A Piece of Technology (Not a Phone) That You Would Like to Own

Part 3 follow-up questions

These are the discussion questions examiners asked after this cue card. Sample answers are shown where available.

1. 1. What are the different types of technology that young people often use?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Lists devices in a fairly plain, evenly weighted sentence, 'She uses a laptop... a smartwatch... a games console', without much rhythmic variation.

   If I think about my sister's day, it covers most of the list. She uses a laptop for lectures and streaming, wireless earbuds that seem always in her ears, a smartwatch she checks all the time, and a games console she shares with her flatmates. Of course, her phone holds her banking, transport, and social life too. Young people I know are also getting into cameras again, real ones, not just phone cameras. Tablets for drawing or notes are common among students too. I think a lot of this technology is more about entertainment and connection than actually making things.

   Why this band

   • FC“Of course, her phone holds her banking, transport, and social life too.” — The 6.5 answer places the phone in a separate sentence starting with 'Of course,'. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers instead fold it directly into the main list with a dash, 'and, of course, the phone itself, which holds...', keeping the whole inventory inside one flowing sentence.
   • LR“always in her ears” — This is plain, everyday phrasing. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers both use the more vivid, slightly exaggerated 'surgically attached', a much more memorable image for the same idea.
   • GRA“Young people I know are also getting into cameras again, real ones, not just phone cameras.” — This sentence uses a short appositive, 'real ones, not just phone cameras', a fairly simple structure. The 7.5 answer expresses a similar idea more economically with 'proper ones, for a certain kind of photo', showing a more compact phrase doing the same explanatory work.

   Band 7.0

   The aside 'oddly enough' before the point about cameras adds a small reflective, spoken touch beyond the flatter 6.5 statement.

   If I trace my sister's day, it's honestly most of the list. There's a laptop for lectures and streaming, wireless earbuds that seem almost surgically attached, a smartwatch she checks more often than her phone, and a games console shared with her flatmates — and, of course, the phone itself, which holds her banking, transport, and pretty much her entire social life. Younger people I know are also getting into cameras again, oddly enough — proper ones, for a certain kind of photo. Tablets for drawing or notes are common among students too. What stands out to me is how much of it is about connection and entertainment rather than actually making things.

   Why this band

   • FC“There's a laptop for lectures and streaming, wireless earbuds that seem almost surgically attached” — This opens the list with an existential 'There's' construction rather than the subject-verb pattern used at 6.5, 'She uses a laptop', giving the inventory a slightly more detached, itemised feel. The 7.5 answer removes even the verb, opening with the bare noun phrase 'A laptop for lectures and streaming', an even more compressed listing style.
   • LR“almost surgically attached” — This vivid, exaggerated image is shared closely with the 7.5 answer, both well beyond the plain 'always in her ears' used at 6.5.
   • GRA“a smartwatch she checks more often than her phone, and a games console shared with her flatmates — and, of course, the phone itself, which holds her banking, transport, and pretty much her entire social life” — This long sentence stacks a comparative clause, a passive participle phrase, and a dash-marked relative clause, considerably more developed than the shorter, separated sentences at 6.5. It closely matches the density of the 7.5 answer, differing mainly in small wording choices like 'pretty much' versus a bare statement.

   Band 7.5

   The closing distinction between 'production' and 'consuming' gives the answer an analytical final layer that neither lower band attempts.

   If I trace my sister's day, it's most of the list. A laptop for lectures and streaming, wireless earbuds that seem surgically attached, a smartwatch she checks more often than her phone, a games console shared with flatmates, and, of course, the phone itself, which holds banking, transport and her entire social life. Younger people I know are also into cameras again, oddly — proper ones, for a certain kind of photo. Tablets for drawing or notes are common among students. What stands out is how much of it is about connection and entertainment rather than production; the tools for making things are a smaller part of most young people's kit than the tools for consuming.

   Why this band

   • FC“A laptop for lectures and streaming, wireless earbuds that seem surgically attached, a smartwatch she checks more often than her phone, a games console shared with flatmates, and, of course, the phone itself” — Dropping the introductory verb entirely and opening straight with a list of noun phrases is a bolder, more compressed structure than the 'There's' construction at 7.0 or the full subject-verb sentences at 6.5, reading almost like a catalogue.
   • LR“production” — This abstract, almost technical noun is more precise and analytical than the plainer 'actually making things' used at both 6.5 and 7.0, exemplifying the more academic register available at the top band.
   • GRA“the tools for making things are a smaller part of most young people's kit than the tools for consuming” — This closing sentence uses a comparative structure built around the parallel nouns 'kit' and 'consuming', a more abstract and economical construction than the simpler closing sentences at 6.5 and 7.0.

2. 2. Do you agree or disagree that technology has a positive effect on young people's lives?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Closes with the plain generalisation 'I think young people who use technology as a tool benefit the most', without the sharper contrast used in the upper bands.

   On balance, I agree that technology has a positive effect on young people, though maybe less than it used to. A cousin of mine in a village in Quang Tri learned graphic design from free videos online and now works remotely for a company in Ho Chi Minh City. Without technology, that life wouldn't exist for him. Technology gives access to information, jobs, and people beyond your town, which is a huge benefit, especially for young people outside big cities. On the other hand, I also see anxiety, comparison, and hours spent with nothing to show for it. I think young people who use technology as a tool benefit the most.

