A Time When You Received Something for Free

Part 3 follow-up questions

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

1. 1. How can offering free higher education to everyone benefit a country?

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

   Band 6.5

   Closes with a plain 'But' sentence: 'a country that only educates those who can pay loses half its talent.'

   It stops the country losing talented people from poor families. A classmate of mine in Hue was the smartest in our class, but she left school at sixteen because her family couldn't pay the next stage's fees. Free education recovers people like her. It also produces more doctors, engineers and teachers, which raises everyone's living standard, and graduates pay more tax later, so some cost returns. The risk is cost, and some students end up at university when a trade would suit them better. But a country that only educates those who can pay loses half its talent.

   Why this band

   • FC“But a country that only educates those who can pay loses half its talent.” — Closes with a plain 'But' sentence. 7.0 extends this with the added phrase 'That said, there are real risks' beforehand, and 7.5 keeps 'But' but adds the adverb 'deliberately' for extra emphasis.
   • LR“loses half its talent” — Plain closing phrase. 7.0 keeps this phrase nearly identical but frames the whole idea as 'choosing to develop with half its talent', and 7.5 intensifies the opening image to 'quietly bleeding talent'.
   • GRA“The risk is cost, and some students end up at university when a trade would suit them better.” — One sentence with two coordinated clauses joined by 'and'. 7.0 restructures this into a colon-led list, and 7.5 keeps the colon list but adds a third parallel item.

   Band 7.0

   Adds a hedge and a colon-led list of risks: 'That said, there are real risks: cost, universities filling with students who'd be better served by a trade, and quality slipping.'

   Honestly, I'd say it stops a country losing talented people simply because their families can't pay. A classmate of mine in Hue, the sharpest in our year, left school at sixteen because the fees for the next stage were beyond her parents — free higher education recovers exactly that kind of waste. It also produces more doctors, engineers and teachers, which raises everyone's living standard, and graduates tend to earn more and pay more tax, so part of the cost eventually returns. That said, there are real risks: cost, universities filling with students who'd be better served by a trade, and quality slipping. But a country educating only those who can afford it is choosing to develop with half its talent.

   Why this band

   • FC“That said, there are real risks: cost, universities filling with students who'd be better served by a trade, and quality slipping.” — Adds the hedge 'That said' and a colon-led list, a more elaborate coherence move than 6.5's plain 'The risk is...and'. 7.5 keeps a very similar list but drops 'That said' for a more direct 'The real risks are'.
   • LR“free higher education recovers exactly that kind of waste” — More precise than 6.5's blunt 'would recover people like her'. 7.5 extends this with 'before it happens' for a sharper temporal nuance.
   • GRA“left school at sixteen because the fees for the next stage were beyond her parents — free higher education recovers exactly that kind of waste” — Uses a dash to fuse the anecdote directly to its generalisation within one sentence, more integrated than 6.5's two separate sentences. 7.5 keeps this dash structure and extends the generalisation further.

   Band 7.5

   Sharpens the closing judgement with a parenthetical: 'is choosing, deliberately, to develop with half its talent.'

   I'd say it stops a country quietly bleeding talent simply because certain families can't afford the next fee. A classmate of mine in Hue, the sharpest in our year by a distance, left school at sixteen because the fees ahead were beyond her parents — free higher education recovers exactly that kind of waste before it happens. It produces more doctors, engineers and teachers, lifting everyone's living standard, and narrows the gap between families who can pay and those who can't. Graduates earn more and pay more tax, so a slice of the cost eventually returns to the state. The real risks are cost, universities filling with students better suited to a trade, and quality gradually slipping. But a country that only educates those who can afford it is choosing, deliberately, to develop with half its talent.

   Why this band

   • FC“But a country that only educates those who can afford it is choosing, deliberately, to develop with half its talent.” — Keeps 6.5's and 7.0's closing 'But' frame but inserts the parenthetical adverb 'deliberately', sharpening the moral judgement compared to 7.0's plainer version.
   • LR“quietly bleeding talent” — A vivid, idiomatic metaphor replacing 6.5's flat 'losing talented people' and 7.0's still-literal phrasing, showing much stronger figurative control.
   • GRA“The real risks are cost, universities filling with students better suited to a trade, and quality gradually slipping.” — Drops 7.0's hedge 'That said' and tightens the colon-style list into a direct copular sentence, while adding the adverb 'gradually' for nuance.

