ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 1 Question 1: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The table below gives information about changes in modes of travel in England between 1985 and 2000. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words. Average distance in miles travelled per person per year, by mode of travel 1985 Walking Bicycle Car Local bus Long distance bus Train Taxi Other All modes Sample Answer: In 2000 the most preferred mode of travel is by car with 4, 806 people. Theres a noticable decrease in public transportation locally where it dropped from 429 people in 1985 to 274 people in 2000. However the long distance bus rides is much more preferred by people as its figures are more than doubled in the last 15 years. People who chose to walk or cycle are decreased slightly in 2000 which probably made people to take the train more often. Theres a significant increase in the numbers of people who travelled by train. It jumped from 289 in 1985 to 366 in 2000. This makes the train second popular mode of transportation. Thi biggest leap in the chart is the increase of taxi users who are tripled in 2000 with 42 people where it was only 13 in 1985 Apart from all this modes of travel, there are some more different types of travel as well of course. Number of people choosing different modes of travel is rapidly increased from 450 to 585 in 2000. 255 51 3,199 429 54 289 13 450 4,740 2000 237 41 4,806 274 124 366 42 585 6,475

Comments: This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 6 score. Here is the examiners comment: This answer does not introduce the information in the table, nor does it report it accurately. The figures are misinterpreted as representing the number of people rather than the average number of miles travelled person per year. Consequently the information about the increase in total travel is simply not mentioned, so not all key information is covered. There is an attempt to summarize trends in the in the figures, but the reader cannot get a clear overall picture of the information because of the fundamental confusion. Nevertheless, the information is organized and the writing flows quite well because of good use of referencing and other connectors, but there are occasional errors in these and the links between ideas are slightly confusing at times. The strong feature in this answer is the range of vocabulary which is used with some flexibility and good control. A good range of structures is also used, but there are still some fairly basic mistakes, such as in the choice of tense, subject/ verb agreement and inappropriate use of the passive.

Question 2: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The charts below give information about travel to and from the UK, and about the most popular countries for UK residents to visit. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words. Visits to and from the UK

Most popular countries visited by UK residents 1999

Sample Answer: The graphs reveal an information about overseas residents travel to UK and UK residents travel to UK and UK residents travel to other countries, and where they visited more. According to the chart of visits to and from UK, UK residents had visited abroad more than overseas residents visited UK. UK residents travelling were increased slightly till contrast, overseas residents were increased 1986, after that, there was a dramatic rise from & dollar; 20 millions to & dollar; 54 millions till 1999. In gradually in travelling to UK from & dollar; 10 million to & dollar ; 28 millions between 1979 and 1999. From the information shown, we can see that France was the most popular country visited by UK residents, accounting for & dollar; 11 millions. And the others countries visited but UK residents were Turkey, Greece and USA, which were & dollar; 4 and & dollar; 5 millions.

Comment: This is an answer written b y a candidate who achieved a Band 5 score. Here is the examiner s comment: The response is under-length(138 words). The candidate reports the key information in the first graph i.e. that visits to and from the UK increased and that the increase in visits from the UK was more marked than that of visits to the country. In the bar chart the information is also reported accurately. However, the references to & dollar are confusing, suggesting that the candidate has not fully understood the information given, and there is a little attempt to relate the two diagrams or to make comparisons across the information given. There is a brief introduction to the topic, with an attempt to paraphrase the rubric;; the overall structure of the writing is clear, with some use of the basic discourse markers. There is very little use of reference, however, resulting in a considerable amount of repetition of key vocabulary. There is a fairly narrow range formation and in the use of tenses. of sentence types and errors occur in a verb

Question 3: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The table below gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Underground Railway Systems

City London Paris Tokyo Washington DC Kyoto Los Angeles Date opened 1863 1900 1927 1976 1981 2001 Kilometers of route ` 394 199 155 126 11 28 Passengers per year (in millions) 775 1191 1927 144 45 50

Sample Answer: The table shows the details regarding the underground railway systems in six cities. London has the oldest underground railway systems in six cities. London has the oldest underground railway systems among the six cities. It was opened in the year 1863, and it is already 140 years old. Paris is the second oldest, in which it was opened in the year 1900. This was then followed by the opening of the railway systems in Tokyo, Washington DC and Kyoto. Los Angeles has the newest underground railway system, London, for certain, has the largest underground railway systems. It has 394 kilometers of route in total, which is nearly twice as large as the system in Paris. Kyoto, in contrast, has the smallest system. It only has 11 kilometers of route, which is more than 30 times less than that of London. Interestingly, Tokyo, which is only has 155 kilometers of route, serves the greatest number

of passengers per year, at 1927 millions of passengers. The system in Paris has the second greatest number of passengers, at 11911 millions passengers per year. The smalest underground railway system, Kyoto, serves the smallest number of passengers per year as predicted. In conclusion, the underground railway systems in different cities vary a lot in the size of the system, the number of passengers served per year and in the age of the system. Comment:

