds eventually grow and if it the seed for social interaction with one's neighbours is planted, there's a good chance of the trend growing further. The elephant in the room of solutions to anti-socialism in neighbourhoods is obviously social media and technology. In this case, it should be 'out with the new and in with the old'.

Neighbours should be like a tightly knit family. Instead of living in digitized worlds, take a step into your backyard and unravel the magic there used to be when people spent more time under the sun instead of worrying so much about materialistic things.

Written by Wardah Razzaq.