2. 2. Do you agree or disagree that in today's society people value some things mainly because other people do?

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

   Band 6.5

   States the contrast plainly: 'But things valued only for being popular don't last.'

   I agree, and there's a café in Da Nang that proves it. People queue for two hours every weekend, but I've never met anyone who thinks the coffee is actually good — they queue because the queue exists. Fashion, restaurants, and phones are often valued because other people value them, and social media makes this happen faster. This isn't completely new, because people have always copied other people's choices. But things valued only for being popular don't last; when the crowd moves on, people drop them quickly. Things valued for themselves last much longer.

   Why this band

   • FC“But things valued only for being popular don't last” — Plain 'But' opens the final contrast as a separate sentence. 7.0 replaces this with a cleft sentence, and 7.5 extends the same cleft pattern with a semicolon and an added contrasting clause.
   • LR“they queue because the queue exists” — Plain, repetitive phrasing. 7.0 upgrades to 'people queue simply because the queue exists', and 7.5 sharpens this further to 'people queue purely because the queue is there'.
   • GRA“Fashion, restaurants, and phones are often valued because other people value them, and social media makes this happen faster.” — A simple list plus one 'because' clause and one coordinated clause. 7.0 expands the list and rebuilds the sentence, and 7.5 extends further with a full appositive explanation after a colon.

   Band 7.0

   Embeds the contrast in a cleft sentence: 'The limit is that it doesn't last — things valued only for popularity get dropped the moment the crowd moves on.'

   Honestly, I'd agree, and there's a café in Da Nang that proves it perfectly: a two-hour queue every weekend, and I've yet to meet anyone who actually thinks the coffee is good — people queue simply because the queue exists. Fashion, restaurants, phones, even holiday destinations get valued partly because they've already been seen being valued, and social media has made that visible and fast. To be fair, this isn't entirely new, since humans have always used other people's choices as a rough guide. What's new, I'd say, is the scale and the speed. The limit is that it doesn't last — things valued only for popularity get dropped the moment the crowd moves on.

   Why this band

   • FC“The limit is that it doesn't last — things valued only for popularity get dropped the moment the crowd moves on.” — Embeds the contrast inside a cleft sentence followed by a dash, more integrated than 6.5's plain 'But'-led sentence. 7.5 keeps a similar cleft-and-dash pattern but extends it with a semicolon and a second contrasting clause.
   • LR“people queue simply because the queue exists” — Adds 'simply' for emphasis over 6.5's bare version. 7.5 swaps 'simply because' for the slightly more idiomatic 'purely because...is there'.
   • GRA“Fashion, restaurants, phones, even holiday destinations get valued partly because they've already been seen being valued, and social media has made that visible and fast” — Expands the list to four items and restructures the 'because' clause into a passive construction, more ambitious than 6.5's simple active clause. 7.5 keeps a nearly identical list but replaces the passive clause with a colon-led appositive explanation.

   Band 7.5

   Extends the cleft close with a semicolon and a further contrast: 'while things valued for themselves tend to survive the fashion.'

   I'd agree, and there's a café in Da Nang that proves the point almost too well: a two-hour queue every single weekend, and I've yet to meet anyone who genuinely rates the coffee — people queue purely because the queue is there. Fashion, restaurants, phones, even holiday destinations get valued partly for being valued, and social media has made that visible and near-instant: a thing becomes desirable simply because it's been seen being desired. None of this is new, exactly, since humans have always used other people's choices as a shortcut. What's changed is the scale and the speed. The catch is that this kind of value never lasts; things prized only for their popularity get dropped the instant the crowd drifts elsewhere, while things valued for themselves tend to survive the fashion.

   Why this band

   • FC“The catch is that this kind of value never lasts; things prized only for their popularity get dropped the instant the crowd drifts elsewhere, while things valued for themselves tend to survive the fashion.” — Keeps 7.0's cleft opening but adds a semicolon and a second contrasting clause about things valued for themselves, a more layered, complete final structure than 7.0's single dash-linked clause.
   • LR“people queue purely because the queue is there” — A slightly more idiomatic, rhythm-conscious variant of 7.0's 'simply because the queue exists', showing finer control of natural collocation.
   • GRA“Fashion, restaurants, phones, even holiday destinations get valued partly for being valued, and social media has made that visible and near-instant: a thing becomes desirable simply because it's been seen being desired.” — Adds a colon-led appositive clause explaining the previous statement in more detail, a more elaborate structure than 7.0's single passive 'because' clause.