This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 7 score. Here is the examiners comment: This answer selects and describes the information well. Key features are clearly identified, while unexpected differences are highlighted and illustrated. The answer is relevant and accurate with a clear overview. Information is well-organized using a good range of signals and link words. These are generally accurate and appropriate, although occasional inaccuracies and there is some repetition. Grammar is well-controlled and sentences are varied and generally accurate with only minor errors.

ACADEMIC WRITING TASK 2

QUESTION 1: You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Present w written argument or cause to an educated reader with no specialist knowledge of the following topic.

Improvements in health, education and trade are essential for the development of poorer nations. However, the governments of richer nations should take more responsibility for helping the poorer nation in such areas. To what extent do you agree or disagree or disagree with this opinion?
You should user your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence.

Sample Answer: In balancing the world economic growth, the underdevelopment of the Third World Nations have been drawn to the attention of the developed countries of the Western. Thu, government policies and interference in the agricultural business of the poorer nations were made to secure their dominant source of the economy. Many discussions among economist and politicians also put their focus on the other aspects. That is, to improve the health, education and trade for the developing countries. However, the improvements cannot be made by these countries, but more external assistance and aids should be done. Because of the shortage of fool supply, the people in poorer nation (i.e. Africa) are easily prone to disease, hunger and death. When natural environment disasters happen, they are threaten with their lives. Education cannot be well developed as a result of frequent droughts, famines and disease spreading. The other countries while emphasizing on the development of agriculture in the Third world, cannot really give the solution to the cyclical problem which has been existing for a long time. It is time to consider the consequences of all the waste of efforts in trying to help the economic growth of the Third World and to think from the other perspectives. The richer countries have the power to rebuilt the Third World by taking care the essential-health, education and trade. More aids for providing the medicine, educational needs and materials can be done by the richer countries. The assistance of trade and developing business in the poorer

countries also can be of a great help to the poorer nations. If the richer countries can be more serious about the essential issues of how a nation develops, and well consider the special situations and circumstances those poorer nations are facing, the improvement will be more efficiently made. The governments of developed countries are, in some ways, responsible-though not obliged-for the future of those developing countries. Comment:

The writer expresses a point of view, bit the ideas show little development and the argument does not go anywhere. The writing is well-organised, however, can be followed with little difficulty. Sentence structures are sufficiently varied, but grammatical and lexical control is quite often faulty. (e.g. subject/verb agreement, incorrect use of tense, mass/count nouns.)

QUESTION 2. B. You should spend 40 minutes on this task. Present a written argument or case to an educated reader with no specialist knowledge of the following topic:

Popular events like the football World Cup and other International sporting occasions are essential in easing international tensions and releasing patriotic emotion in a safe way. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
You should user your own ideas, knowledge and experiences and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence. You should write at least 250 words?

Sample Answer: I DISAGREE.

Nowadays, football is the most popular fame in the world. We can find there are many different teams who plays this football. There are dividing into 3 division: division one, division two and division three. Each divisions have different skills, There skill that they have are depend on the manager. He is the one who teachs the player how to play. By playing football, there are many advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, the team can earn a lot of money. If we compare the income in division one and division two are really different. The division one will get more that division two. Because as we know the team in division one, they shows to the people that they are able to play better than the others. For example: David Beckham (the player of Manchester United). He can earn for about 45.000, 50.000/ week. Its unbelievable. Even the prime minster in the UK just got for about 110.000/year. Secondly, they can get a lot of spectators which makes the income increase. In one match, they can earn for about 20 or 30 million pounds. Actually, its really high. For one ticket (VIP) it can cost us a lot of money. I think for about 100 or over. That is for one person. How if we count for a million person? There are also many disadvantages: like from the task which says that the releasing patriotic emotion in a safe way. Actually \, I dont really agree about that: like 2 weeks or 3 weeks ago, there are 2 fans of Leeds united got shots. And it makes them died. Many people come and give them flowers and also the clothes which shown theyre sad about that. There are other sport games like tennis. Tennis is also popular. In playing tennis there are also have advantages and disadvantages. This games shows how they against each other. The advantages are can earn a lot of money, can attract the spectators (audience). There are also have disadvantages of this game. For example: two years ago, when Monica Sales and Steffi Graph are on the match. They play against each other then, one of the Steffis fan cant stand anymore, he killed (shots) Monica Sales. That makes Monica Sales have to stop the game. The people are thinking to take her to the hospital. Because of that, it makes Monica Sales stopped from playing tennis for about a year. But now, she has started again. In my opinion, these sport can ease the international tensions and also can make death from year to year become increase. So, it is very dangerous.

