Websites

The answer is accurate but stays with plain, stacked adjectives ('simple, clear website') and single-clause reasons, keeping the register modest throughout.

Which is more important to you, what a website looks like or how easy it is to use?

Ease of use, for me. I once tried to book a bus ticket online and the site looked nice but I could not find the payment button. A simple, clear website is much better than a beautiful, confusing one.

Why this band

• LR“simple, clear website” — 'Simple' and 'clear' are two basic gradable adjectives stacked together rather than replaced with a single more precise word such as 'intuitive' or 'navigable'. At Band 6.5 the lexical ceiling is at most one slightly less-common word, so pairing two everyday adjectives is exactly the expected workaround, not a slip. The same additive habit shows up again a sentence later in 'beautiful, confusing one', confirming this is the speaker's default descriptive strategy rather than a one-off choice.

What kinds of websites do you use most often?

Mostly shopping sites like Shopee, and my bank's website to check my balance. I also visit a design blog sometimes for inspiration. I check the weather site almost every morning before choosing what to wear.

Why this band

• FC“Mostly shopping sites like Shopee, and my bank's website to check my balance.” — The answer lists two examples — Shopee-style shopping sites and the bank site — joined loosely with 'and', naming each but developing neither with a reason or anecdote. That bare enumeration satisfies the Band 6.5 target of 'one clear reason or example is enough', where simply supplying concrete instances counts as adequate content. A Band 7.0 answer would instead pick one site, say the bank, and add a short concrete detail about why it matters, while a 7.5 answer would follow it with a wry aside.

Does your favourite website look the same now as when you first used it?

No, it has changed a lot. I have used Facebook since I was a student, and the layout is very different now. At first I did not like the new look, but I got used to it quickly.

Why this band

• FC“No, it has changed a lot.” — The answer opens with a short, blunt confirmation before any explanation follows, which is the simplest possible way to begin a response. A stronger band would likely integrate this confirmation into a fuller opening sentence with a reason attached. This bare opening statement, followed by separate plain sentences of detail, reflects the minimal development typical of Band 6.5.

Do you prefer to get information from websites or books?

Websites, most of the time, because they are faster. But I still have one old book about colour theory from university that I sometimes open, because it explains things more clearly than most articles online.

Why this band

• GRA“because it explains things more clearly than most articles online” — A single 'because' clause of reason is attached to the main clause, reinforced by the plain comparative 'more clearly than most articles online'. This is the one basic complex-sentence pattern the Band 6.5 grammar target allows — 'a few basic complex ones (because / when / that)' — used here in isolation rather than combined with anything else. A stronger answer would likely stack a second subordinate clause onto the same sentence, for instance a relative clause describing the book itself.

Would you like to have your own website?

Yes, actually. I would like a simple portfolio website to show my design work to future clients. Right now I only post on social media, but a proper website would look more professional.

Why this band

• LR“look more professional” — ‘Look more professional’ is a common, general phrase used instead of a more specific description of what a personal website would actually convey. The word choice is accurate and appropriate but stays within very ordinary vocabulary rather than reaching for something more precise like ‘give it more credibility’. That safe, high-frequency phrasing is characteristic of Band 6.5 lexical resource.

Is there a website that you use a lot in your free time?

Yes, a website that shows the weather forecast and storm warnings. I check it a lot in the rainy season, mostly out of habit, even when I already know it is probably going to rain.

Why this band

• GRA“even when I already know it is probably going to rain” — The clause ‘even when I already know it is probably going to rain’ is the one subordinate structure attached to an otherwise simple, matter-of-fact sentence. A 7.0 or 7.5 answer might combine this with a further contrastive idea or a more varied connector than ‘even when’. Here it functions as a single, correctly formed but modest piece of complexity, typical of Band 6.5 grammar.

How have websites helped you in your work or studies?

A lot. I learned many design skills from free tutorial videos online. I also use websites that offer free fonts and icons, which save me a lot of time when I am working on a project.

Why this band

• FC“A lot.” — The two-word opening answers the question about as minimally as possible before the following sentences add plain supporting detail. A more developed answer would expand this immediately with a reason or example rather than leaving it as a standalone fragment. This terse opening followed by simple, separate sentences is the minimal-development pattern typical of Band 6.5 fluency.