3. 3. Do you think the government needs to provide good public transport across the whole country?

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

   Band 6.5

   Closes with a plain 'but' clause: 'that's what government is for.'

   Yes, I think so, and the gap is between cities and everywhere else. The airport shuttle in Da Nang runs every ten minutes, but the bus to my grandparents' village only runs twice a day, and missing it means losing a whole day. The countryside has the worst transport but needs it the most, because people there have less money for private vehicles. Good transport lets people reach work, hospitals, and schools without a car. It also connects regions, so opportunity isn't only in big cities. It's expensive and rural routes lose money, but that's what government is for.

   Why this band

   • FC“It's expensive and rural routes lose money, but that's what government is for.” — Closes with a plain 'but' clause. 7.0 replaces the ending with the hedge 'that's arguably exactly what government exists for', and 7.5 uses a dash plus 'surely' for a more considered close.
   • LR“missing it means losing a whole day” — Plain, direct phrasing. 7.0 upgrades to 'losing an entire day', and 7.5 sharpens further with 'costs you the whole day', a more idiomatic verb choice.
   • GRA“The airport shuttle in Da Nang runs every ten minutes, but the bus to my grandparents' village only runs twice a day, and missing it means losing a whole day.” — Three clauses joined by 'but' and 'and'. 7.0 replaces 'but' with 'while' for subordination, and 7.5 uses a semicolon in place of 'while', a more compact, mature link.

   Band 7.0

   Adds the hedge 'arguably' to the closing claim: 'that's arguably exactly what government exists for.'

   Honestly, yes, and the real gap now is between the cities and everywhere else. The airport shuttle in Da Nang runs every ten minutes, while the bus to my grandparents' village runs just twice a day, and missing it means losing an entire day — the countryside is where public transport is worst and, ironically, most needed, since people there have the least money for private vehicles. Good transport lets people reach work, hospitals and schools without owning a car, which is really the only way to keep cities moving and the air breathable. It's expensive, and rural routes rarely pay for themselves, but that's arguably exactly what government exists for.

   Why this band

   • FC“It's expensive, and rural routes rarely pay for themselves, but that's arguably exactly what government exists for.” — Adds the hedge 'arguably' before the closing claim, a more considered spoken move than 6.5's flat assertion. 7.5 keeps a similar structure but replaces 'arguably' with the sentence-final 'surely' after a dash.
   • LR“missing it means losing an entire day” — 'Entire' is a small but real upgrade over 6.5's plain 'a whole day'. 7.5 goes further with the more idiomatic verb phrase 'costs you the whole day'.
   • GRA“The airport shuttle in Da Nang runs every ten minutes, while the bus to my grandparents' village runs just twice a day” — Replaces 6.5's 'but' with the subordinating 'while', building one slightly more complex sentence. 7.5 replaces 'while' with a semicolon for an even more compact juxtaposition.

   Band 7.5

   Uses a dash and a mid-clause 'surely' for the close: 'but that, surely, is exactly what government is for.'

   I'd say yes, and the real divide these days runs between the cities and everywhere else. The airport shuttle in Da Nang comes every ten minutes; the bus to my grandparents' village runs twice a day, and missing it costs you the whole day — the countryside is where public transport is worst and, almost perversely, needed most, since people there have the least money to fall back on private vehicles. Good transport lets people reach work, hospitals and schools without a car, which is really the only thing keeping cities moving and the air breathable at all. It also stitches regions together, so opportunity isn't hoarded by two big cities. It's expensive, and rural routes will never pay for themselves — but that, surely, is exactly what government is for.

   Why this band

   • FC“It's expensive, and rural routes will never pay for themselves — but that, surely, is exactly what government is for.” — Uses a dash before 'but' and inserts 'surely' mid-clause, a more rhetorically confident and less hedgy close than 7.0's 'arguably exactly what government exists for'.
   • LR“costs you the whole day” — A more idiomatic, active verb phrase than 7.0's 'losing an entire day' or 6.5's 'losing a whole day', framing the loss as something done to you.
   • GRA“The airport shuttle in Da Nang comes every ten minutes; the bus to my grandparents' village runs twice a day, and missing it costs you the whole day” — Replaces 7.0's subordinating 'while' with a semicolon for a tighter, more mature juxtaposition of the two facts before adding the consequence clause.