   Why this band

   • FC“On the other hand, I also see anxiety, comparison, and hours spent with nothing to show for it.” — The 6.5 answer introduces this counterpoint with the standard connector 'On the other hand,'. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers instead use the more integrated 'Against that,', both folding the pivot more tightly into the flow of the argument than the fuller phrase at 6.5.
   • LR“Without technology, that life wouldn't exist for him.” — This is plain, direct phrasing. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers both compress this into a dash-marked clause within the previous sentence, 'without technology, that life simply doesn't exist' or 'without technology that life doesn't exist', a punchier, unhedged present tense claim.
   • GRA“Technology gives access to information, jobs, and people beyond your town, which is a huge benefit, especially for young people outside big cities.” — This sentence uses a relative clause after a three-item list, workable but fairly standard. The 7.5 answer restructures the same list using a colon, 'Access to information, to jobs, to people beyond your town: those are enormous positives', a more rhetorically deliberate structure.

   Band 7.0

   The closing sentence, 'I'd say the technology itself is positive; it's the way it's designed to be used that often isn't', gives the ending more analytical precision than the flatter final sentence at 6.5.

   On balance I agree, though the balance is a bit closer than it used to be. A cousin of mine in a village in Quang Tri learnt graphic design entirely from free videos and now works remotely for a company in Ho Chi Minh City — without technology, that life simply doesn't exist. Access to information, to jobs, to people beyond your town: those are genuinely enormous positives, especially for young people outside the big cities. Against that, though, I do see the anxiety, the constant comparison, and the attention spans shrinking, plus hours that vanish without anything to show for them. I'd say the technology itself is positive; it's the way it's designed to be used that often isn't.

   Why this band

   • FC“Against that, though, I do see the anxiety, the constant comparison, and the attention spans shrinking” — This phrase uses 'Against that, though' to frame the counterpoint as a direct rebuttal, more integrated than the 6.5 answer's standard 'On the other hand,'. The 7.5 answer trims this further to simply 'Against that,', an even more economical version of the same pivot.
   • LR“the constant comparison” — This precise noun phrase is more specific than the plain 'comparison' used at 7.5, interestingly showing that lexical intensity doesn't always increase in a straight line — sometimes a plainer noun at 7.5 lands harder because of the sentence rhythm around it.
   • GRA“Access to information, to jobs, to people beyond your town: those are genuinely enormous positives, especially for young people outside the big cities.” — This sentence uses a colon to set up a three-part list before the main clause, a sophisticated structure. The 7.5 answer achieves an almost identical structure, showing this particular technique is already well established by 7.0.

   Band 7.5

   The closing parallel sentence, 'Young people who use it as a tool win; those used by it lose', gives the argument a crisp, aphoristic finish beyond the plainer endings of the lower bands.

   On balance I agree, though the balance is closer than it used to be. A cousin of mine in a village in Quảng Trị learnt graphic design entirely from free videos and now works remotely for a company in Ho Chi Minh City — without technology that life doesn't exist. Access to information, to jobs, to people beyond your town: those are enormous positives, especially for young people outside big cities. Against that, I see the anxiety, the comparison, the attention spans shrinking, and hours that vanish without anything to show. The technology is positive; the way it's designed to be used often isn't. Young people who use it as a tool win; those used by it lose.

   Why this band

   • FC“Against that, I see the anxiety, the comparison, the attention spans shrinking, and hours that vanish without anything to show.” — This trimmed opening, dropping 'though' and 'do' from the 7.0 equivalent, is a more compact and confident version of the same pivot, letting the list of concerns speak for itself without extra hedging.
   • LR“used by it lose” — This compact passive construction is a precise, almost proverbial way of framing the negative case, more economical and memorable than any equivalent phrasing in the lower bands.
   • GRA“Young people who use it as a tool win; those used by it lose.” — This closing sentence uses a semicolon to balance two short, mirrored clauses built around active and passive verb forms, 'use... win' and 'used... lose', a more sophisticated and rhetorically balanced structure than the plainer closing generalisations at 6.5 and 7.0.

3. 3. How healthy is it for young people to spend a lot of time online?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Splits the cousin's recovery into two short, separate sentences, 'All three got better... so I think the hours were the real problem', rather than one flowing sentence.

   It really depends on what 'online' means, but a lot of it isn't healthy. My cousin's sleep fell apart during a gaming phase, and his mood and grades got worse too. All three got better within weeks of the console leaving his bedroom, so I think the hours were the real problem, not the game itself. Physically, spending too much time on screens usually means less movement and worse sleep. Mentally, comparing yourself to other people's edited lives online isn't good either, especially for teenagers. I think passive scrolling is the unhealthy part, and that's what most apps are designed for.

