Some suppose museums and art galleries should be free of charge for the general public, yet others claim a charge, even a voluntary charge, should be levied for admittance. Discuss both views, and give your opinion.

 There is no cast of shadow that funding of museums and art galleries is  Top of Form

One of the unresolved issues in today’s world. While there is an argument that they should be free to the general public and funded by governments, others believe that there is also a case for saying they should charge an entrance fee like other attractions.

Those who argue that museums should be free, typically make two arguments the first of which is that institutions like museums are a public service; therefore, there should be free access to the man in the street. If for example there was a charge, only the wealthy could afford to enjoy works of art. The second argument is that if they did levy a charge, fewer people would go to museums whose result would be detrimental as they are educational institutions and standards would fall.

In contrast, there is only one major argument on the other side of the debate that is both museums and art galleries need to charge an entrance fee; otherwise, they will not be able to survive in the modern world. Governments do not have sufficient funds to subsidize all such institutions; besides, there are other priorities for public money. Hence, these galleries and museums need to charge their customers not only to survive but to update their exhibitions and make new purchases. By way of illustration, the Tate Modern in London could not have been founded if it had not been for the revenue from admissions.

 To sum up, there are both pros and cons concerning this issue. Perhaps it is possible for some museums and galleries to charge fees and for others not to. Yet I should concede that plus points of charging an admission outnumber its minus points.

 Analysis

A. Task response:

1. The given topic has been covered most probably because the candidate has spent enough time on comprehending the topic before he/she started to write.

2. The candidate has expressed his own idea definitely concerning the topic not only in a separate paragraph (the 3^rd paragraph) but also in conclusion.

3. The central paragraphs of the essay have been supported with a range of approaches, (the 1^st one with example, the 2^nd one with example).

4. This candidate has applied 300 words, which has far exceeded the mentioned standard; consequently, it will be considered a weak point.

B. Coherence & cohesion:

1. The candidate has succeeded to express his/her position clearly using correct & appropriate structures besides topic-based lexicon.

2. This essay is both coherent (ideas have been arranged logically) & cohesive since the candidate has applied cohesive devices such as while, therefore, besides as well as transitions including in contrast. Needless to say, well-supported paragraphs are bound to be cohesive.

C. Grammar:

1. The candidate has used a different structures including conditional, past modal for, compound/complex structures; more importantly, they have been used correctly.

2. The candidate has paid special attention to punctuation.

D. Vocabulary:

1. This candidate has used a broad range of appropriate & various words whose collocations are correct, for instance unresolved, priority, concede, outnumber,…

۲٫ There is no sign of repetitive words or contractions in the essay; also, spelling and capitalization have been taken care of flawlessly.

Examiner’s final comment:

Totally, this essay seems good enough to be worthy of IELTS Band 7 because of the above-mentioned points.