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January 2009

IELTS exam in Sydney, Australia – January 2009 (Academic Module)

This is what our friend M from Sydney, Australia remembers about his recent Academic IELTS exam:

Reading test

Surprisingly, the first passage was much harder than the other two. That is not what I had expected.

Writing test

Task 1 (report)
There was a bar graph to describe.

Task 2 (essay)
Some people think that technology is increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. Discuss and give your own opinion.

Speaking test
The questions were about your best friend.

IELTS Letter, topic: Complaint about a rental car

You rented a car from a Car Rental Company. The air conditioner has stopped working. You phoned the company a week ago but it still has not been repaired.

Write a letter to the company. In your letter
– introduce yourself
– explain the situation
– say what action you would like to company to take.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to complain about the air conditioner in my car, which I from your company for two weeks. Unfortunately, it has stopped working.

I rented 8 days ago. number is 1230. Actually, I was on my way from Jacksonville to Miami, although the atmosphere temperature was cooler, suddenly a sound came from the engine. At first, I thought that the engine belt broken and I not be able to drive the car . However, when I felt no air coming from the air conditioner, I realized it stopped working.

Naturally, when I got back home I immediately contacted your customer care center and registered my complaint. They issued me a complaint number 234343 and said that they will send a technician my house within business days to get it repaired. Almost one week has passed since I called, but still it is not being repaired.

I am not at all satisfied with your customer service. In case you can’t resolve my problem within 2 business days after the receipt of this letter, I want a complete refund of the car rental payment which I made in advance, $200.

Yours faithfully,
Hasnain Siraj

This is a good letter. It has the right structure, covers the task, the paragraphs are connected together by linking words and the sentences are well-structured. The grammar needs some attention, especially the prepositions and the way you use tenses (see comments underlined in blue). Overall, this looks like a Band 6.5 – 7 letter.

Click here to see more IELTS letters of band 7

rented
a Mercedes Benz
join this and the previous sentences together
what happened is when
was
might
any further
had
to
two to three (use words, not figures)
a total amount of