Cambridge IELTS 5 Academic Writing Test 4 — Adapted Practice

The table shows the details regarding the underground railway systems in six cities.

London has the oldest underground railway systems among the six cities. It was opened in the year 1863. Paris is the second oldest, in which it was opened in the year 1900. This was then followed by the opening of the railway systems in Tokyo, Washington DC and Kyoto. Los Angeles has the newest underground railway system, and was only opened in the year 2001. In terms of the size of the railway systems, London, for certain, has the largest underground railway systems. It has 394 kilometres of route in total, which is nearly twice as large as the system in Paris. Kyoto, in contrast, has the smallest system. It only has 11 kilometres of route, which is more than 30 times less than that of London.

Interestingly, Tokyo, which only has 155 kilometres of route, serves the greatest number of passengers per year, at 1,927 million passengers. The system in Paris has the second greatest number of passengers, at 1,191 million passengers per year. The smallest underground railway system, Kyoto, serves the smallest number of passengers per year as predicted.

In conclusion, the underground railway systems in different cities vary a lot in the size of the system, the number of passengers served per year and in the age of the system.

Supplied commentary (unverified): Key features clearly identified, unexpected differences highlighted. Information well-organised with a good range of link words. Some less common vocabulary used; well-controlled grammar.

Today the way we consider human psychology and mental development is heavily influenced by the genetic sciences. We now understand the importance of inherited characteristics more than ever before. Yet we are still unable to decide whether an individual's personality and development are more influenced by genetic factors (nature) or by the environment (nurture).

Research, relating to identical twins, has highlighted how significant inherited characteristics can be for an individual's life. But whether these characteristics are able to develop within the personality of an individual surely depends on whether the circumstances allow such a development. It seems that the experiences we have in life are so unpredictable and so powerful, that they can boost or over-ride other influences, and there seems to be plenty of research findings to confirm this.

My own view is that there is no one major influence in a person's life. Instead, the traits we inherit from our parents and the situations and experiences that we encounter in life are constantly interacting. It is the interaction of the two that shapes a person's personality and dictates how that personality develops. If this were not true, then we would be able to predict the behaviour and character of a person from the moment they were born.

In conclusion, I do not think that either nature or nurture is the major influence on a person, but that both have powerful effects. How these factors interact is still unknown today and they remain largely unpredictable in a person's life.

Note: This model takes a balanced, nuanced position rather than picking one side. This is acceptable as long as the position is clearly stated and justified.