4. 4. Do you agree with the view that the most important things in life have no financial value?

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

   Band 6.5

   Introduces the concession with a plain 'But' and a colon: 'But the exception matters: these things are easier to have when basic needs are covered.'

   I mostly agree, but with one honest exception. What I remember from that flight isn't the seat, which had a price, but the engineer's story, which had none — health, friendship, family time, and being trusted can't be bought, and they're what people talk about at the end of their lives. But the exception matters: these things are easier to have when basic needs are covered. Poverty damages health and steals time, so money doesn't buy the important things, but not having money can take them away. People with enough money often forget that second part.

   Why this band

   • FC“But the exception matters: these things are easier to have when basic needs are covered.” — Uses a plain 'But' plus a colon to introduce the concession. 7.0 replaces 'the exception' with 'the caveat' and adds 'because' for a fuller causal link, and 7.5 keeps 'the caveat' but adds framing earlier for a stronger effect.
   • LR“health, friendship, family time, and being trusted can't be bought” — Plain listing. 7.0 lengthens and varies the list with 'a good conversation' and the more formal negative 'none of them can be bought', and 7.5 sharpens the negative to 'not one of them can be bought'.
   • GRA“Poverty damages health and steals time, so money doesn't buy the important things, but not having money can take them away.” — Chains three clauses with 'so' and 'but'. 7.0 expands the list of damages and restructures with 'while... its absence can', and 7.5 keeps a similar structure but adds a semicolon and 'all the same'.

   Band 7.0

   Spells out the causal link with 'because': 'But the caveat matters, because those things are easier to hold onto when the priced things are already covered.'

   Honestly, I mostly agree, though with an honest caveat attached. What I remember from that flight isn't the seat, which had a price tag, but the engineer's story, which had none — health, friendship, time with family, a good conversation, being trusted: none of them can be bought, and they're what people tend to name at the end of their lives. But the caveat matters, because those things are easier to hold onto when the priced things are already covered. Poverty damages health, strains relationships and steals time, so while money can't buy the important things, its absence can definitely take them away. People with enough money, I'd say, tend to forget that second half.

   Why this band

   • FC“But the caveat matters, because those things are easier to hold onto when the priced things are already covered.” — Replaces 6.5's colon with an explicit 'because' clause, spelling out the causal link more fully. 7.5 keeps 'the caveat' but reframes the opening sentence to state its importance before the anecdote even begins.
   • LR“none of them can be bought” — A slightly more formal, emphatic negative construction than 6.5's plain 'can't be bought'. 7.5 intensifies this further to 'not one of them can be bought'.
   • GRA“Poverty damages health, strains relationships and steals time, so while money can't buy the important things, its absence can definitely take them away.” — Expands the list of damages to three items and uses 'while' to subordinate the contrast within one sentence, more ambitious than 6.5's simple chain. 7.5 keeps a similar list but replaces 'while' with a semicolon.

   Band 7.5

   States the caveat's importance in the opening sentence itself: 'though with a caveat I think matters as much as the main claim.'

   I'd mostly agree, though with a caveat I think matters as much as the main claim. What I remember from that flight isn't the seat, which had a price tag, but the engineer's story, which had none — health, friendship, time with family, a good conversation, being trusted: not one of them can be bought, and they're exactly what people name when they're looking back at the end of their lives. But the caveat is real: these things are far easier to hold onto once the priced things are already taken care of. Poverty damages health, strains marriages and quietly steals time; money doesn't buy the important things, but its absence can take them away all the same. People comfortable enough to have forgotten that tend to forget the second half entirely.

   Why this band

   • FC“I'd mostly agree, though with a caveat I think matters as much as the main claim.” — States the importance of the caveat right at the opening sentence rather than introducing it later as in 6.5 and 7.0, a more forward-planned, cohesive structure across the whole answer.
   • LR“not one of them can be bought” — A stronger, more emphatic negative construction than 7.0's 'none of them can be bought', adding rhetorical weight through the individualising 'not one'.
   • GRA“Poverty damages health, strains marriages and quietly steals time; money doesn't buy the important things, but its absence can take them away all the same.” — Replaces 7.0's 'while' subordination with a semicolon, then a 'but' clause plus the closing idiom 'all the same', a more flexible, native-sounding way of holding two contrasting ideas together.

5. 5. What kinds of things do companies usually give away as free gifts?