COMMENT:

This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 4 score. Here is the examiner s comment: The majority of this answer has no relation to the task set; the first half is completely irrelevant and the second part is only marginally related to the topic. The candidate has therefore been penalised for this. There is little meaningful message, and grammatical control is weak.

QUESTION

3:

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic

Some people think that a sense of competition in children should be encouraged. Others believe that children who are taught to co-operate rather than compete become more useful adults. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reason for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write a least 250 words.

SAMPLE ANSWER: Nowadays, purpose of education being changed in Korea. There are some people think that competition in children should be made, also others believe that children who are taught to co-operate as well as become more useful adults. There are advantages and disadvantages for both of the arguments. To begin with, what I good if a sense of competition in children is made? They could develop themselves more and more as they learn and study a lot to win from the competition. To prove this, in Korea, it is popular-even common now to have a tutor who come to students house to teach extra pieces of study with paying a lot of money. They learn faster than what they learn at school. Furthermore, during vacations, students study abroad to learn English for a month instead or revise school work. If they have experiments such as study abroad, it I one the greatest plus point to go to the famous well-known highschool. Moreover, there are four big school exam and two national examinations to test students level of studies. Generally, only the highest 40% can go to the good quality highschools and colleges. Children learn as much as they can, to win the competition to obtain good quality school. On the other hand, as they are busy to enter the school and study individually with their own tutors, there are problems. They become selfish. They become careless and don t help others a lot if it is about studies. There will e no co-operations for them. Then, why are weak parts and strong parts for each person. To co-operate is to improve this part. People talk and listen to what

others thinking of and learn. That could also be a great opportunity to learn instead of learning alone with one teacher. In conclusion, I strongly agree with that children should be taught to co-operate rather than compete. Nobody is perfect. People learn together, work together to develop each other. Therefore, I want parents and teachers to educate children concentrating on co-operation, not compete and raking them.

COMMEMTS:

This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 6 score. Here is the examiner comment: Although the answer considers the main issues in the question, it deals much more with the aspect of competition than it does with co-operation. Some of the supporting examples are overdeveloped and divert the reader away from the argument. However, the main points are relevant and the writer s point of view is generally clear. The argument has a logical progression and there is some good use of linking expressions, though the use of rhetorical questions to signal topic changes is not very skilful. There are also examples of overusing markers, and of errors in referencing. The candidate tries to use a range of language, but there are regular errors in words choice and word form, and this occasionally causes problems for the reader. Similarly, a range of structure is attempted, but not always with good control of punctuation or grammar. However the meaning is generally clear.

General Writing Task 1 Question 1: You and your family are living in rented accommodation in an English-speaking country. You are not satisfied with the condition of some of the furniture. Write a letter to the landlord. In your letter Introduce yourself explain what is wrong with the furniture say what action you would like the landlord to take Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear.,

SAMPLE ANSWER: Dear neighbor, I am your new neigbour, I moved in Last week with my son, I am working as a nurse in the nearby hospital. I am planning to hold a party, I will invite all my friends and relatives, my son also will invite his friends and relatives, my son also will invite his friends I would like to invite yu too, I will be happy to see you. At the party I will provide all kind of drinks, different type of food. I will prepare intercontinental dishes as well as some Arabic food, in addition I will also get some Indian and Chinese food, I will order them from the restaurant, so we will have planty of food and drinks, we will also listen to some music and I will introduced you to all of my ferinds, also who ever likes to dance they can. I hope everyone will enjoy the party and have fun including you. If you decided not to come for any reason, please inform me, and I want to be sure that the noise will not disturb you.

Looking forward to see you, as this will not disturb you. Looking forward to see you, as this party gives both of us the opportunity to be good friends. Yours faithfully, Mahir

Comment:

This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 6 score. Here is the examiners comment: The letter has a clear purpose and all the information required in the task is provided and well-extended by the writer. The tone is consistently informal and friendly, which suits the situation. The closing expression is over-formal adds an appropriate tone, but this is only a minimal lapse in the whole response. The information is generally organized throughout the letter, but while there are one or two examples of good linking, there is a lot of omission, and also is used rather repetitively. As a result, sentences are not fluently linked and this limits the rating. Vocabulary is adequate and appropriate for the task although the range is not wide. The level of control is generally good with only a few spelling mistakes. The range of structures is limited and repetitive, however. There are one or two examples of complex structures used as well, but overall there are lots of simple clauses that have inaccurate punctuation. This is a weak point of this answer.