Do you prefer to get information from a website or from a book?

For most things, a website, because it is quicker to search. But my grandmother's old handwritten cookbook still has her recipe for bun bo Hue, and no website has ever explained it as well as she did.

Why this band

• FC“For most things, a website, because it is quicker to search.” — The preference and its single justifying reason are packed into one short sentence, with no further elaboration before the example about the cookbook begins. A stronger answer would likely expand on why speed matters or add a second point before moving to the example. This one-sentence preference-plus-reason pattern, with minimal build-up, is typical of Band 6.5's limited development.

Natural spoken connectors like 'having said that' and flexible phrases like 'come across as' give the answers a fuller, more fluent shape than 6.5, while staying comfortably short of 7.5's sophistication.

Which is more important to you, what a website looks like or how easy it is to use?

Usability, for me, without much hesitation. I once tried to buy a train ticket on a site that looked lovely but hid the payment button somewhere I couldn't find, and I gave up in the end. A plain website that actually works beats a beautiful one that confuses you.

Why this band

• GRA“a site that looked lovely but hid the payment button somewhere I couldn't find” — A relative clause ('that looked lovely but hid the payment button...') is embedded inside the longer sentence describing the failed ticket purchase, itself containing an internal contrast ('lovely but hid'), rather than being broken into two separate simple sentences. This kind of clause-within-a-sentence complexity, kept accurate and easy to follow, is characteristic of the comfortable mix of simple and complex structures Band 7.0 requires. It makes the abstract complaint about bad usability concrete and immediately understandable.

What kinds of websites do you use most often?

Mostly shopping apps like Shopee, plus my bank's website for checking my balance. I also check a weather site most mornings before deciding what to wear, and occasionally a design blog when I need a bit of inspiration.

Why this band

• FC“and occasionally a design blog when I need a bit of inspiration” — Rather than stopping at three plain examples, the answer adds a fourth item with a reason attached (‘when I need a bit of inspiration’), giving the list a small extra layer of development. A 6.5 answer would likely list the same sites without explaining when or why the last one is used. That additional, more specific detail tacked onto the list is the fuller development Band 7.0 fluency and coherence expects.

Does your favourite website look the same now as when you first used it?

No, it's changed quite a bit. I've used Facebook since I was a teenager, and the layout now looks nothing like it did back then. I wasn't keen on the new version at first, but I got used to it fairly quickly.

Why this band

• LR“wasn't keen on the new version” — ‘Wasn't keen on’ is a natural, everyday way to express dislike that's a step more idiomatic than a plain phrase like ‘didn't like’, without being as figurative as a 7.5 answer might get. It shows comfortable, flexible control of common expressions. That small but genuine step beyond the plainest wording is what Band 7.0 lexical resource targets.

Do you prefer to get information from websites or books?

Websites, generally, because they're faster to search through. Having said that, I still keep one old textbook on design theory from university, since it explains a few ideas more clearly than most of the articles I find online.

Why this band

• FC“Having said that, I still keep one old textbook on design theory from university” — 'Having said that' is a natural spoken connector used to pivot from the general preference for websites to a specific exception, doing the work that a more formal linker like 'however' would do in writing but sounding conversational instead. That kind of fluent, idiomatic linking between ideas — rather than a flat 'but' — is exactly the smoother coherence Band 7.0 targets. It sets up the textbook anecdote that follows as a genuine, considered exception rather than a random add-on.

Would you like to have your own website?

Yes, actually - I'd like a simple portfolio site to show potential clients my design work. At the moment I only post on Instagram, but having my own website would come across as a lot more professional.

Why this band

• LR“come across as a lot more professional” — 'Come across as' is a mildly idiomatic phrasal verb used instead of a plainer phrase like 'seem' or 'look', giving the sentence a more natural, spoken-register feel. This is a single flexible expression layered onto otherwise everyday vocabulary, which is exactly the Band 7.0 pattern — one step beyond consistently plain word choice, but not the denser idiom use a 7.5 answer might show. It connects logically to the Instagram-only portfolio problem described just before, explaining precisely what a proper website would add.