   Why this band

   • FC“All three got better within weeks of the console leaving his bedroom, so I think the hours were the real problem, not the game itself.” — The 6.5 answer separates this into its own sentence with 'so I think'. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers instead attach it directly after a dash to the previous clause about the cousin's sleep, mood, and grades, keeping the whole anecdote and its conclusion inside a single continuous sentence.
   • LR“comparing yourself to other people's edited lives online isn't good either” — This is plain, general phrasing. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers both use the more precise, almost clinical 'endless comparison with edited, curated lives is genuinely corrosive' or 'edited lives is corrosive', a stronger, more specific verb than the vague 'isn't good'.
   • GRA“Physically, spending too much time on screens usually means less movement and worse sleep.” — This sentence uses a two-item list after 'means', a fairly simple structure. The 7.5 answer extends this into a three-item list, 'less movement, worse posture and worse sleep', showing a slightly wider grammatical pattern within the same sentence type.

   Band 7.0

   The closing aside 'I'd say' before naming passive scrolling as the real problem adds a considered, spoken quality beyond the flatter 6.5 conclusion.

   It depends heavily on what 'online' actually means, but honestly a lot of it isn't healthy. My cousin's sleep fell apart during a gaming phase, along with his mood and his grades, and all three recovered within weeks of the console moving out of his bedroom — so the hours were clearly the problem, not the game itself. Physically, long screen time usually means less movement, worse posture, and worse sleep. Mentally, endless comparison with edited, curated lives is genuinely corrosive at an age when identity still feels fragile. Online time that involves making something, learning, or real friendship seems fine in moderate doses. The unhealthy part, I'd say, is passive scrolling, and that's exactly what most apps are built to maximise.

   Why this band

   • FC“so the hours were clearly the problem, not the game itself” — This dash-introduced clause folds the conclusion directly into the anecdote's main sentence, more fluid than the 6.5 answer's separate 'so I think' sentence. The 7.5 answer keeps an almost identical structure, dropping only 'clearly', showing this technique is already well set by 7.0.
   • LR“genuinely corrosive” — This precise, almost chemical metaphor for psychological harm is shared closely with the 7.5 answer, both well beyond the vague 'isn't good either' used at 6.5.
   • GRA“My cousin's sleep fell apart during a gaming phase, along with his mood and his grades, and all three recovered within weeks of the console moving out of his bedroom” — This sentence chains three linked ideas together with commas and 'and', more developed than the two separate sentences at 6.5. The 7.5 answer achieves an almost identical structure, showing this level of sentence-combining is already established by 7.0.

   Band 7.5

   The closing sentence, 'that's exactly what most apps are built to maximise', ends on a pointed, slightly critical observation about design intent.

   It depends heavily on what 'online' means, but a lot of it isn't healthy. My cousin's sleep fell apart during a gaming phase, along with his mood and his grades, and all three recovered within weeks of the console moving out of his bedroom — the hours were the problem, not the game. Physically, long screen time means less movement, worse posture and worse sleep. Mentally, endless comparison with edited lives is corrosive at an age when identity is fragile. Online time that involves making something, learning, or genuine friendship seems fine in moderate doses. The unhealthy part is passive scrolling, and that's exactly what most apps are built to maximise.

   Why this band

   • FC“the hours were the problem, not the game” — This trimmed clause, dropping 'clearly' and 'itself' from the 7.0 equivalent, is a more economical and assured version of the same conclusion, letting the contrast between 'hours' and 'game' stand on its own.
   • LR“built to maximise” — This precise, almost technical phrase about deliberate design intent is sharper and more analytical than any equivalent closing phrase in the lower bands, which stop at simply noting that apps are 'designed for' this.
   • GRA“that's exactly what most apps are built to maximise” — This closing clause uses the passive infinitive 'are built to maximise', a more technical and economical grammatical structure than the plainer 'designed for' construction used to close the 6.5 answer.

4. 4. What are the differences between talking to people online and talking to them face to face?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Uses two shorter, separate sentences to explain the client dispute, connected loosely with 'but', a clear but somewhat choppy structure.

   Mainly, online you lose almost everything except the words themselves. A disagreement with a client got worse over a week of emails, until it felt quite hostile, but it was solved in five minutes when we finally sat down together. The emails had removed all the tone, so both sides had imagined the worst version of it. Face to face, you get expression and pauses, and you can fix a misunderstanding quickly. Online, you get more time to think, and some distance, which can help certain people say what they mean. I think online is better for information, and face to face is better for feelings.

   Why this band

   • FC“A disagreement with a client got worse over a week of emails, until it felt quite hostile, but it was solved in five minutes when we finally sat down together.” — The 6.5 answer joins escalation and resolution with a plain 'but'. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers instead use 'and then it dissolved' or 'and then dissolved', continuing the same sentence with 'and' rather than pivoting with 'but', which lets the story unfold as one continuous movement.
   • LR“got worse” — This is a plain, general verb. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers both use the more precise, almost technical 'escalated', a stronger and more specific word for the same process.
   • GRA“The emails had removed all the tone, so both sides had imagined the worst version of it.” — This sentence uses 'so' to link cause and effect, clear but fairly standard. The 7.5 answer folds a very similar idea into a dash-marked clause attached to the previous sentence instead of starting a new one, 'the emails had stripped out the tone and both sides had filled it in with the worst version', a more compact, integrated structure.

   Band 7.0

   The closing aside 'which, honestly, is more things than we usually admit' extends the final claim further than the plainer ending at 6.5.

