Increasing the price of cars and petrol is one of the best ways to solve growing traffic and pollution problems. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

解析&审题

 

关于“城市”的话题，无疑是雅思考试中相当常见的话题，仅2016-2017年就出现了11次之多，又可分为如下4个小类：

 

1. 交通类：

2016/1/30：高峰时期征收拥堵税，能有效减轻城市交通拥挤吗？

2017/1/22: 城市无车日是好还是坏？

2017/1/21: 全天候提供免费交通是解决城市交通阻塞的办法吗？

2. 建筑类：

2016/4/16：新建城市时，应该多建公园和体育设施，还是购物中心？

2016/8/27: 城镇空地里应该多种树，还是多建房？

2017/12/2: 城市旧建筑应该拆除吗？

3. 功能类：

2016/11/3: 过去修建的城市已经不适合现在，什么原因？解决办法？

2017/7/27: 城市实行功能分区好吗？

4. 生活类：

2016/9/24: 城市居民很少相互交往。为什么？怎么解决？

2017/6/3: 生活在大城市不利于身体健康吗？

2017/11/25: 城市扩张给年轻人带来什么问题？怎么解决？

 

本次考试涉及的是“城市-交通”类话题：提高车价格和油价是改善城市交通状况的办法之一吗？
 

不难看出，这个话题2016年1月30日、2017年1月21日的考题异曲同工，都要求讨论某种办法能否有效解决城市交通问题。大家可以看看这两道题目：

 

The best way to solve traffic congestion is to provide free public transport 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Do you agree or disagree? (2017/1/21; 2014/1/9)

 

In some countries, the government has tried to reduce traffic by imposing a congestion tax during rush hour. Do you think this is a positive or negative development?  (2016/1/30)

 

其中，2016年1月30日问的是高峰时期征收拥堵税能否改善交通，2017年1月21日问的是提供全天候免费公共交通能否解决交通堵塞，而本次考题提出的解决办法则是提高车价和油价。那么，面对这个问题，我们应该如何思考呢？

 

本篇范文的立场还是双边讨论：即首先讨论提高车价和油价的确有助于解决交通阻塞问题和污染问题（本次考试题目中提到了污染，写作时一定不要忘记！），然后提出这并不是最有效的办法，因为提高车价和油价对那些的确需要用车的人来说又是不公平的。因此，解决交通问题的最有效的办法应该是多修路，并提高人们遵守交通规则的意识，或者通过远程办公等方法减少人们用车的机会。

 

 

老师笔记

 

01

 

Recently, it is proposed that the price of cars and petrol be increased to combat the growing traffic and pollution problems. While I think this proposal may be helpful to a certain extent, it is far from the best solution.

 

最近，有人建议提高汽车和汽油的价格，以对付日益严重的交通和污染问题。虽然我认为这个建议在一定程度上是有帮助的，但它远非的解决方案。

 

解析

（1）本段是一个常规的雅思作文开头段，直接转述题目中的观点，然后给出自己的观点。注意在转述题目观点时做了一定改变，比如改变了题目句型，用了it is proposed that...，同时将原文中的solve改成了combat。

（2）combat 与...斗争；防止

（3）to a certain extent 在某种程度上

（4）far from... 远非；一点也不

 

02

 

Undoubtedly, the increased price of cars and petrol will discourage people fromowning and using their own cars, which will surely contribute to the solution oftraffic congestion and make big cities cleaner. Our modern lifestyle has made carsindispensable, but in many cases we can use public transport services such as buses and metro, or even ride bicycles, rather than driving our own cars. So if driving our own cars were made a great deal more expensive than using the public transport, many of us would very probably give up driving and opt for the moreeconomical means. As a result, the road conditions and air quality in cities will be improved.

 

毫无疑问，汽车和汽油价格的上涨会阻止人们拥有和使用自己的汽车，这肯定会有助于解决交通拥堵问题，并使大城市更加清洁。我们的现代生活方式使汽车不可或缺，但在许多情况下，我们可以使用公共交通服务，如公共汽车和地铁，甚至骑自行车，而不是自己开车。所以当我们驾驶自己的汽车比乘坐公共交通工具要昂贵得多，我们中的许多人很可能会放弃驾驶，选择更经济的方式。这样，城市里的道路状况和空气质量将得到改善。

 

解析

（1）本段论述汽车和汽油价格上涨会改善城市交通，减少污染。

（2）discourage people from doing... 阻止人们做......