Question 2: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. You were hurt in a minor accident inside a supermarket, and you wish to complain to the supermarket, and you wish to complain to the supermarket. Write a letter to the manager of the supermarket say who you are give details about the accident suggest how the supermarket could prevent similar accidents. In your letter

Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Sir or Madam, Sample Answer: Dear Sir or Madam, my name is Liam Test, im the student that got hurt in the accident in front of your row of beantins in your supermarket. Let me give you some details about the accident first. I was just going around the corner from the vegetables to beans when a pregnant woman crashed into me with her shopping cart. It was impossible to see each other before the accident because this special corner is very dark and the lights didnt even work, probably because the eight bulbs were old and didnt serve anymore. Anyway, the floor was very slippery and wet because the rain was dripping through the non-waterproof ceiling, so I slipped, fell, and knocked myself out on the bean-tins. I list consciousness. Your insurance payed for the accidents in your supermarket: make sure your ceiling is fixed and the floor is dry. You could also arrange your rows in a way that makes it possible for your customers to take care of each other. Always get the lights checked at leas once a week, and change damaged lightbulbs immediately. This would help making our supermarket a safer place. Sincerely yours,

Comment: This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 7 score. Here is the examiners comment. This is a well-developed response to the task prompt. The letter has a clear purpose, it is written in an appropriate style and it gives all the information required by the bullet points. The situation is described in a relevant way and the letter communicates effectively and fluently. The information in the letter is organized, but there are no paragraphs so the reader has to work harder to follow the changes from one topic to the next and in some cases the links between sentences could be improved. A good range of vocabulary is used accurately, including idiomatic expressions. But some words are not well chosen so there are also awkward expressions that do not sound natural, and there are several examples of these. The writing includes a good range of grammatical structures which are usually used accurately. There are a few errors in grammar, and the first sentence lacks capital letters, which is a rather basic mistake.

Question 3: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. You are unhappy about a plan to make your local airport bigger and increase the number of flights. You live near the airport. Write a letter to your local newspaper. In your letter explain where you live describe the problem give reasons why you do not want this development.

You should write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write your own address. Begin your letter as follows: Dear Sir/ Madam, Sample Answer: Dear Sir/ Madam, I am writing with regard to the article in your newspaper dated 7th September. My house is situated within 20 minutes walk of the airport and increase the number of flights. First of all, the low -flying aeroplanes are utterly distractive. They make such a big noise that I cannot concentrate on housework at all. What is worse, I am woken up by the late hour flights at midnight; I was diagnosed as insomnia the other day. I should call this situation noise pollution. Secondly, I am afraid that the expansion of the airport may reduce the plot of land for the playground which is under construction near the airport at the moment. To sum up, I strongly disagree with the plan. I would appreciate if you could possibly write the article about the problems and disagreement as I said above. Yours faithfully,

Comment:

This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 7. Here is the examiners comment: The response to the task is fluent , although there is a room for expansion and clarification of some aspects of the task. The message is wellorganized and be followed throughout, with the writer making good use of signpost words. There are some problems with the word choice and with the word formation (e.g. big noise, distractive), but the range of sentence structures is varied and well-controlled for accuracy.

GENERAL WRITING TASK 2 Question1: You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic: Some people think it would be a good idea for schools to teach every young person how to be a good parent. Do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Describe the skills a person needs to be a good parent. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words. Sample Answer: Every young person, male or female should know more about being a good parent before having children. There are many cases in which very young women give birth to little babies without having a clue what means to be a parent. In addition, school should provide courses, teaching young persons to be good parents. It might seem as something very easy. Every woman can be a mother, the problem is what kind of mother she is. It is said that human instinct develops after giving birth to a child and every mother father instinctually feels what to do for the baby. But, there are some things that ought to be known before. A child is not a simple toy. A child is a big responsibility, love and care. A mother should

know if she is already or not to have a child, and a couple should prepare having children. We can see many cases with families behaving badly-in real life, on TV, reading newspapers, when children, screaming and shouting, smacking them. Who is guilty then? The parent or the child? This cases can end really badly if the persons in charge-here-parents and not the children-dont learn how to behave themselves, how to handle their children, how and when to give them support. In addition to all the things written above, it would be a very good idea for schools to teach young persons become good parents, as this can help young people how to handle their problems and above all their childrens problems. A child is the mirror of the parents. COMMENT:

