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 line graph shows the number of international tourist arrivals in four countries from 2000 to 2020.”8
Overall
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Task response
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Coherence & cohesion
8
Lexical resource
8
Grammar
The line graph illustrates international tourist arrivals, in millions, for France, Spain, the USA and Thailand between 2000 and 2020.
Overall, all four countries showed growth up to 2015 before collapsing sharply in 2020. France maintained the highest number of arrivals throughout the period, while Thailand, despite starting far behind the others, recorded the most consistent proportional growth before the 2020 fall.
France received 77.2 million arrivals in 2000, dipping briefly before recovering to 84.5 million by 2015. Spain and the USA climbed from roughly 46-51 million in 2000 to 68.5 million and 77.5 million respectively by 2015. Thailand started at just 9.6 million in 2000 and rose steadily to 29.9 million by 2015, more than tripling over that span.
The most dramatic feature of the graph is the sharp collapse in 2020 across all four countries. France fell from 84.5 million to 41.7 million, Spain from 68.5 to 18.9 million, and the USA from 77.5 to just 19.2 million. Thailand dropped from 29.9 to 6.7 million. Spain and the USA each lost more than 70% of their 2015 figures, compared with France's fall of roughly 50%.
- •Overview correctly captures both the pre-2020 growth trend and the dramatic 2020 collapse as the defining features.
- •Thailand's proportional growth to 2015 and the crossover dynamics are accurately described.
- •The comparative severity of the 2020 decline is quantified and differentiated across countries.
- •Good lexical range for the contrasting phases: 'steady climb', 'more than tripling', 'sharp collapse', 'steep percentage declines'.
- •Attributing the 2020 drop to 'the global pandemic' introduces cause, which is outside the scope of a Task 1 description; the drop should simply be noted as a sharp fall.
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