   Mainly, online you lose everything except the words. A disagreement with a client escalated over a week of emails until it genuinely felt hostile, and then it dissolved in about five minutes once we were sitting across a table, because we could finally see that neither of us was actually angry — the emails had stripped out all the tone, and both sides had quietly filled it in with the worst version. Face to face, you get expression, pauses, and the chance to repair a misunderstanding almost instantly. Online, you get time to think and the safety of distance, which does help some people say what they actually mean. I'd say online is better for information, and face to face is better for anything involving feelings — which, honestly, is more things than we usually admit.

   Why this band

   • FC“and then it dissolved in about five minutes once we were sitting across a table, because we could finally see that neither of us was actually angry” — This long clause links resolution, timing, and cause together in one continuous flow, more developed than the two separate sentences at 6.5. The 7.5 answer achieves an almost identical structure, showing this level of complexity is already established by 7.0.
   • LR“the safety of distance” — This is a precise, slightly abstract noun phrase for a psychological effect, more developed than a plainer equivalent would be. The 7.5 answer keeps this exact phrase, showing the two upper bands share this piece of lexis closely.
   • GRA“I'd say online is better for information, and face to face is better for anything involving feelings — which, honestly, is more things than we usually admit.” — This sentence adds a dash-marked relative clause onto an already balanced comparison, extending it further than the simpler final sentence at 6.5. The 7.5 answer achieves a very similar structure, differing mainly by dropping the comma before 'which' and the aside 'honestly', a marginally tighter version.

   Band 7.5

   The closing clause, 'which is more things than we admit', trims the 7.0 version's extra hedge 'honestly, is more things than we usually admit' into a more economical final line.

   Mainly that online, you lose everything except the words. A disagreement with a client escalated over a week of emails until it felt genuinely hostile, and then dissolved in five minutes across a table, because we could see that neither of us was angry — the emails had stripped out the tone and both sides had filled it in with the worst version. Face to face, you get expression, pauses, the chance to repair a misunderstanding instantly. Online, you get time to think and the safety of distance, which helps some people say what they mean. I'd say online is better for information and face to face is better for anything involving feelings, which is more things than we admit.

   Why this band

   • FC“Mainly that online, you lose everything except the words.” — Opening the answer with the fragment 'Mainly that' rather than the fuller 'Mainly, online you lose' used at 6.5 and 7.0 is a bolder, more conversational opening move, sounding like the direct continuation of an unspoken question.
   • LR“stripped out the tone” — This vivid, precise verb phrase matches the 7.0 answer closely, both clearly ahead of the plainer 'removed all the tone' used at 6.5, showing this lexical upgrade is locked in from 7.0 onward.
   • GRA“which is more things than we admit” — This closing relative clause is trimmed of the extra adverb 'honestly' and modal softening used at 7.0, a more economical and confident final structure than either lower band's ending.

5. 5. What do you think of the view that it is possible for people to make good friends online?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Introduces the caveat about depth with the plain phrase 'The one problem is depth', a clear but slightly flat way of shifting the argument.

   I think it's true, but it depends what we mean by 'good'. I've worked with a designer in Poland for four years on a shared project, and we message most weeks about more than just work, so I'd call him a real friend, even though we've never been in the same room. Doing things together builds friendship, and the internet gives people plenty of shared activities, like games, projects, or communities around a hobby. The one problem is depth. Online friendships are often about one shared thing rather than a shared life, and they can end quietly when that thing ends.

   Why this band

   • FC“The one problem is depth.” — The 6.5 answer marks this shift with the bare noun phrase 'The one problem is depth.' The 7.0 answer extends this slightly with 'The caveat is depth, though.', and 7.5 trims it back down to 'The caveat is depth.', showing that word count doesn't rise in a straight line between the bands — sometimes 7.5 is simply more economical than 7.0.
   • LR“Doing things together builds friendship” — This is plain, functional phrasing. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers both use the more precise noun phrase 'Shared activity builds friendship', turning the verb phrase into a compact abstract noun, a more academic register.
   • GRA“Online friendships are often about one shared thing rather than a shared life, and they can end quietly when that thing ends.” — This sentence coordinates two clauses with 'and', clear but standard. The 7.5 answer achieves the same content with almost identical wording but slightly tighter phrasing, 'tend to be about a shared thing rather than a shared life, and they can end silently when the thing ends', showing the sentence structure itself has little room left to develop further at this level.

   Band 7.0

   The closing contrast, 'Good friends online, definitely — but the friend who drives you to hospital still usually lives nearby', gives the ending more punch than the flatter final sentence at 6.5.

   I think it's true, with a caveat about what 'good' actually means. I've worked with a designer in Poland for four years through a shared project, we message most weeks about far more than just work, and honestly I'd call him a real friend despite never having been in the same room as him. Shared activity builds friendship, and the internet supplies shared activity in real abundance — games, projects, communities built around almost any interest. The caveat is depth, though. Online friendships tend to be about a shared thing rather than a shared life, and they can end pretty silently once the thing itself ends. Good friends online, definitely — but the friend who drives you to hospital still usually lives nearby.