This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 6 score. Here is the examiners comment: This answer has a clear focus and presents a very definite point of view about the general topic area. However, the second question is not directly addressed and no identifiable parenting skills are described. This means the task is only partially answered and this limits the Band score. The argument is quite easy to follow and a range of devices is used to connect the ideas. However, some of these connectives are not appropriate and paragraphing is not always logical, especially at the beginning of the answer. The closing statement in the conclusion is relevant to the argument but it is not well integrated into the writing. A range of vocabulary is used with flexibility and a good level of control. There are examples of appropriate idiomatic expressions that suggest that the writer has a good active resource. There are some lapses and some minor spelling mistakes, but these do not reduce communication. The writer uses a range of structures effectively and accurately, with examples of sophisticated phrasing. However, there are quite a lot of short, simple sentences too, and there are lapses and omissions in some structures, although these do not prevent the reader from understanding the message.

Question 2: You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic: In the past, many people had skills such as making their own clothes and doing repairs to things in the house. In many countries, nowadays, skills like these are disappearing. Why do you think this change is happening? How far is this situation true in your country? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words. Sample Answer:

In the past the people used to make clothes and doing repairs on things in the house more than nowadays. This is caused for many aspects that are present in our days like the quantity of other activities available to do, the differences in jobs and in lifestyle. When in the past days the people finished their workday, it was still early and doing the some of the repairs. While, in the other hand most of the women used to make clothes. Nowdays is bigger the number of women that works, in addition to that, the work is normally longer and more stressing for everyday, so the people is getting used to live as fast as possible. Another element that is pushing to this situation is that as the people is having less and less time for a hobby, any hobby will require more and more time. Because everything that you want to try to repair is more technical and complicated than before, and to do some repair the people almost have to be a qualified technician.

On top of all that the tradition is being lost because the people learn the traditions when they are young and from their parents, but nowadays the young people have too many distractions and hobbies like sports, going to shopping malls, video games, computers, cinema, amusement parks, e-mail and chat rooms, instead of spending their free with their parents. This situation is happening in the entire world, and its caused in part by the globalization and the advance of the technology in the home. So the situation is that when the people need more knowledge to their hobbies, they have less time to acquire it because of their work. And that to transmit the traditions to other generations the adults need the youngs people attention which they dont h ave because of new distractions the youngs have. COMMENT:

This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 6 score. Here is the examiners comment: The writing focuses on the first question but does not address the second one directly. The candidate loses marks for this. However, the writers point of view is clear and there are some relevant ideas that are communicated effectively. Ideas are generally supported, and the argument is organized with some clear linking, although paragraphing is not always used appropriately. A fairly wide range of language is attempted with mixed success. There are some good idiomatic expressions and some accurate complex sentences, but the writer misuses quite basic words and grammatical structures as well. The errors are quite frequent, but the writers message can still be followed throughout the response.

Question 3: You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. You have been asked to write about the following topic. It is generally accepted that families are not as close as they used to be. Give some reasons why this change has happened and suggest how families could be brought closer together. Include any relevant examples from your experience. You should write at least 250 words. Sample Answer: The todays family-life changed a lot. Many parents are divorce, a lot of mothers and fathers have their jobs far away from home. The children are often alone and lonelybut what are the reasons for this happening? First of all, I think that the modern technology is one of the main reason for this problem. Many parents work in their nearest cities from their home. They work with computer in big offices and came home late at night. However, they have no time to look after their children. In the past, families used to work as a family. Every member worked hard and helped the family to survive, for example farmers. Furthermore, the education used to be controlled by the parents, not like todays day-schools with teachers and professors. On the other hand, there must be a solution to bring separated families together. At my point of view, families should spend their free time together. I am thinking about weekends or the time after work. Children need their parents even when they are older. To give a reasonable example: I often go out with my parents, mostly

for a dinner. Then my brother and I speak about our future plans or something else. An intensiv conversation is a possible solution. A similar way is, to divide your job into half-part work-times and spend your free time leftover with your loved persons. A point against this statement is to have financial problems. To sum up I wish that every family is as close as possible with each other, if they like that.

COMMENT:

This is an answer written by a candidate who achieved a Band 6 score. Here is the examiners comment: The answer is an adequate response to the task, although there are not many ideas and there is little development of these. The response reads fairly easily, however, and the writers intention is usually clear. There is a variety of sentence structures, and although these are not always grammatically accurate, the errors do not interfere with the message. There are signs of vocabulary limitations.