Is there a website that you use a lot in your free time?

Yes, a weather and storm-warning site that I check constantly during the rainy season. It's become a bit of a habit by now, even when I'm already fairly sure it's going to rain anyway.

Why this band

• GRA“even when I'm already fairly sure it's going to rain anyway” — The concessive clause is built with ‘even when’ plus a further hedge (‘fairly sure’) and a closing ‘anyway’, giving the subordinate clause more internal texture than the bare version a 6.5 answer might produce. It's still generally accurate and comfortable rather than unusual or literary. That fuller, more natural handling of a concessive idea is the comfortable complex structure Band 7.0 grammar targets.

How have websites helped you in your work or studies?

Quite a lot, actually. I picked up several design skills through free tutorials online, and I regularly use sites that offer free fonts and icons, which save me a lot of time on projects.

Why this band

• LR“picked up several design skills” — ‘Picked up’ is a natural phrasal verb used instead of the plain word ‘learned’, giving the sentence a more conversational, spoken feel. It isn't unusual or idiomatic enough to stand out the way a 7.5 answer's vocabulary would, but it's clearly more than the flattest possible word choice. That comfortable use of an everyday phrasal verb is typical of Band 7.0 lexical resource.

Do you prefer to get information from a website or from a book?

For most things, a website, simply because it's quicker. But my grandmother's handwritten cookbook still has her bun bo Hue recipe in it, and no website has ever explained it half as well as she used to.

Why this band

• FC“But my grandmother's handwritten cookbook still has her bun bo Hue recipe in it” — After giving the main preference and reason, the answer adds a contrasting, concrete example introduced by ‘But’, developing the response beyond a single flat statement. A 6.5 answer would be more likely to end after the initial reason without this added example. That extra concrete detail, linked smoothly to the main point, is the fuller development Band 7.0 fluency and coherence expects.

The wry aside 'I say that as someone paid to make things look good' and the cleft opening 'What I'd actually like is...' show the idiomatic phrasing and varied grammar typical of Band 7.5.

Which is more important to you, what a website looks like or how easy it is to use?

Ease, without hesitation, and I say that as someone paid to make things look good. I once spent five minutes on a stunning restaurant website unable to find the opening hours, and left. A site that's ugly and clear keeps its visitors; a site that's gorgeous and confusing loses them in seconds. The best ones are both, but if I have to choose, I'll take the ugly one that works.

Why this band

• LR“I say that as someone paid to make things look good” — 'I say that as someone paid to make things look good' is a self-referential idiomatic aside — the speaker uses their own professional credential ironically, admitting that a beauty-focused designer still values usability more. That kind of natural, witty framing is the 'figurative or idiomatic touch' the Band 7.5 lexical target singles out, deployed smoothly rather than as showing off. It also sharpens the argument that follows about the stunning-but-unusable restaurant site.

What kinds of websites do you use most often?

Design reference sites, where I go to see how other people solved a problem before I attempt it. The weather radar, several times a day in the rainy season. A Vietnamese news site over breakfast. And, slightly vainly, the hospital portal my studio designed, which I check to see whether anything has broken. Social media I visit in bursts and regret in bursts.

Why this band

• LR“Social media I visit in bursts and regret in bursts.” — The repeated phrase ‘in bursts’ creates a deliberate, playful parallel between ‘visit’ and ‘regret’, which is a much more inventive way of describing an on-and-off habit than a plain phrase like ‘sometimes I use it too much’. Lower bands would likely just state the behaviour directly without this kind of wordplay. That natural, slightly witty parallelism, used precisely rather than for show, is characteristic of Band 7.5 lexical resource.

Does your favourite website look the same now as when you first used it?

No, and every change has been mourned. The design reference site I've used for a decade has been redesigned three times, and each time its users, myself included, complained that the old version was better, before quietly adjusting within a month. It's a lesson I try to remember in my own work: people don't hate change, they hate being surprised by it.