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

   Band 6.5

   Closes with the plain marker: 'Basically, the gift is cheap for the company and either advertises the brand or makes people feel a bit grateful.'

   There is a drawer in our studio full of free gifts — pens with company names, tote bags, a stress ball shaped like a fish, keyrings, notebooks, and one really useful umbrella everyone fights over. Companies also give away small branded items, free samples, trial periods for services, and discount vouchers. For important clients, they sometimes give dinners, trips, or event tickets. Digital companies give free versions of apps with some features locked. Airlines give upgrades when there's an empty seat anyway. Basically, the gift is cheap for the company and either advertises the brand or makes people feel a bit grateful.

   Why this band

   • FC“Basically, the gift is cheap for the company and either advertises the brand or makes people feel a bit grateful.” — Closes with the plain marker 'Basically'. 7.0 replaces this with 'The pattern, I'd say, is that...', a more considered framing, and 7.5 extends this same framing into a longer colon-led list of purposes.
   • LR“one really useful umbrella everyone fights over” — Simple, direct phrasing. 7.0 upgrades 'really useful' to 'genuinely useful', and 7.5 keeps 'genuinely useful' but reframes the whole drawer as 'basically a museum of them'.
   • GRA“There is a drawer in our studio full of free gifts — pens with company names, tote bags, a stress ball shaped like a fish, keyrings, notebooks, and one really useful umbrella everyone fights over.” — A dash introduces a long simple list. 7.0 adds a colon instead and inserts extra detail, and 7.5 keeps the colon-list structure but reframes the opening clause with a vivid metaphor.

   Band 7.0

   Reframes the closing marker into a cleft sentence: 'The pattern, I'd say, is that the gift is cheap for the giver but either advertises the brand or creates a small sense of obligation.'

   Honestly, there's a drawer in our studio full of them: pens with company names, tote bags, a stress ball shaped like a fish from a seafood client, keyrings, notebooks, and one genuinely useful umbrella that everyone fights over. Companies typically give away small branded objects, samples of the product itself, trial periods for services, and discount vouchers, and, at the higher end, dinners or event tickets for valued clients. Digital companies give away free versions with the useful features locked, and airlines hand out upgrades when it costs them nothing. The pattern, I'd say, is that the gift is cheap for the giver but either advertises the brand or creates a small sense of obligation.

   Why this band

   • FC“The pattern, I'd say, is that the gift is cheap for the giver but either advertises the brand or creates a small sense of obligation.” — Reframes 6.5's bare 'Basically' opener into a fuller cleft-style sentence with the hedge 'I'd say' embedded mid-clause, a more considered, less abrupt coherence device. 7.5 keeps this cleft pattern but expands the ending into a colon-led list of three purposes.
   • LR“genuinely useful umbrella that everyone fights over” — 'Genuinely' is a stronger intensifier than 6.5's 'really'. 7.5 keeps 'genuinely useful' verbatim but embeds it inside the more elaborate metaphor about the drawer being a museum.
   • GRA“Companies typically give away small branded objects, samples of the product itself, trial periods for services, and discount vouchers, and, at the higher end, dinners or event tickets for valued clients.” — Builds one long sentence out of a list plus a second coordinated list, more ambitious than 6.5's shorter list. 7.5 extends the same two-tier list pattern further with an extra item and more elaborate phrasing.

   Band 7.5

   Expands the cleft close into a colon-led list of three parallel purposes.

   There's a drawer in our studio that's basically a museum of them: pens with company names, tote bags, a stress ball shaped like a fish from a seafood client, keyrings, notebooks, and one genuinely useful umbrella that everyone fights over. Companies lean on small branded objects, samples of the product itself, trial periods for services, discount vouchers, and, at the higher end, dinners, trips or event tickets for their most valued clients. Digital companies dangle free versions with the useful features conveniently locked away, and airlines hand out upgrades when it costs them literally nothing. The pattern running through all of it is that the gift stays cheap for the giver while doing one of three jobs: advertising the brand, offering a taste of the product, or quietly planting a sense of obligation.

