It’s generally believed that some people are born with certain talents

IELTS Writing Task 2 with sample answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

It’s generally believed that some people are born with certain talents, for instance for music and sport, and others are not. However it’s sometimes claimed that any child can be taught to become good sports person or musician.

Discuss the two ideas giving your opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.


Model Answer:

A commonly held belief is that some people have innate skills, especially in music and sport. The proponents of this opinion think of it as a gift which is impossible to attain only by training or practice. Yet others believe that any one can be good at sports or music if he gets proper training. I am of the honest opinion is that when it is about exceptionally talented; this is obviously a matter of gift.

To begin with, everybody has the ability to be good at anything through proper training and correct methods with strict discipline. People can acquire some skills when they are enthusiastic to be good in those skills. There are various institutions with particular purpose to train people in special skills. Interested people can learn particular skill from these institutions by dedicated practice.

It is, however, clear that some people are born with congenital talents such as sport and art skills. They have the natural ability of being good at particular fields. In this instance, I want to focus not on good but on exceptionally good. A case in point is a study by Drs. Micheal Lombardo and Robert Deaner of Grand Valley State University’s biology and psychology departments. Although, the study sample was small, but highly sophisticate. They select a field of twenty seven sprinters included 8 fastest male sprinters and 15 Olympic gold medalists in U.S history. They found that the most sprint champions were the fastest kids in their neighborhood, even before they did any formal training or received any coaching.

To put in a nutshell, I do not want to say that talent trumps everything. Obviously, the significance of training is undeniable, particularly the kinds of training focused by the deliberate practice model. But in extraordinary cases, inborn capacity comes first.