Academic Task 2 · 306 words
Urban noise: target the source and the time
Connect health and daily-life problems to enforceable construction, traffic and street-design measures.
Study the method: Problems, causes and solutions: match the response to the question →
Develop the topic: Cities essays: test transport proposals, land-use choices and noise responses →
Band 7 goal: Cause–solution links
Develop and connect relevant ideas or select and compare the most useful details. This is a study route, not an examiner score assigned to the answer. How IELTS Writing is assessed.
The question
Noise from traffic and construction is increasing in many cities. What problems can this cause, and what measures could local authorities take to reduce it?
The sample answer
As cities become denser, more residents live close to busy roads and building sites. The resulting chronic disturbance can interrupt sleep, concentration and ordinary conversation. Local authorities cannot remove every sound from urban life, but they can reduce the most harmful exposure through enforceable time restrictions, quieter transport and physical design.
Noise is especially damaging when people cannot predict or escape it. A resident who is woken by heavy vehicles or drilling several nights each week may arrive at work tired and find it difficult to concentrate. Children completing homework in a flat beside a main road can face a similar problem even during the day. Chronic disturbance may also discourage people from opening windows or using balconies and shared outdoor areas. This reduces the practical value of their homes and can create conflict between neighbours, businesses and construction companies. The issue is therefore not simply that a sound is unpleasant; repeated exposure can interfere with rest, study and the reasonable use of living space.
Authorities should first enforce time restrictions on the loudest construction work and require contractors to publish a contact point for complaints. Emergency repairs would need an exception, but routine drilling should not continue late at night. On roads, lower night-time speed limits, well-maintained surfaces and restrictions on unnecessary heavy-vehicle routes could reduce noise near homes. Where traffic cannot be redirected, acoustic barriers or planted earth banks may help if they are designed without blocking safe pedestrian routes. Planning permission for new housing should also require bedrooms and ventilation to be arranged with the noisiest side of a site in mind.
In summary, uncontrolled urban noise can undermine sleep, concentration and the use of people's homes. A combination of enforceable working hours, quieter traffic management and carefully placed acoustic barriers would address specific sources while recognising that some city activity must continue.
Vocabulary in context
Each phrase appears in the answer above. Learn how it works, not just a replacement word.
- chronic disturbance
- Disruption that continues or returns repeatedly over a long period.
Chronic describes persistence here; it should not be used for one isolated loud event.
- time restrictions
- Rules limiting the hours during which an activity may occur.
Specify the controlled activity so the phrase represents an enforceable measure rather than a vague limit.
- acoustic barriers
- Structures designed to reduce the transmission of sound.
Use the term for a physical noise-control measure and acknowledge site or safety constraints where relevant.
Now make it your own
Choose either construction or traffic noise in a particular neighbourhood. Write one problem paragraph and one measure paragraph in which every proposed action responds to a stated source.
For a smaller practice step, use the explanation, knowledge check and self-review exercise in Answer the question you were given.
The practice link opens the original question, not a copy of this answer.
Open the writing workspaceMore examples of this question type
Answer the requested problems or causes, then explain how specific solutions address them.