   Why this band

   • FC“Good friends online, definitely — but the friend who drives you to hospital still usually lives nearby.” — This closing sentence uses a sentence fragment plus a dash-marked contrast, a bolder rhetorical move than the plain final sentence at 6.5. The 7.5 answer achieves a similar effect but splits it into two short separate sentences instead of one dash-linked one, 'Good friends online, yes. The friend who drives you to hospital usually still lives nearby.', a slightly different but equally deliberate stylistic choice.
   • LR“shared activity in real abundance” — The intensifier 'real' here adds emphasis beyond the plain 'plenty of shared activities' at 6.5. The 7.5 answer drops 'real' for the simpler 'in abundance', showing that at the very top band, restraint can be just as effective as intensification.
   • GRA“we message most weeks about far more than just work, and honestly I'd call him a real friend despite never having been in the same room as him” — This sentence links two clauses with 'and', the second containing a concessive 'despite' phrase, a well-developed structure. The 7.5 answer achieves an almost identical structure, trimming only 'just' and 'as him', showing this sentence pattern is already close to settled by 7.0.

   Band 7.5

   The two short closing sentences, 'Good friends online, yes. The friend who drives you to hospital usually still lives nearby.', replace the dash-linked version at 7.0 with a punchier, two-beat ending.

   I think it's true, with a caveat about what 'good' means. I've worked with a designer in Poland for four years through a shared project, we message most weeks about far more than work, and I'd call him a real friend despite never having been in the same room. Shared activity builds friendship, and the internet supplies shared activity in abundance — games, projects, communities around any interest. The caveat is depth. Online friendships tend to be about a shared thing rather than a shared life, and they can end silently when the thing ends. Good friends online, yes. The friend who drives you to hospital usually still lives nearby.

   Why this band

   • FC“Good friends online, yes.” — This four-word sentence fragment is even more compact than the 7.0 answer's dash-linked version, creating a deliberate pause before the final contrasting sentence lands.
   • LR“in abundance” — This trimmed phrase, dropping the intensifier 'real' used at 7.0, shows a more restrained, confident register — the word 'abundance' itself already carries enough weight without extra emphasis.
   • GRA“Good friends online, yes. The friend who drives you to hospital usually still lives nearby.” — Splitting the closing idea into two short, separate sentences rather than joining them with a dash, as the 7.0 answer does, creates a more deliberate rhetorical pause, showing flexible control over sentence boundaries for effect.

6. 6. What types of impacts can technology have on family relationships?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Opens with the full frame 'I think technology affects family relationships in both directions', a clear but fuller and more explanatory opening than the upper bands use.

   I think technology affects family relationships in both directions, and I see this in my own family. I video-call my grandmother in Hue every Sunday, and she feels more present in my life now than when I lived two hours away and only visited once a month. At the same time, our family dinners often have six phones on the table, and the conversation keeps stopping. My mother has even started taking the phones away, like a teacher. I think technology helps families stay connected across distance, but it can also disconnect them when they're sitting at the same table.

   Why this band

   • FC“she feels more present in my life now than when I lived two hours away and only visited once a month” — The 6.5 answer states this comparison in full. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers both attach the dash-marked conclusion 'technology basically stitched that relationship back together' or 'technology stitched that relationship back together' directly afterward, extending the same sentence with an evaluative image rather than leaving the comparison to stand alone.
   • LR“My mother has even started taking the phones away, like a teacher.” — This is plain, direct phrasing. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers both use the more specific, slightly formal verb 'confiscating' in place of the everyday 'taking away', a small but clear upgrade in precision.
   • GRA“I think technology helps families stay connected across distance, but it can also disconnect them when they're sitting at the same table.” — This sentence uses 'but' to join two contrasting clauses, clear but fairly standard. The 7.5 answer expresses the same contrast using two parallel verb phrases joined by 'and' instead, 'lets families stay connected across distance and lets them disconnect across a table', a more rhythmic, repeated structure.

   Band 7.0

   The simile 'like some kind of teacher' adds a slightly exaggerated, humorous touch beyond the plainer 'like a teacher' used at 6.5.

   I'd say technology pulls family relationships in both directions at once, and I see it clearly in my own family. I video-call my grandmother in Hue every Sunday, and honestly she's more present in my life now than when I lived two hours away and only visited monthly — technology basically stitched that relationship back together. At the same time, our family dinners have six phones face-up on the table and conversations that keep pausing, and my mother has actually started confiscating them, like some kind of teacher. Technology lets families stay connected across distance and lets them disconnect across a table. Whether the overall effect is positive seems to depend on whether a family sets rules, and most families, mine included, tend to set them far too late.

   Why this band

   • FC“technology basically stitched that relationship back together” — This vivid metaphor is shared closely with the 7.5 answer, both considerably more evocative than the plain factual comparison at 6.5, which doesn't use any such image at all.
   • LR“confiscating them, like some kind of teacher” — This phrase intensifies the image with 'some kind of', slightly more exaggerated than the 7.5 answer's plainer 'confiscating them like a teacher', showing that at 7.0 a little extra emphasis can sometimes do the same job as the sharper economy found at 7.5.
   • GRA“Whether the overall effect is positive seems to depend on whether a family sets rules, and most families, mine included, tend to set them far too late.” — This sentence uses a noun clause as subject, 'Whether the overall effect is positive', a sophisticated structure. The 7.5 answer achieves an almost identical structure, trimming 'overall' to 'net' and 'tend to set them far too late' to 'set them late', a more economical final version.

