English Practice

Lesson 5 of 6 · Band 8 target · Reading · 22 min · +40 XP

Track the writer's position and qualified claims

Track a writer's position and distinguish qualified agreement from a universal claim.

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Your exam technique

Identify whose view it is → preserve its conditions → check the exact statement.

Track who holds each view

A passage can describe an advocate's argument before the writer challenges it. Mark the source of a view: supporters, critics, or the writer. For Yes/No/Not Given questions, decide whether the statement matches the writer's claim, contradicts it, or is not established.

Preserve qualifications

Compare every part of a claim: who, what, when, and under which conditions. A proposal that may work with safeguards is not an endorsement without conditions. Outside knowledge, however reasonable, cannot replace the writer's evidence. Read the surrounding argument when a single sentence seems ambiguous.

Avoid this common mistake

A view attributed to supporters is not automatically the writer's position. Watch the writer's response and retain conditions such as only if or provided that.

See it in practice

Starting point

The writer says digital access can help when training is available. → Digital access always solves exclusion.

Using this skill

The writer supports digital access conditionally and treats training as part of the solution.

The qualification controls the claim. Removing it produces a stronger position than the writer expresses.

Reading practice

When a public service goes digital

Supporters of moving public services online often emphasise convenience. A resident can renew a permit without taking time away from work, while staff can spend less time entering routine information. These advantages are substantial, and there is little reason to preserve a slow process simply because it is familiar.

However, convenience for one group does not establish accessibility for everyone. Some residents share devices, have unreliable connections, or need assistance interpreting a form. A well-designed website may remove several barriers while leaving others untouched. Counting completed online applications therefore tells us relatively little about people who abandoned the process before submitting anything.

The strongest case for digital provision is consequently a conditional one. Authorities should simplify common transactions online while preserving a workable assisted route. This need not mean keeping every existing office unchanged. Shared support desks, telephone assistance, or scheduled local visits may serve residents more effectively, depending on local circumstances.

Evaluation should examine both successful use and exclusion. Researchers could ask who needs repeated help, whether errors are resolved, and how much time different groups spend completing the same task. Without such evidence, claims that a service has become universally accessible confuse a convenient channel with a complete solution. Digital provision deserves expansion when these practical conditions are addressed; its value is weakened by treating it as sufficient on its own.

01 / Check your understanding

Try the skill

Choose an answer for each question. You can try again after reading the feedback.

1. The writer believes an online service alone is sufficient for every resident.
2. The writer says telephone assistance costs less than every kind of support desk.

02 / Put it into words

Make it your own

Summarise the writer's position, identify its condition, and explain the evidence behind both quiz answers. Suggest one piece of information that would be needed to settle the cost comparison.

Write at least 65 words. Use the checklist and example to review your work; this exercise does not give an automatic IELTS score.

0 / 65 words minimum Save your response with the button below.

Before you finish

  • I represented the writer's own position accurately.
  • I retained the need for an assisted route.
  • I separated a contradiction from an absent cost comparison.
Read one possible response

Compare the choices this writer made with your own. Many different responses can work.

The writer supports expanding digital services when authorities also address exclusion and provide practical assistance. Online convenience alone is not sufficient, so the universal claim contradicts the argument. The claim about telephone costs is not given because no comparative costs appear. To settle it, we would need comparable figures for telephone support and each kind of support desk, including the resources required to handle similar requests. The writer's proposal is conditional support for digital provision, rather than an unconditional endorsement.

Earn 40 XP once by answering all questions correctly, reaching the response minimum, and reviewing your work.