Thao Ngo IELTS Student's Edition
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THAO NGO IELTS
MTESOL · Academic Director · IELTS–AI Trainer
IELTS Writing Task 2 · Essay Outline

Discourage Non-essential Flights or Limit Cars? — 28.09.2026

Essay type: Opinion (agree / disagree — to what extent)Band 6.5-8.0Stance: Partly agreeTarget ≈ 300 wordsModel essay: Band 8.0
Student's Edition
Ngô Đức Thảo
Ngô Đức Thảo
MTESOL · Academic Director
Task 2 Topic

One long-distance flight consumes fuel which a car uses in several years' time, but they cause the same amount of pollution. So some people think that we should discourage non-essential flights, such as tourist travel, rather than limit the use of cars.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?

1Task analysis

ItemDetail
Essay typeOpinion (agree / disagree — to what extent)
Main topicWhether reducing unnecessary flights (e.g. tourism) is a better environmental priority than limiting car use
Keywordslong-distance flight · fuel · pollution · discourage non-essential flights · tourist travel · rather than limit the use of cars
Task focusCompare two policies: discouraging non-essential flights vs limiting car use, and decide which should come first
Required positionSay clearly how far you agree or disagree and keep the same position in every paragraph
Plain-English meaningOne long flight burns as much fuel as a car in several years. Should we focus on reducing holiday flights instead of reducing car use?
Hidden trapNote rather than — the statement says flights instead of cars. You can agree flights matter more per trip but argue that cars should still be limited too
Chosen stancePartly agree. Curbing leisure aviation is an efficient and equitable priority, but cars account for a far larger share of total transport emissions, so policy should target both rather than choose between them
Main-idea planBP1 → per trip, leisure flights are hugely carbon-intensive and concentrated among a wealthy minority · BP2 → in aggregate, road transport emits far more, so limiting cars remains essential

2Idea generation

Body 1 — Why aviation deserves priority

  • Extreme carbon intensity per trip ✓ strongest
  • Emissions concentrated among a wealthy minority of frequent flyers
  • No low-carbon alternative fuel at scale yet dự phòng

Body 2 — Why cars cannot be ignored

  • Road transport accounts for a much larger share overall ✓ strongest
  • Cities can cut car use through transit and pricing
  • Electric cars are a feasible solution, unlike planes dự phòng

✓ strongest = ý dùng trong bài mẫu · dự phòng = ý thay thế, không có trong bài mẫu.

3Skeleton

Introduction
  • General statement: Flight vs years of driving
  • Paraphrased task: Rewrite: discourage leisure flights instead of cars
  • Thesis: Partly agree
Body 1: Huge emissions per trip; wealthy minority → efficient, fair target
Body 2: Cars emit more in aggregate; cut both, not either-or
Conclusion: Restate the opinion → summarise both reasons → final thought

4Plan & write your paragraphs

How to use: Read the main idea, tap the cue words to add them to the box, then write your own sentence. Your essay is built automatically at the bottom and saved in this browser.

Introduction(50–70 words)

0 words
Goal: Topic → rewrite the statement → give your opinion.
General statement
Main idea: Flight vs years of driving
Starter: The comparison between a … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Paraphrased task
Main idea: Rewrite: discourage leisure flights instead of cars
Starter: On this basis, some … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Thesis
Main idea: Partly agree
Starter: I partly agree, as … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.

Body Paragraph 1 — Why aviation deserves priority(100–125 words)

0 words
Goal: Reason 1: explain it and give an example.
Topic sentence
Main idea: Strong grounds
Starter: There are strong grounds … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Explanation 1
Main idea: Carbon-intensive choice
Starter: Few individual choices are … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Example
Main idea: Affluent minority, progressive levy
Starter: Crucially, these emissions are … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Explanation 2
Main idea: No zero-carbon aviation yet
Starter: Unlike road transport, aviation … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Further development
Main idea: Large gains, modest sacrifice
Starter: Discouraging leisure flights, therefore … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Link
Main idea: Persuasive
Starter: This much of the … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.

