The Policy Levers
Eight levers on one panel, each drawn as the action its verb actually performs.
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Every one of these does something specific. The last one does nothing at all.
Propose solutions with verbs that name the actual policy mechanism, replacing the vague claim that the government should do something.
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"The government should take action" is a wish. These eight verbs name what would actually be done.
The government should take action to solve this problem.
Read that again as an examiner. What would happen on Monday morning? Nothing has been proposed. The sentence restates the problem and adds the word should.
A Band 7 solution paragraph names the mechanism:
Governments could subsidise insulation for older homes and phase out gas boilers over a decade.
Now something specific happens. And notice: neither of those verbs is rare. You already knew both.
Eight levers on one panel, each drawn as the action its verb actually performs.
Every one of these does something specific. The last one does nothing at all.
Match each verb to the government action it actually describes.
Terms
Definitions
Three decisions settled by whether the thing already exists.
One
The situation: the law already exists, but almost nobody obeys it and nobody is penalised.
Candidates: implement / enforce
The expert chooses:
Because:
Two
The situation: the government wants households to install heat pumps, and plans to pay part of the purchase price.
Candidates: subsidise / incentivise
The expert chooses:
Because:
Three
The situation: the writer wants to propose ending petrol car sales, but knows an immediate ban would be attacked as unrealistic.
Candidates: ban / phase out
The expert chooses:
Because:
Six gaps across a Task 2 solution paragraph. Each situation points to one verb.
How can cities reduce air pollution?
Several practical measures are available, and they do not all require new legislation.
Most cities already have emissions limits for commercial vehicles; the difficulty is that these are rarely checked. Simply choosing to the rules that already exist would deliver an immediate improvement at almost no cost.
Where new measures are needed, governments could a low-emission zone in the city centre, charging the most polluting vehicles to enter.
Cost remains the main barrier to cleaner transport for most households. Authorities could electric vehicles directly, covering part of the purchase price.
Alternatively, they could companies to convert their fleets, by offering tax relief to those that do so within five years.
Older diesel buses need not be scrapped overnight; they could be over a decade as replacements arrive, which is both cheaper and more politically achievable.
Above all, cities should investment in public transport over new road capacity, since every additional lane eventually fills.
Propose two solutions and find out whether each names a real mechanism or restates a wish.
Problem: too much household waste goes to landfill instead of being recycled.
The test: what would physically be different the day after your measure took effect? If you cannot answer that, you have written a wish, not a proposal.
Two sentences. A different mechanism verb in each.
Concrete and physical. If you cannot say, the measure was a wish.