   Band 7.5

   Opens with the fragment 'Both directions at once, in my own family', skipping the full explanatory sentence used at 6.5 and 7.0, a bolder, more compressed start.

   Both directions at once, in my own family. I video-call my grandmother in Hue every Sunday, and she's more present in my life now than when I lived two hours away and visited monthly — technology stitched that relationship back together. At the same time, our family dinners have six phones face-up on the table and conversations that keep pausing, and my mother has started confiscating them like a teacher. Technology lets families stay connected across distance and lets them disconnect across a table. Whether the net effect is positive seems to depend on whether a family sets rules, and most families, including mine, set them late.

   Why this band

   • FC“Both directions at once, in my own family.” — This four-word opening fragment states the thesis immediately without any framing verb, a considerably more compact and confident opening than the fuller sentences 'I think technology affects...' at 6.5 and 'I'd say technology pulls...' at 7.0.
   • LR“stitched that relationship back together” — This vivid metaphor matches the 7.0 answer closely, both well beyond the plain factual statement at 6.5, showing this particular image is already established by 7.0 and simply carried through.
   • GRA“most families, including mine, set them late” — This closing clause is trimmed of the intensifiers 'tend to' and 'far too' used at 7.0, a more economical and understated final statement that lets the simple fact speak for itself.

7. 7. Do advances in technology always improve the quality of education?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Gives two separate reasons for the tablet failure in short, list-like sentences, 'The tablets were mostly used for games... and the money could have paid', a plain sequence.

   No, I don't think technology always improves education, and sometimes it makes things worse while looking like progress. A school near Da Nang gave every child a tablet, and it was announced publicly, but a maths teacher there told me privately that results had actually fallen. The tablets were mostly used for games under the desk, and the money could have paid for two more teachers instead. I think technology improves education when it does something a teacher can't do alone, like showing a video or giving access to lessons a small school could never offer. But it fails when it's added just because it's new.

   Why this band

   • FC“A school near Da Nang gave every child a tablet, and it was announced publicly, but a maths teacher there told me privately that results had actually fallen.” — The 6.5 answer chains this with 'and... but', producing a slightly loose three-part sentence. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers instead use a dash after the main clause to attach the teacher's private admission directly, tightening the same information into a more controlled structure.
   • LR“gave every child a tablet, and it was announced publicly” — This is plain, workable phrasing. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers both use the more compact 'with a lot of publicity' or 'with great publicity', a prepositional phrase doing the same descriptive work more economically.
   • GRA“I think technology improves education when it does something a teacher can't do alone, like showing a video or giving access to lessons a small school could never offer.” — This sentence uses a 'like' example with two coordinated items, workable but fairly standard. The 7.5 answer restructures this using a colon followed by a three-item list, 'a video of a beating heart, a language app a child uses at home, access to lectures a village school could never host', a more vivid, itemised, and rhythmically deliberate structure.

   Band 7.0

   The closing reflection, 'Honestly, the best classroom I ever sat in just had a blackboard and a teacher who cared', adds a personal, spoken final touch beyond the plainer ending at 6.5.

   Not always, and sometimes it actually makes things worse while looking like progress. A school near Da Nang gave every child a tablet, with a lot of publicity, and a maths teacher there told me privately that results had fallen — the tablets were mostly used for games under the desk, and that money could have paid for two extra teachers instead. Technology improves education when it does something a teacher genuinely can't, like a video of a beating heart, or a language app a child uses at home, or access to lectures a village school could never host on its own. It fails, I'd say, when it's introduced simply because it's new rather than because it actually solves a problem. Honestly, the best classroom I ever sat in just had a blackboard and a teacher who cared.

   Why this band

   • FC“the tablets were mostly used for games under the desk, and that money could have paid for two extra teachers instead” — This dash-introduced clause attaches the criticism directly to the main sentence, more fluid than the 6.5 answer's separated, list-like sentences. The 7.5 answer achieves an almost identical structure, trimming only 'mostly' and 'that... instead', a slightly more economical version.
   • LR“results had fallen” — This plain, direct phrase is shared closely with the 7.5 answer, both more blunt and confident than the 6.5 answer's softened 'results had actually fallen', showing that at this point a plainer statement can carry more weight than an intensified one.
   • GRA“Technology improves education when it does something a teacher genuinely can't, like a video of a beating heart, or a language app a child uses at home, or access to lectures a village school could never host on its own.” — This sentence uses a colon-like 'like' list with three items joined by repeated 'or', a well-developed structure. The 7.5 answer achieves a similar list but drops the repeated 'or' in favour of commas after a colon, 'a video of a beating heart, a language app a child uses at home, access to lectures a village school could never host', a more compact, rhythmic variant.

   Band 7.5

   The closing sentence, 'The best classroom I ever sat in had a blackboard and a teacher who cared', drops the hedge 'Honestly' used at 7.0 for a more direct, confident final statement.

