Resolving a problem

Describing the issue

The problem is . . .
What happened was . . .
I'm sorry to say (that) . . .

These are common expressions for presenting issues. You can use I'm sorry to say if
you feel you need to be critical about something. It means you don't really want to say
something but you think you should.

What happened was they missed the production deadline.

The problem is the sales forecasts aren't accurate.
I'm sorry to say that she doesn't communicate very well.

Discussing options
What are our options?
What do you think?
What are your thoughts?
One thing we could do is . . .
(Perhaps) we could . . .
(I think) we should. . .
If . . . , will / won't . . .

These are neutral ways to ask for ideas and offer suggestions. If you are confident
about a suggestion, you could use (I think) we should . . . You use if . . . , will / won't . .
. (the first conditional) to describe the probable result of something.

We need to reduce shipping costs. What are our options?

One thing we could do is economize on packaging.
Perhaps we could offer a bulk-order discount. What do you think, Sam?
I think we should register our trademark before production starts.
If you don't have a receipt, the store won't replace the product.

Form:
Perhaps we could / I think we should + infinitive without to
If + subject + present simple, + subject + will / won't + infinitive without to

Taking action
Let's . . .
I'll . . .
These are common ways to suggest what action to take next. Let's is a contraction
of Let us. Saying Let's is an informal way to make a group decision about something.

Let's keep a record of all customer issues.

I'll update the database and email it to you.

Form:
Let's / I'll + infinitive without to
Task Analysis

2/5

Problem–solution essay
One common type of essay in Task 2 of the IELTS Writing exam describes a problem
and asks you to suggest a solution or solutions.

Here is an example question:

Write about the following topic:

In most countries, serious crimes are usually punished with a prison sentence. What
problems are associated with this and what are some possible solutions?

Write at least 250 words.

The question may also ask you about the causes of a problem, for example:

Write about the following topic:

Many people who come out of prison return to committing crime. What are the causes
of this and what are some possible solutions?

Write at least 250 words.

The essay structure

Most essays follow a similar structure:

1. Introduction

In the introduction, you paraphrase the first part of the question and say in general
terms what problems are caused by the situation mentioned in the question (or what the
causes of the problem are, if the question asks for this) and what possible solution there
is.

Example:

Throughout the world, people who commit crimes are sent to prison. Life in prison often
results in individuals becoming more involved in crime. I would therefore argue that
education might be a more appropriate solution in many cases, particularly for young
offenders.
2. Main body

The body of the essay will typically have three or four paragraphs. Each one generally
contains one main idea – either one problem (or cause), or one solution, and an
example to support your argument.

Example (one of three or four paragraphs):

One problem of prison life is that it does not develop people's skills in a way that could
improve their chances of living an independent life outside prison. If they come out of
prison no better than they went in, they will find it even harder to survive, because they
face the additional problem of employers not wanting to take on ex-prisoners. In that
situation, crime may seem to be their only option to earn money.

3. Conclusion

The conclusion should summarise the problems (or causes) and your suggested
solution. It should not include new ideas.

Example:

To sum up, we certainly need to do more to prepare convicts for life after prison. I
believe that if we were able to re-educate criminals, we could not only reduce the crime
rate, but also give them a chance to recognize their mistakes and live a life they can be
proud of.

Useful language

Here are some collocations that are useful for this kind of essay:

face a problem

a problem occurs/arises

the source/origin of a problem

solve/resolve a problem

find a solution to a problem

deal with a problem

take measures/steps/a course of action (to solve a problem)

Summary
Prison is the traditional punishment for crime in most countries, but it often
makes individuals commit more crime. Education might be more effective, especially
for the young. Prison doesn't give prisoners the skills they'll need to find work when
they leave prison; also, employers don't usually like employing ex-prisoners, so crime
might be the only option they have. Prison is the perfect place to network and make
new criminal contacts, which also makes it more likely that ex-prisoners will go back to
crime on release . Given the chance, most offenders would prefer training to
punishment, which would increase their chance of finding work. We should educate
prisoners to prepare them for release. This should cut the crime rate and make it less
likely that offenders will go back to crime.
 Crime experts were asked for their opinions about how to tackle crime in big cities. Here
are some of their suggestions:

 Focus on hotspots. We know the areas where most crime takes place; if
we focus (focus) our resources on those areas, it will produce the best results.
 Target the "hot people". We would have (have) the best chance of reducing
homicides, for examples, if we concentrated our attention on males between 15
and 29 years old.
 Treat crime like a disease. If you find (find) the reasons why people get involved
in crime, you have a chance of "treating" those reasons.
 Get them early. We are (be) more likely to keep people away from a life of crime
if we educate them young.
 Tackle poverty. If everyone had (have) enough money to live, fewer people would
turn to crime to get money.
 Reduce inequality. Statistics show that if the income difference between the richest
and poorest is (be) relatively low, there is less crime.
 Aim for prevention. You can reduce crime more efficiently if you make
sure (make sure) a person doesn't commit a crime – look for people at risk of
falling into a criminal life and stop them.
 Control guns. If there were (be) no guns, gun crime wouldn't exist – it's that sim
rich people and multinational corporations often avoid taxes or do not pay
taxes. This happens because they often manipulate the amount of income or
assets they have. Most wealthy people and multinational corporations choose
not to report the amount of their income and wealth as they should, or only to
report the amount of their income and assets at a much lower value than they
should. This they do so that they do not have to pay taxes in large amounts or
even do not have to pay taxes on what they have because these assets have
never been reported. Not only manipulating the amount of assets and income,
but also in spending they often avoid taxes. This usually happens when rich
people and multinational companies make purchases of goods from abroad
that should be taxed but in some way they do so that they do not have to pay
taxes or only pay taxes of much less value. Tax avoidance is a particular thing
that is quite disturbing and detrimental to the state because this often happens
even repeatedly. Therefore, the government should tighten more regarding
the handling of special taxes to provide a deterrent effect. The government
must ensure repeatedly regarding asset data when reporting taxes with real
assets owned, and check in more detail about every item brought in from
abroad whether the item should be taxed or not. And if there is evidence of tax
violations, the order must provide severe penalties and large fines, so that the
incident of avoiding tax will not happen again. And for some people who
intend to avoid taxes will be repeated because the risk is heavy. Many rich
people and large companies seem to manage to avoid paying tax. When this
happens, a country has less money to provide essential services; it also
makes it difficult for smaller, tax-paying businesses to compete, and creates a
society where there seem to be different rules for the rich. To prevent these
things from happening, holes in the system that allow businesses and
individuals to avoid tax must be closed. Governments make most of their
money through taxes. They use them to pay for hospitals, schools, police,
transport systems, care for the elderly and disabled, etc. If tax payment can
be avoided, there will not be as much money as planned for these vital
services. Large online companies currently find it easy to avoid tax because
they are not in the countries where they do business. Their local competitors,
however, have to pay tax, and so are at a disadvantage. When wealthy
individuals avoid tax, it increases the gap between them and the ordinary
people who earn less money but still have to pay tax – this creates a less fair
society. In order to fight the problem, governments must ban schemes where
people can hide their money without paying tax. It needs to chase big
companies and the wealthy in the same way as ordinary people who have not
paid their tax. If a government was determined enough to create a fair system
and to punish the richest in society for avoiding tax, then the amount of tax it
received would greatly increase, and traditional, local businesses would be
better able to compete against global online giants.

volume_up
content_copy
share
star_border
More about this source text
Source text required for additional translation information
Send feedback

Side panels