Igcse English as a second language (0511) article writing

exploring space and government funds

Question: give your views on whether the government should spend money on exploring space, by writing an article. The word limit is 210 words

I got this question from exercise 7 of paper 2 variant 1 of summer 2017 igcse English as a second language (0511).

The article: (224 words)

A wise use of the economy consists of investing in practical long term and short term projects. Although investing in space exploration may help solve some environmental issues, it will ultimately do more harm than good. This is because of factors such as the amount of focus the project would require and its impracticality.

Renowned economist Richard Ludwig, once said 'Public facilities are the culmination of the trust between the government and the people!' Public opinion is shaped and sculpted by the services available to them and good facilities are like sharp knives, carving out a relationship between government and public, one that is strong and sturdy. Therefore investing in space exploration will do more harm than good as it will lead to less funding of public facilities.

A Vision is a double-edged sword, it can truly make or break a project. In the current governments case, this vision will break the project. As both the cause and the goals set out are impractical, and when this is the case, failure is inevitable.

On the other hand, exploration may help solve such environmental problems as global warming. This would be a direct result of having lifted the burdens of industry on earth and having placed them on another planet.

In conclusion, space exploration isn't beneficial as it comes with the consequences of losing trust and almost inevitable failure.

Since you already knew beforehand that you are allowed to write only up to 210 words, why did you present me with a 224 word essay to review? You do know that you will be expected to edit your writing for word count and clarity during the actual test right? It is best that you begin that practice during your practice essays. That way you will be automatically trained to edit your word count, along with the clarity of the presentation. Remember to automatically do that next time. You will benefit from it during the actual test.

The first sentence of your article should be directly related to space exploration. When writing articles, the first sentence should always kick off with a topic sentence because the reader expects to be clued into the content of the presentation paragraph right off. I am not sure how beneficial the quote from Richard Ludwig will be during the actual test since you may not have the benefit of using the internet at the testing center. So it is better to stick to a personalized discussion of the given topic.

Kindly remember to proof read your paper for grammar and writing errors prior to submission. Failure to proofread results in words that do not need to be capitalized being capitalized and remaining so without correction. Such errors will affect your score because of your grammar rule violation. Proof reading and editing is of the utmost importance in any English language test as it proves your ability to correctly use the English language in the manner required.