   Not always, and sometimes they make it worse while looking like progress. A school near Da Nang gave every child a tablet, with great publicity, and a maths teacher there told me privately that results had fallen — the tablets were used for games under the desk, and the money could have paid for two extra teachers. Technology improves education when it does something a teacher can't: a video of a beating heart, a language app a child uses at home, access to lectures a village school could never host. It fails when it's introduced because it's new rather than because it solves a problem. The best classroom I ever sat in had a blackboard and a teacher who cared.

   Why this band

   • FC“the tablets were used for games under the desk, and the money could have paid for two extra teachers” — This trimmed version, dropping 'mostly' and 'instead' from the 7.0 equivalent, is a more economical and assured statement of the same criticism.
   • LR“access to lectures a village school could never host” — This precise, image-rich phrase matches the 7.0 answer closely, both considerably more vivid than the plainer 'giving access to lessons a small school could never offer' used at 6.5.
   • GRA“The best classroom I ever sat in had a blackboard and a teacher who cared.” — This closing sentence drops the hedge 'Honestly' used at 7.0, ending instead on a bare, confident statement, a slightly more assured final structure than the hedged version at 7.0 or the fuller explanatory sentence at 6.5.

8. 8. To what extent do you think technological progress will lead to increased unemployment?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Explains the studio example with the plain connector 'because', a clear but fairly literal way of stating cause and effect.

   I think there will be some unemployment, especially in the short term, and the pain won't be spread evenly. My studio no longer has a receptionist, because a booking app took over that role, but we gained two new jobs in data and client support that didn't exist before. That's roughly how it has gone in the past. The problem is that the people who lose the old jobs are rarely the same people who get the new ones, and that gap is where unemployment really comes from. AI now threatens office and creative jobs too, including parts of my own job. I expect a difficult ten years rather than permanent mass unemployment.

   Why this band

   • FC“My studio no longer has a receptionist, because a booking app took over that role, but we gained two new jobs in data and client support that didn't exist before.” — The 6.5 answer uses a full 'because' clause to explain the change. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers instead compress this into a dash-marked aside, 'a booking app absorbed that role —' or 'a booking app absorbed the role —', embedding the explanation more tightly into the sentence.
   • LR“took over that role” — This is plain, functional phrasing. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers both use the more precise, slightly formal verb 'absorbed', which suggests the role being quietly folded into something larger, a more evocative choice.
   • GRA“The problem is that the people who lose the old jobs are rarely the same people who get the new ones, and that gap is where unemployment really comes from.” — This sentence uses 'that... and that' to link two clauses, clear but somewhat repetitive with the word 'that'. The 7.5 answer achieves a cleaner version using a comma-set-off 'though' instead, 'The people who lose the old jobs, though, are rarely the people who get the new ones', avoiding the repetition.

   Band 7.0

   The final aside 'though historically, they've reached them pretty late' adds a reflective qualifying note beyond the plainer closing statement at 6.5.

   Some, especially in the short term, and honestly the pain will be spread pretty unevenly. My studio no longer has a receptionist — a booking app absorbed that role — but we gained two jobs in data and client support that didn't exist before, which is roughly how it's gone historically. The people who lose the old jobs, though, are rarely the people who get the new ones, and that gap is exactly where unemployment tends to live. AI now threatens office and creative work that used to feel fairly safe, including parts of my own job, honestly. I'd expect a genuinely difficult decade of displacement rather than permanent mass unemployment, provided training and support actually reach the people affected — though historically, they've reached them pretty late.

   Why this band

   • FC“a booking app absorbed that role — but we gained two jobs in data and client support that didn't exist before, which is roughly how it's gone historically” — This sentence links a dash-marked explanation to a relative clause, more developed than the 'because' clause at 6.5. The 7.5 answer achieves an almost identical structure, differing only in dropping 'that' before 'role', showing this pattern is already close to settled by 7.0.
   • LR“displacement” — This precise, slightly technical noun for job loss caused by change is more specific than the general 'unemployment' repeated throughout the 6.5 answer, showing a finer distinction in vocabulary.
   • GRA“I'd expect a genuinely difficult decade of displacement rather than permanent mass unemployment, provided training and support actually reach the people affected — though historically, they've reached them pretty late.” — This sentence stacks a conditional 'provided' clause onto a dash-marked concession, a well-developed and layered structure. The 7.5 answer achieves an almost identical structure but splits the final clause into its own short sentence instead, 'Historically they've reached them late.', a slightly different but equally deliberate rhetorical choice.

   Band 7.5

   The final two-word sentence, 'Historically they've reached them late.', breaks off from the longer sentence before it, a bold, deliberate closing rhythm.

   Some, especially in the short term, and the pain will be uneven. My studio no longer has a receptionist — a booking app absorbed the role — but we gained two jobs in data and client support that didn't exist before, which is roughly how it's gone historically. The people who lose the old jobs, though, are rarely the people who get the new ones, and that gap is where unemployment lives. AI now threatens office and creative work that used to feel safe, including parts of mine. I'd expect a difficult decade of displacement rather than permanent mass unemployment, provided training and support actually reach the people affected. Historically they've reached them late.

