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 table shows international tourist arrivals and tourism receipts in five countries in 2019.”9
Overall
9
Task response
9
Coherence & cohesion
8
Lexical resource
9
Grammar
The table presents international tourist arrivals (millions) and tourism receipts (US$ billions) for five countries in 2019.
Overall, France attracted the most visitors of any country in the table, yet the United States generated substantially more revenue from tourism than any other nation, suggesting a large difference in average spending per visitor between the two leading destinations.
France recorded the highest number of arrivals at 90.9 million, followed by Spain at 83.7 million and the USA at 79.4 million. China and Thailand received considerably fewer visitors, at 65.7 million and 39.9 million respectively. Despite ranking third in arrivals, the USA earned US$240 billion in receipts, which was more than three times the figure for Spain (US$92 billion) and more than three times that of France (US$71 billion).
Spain generated more receipts than France despite receiving fewer visitors, indicating that tourists in Spain spent more on average. Thailand, with the fewest arrivals in the table, earned US$60 billion, which was notably higher than China's US$36 billion, even though China received 25.8 million more visitors. The contrast between China and Thailand in this respect was the most pronounced in the table: China's receipts per arrival were the lowest of the five countries, while the USA's were the highest by a considerable margin. The data highlight that arrival numbers and revenue do not always move in step across different destinations.
- •Overview correctly pairs France (most arrivals) with the USA (most revenue) and signals the disconnect without figures.
- •The Spain-France comparison and Thailand-China comparison are both well-chosen contrasts drawn from different parts of the table.
- •Uses 'more than three times' accurately and 'notably higher than' appropriately where an exact multiple is less clean.
- •Final synthesis is analytical and derived from the data without stating opinion or cause.
- •The essay does not state the exact USA-France arrival gap; including it once would anchor the revenue contrast in a more precise comparative frame.
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