Body Paragraph 2 — Why cars cannot be ignored(100–125 words)

0 words
Goal: Reason 2: explain it and give an example.
Topic sentence
Main idea: Conclusion does not follow
Starter: Nevertheless, the conclusion that … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Explanation 1
Main idea: Road transport larger share
Starter: Although each flight is … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Example
Main idea: Copenhagen example
Starter: Moreover, car use is … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Explanation 2
Main idea: EVs decarbonise roads
Starter: Electric vehicles also offer … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Further development
Main idea: Ignoring cars neglects largest source
Starter: Were governments to ignore … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Link
Main idea: Complementary
Starter: The two measures are … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.

Conclusion(40–55 words)

0 words
Goal: Repeat your opinion, sum up both reasons, final thought. No new ideas!
Restated thesis
Main idea: Partly agree
Starter: In conclusion, I partly … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Summary
Main idea: Flights intensive; cars larger total
Starter: Leisure flights are exceptionally … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.
Final thought
Main idea: Address both
Starter: Effective climate policy must … ·
Tap a cue word to insert it at the cursor.

📝 My essay

✓ saved

5Language bank (Band 6.5-8.0)

Mỗi đoạn có bảng collocation riêng. ✓ = có trong bài mẫu · + = cụm mở rộng để học viên tự dùng. 7.0 = nền tảng · 8.0 = nâng band.

Introduction

CollocationFormVietnameseBandBài mẫu
a single long-haul flightnoun phrasemột chuyến bay đường dài7.0✓
vividly illustratesverb + advminh hoạ sống động8.0✓
the environmental cost of air travelnoun phrasecái giá môi trường của việc đi máy bay8.0✓
discourage leisure flightsverb + nounhạn chế các chuyến bay giải trí7.0✓
private carsadj + nounô tô cá nhân7.0✓
deserves priorityverb + nounđáng được ưu tiên8.0✓

Body Paragraph 1 — Why aviation deserves priority

CollocationFormVietnameseBandBài mẫu
strong groundsadj + nouncơ sở vững chắc7.0✓
a policy prioritynoun + nounưu tiên chính sách8.0✓
as carbon-intensive asadv + adjthâm dụng carbon như8.0✓
a return flight between continentsnoun phrasechuyến bay khứ hồi liên lục địa7.0✓
an entire yearadj + nouncả một năm7.0✓
a relatively affluent minoritynoun phrasemột nhóm thiểu số tương đối giàu có8.0✓
a levy on frequent flyingnoun phrasekhoản thuế đánh vào người bay thường xuyên8.0✓
effective and progressiveadv + adjhiệu quả và mang tính lũy tiến8.0✓
a viable zero-carbon technologynoun phrasecông nghệ không phát thải khả thi8.0✓
reducing demandverb + noungiảm nhu cầu7.0✓
substantial gainsadj + nounlợi ích đáng kể7.0✓

Body Paragraph 2 — Why cars cannot be ignored

CollocationFormVietnameseBandBài mẫu
does not followverb phrasekhông hợp lý (không suy ra được)7.0✓
highly pollutingadv + adjgây ô nhiễm cao7.0✓
road vehiclesnoun + nounphương tiện đường bộ7.0✓
in aggregateprep phrasetính tổng thể8.0✓
a considerably larger share ofnoun phrasemột tỷ trọng lớn hơn đáng kể8.0✓
cycling infrastructurenoun + nounhạ tầng xe đạp7.0✓
dramatically lower dependenceverb phrasegiảm mạnh sự phụ thuộc8.0✓
a practical path to decarbonisingnoun phrasecon đường thực tế để khử carbon8.0✓
the largest source of the problemnoun phrasenguồn lớn nhất của vấn đề7.0✓
complementary, not alternativesadv + adjbổ sung chứ không thay thế8.0✓

Conclusion

CollocationFormVietnameseBandBài mẫu
In conclusionlinkertóm lại7.0✓
non-essential flightsadj + nouncác chuyến bay không thiết yếu7.0✓
at the expense ofprep phraseđánh đổi bằng8.0✓
exceptionally carbon-intensiveadv + adjđặc biệt thâm dụng carbon8.0✓
more emissions in totalnoun phrasenhiều khí thải hơn tính tổng7.0✓
effective climate policynoun phrasechính sách khí hậu hiệu quả8.0✓

Useful structures

6Self-check before you submit

7🔒 Model Essay (Band 8.0)

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