（3）contribute to... 有助于......

（4）traffic congestion 交通阻塞

（5）indispensable 不可或缺的

（6）opt for... 选择......

（7）economical 经济的

 

 

 

03

 

However, increasing the price of cars and petrol may cause unexpected problems. For one thing, it is not fair to those who depend their life on driving cars. Taxi drivers, for instance, may fall victim to this policy because the cost of their operation will go up and they can make less money out of this business. For another, as the higher price of cars and petrol prevents people with average income from driving their cars, it can do nothing to those really wealthy. Then we will face an awkward situation where the rich people enjoy the luxury of cars while most others have to suffer in the crowded public transport.

 

然而，提高汽车和汽油的价格可能会造成意想不到的问题。首先，这对那些靠开车为生的人是不公平的。例如，出租车司机可能会成为这项政策的牺牲品，因为他们的经营成本会上升，从这项业务中赚到的钱就更少。另一方面，由于汽车和汽油的价格上涨，使普通收入的人不开车，但对那些真正富有的人则没有丝毫影响。这样，我们将面临一个尴尬的局面：富人享受汽车的奢华，而其他大多数人则不得不在拥挤的公共交通受苦。

 

解析

（1）本段讨论汽车和汽油价格上涨会带来的问题：让出租司机的成本上涨，让普通人和有钱人的对比更明显。

（2）unexpected 意想不到的

（3）depend their life on... 以......维生

（4）fall victim to... 沦为......的牺牲品

（5）awkward 尴尬的

（6）luxury 奢华

 

04

 

Therefore, to deal with the traffic and pollution problems, increasing the price of cars and petrol is not enough. The best thing for the government to do is perhaps make more investments on the construction of new roads, and introduce stricter traffic laws, rules and regulations. Meanwhile, if new environmentally friendlyenergy such as solar energy were developed and widely used, the pollution problem would also be effectively lessened.

 

因此，要处理交通和污染问题，只提高汽车和汽油的价格是不够的。对政府来说的做法也许是投资更多来修建新路，并引入更严格的交通法规和规章。同时，如果开发和广泛应用太阳能等新型的环保能源，污染问题也会有效地减少。

 

解析

 （1）本段结论，并提出解决交通阻塞和污染问题的更合理的办法。注意本段在提出建议时使用的两个句型：the best thing for the government to do is perhaps ...; if new environmentally friendly energy were developed, the pollution problem would also be effectively lessened. 这两个句型都避免了使用should, ought to这样口气过于生硬的建议。

（2）investment 投资

（3）construction 建设

（4）introduce 引入

（5）environmentally friendly 对环境友好的

（6）lessen 减少

 

 

 

 

本场考试范文

Recently, it is proposed that the price of cars and petrol be increased to combat the growing traffic and pollution problems. While I think this proposal may be helpful to a certain extent, it is far from the best solution.

 

Undoubtedly, the increased price of cars and petrol will discourage people from owning and using their own cars, which will surely contribute to the solution of traffic congestion and make big cities cleaner. Our modern lifestyle has made cars indispensable, but in many cases we can use public transport services such as buses and metro, or even ride bicycles, rather than driving our own cars. So if driving our own cars were made a great deal more expensive than using the public transport, many of us would very probably give up driving and opt for the more economical means. As a result, the road conditions and air quality in cities will be improved.

 

However, increasing the price of cars and petrol may cause unexpected problems. For one thing, it is not fair to those who depend their life on driving cars. Taxi drivers, for instance, may fall victim to this policy because the cost of their operation will go up and they can make less money out of this business. For another, as the higher price of cars and petrol prevents people with average income from driving their cars, it can do nothing to those really wealthy. Then we will face an awkward situation where the rich people enjoy the luxury of cars while most others have to suffer in the crowded public transport.

 

Therefore, to deal with the traffic and pollution problems, increasing the price of cars and petrol is not enough. The best thing for the government to do is perhaps make more investments on the construction of new roads, and introduce stricter traffic laws, rules and regulations. Meanwhile, if new environmentally friendly energy such as solar energy were developed and widely used, the pollution problem would also be effectively lessened.

 (333 words)