   Why this band

   • FC“The pattern running through all of it is that the gift stays cheap for the giver while doing one of three jobs: advertising the brand, offering a taste of the product, or quietly planting a sense of obligation.” — Expands 7.0's cleft sentence into a longer structure ending in a colon-led list of three parallel purposes, a more developed, confident close than 7.0's single coordinated 'either...or' pair.
   • LR“basically a museum of them” — A vivid, idiomatic metaphor for the drawer, replacing 6.5's and 7.0's plain factual description with genuine figurative language.
   • GRA“Companies lean on small branded objects, samples of the product itself, trial periods for services, discount vouchers, and, at the higher end, dinners, trips or event tickets for their most valued clients.” — Swaps 7.0's plain verb 'give away' for the more idiomatic 'lean on', and adds a third item to the higher-end list, showing wider vocabulary within the same long listing structure.

6. 6. Do you agree or disagree that people are always pleased to receive a free gift?

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

   Band 6.5

   Closes with a short, plain summary: 'Most free things fail one of these tests.'

   I disagree. My mother's first reaction to a free rice cooker offer from a bank was 'what do they want?', and she was right to ask. People are pleased by gifts that are useful and free of strings, but they get suspicious of gifts that clearly want something back. They can even feel a bit insulted by useless gifts, like the fish-shaped stress ball nobody in my studio would take home. A free gift can also create an obligation people didn't ask for. In Vietnam, a gift often expects a return gift, so 'free' is never really free. Most free things fail one of these tests.

   Why this band

   • FC“Most free things fail one of these tests.” — Closes with a short, plain summary sentence. 7.0 keeps a similar structure but removes this closing sentence, ending instead on the cultural point, and 7.5 restores the closing summary while adding 'in practice'.
   • LR“and she was right to ask” — Plain evaluative tag. 7.0 keeps it nearly identical, and 7.5 extends the same moment with an added dash for emphasis.
   • GRA“People are pleased by gifts that are useful and free of strings, but they get suspicious of gifts that clearly want something back.” — Two clauses joined by 'but'. 7.0 lengthens this into a three-part structure using 'while' and 'and', and 7.5 keeps the three-part structure but replaces 'but' with a semicolon.

   Band 7.0

   Ends on the cultural point instead of restoring a separate summary sentence: 'so "free" is never entirely free.'

   Honestly, I'd disagree — my mother's first reaction to a free rice cooker offer from a bank was 'what do they want?', and she was right to ask. People are pleased by gifts that are useful, thoughtful and free of strings, while they tend to be suspicious of gifts that clearly want something back, and slightly insulted by ones that are simply useless, like the fish-shaped stress ball nobody in my studio would take home. A free gift can also create an obligation nobody asked for, and some people feel embarrassed rather than pleased. Culture plays a part too, since in Vietnam a gift often demands a return gift, so 'free' is never entirely free.

   Why this band

   • FC“Culture plays a part too, since in Vietnam a gift often demands a return gift, so 'free' is never entirely free.” — Ends on the cultural point rather than restoring a separate summary sentence like 6.5's, a slightly less tidy but more natural spoken ending. 7.5 restores a final summarising sentence after this same cultural point.
   • LR“and she was right to ask” — Kept nearly identical to 6.5, showing this phrase is already fairly natural. 7.5 adds a dash before it for a stronger rhetorical pause.
   • GRA“People are pleased by gifts that are useful, thoughtful and free of strings, while they tend to be suspicious of gifts that clearly want something back, and slightly insulted by ones that are simply useless” — Builds a three-part parallel structure using 'while' and 'and', more ambitious than 6.5's two-clause 'but' sentence. 7.5 keeps this three-part parallelism but replaces 'while' with a semicolon.

   Band 7.5

   Restores the closing summary with an added reflective phrase: 'Most free things, in practice, fail one of these tests.'

   I'd disagree, and my mother's reaction to a free rice cooker offer from a bank sums it up perfectly: 'what do they want?' — and she was right to ask. People are genuinely pleased by gifts that are useful, thoughtful and free of strings attached; they grow suspicious of ones that clearly want something back, and mildly insulted by anything useless, like the fish-shaped stress ball nobody in my studio would take home even as a joke. A free gift can also saddle you with an obligation you never asked for, and some people feel embarrassed rather than delighted. Culture complicates it further — in Vietnam a gift usually demands a return gift, so 'free' is never entirely free to begin with. Most free things, in practice, fail one of these tests.