   Why this band

   • FC“that gap is where unemployment lives” — This trimmed, almost aphoristic phrase, dropping 'really comes from' in favour of the simpler 'lives', is a more economical and confident final image than either the 6.5 or 7.0 equivalents.
   • LR“displacement” — This precise noun matches the 7.0 answer exactly, both clearly more specific than the repeated general noun 'unemployment' used throughout the 6.5 answer.
   • GRA“Historically they've reached them late.” — This short closing sentence, broken off from the longer conditional sentence before it rather than folded in with a dash as at 7.0, shows a bolder, more deliberate use of sentence length for rhetorical effect.

9. 9. What do you think of the view that the rate of technological innovation will slow down in years to come?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   States the phone comparison and its implication in two separate sentences, 'Phones haven't changed much... My current phone is basically the same', a plain step-by-step structure.

   I think this view is half right, depending on where you look. Phones haven't changed much in five years. My current phone is basically the same as the one before it, and that kind of visible innovation for consumers does seem to be slowing down as the easy improvements run out. But the tools I use for design have changed more in the last two years than in the ten years before that, mostly because of AI. I think innovation might slow down in the products we hold, but speed up in the systems working behind them, which are less visible to most people.

   Why this band

   • FC“My current phone is basically the same as the one before it, and that kind of visible innovation for consumers does seem to be slowing down as the easy improvements run out.” — The 6.5 answer states the phone comparison as its own sentence before drawing the wider conclusion. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers instead fold both ideas into one sentence using a dash, 'my current one is essentially the one before it —', a tighter, more integrated structure.
   • LR“visible innovation for consumers” — This is workable but slightly clunky phrasing. The 7.0 and 7.5 answers both use the more compact, natural 'visible, consumer-facing innovation' or 'visible consumer innovation', a tighter compound adjective doing the same descriptive job.
   • GRA“I think innovation might slow down in the products we hold, but speed up in the systems working behind them, which are less visible to most people.” — This sentence uses 'but' to join two parallel verb phrases, then adds a relative clause, workable but somewhat loosely stacked. The 7.5 answer tightens this into 'innovation may slow in the products we hold and speed up in the systems behind them', dropping the relative clause and the repeated subject for a more compact, balanced structure.

   Band 7.0

   The closing image, 'while the real changes are happening somewhere far less visible', gives the ending a slightly more developed final image than the plainer 6.5 equivalent.

   I think it's half right, depending on where you actually look. Phones have barely changed in five years — my current one is essentially the one before it — and that kind of visible, consumer-facing innovation does seem to be slowing as the easy improvements run out. But the tools I use for design have changed more in the last two years than in the previous ten, mostly because of AI, and biology and energy seem to be entering a similar kind of acceleration right now. So innovation may well be slowing in the products we actually hold while speeding up in the systems behind them. Honestly, the view feels like something people say when their own gadgets stop surprising them, while the real changes are happening somewhere far less visible.

   Why this band

   • FC“Honestly, the view feels like something people say when their own gadgets stop surprising them” — This hedge 'Honestly,' plus the vivid closing image is a more developed, opinionated final move than the plain explanatory sentence at 6.5. The 7.5 answer keeps an almost identical image but drops the hedge and 'own', trusting the observation to stand on its own.
   • LR“a similar kind of acceleration right now” — This is a clear, workable phrase. The 7.5 answer's 'the same kind of acceleration' is nearly identical, showing this particular phrase has already reached a stable form by 7.0, with further polish coming from elsewhere in the sentence.
   • GRA“But the tools I use for design have changed more in the last two years than in the previous ten, mostly because of AI, and biology and energy seem to be entering a similar kind of acceleration right now.” — This sentence links a comparative clause to a further coordinated clause with 'and', a well-developed structure. The 7.5 answer achieves an almost identical structure, dropping only 'mostly' and 'right now', showing this pattern is already close to settled by 7.0.

   Band 7.5

   The closing image, 'while the real changes move somewhere less visible', trims the 7.0 version's extra words 'are happening somewhere far' into a tighter, more economical final phrase.

   I think it's half right, depending on where you look. Phones have barely changed in five years — my current one is essentially the one before it — and that kind of visible consumer innovation does seem to be slowing as the easy improvements run out. But the tools I use for design have changed more in the last two years than in the previous ten, because of AI, and biology and energy seem to be entering the same kind of acceleration. So innovation may slow in the products we hold and speed up in the systems behind them. The view feels like something people say when their gadgets stop surprising them, while the real changes move somewhere less visible.

   Why this band

   • FC“The view feels like something people say when their gadgets stop surprising them” — Dropping the hedge 'Honestly,' and the word 'own' used at 7.0, this sentence states the same sharp observation with more confidence and economy, trusting the claim to land without softening.
   • LR“the real changes move somewhere less visible” — This trimmed closing phrase, using the simple verb 'move' instead of the fuller 'are happening... far less visible' at 7.0, is a more economical, almost aphoristic final image.
   • GRA“innovation may slow in the products we hold and speed up in the systems behind them” — This sentence balances two parallel verb phrases, 'slow in... and speed up in', without a relative clause or repeated subject, a tighter and more rhythmically deliberate structure than the looser equivalent sentence at 6.5.