貧富差距題看似抽象，實則有一套成熟的結構性分析語言——懂了立刻進 Band 7。本篇示範。

題目

In many major cities around the world, the gap between the richest and poorest residents has widened significantly over recent decades.

What are the main causes of this widening wealth inequality, and what measures could be taken to address it?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.

題型：Problem/Solution (causes + measures)。

完整範文（297 字）

¹ In cities from London to Taipei, the distance between the wealthiest residents and those struggling to afford a modest flat has grown dramatically over the last three decades, producing visibly divided neighbourhoods and rising social tension. ² This essay will identify two principal causes — housing-market concentration and the skewing of high-paid work towards a narrow group — before proposing paired fiscal and structural measures.

³ The most powerful driver of urban inequality is the housing market. ⁴ When residential property is increasingly treated as a financial asset, purchased by investors and wealthy overseas buyers rather than occupied by residents, rents and prices accelerate far faster than local wages, transferring enormous wealth from renters to owners. ⁵ A 2023 IMF study of twenty global cities found that median house prices had grown roughly three times faster than median incomes since 2010, with the steepest divergence in cities with the lightest regulation. ⁶ Compounding this is the concentration of highly paid professional work: finance, technology and elite legal services pay salaries that local service-sector workers cannot approach, creating two parallel urban economies in the same postcodes.

⁷ Addressing these causes requires both fiscal and structural tools. ⁸ Governments should introduce progressive property taxation, vacancy taxes and higher capital-gains duties on multiple-property owners, with the revenue ring-fenced for genuinely affordable housing. ⁹ Equally important is the supply side: zoning reform to allow denser, mixed-income developments and sustained public investment in social housing, as Vienna has maintained for decades with notable success. ¹⁰ Complementary measures — strengthened minimum wages, stronger rights for service-sector workers and better public transport between poorer districts and job-rich centres — would narrow the gap from the income side at the same time.

¹¹ In conclusion, urban wealth inequality is driven principally by financialised housing markets and the concentration of high-paid work, not by random market forces. ¹² Addressing it therefore demands coordinated tax, supply-side and labour-market reforms rather than isolated gestures.

句句解析

§1 — Intro

  • 句 1 (Hook with imagery): "In cities from London to Taipei, the distance between the wealthiest residents and those struggling to afford a modest flat..." — 地名對仗 + 具象化對比。
  • 句 2 (Signpost): "...identify two principal causes... before proposing paired fiscal and structural measures." — 預告 paired 結構。

§2 — Causes (two)

  • 句 3 (Cause 1): "The most powerful driver... is the housing market." — 單一核心原因。
  • 句 4 (Develop): "When residential property is increasingly treated as a financial asset, purchased by investors... rather than occupied by residents..." — passive + participle phrase。
  • 句 5 (Evidence): "A 2023 IMF study of twenty global cities... three times faster..." — 機構 + 規模 + 數字。
  • 句 6 (Cause 2): "Compounding this is the concentration of highly paid professional work..." — 倒裝 Compounding this is X ——高階句型。

"creating two parallel urban economies in the same postcodes" — 視覺化 consequence。

§3 — Solutions (paired)

  • 句 7 (Signpost): "Addressing these causes requires both fiscal and structural tools." — paired 明示。
  • 句 8 (Fiscal — for Cause 1 housing): "...progressive property taxation, vacancy taxes and higher capital-gains duties... ring-fenced for genuinely affordable housing." — 三個 parallel。
  • 句 9 (Structural — for Cause 1): "Equally important is the supply side: zoning reform... as Vienna has maintained for decades..." — 倒裝 + 真實城市範例。
  • 句 10 (Labour — for Cause 2): "Complementary measures — strengthened minimum wages, stronger rights for service-sector workers and better public transport..." — 三個 parallel + 對應 §2 Cause 2。

§4 — Conclusion

  • 句 11 (Restate causes): "...driven principally by financialised housing markets and the concentration of high-paid work, not by random market forces." — A-not-B 結構。
  • 句 12 (Restate solutions): "...coordinated tax, supply-side and labour-market reforms rather than isolated gestures." — 三 noun + rather than 對比。

四大評分項證據表

| 評分項 | 本篇證據 | Band | |--------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------| | Task Response | 兩個配對原因 + 三個配對解方（fiscal + structural + labour）；真實城市範例（Vienna）；結論呼應兩問；反對「隨機市場」論述 | 7 | | Coherence & Cohesion | 段落功能分明；signpost（paired fiscal and structural, Complementary measures）；倒裝；referent 穩定 | 7 | | Lexical Resource | Topic-specific（ring-fenced, zoning reform, vacancy taxes, capital-gains duties, mixed-income developments, financialised）；搭配（parallel urban economies） | 7 | | Grammar Range | Inversion（Compounding this is X; Equally important is Y）；passive（is increasingly treated, ring-fenced）；participle（creating two parallel economies）；em-dash parallel | 7 |

三個可複製的動作

1. 倒裝 Compounding this is X

句 6 的 "Compounding this is the concentration of highly paid professional work" ——第二個原因用倒裝開頭。Grammar Range 大加分，比 "Another cause is" 高階兩級。

2. Paired measures 標籤

Intro 寫 "paired fiscal and structural measures"，§3 的 signpost 再重複 "both fiscal and structural tools" ——讓評分員看到 problem 和 solution 完全對應。

3. 真實城市/國家範例

Vienna 社會住宅、新加坡組屋、倫敦 overseas buyer tax、紐約租金管制——Problem/Solution 題必須給一個真實 policy case。一個就夠，但要精準。

延伸閱讀：Task 2 五種題型判斷・Task 2 Problem/Solution 範文・Task 2 常考主題 · 金錢