Band 8 model answer
A model answer written to illustrate a Band 8 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 table shows the five largest merchandise exporters in the world and their share of world exports in 2020.”8
Overall
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Task response
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Coherence & cohesion
8
Lexical resource
8
Grammar
The table shows merchandise exports in billions of US dollars and each country's share of world exports for five leading exporting nations in 2020.
Overall, China dominated the rankings by a clear margin in both total value and world share, while Japan and the Netherlands accounted for comparatively modest proportions despite appearing in the global top five.
China's exports totalled US$2,590 billion, representing a 14.7% share of world merchandise trade, the highest figure in the table. The USA was second at US$1,431 billion (8.1%), closely followed by Germany at US$1,380 billion (7.8%). The difference between the USA and Germany was relatively small, at US$51 billion and 0.3 percentage points, whereas China's exports exceeded those of the USA by more than US$1,150 billion.
The Netherlands and Japan occupied the fourth and fifth positions, with exports of US$674 billion (3.8%) and US$641 billion (3.6%) respectively. Their figures were broadly similar to each other but roughly half those of Germany and less than a quarter of China's. Taken together, the five countries held approximately 38% of global merchandise trade, with China alone accounting for well over a third of that combined share. The data therefore highlight a significant concentration of export activity at the top of the ranking, with China in a position substantially ahead of any individual rival.
- •Overview immediately establishes China's dominance and contextualises the lower-ranked countries correctly.
- •Grouping the Netherlands and Japan together as broadly similar and contrasting them with the top three avoids mechanical row listing.
- •Both columns (value and share) are integrated throughout rather than treated separately.
- •Accurate ratio and difference language: 'more than US$1,150 billion', 'roughly half', 'less than a quarter'.
- •The combined 38% figure is a minor calculation introduced at the end; placing a simpler cross-country ratio slightly earlier would vary the analytical techniques used.
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