第二拨雅思作文，共四篇，其中三篇来自现在上初三、初二考过了CAE、已经半年没有正经学英语的中国孩子，一篇来自雅思官方样文，你能分出来吗？雅思评分的四大要素：task response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resources, and grammar range and accuracy.

Writing task:

You should spend 40 minutes on this task.

Car ownership has increased so rapidly over the past thirty years that many cities in the world are now "one big traffic jam". How true do you think this statement is? What measures can governments take to discourage people from using their cars?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experiences. Write at least 250 words.

Essay 1:

The growth of private car possession has lead to severe problems, the most significant among them being traffic jams. The aim of this essay is to assess the seriousness of the issue and to propose some appropriate solutions to it.

Traffic jams influence our lives negatively from two major aspects: time delays and pollution. For one thing, traffic jams occur frequently at rush hours, wasting considerable time in car journey and sometimes causing emergencies to delay. For another thing, traffic jams also allow the car gas emissions to build up in its long duration, which consequently fasten the deterioration of air environment.

Having assessed its seriousness, it is now the governments’ priority to undertake measures against it. First, the governments need to construct an efficient public transportation system that suits the citizens’ commuting need. Such system can diminish the public’s dependence on private cars by providing more convenient, more environmental friendly and yet cheaper transportation services. Many cities have already benefited from such measure, such as Amsterdam, Dubai and New York. 

Second, authorities should raise the public awareness of reducing car usage and taking public transport instead. The authorities are advised to reach the public via various practical approaches: creating official websites, holding saving campaigns, releasing social notices and interviewing the environmentalists. Benefits of these actions are particularly evident in the long term, ultimately discouraging car usage  and minimizing the occurrence of traffic jams.

In conclusion, the governments can approach the problem with the measures outlined above and solve traffic jams to a large extend. (255 words)     

Essay 2

A rapid growth in car ownership throughout the past thirty years has caused a series of traffic problems in metropolises, transforming their roads into a big parking lot. This is true in both cities of developed countries, the USA for example, and in a considerable amount of developing countries, for instance China and Brazil.

In order to improve the traffic, subsequently improving the efficiency of city life, measures should be carried out by local governments through discouraging people from car usage. Here are some possible methods.

First, to encourage an action is to discourage another, which means that a sophisticated public transport including buses and subways is desired. If such system has not yet come into existence, construction is required. If there is one already, low price policy and other financial supports may be helpful to increase its popularity.

Second, it is also possible to limit the use of the selling of cars by raising tax levels and banning a certain group of cars from driving out from time to time. This action is harsh and may receive great objections from the public, therefore should be placed under careful consideration before actual practice.

Finally, rewards can be given to citizens who reduce their car usage in the form of prizes, lower taxes or other benefits. this measure may be more welcomed than the second one, while it might face problems relating to how the reduction of car utilization can be measured.

Among the three measures, the first one is seemingly the most effective, for it solves the basic need of transportation as well. The other two can also be considered, and can be operated together with the first one. (279 words)

Essay 3

Most people would agree that car ownership has increased in recent years and is causing a range of problems, particularly in built-up areas. I think there are a number of ways that governments can aim to deal with this.

Many big cities in the world have traffic problems but these problems vary. For example, it is reasonably easy to drive around my city after 10 am and before 5 pm. However, outside these hours, you have to allow double the usual time to reach your destination. In some other cities, traffic is congested at all times, and there is the continual sound of car horns as people try to get wherever they want to go.

One of the best approaches governments can take in busy cities is to encourage the use of public transport. This means the transport facilities have to be well run and people must be able to afford them. Buses, trams and trains are good ways of getting around, and if they are cheap and reliable, people will use them.

Another approach is to discourage people from actually entering the city by building care parks and shopping centres on the outskirts. Many cities around the world do this quite successfully and offer passengers bus transport into the centre, if they need it.

At peak travel periods, governments can also run campaigns to encourage people to be less dependent on their cars. Apparently, a lot of car trips involve very short journeys to, say, the supermarket or local school. These are often unnecessary, but we automatically get in our cars without thinking.

Clearly we all have a responsibility to look after our cities. Governments can do a lot to improve the situation and part of what they do should involve encouraging individuals to consider alternatives to driving. (299 words)

Essay 4

Over the past three decades, the number of cars has expanded significantly, and lead to the emergence of a new urban problem: traffic jam.

The phenomenon is obvious: from New York to Beijing, from Moscow to Dubai, megacities are suffering from incapacitation of urban traffic during the rush hours.  Scientists have shown that tier 1 metropolises -- cities with population over 10 million -- being haunted by jamming traffic for four hours daily in average, and a few among them, the hours could be doubled. In tier 2 cities such as Turku, Kyoto, Nairobi or Memphis, the rush hour could still last for a few hours.

Apparently, the traffic dilemma are caused by the expanding ownership of cars. In the developed world, the total car number within a metropolis can reach more than 60% of its population, forming a rush of 5 million vehicles. Huge portion of private vehicle ownership has made cities literally "a big traffic jam", not to mention their heavy environmental burdens.

the feasible method to solution is the reduction of private cars on the road, which could be achieved by four methods conducted by the local government.

The first method is to increase the tax on vehicle sellers to uplift the price of cares. Secondly, taxing the gas providers facing the private sector, which can deter car owners from car travelling. Third, encourage public transports by funding and providing tax privileges. This could probably lower the cost of using public transports on a large scale, thus reduce the usage of private cars. The last measure for government is to provide dedicated routes for pedestrians, bicycles and buses, a possible effect of this measure has been shown by the example of Copenhagen, which eliminated the traffic jams by replacing its cars with bicycles in the 1970s.

With proper measures, the total number of cars on road could be reduced, and the existing traffic problems could be finally solved. (321 words)