Band 9 model answer
A model answer written to illustrate a Band 9 response to this question, with the rubric breakdown and what carries it. Written by us as a teaching example, not a verified exam script.
“The line graph shows the fertility rate in five countries from 1970 to 2020.”9
Overall
9
Task response
9
Coherence & cohesion
8
Lexical resource
9
Grammar
The line graph presents the fertility rate, measured in births per woman, for Nigeria, India, Brazil, China and the USA between 1970 and 2020.
Overall, all five countries recorded a decline over the period, though Nigeria remained comfortably the highest throughout. China experienced the steepest early drop, while the USA showed the most modest overall fall and ended with the same rate as Brazil.
In 1970 Nigeria and China had the highest rates at 6.4 and 5.7 births per woman respectively, followed closely by India at 5.6 and Brazil at 5.0. The USA was already much lower at 2.5. By 2020 Nigeria had fallen gradually to 5.3, still far above the others. India declined steadily from 5.6 to 2.0, more than halving over the 50-year span. Brazil fell from 5.0 to 1.6, with the sharpest decline occurring between 1970 and 2000.
China's trajectory was the most dramatic: from 5.7 in 1970 the rate plummeted to 1.6 by 2000, edged up to 1.7 in 2010, then fell to 1.3 in 2020, the lowest value of all five countries. The USA moved comparatively little, dipping from 2.5 to 1.6 by 2020, converging with Brazil.
- •Overview captures the universal downward trend, Nigeria's persistent dominance, and China's exceptional steepness.
- •Accurately notes China's mid-period uptick and the convergence of the USA and Brazil at 1.6 in 2020.
- •Good range of trend language: 'plummeted', 'edging slightly upward', 'more than halving', 'moved comparatively little'.
- •Precise use of start, end and intermediate values without crowding the prose.
- •The parenthetical reference to policy intervention touches on cause, which Task 1 should avoid; better to describe the shape only.
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