   Why this band

   • FC“Most free things, in practice, fail one of these tests.” — Restores 6.5's closing summary sentence but inserts 'in practice' mid-clause, a more measured, reflective final note than 6.5's bare version or 7.0's ending on the cultural point instead.
   • LR“— and she was right to ask” — Adds a dash before the same phrase used in 6.5 and 7.0, creating a stronger rhetorical pause for emphasis, a subtle but real upgrade in delivery.
   • GRA“People are genuinely pleased by gifts that are useful, thoughtful and free of strings attached; they grow suspicious of ones that clearly want something back, and mildly insulted by anything useless” — Replaces 7.0's 'while' with a semicolon for a tighter three-part structure, and swaps 'tend to be suspicious' for the more active 'grow suspicious'.

7. 7. Do people value things more when they have to pay for them?

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

   Band 6.5

   Closes with the plain marker: 'But usually, people take care of what cost them something, and treat free things as disposable.'

   Usually yes, and I've tested this on myself. I quit a free online course in the second week, but finished a paid one on the same topic — not because it was better, but because the fee kept reminding me it existed. Paying creates more commitment. People also judge quality by price, which is why the same wine tastes better with a higher label. There are exceptions, like gifts from people we love, valued highly even though they're free. But usually, people take care of what cost them something, and treat free things as disposable.

   Why this band

   • FC“But usually, people take care of what cost them something, and treat free things as disposable.” — Closes with a plain 'But usually' marker. 7.0 replaces this with 'But as a general rule', a slightly more formal hedge, and 7.5 keeps that hedge but adds 'quietly' for a more reflective tone.
   • LR“the fee kept reminding me it existed” — Plain personification. 7.0 upgrades this to the more vivid 'the fee sat there watching me', and 7.5 extends the same image further with 'refusing to be forgotten'.
   • GRA“I quit a free online course in the second week, but finished a paid one on the same topic — not because it was better, but because the fee kept reminding me it existed.” — A dash introduces a 'not because...but because' contrast structure. 7.0 keeps this structure but adds an evaluative closing clause after it, and 7.5 extends the same pattern with an additional descriptive clause.

   Band 7.0

   Upgrades the closing hedge: 'But as a general rule, people take care of what cost them something, and treat the free thing as disposable.'

   Honestly, usually yes, and I've tested it on myself. I abandoned a free online course in the second week and finished a paid one on the same subject, not because it was better, but because the fee sat there watching me — paying creates commitment and attention in a way free things rarely manage. People also judge quality by price, which is why the same wine somehow tastes better with a higher label. And things given free often arrive without the choice that makes ownership feel real. There are exceptions, of course — gifts from people we love are valued far beyond their price. But as a general rule, people take care of what cost them something, and treat the free thing as disposable.

   Why this band

   • FC“But as a general rule, people take care of what cost them something, and treat the free thing as disposable.” — Replaces 6.5's 'But usually' with the slightly more formal, generalising hedge 'But as a general rule'. 7.5 keeps this exact phrase but adds 'quietly' before the final verb for a subtler tone.
   • LR“the fee sat there watching me” — A vivid personification, more evocative than 6.5's plain 'kept reminding me it existed'. 7.5 extends the same personification with 'refusing to be forgotten'.
   • GRA“not because it was better, but because the fee sat there watching me — paying creates commitment and attention in a way free things rarely manage” — Attaches a further generalising clause after the dash, extending the anecdote into its own claim within the same sentence, more complex than 6.5's shorter version.

   Band 7.5

   Extends the personification with a second participial clause: 'the fee sat there quietly watching me, refusing to be forgotten.'

   Usually, yes, and I've tested it on myself more than once. I abandoned a free online course in the second week and finished a paid one on the same subject — not because it was any better, but because the fee sat there quietly watching me, refusing to be forgotten. Paying creates a commitment and a level of attention that free things rarely manage to earn. People also judge quality by price, which is why the same wine mysteriously tastes better wearing a higher label. And things handed over free often arrive without the choice that makes ownership feel real in the first place. There are exceptions, of course: gifts from people we love get valued far beyond their price tag. But as a general rule, people look after what cost them something, and quietly treat the free thing as disposable.

   Why this band

   • FC“But as a general rule, people look after what cost them something, and quietly treat the free thing as disposable.” — Keeps 7.0's hedge 'as a general rule' but swaps 'take care of' for 'look after' and adds 'quietly' before the final verb, a subtle lexical and tonal upgrade for the closing generalisation.
   • LR“the fee sat there quietly watching me, refusing to be forgotten” — Extends 7.0's personification 'the fee sat there watching me' with the added participial clause 'refusing to be forgotten', showing richer, more sustained figurative language.
   • GRA“not because it was any better, but because the fee sat there quietly watching me, refusing to be forgotten” — Adds a second participial clause onto the same 'not because...but because' structure used in 6.5 and 7.0, showing more elaborate, layered grammar within a single sentence.