Why this band

• FC“people don't hate change, they hate being surprised by it” — The answer closes on an antithesis — 'people don't hate change, they hate being surprised by it' — a parallel don't-X-they-Y structure that turns a specific anecdote about a redesigned website into a general principle. This generalising, reflective move beyond plain narrative is exactly the evaluative development the Band 7.5 fluency target requires at the end of an answer. It also loops back to the earlier point about the design reference site being 'redesigned three times', giving the closing line real weight rather than being a generic wrap-up.

Do you prefer to get information from websites or books?

Websites for a fact and books for understanding. If I need a measurement or a date, a website answers in seconds. But the single book on typography I read at twenty-two taught me more than a thousand browser tabs since, because it had an argument that ran from the first page to the last. Websites give you pieces; a good book gives you the shape they fit into.

Why this band

• GRA“Websites give you pieces; a good book gives you the shape they fit into.” — The semicolon links two balanced, parallel clauses into a single sentence rather than two separate simple ones, and the second clause itself contains an embedded relative clause (‘the shape they fit into’). A 7.0 answer would likely need two sentences to make the same comparison, and a 6.5 answer would drop the parallelism altogether. This tightly structured, mostly error-free parallel construction is exactly the varied complex grammar Band 7.5 targets.

Would you like to have your own website?

Not a portfolio, which is what people assume. What I'd actually like is a one-page site for my alley: photographs from the weekend we repainted the walls, the rubbish rota, and a map of which house has a ladder, a drill or a spare key. Nobody would visit it except forty neighbours, and it would be the most useful thing I've ever published. Personal websites about oneself I find faintly exhausting to write and to read.

Why this band

• GRA“What I'd actually like is a one-page site for my alley” — 'What I'd actually like is...' is a cleft sentence, deliberately delaying the actual answer, a one-page site for an alley, to build anticipation before delivering something unexpected. Cleft sentences are named explicitly in the Band 7.5 grammar target as one of the varied complex structures expected at that level, well beyond the simple-plus-complex mix typical of lower bands. A flatter Band 7.0 version would simply state 'I'd like a one-page site for my alley' without the delayed structure.

Is there a website that you use a lot in your free time?

A site that shows the surf conditions at the beach — wave height, wind direction, and a camera pointed at the sea that I check before every morning swim and, honestly, at random moments during the day when I want to see the water. It's not a beautiful site. It's the only one I look at purely for pleasure, which I find slightly telling.

Why this band

• FC“which I find slightly telling” — Rather than simply describing the website and stopping, the answer closes with a self-aware judgement about what the choice of website reveals about the speaker. A 6.5 or 7.0 answer would likely end on the factual description itself. This extra reflective layer — commenting on one's own habit rather than just reporting it — is the evaluative development that marks Band 7.5 fluency and coherence.

How have websites helped you in your work or studies?

Enormously — I learned perhaps half of my profession from websites. Free tutorials, other designers posting their work with explanations, forums where strangers answered my questions at midnight. My college taught the foundations; the internet taught the current tools, which change every two years. I still learn something most weeks from someone I'll never meet.

Why this band

• GRA“My college taught the foundations; the internet taught the current tools, which change every two years.” — The semicolon-joined parallel clauses are followed by a relative clause (‘which change every two years’) embedded onto the second half only, adding a layer of complexity without disrupting the balance of the sentence. A 7.0 answer would more likely present this as two simpler separate sentences. This combination of parallel structure and embedded relative clause, handled accurately, is the wide grammatical range Band 7.5 targets.

Do you prefer to get information from a website or from a book?

A website for anything current and a book for anything buried. Beside my laptop there's an atlas of old Da Nang street maps, and it has answered questions about the city's past that no search engine has indexed — where the ferry landed, what the alley was called before the bridge. For train times and error messages, obviously, a website. For anything that happened before the internet noticed, the paper often knows more, and it doesn't rearrange itself while you're reading.

Why this band

• LR“before the internet noticed” — Treating the internet as something that can ‘notice’ events personifies it, a more imaginative and economical way of saying ‘before it was documented online’. A lower band would likely use a literal phrase like ‘before there was internet’. This figurative shorthand, used naturally rather than as a showy flourish, is typical of Band 7.5 lexical resource.