IELTS Writing Task 2 (Exercises) : RELOCATING BUSINESSES

Topic: RELOCATING BUSINESSES

Words/Phrases

1. arise from (collocation)
2. as regards + N (collocation)
3. be placed under pressure (collocation)
4. city-based / rural-based (adj)
5. commuter (n)
6. commute (v)
7. divert (v)
8. downtown (adj/adv)
9. governor (n)
10. labour force (np)
11. mitigate (v)
12. on the verge of (collocation)
13. relocate (v) – relocation (n)
14. scenario (n)
15. shortage of (collocation)
16. substantial (adj)

Exercises

Task 1: Write sentences from given cues. Make changes to the cues when needed.

1. Introduction / railway / help / mitigate / shortage / public transport.
   ______________________________
2. Problem / arise / if / parents / approach / discipline / inconsistent.
   ______________________________
3. Defensiveness / natural response / people / who / be placed under pressure / justify/actions.
   ______________________________
4. Governor / deny / make / improper use / state money.
   ______________________________
5. Be / celebrity / look / nice / but / job / require / a lot / relocation.
   ______________________________

Task 2: Fill in the blanks with suitable words/phrases

arise from (collocation)	governor (n)
as regards + N (collocation)	labour force (np)
be placed under pressure (collocation)	mitigate (v)
city-based / rural-based (adj)	on the verge of (collocation)
commuter (n)	relocate (v) – relocation (n)
divert (v)	scenario (n)
downtown (adj/adv)	shortage of (collocation)
	substantial (adj)

With many problems of transport and accommodation in cities, some governments are encouraging businesses to move to rural areas.

Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

In recent decades, the increasingly serious problems of accommodation and transport in many cities have caused some 1___________to consider a new policy in which companies are encouraged to 2___________to countryside regions. While this policy has a number of drawbacks, I contend that the benefits of it are far weightier.

There are a few disadvantages 3___________the policy of encouraging enterprises to move out of urban areas. The wave of urban-rural business 4___________may leave a number of 5___________employees 6___________unemployment unless these people accept to travel long distances to work. Even in the 7___________that they do accept, there is still another drawback to consider. As the number of urban-rural 8___________increases, the city public transport network will 9___________.

However, I believe that the advantages of such a policy far outweigh the disadvantages. The most outstanding benefit is that once businesses are relocated to the countryside, their employees will not have to seek accommodation in the city centre, and the 10___________of housing in 11___________areas can be 12___________. 13___________traffic, this policy can 14___________the rural-based labour force to yet undeveloped areas. Therefore, the traffic flow into a city on a daily basis is significantly reduced. Finally, such relocation has a 15___________advantage of creating more job opportunities and thus economic benefits to the local community in rural regions.

All the aforementioned points provide a compelling argument in favour of an urban-rural business relocation policy, despite some potential drawbacks.

251 words

Key/Answer

Task 1:

1. The introduction of railway helped mitigate the shortage of public transport.
2. Problems arise if the parents’approach to discipline is inconsistent.
3. Defensiveness is a natural response of people who are placed under pressure to justify their actions.
4. The governor has denied/denied making improper use of state money.
5. Being a celebrity looks nice, but this job requires a lot of relocation.

Task 2:

• (1) governors
• (2) relocate
• (3) arising from
• (4) relocation
• (5) city-based
• (6) on the verge of
• (7) scenario
• (8) commuters
• (9) be placed under pressure
• (10) shortage
• (11) downtown
• (12) mitigated
• (13) As regards
• (14) divert
• (15) substantial