8. 8. What kinds of free services should the government offer to all citizens?

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

   Band 6.5

   Closes with a semicolon and a trailing clause: 'so need decides who gets it, not wealth.'

   I think it's the things everyone needs and that don't work well when left to private companies. My family has needed three things from the state: the clinic that treated my grandmother after her fall, the school that educated my sister's children, and the boat that reached our district during the flood. Health, education, and emergency services should be free at the point of use. Beyond that, I'd add libraries, clean water, roads, and support for people who can't work. Free doesn't mean costless; it means everyone pays together through tax, so need decides who gets it, not wealth.

   Why this band

   • FC“Free doesn't mean costless; it means everyone pays together through tax, so need decides who gets it, not wealth.” — Closes with a semicolon-linked clarification and a short trailing 'not wealth'. 7.0 keeps the same semicolon structure but expands the final clause, and 7.5 adds 'though' after 'Free' for a slightly more conversational transition.
   • LR“the things everyone needs and that don't work well when left to private companies” — Plain phrasing. 7.0 upgrades to 'fail badly when left purely to the market', and 7.5 keeps this near-identical phrase almost verbatim.
   • GRA“My family has needed three things from the state: the clinic that treated my grandmother after her fall, the school that educated my sister's children, and the boat that reached our district during the flood.” — Uses a colon to introduce a three-item list of relative clauses. 7.0 adds an extra relative clause before the colon, and 7.5 pushes this further into a full independent clause before the same colon-led list.

   Band 7.0

   Restructures the final clause into a fuller comparative: 'so that need rather than wealth decides who gets it.'

   Honestly, I'd say it's the things that everyone needs and that fail badly when left purely to the market. My family has needed three things from the state that I can actually name: the clinic that saw my grandmother after her fall, the school that educated my sister's children, and the boat that reached our district in the flood — health, education and emergency services are the base, and they should be free at the point of use. Beyond those, I'd add basic legal advice, libraries, public safety, clean water and roads, plus support for people who genuinely can't work. Free doesn't mean costless; it means paid for together, by tax, so that need rather than wealth decides who gets it.

   Why this band

   • FC“Free doesn't mean costless; it means paid for together, by tax, so that need rather than wealth decides who gets it.” — Keeps 6.5's semicolon structure but restructures the final clause into a more balanced comparative phrase than 6.5's trailing 'not wealth'. 7.5 keeps this near-identical sentence but adds 'though' after 'Free' and 'actually' before 'gets'.
   • LR“fail badly when left purely to the market” — 'Purely to the market' is a more precise, slightly more formal economic phrase than 6.5's plain 'left to private companies'. 7.5 keeps this phrase almost unchanged.
   • GRA“My family has needed three things from the state that I can actually name: the clinic that saw my grandmother after her fall, the school that educated my sister's children, and the boat that reached our district in the flood” — Adds the relative clause 'that I can actually name' before the colon, more elaborated than 6.5's plain colon-led list. 7.5 replaces this relative clause with a full independent clause for even more elaboration.

   Band 7.5

   Adds a mid-sentence hedge and emphasis: 'Free, though, doesn't mean costless...so that need rather than wealth decides who actually gets it.'

   I'd say it's the things everyone needs and that fail badly whenever they're left purely to the market. My family has needed exactly three things from the state, and I can name every one of them: the clinic that saw my grandmother after her fall, the school that educated my sister's children, and the boat that reached our district in the flood — health, education and emergency services are the base, and they should be free at the point of use, no exceptions. Beyond those, I'd add basic legal advice, libraries, public safety, clean water and roads, plus support for people who genuinely can't work. Free, though, doesn't mean costless; it means paid for together, through tax, so that need rather than wealth decides who actually gets it.

   Why this band

   • FC“Free, though, doesn't mean costless; it means paid for together, through tax, so that need rather than wealth decides who actually gets it.” — Adds 'though' right after 'Free' for a more conversational, mid-sentence hedge than 7.0's plain opening, and inserts 'actually' before the final verb for extra emphasis.
   • LR“fail badly whenever they're left purely to the market” — Swaps 7.0's 'when' for 'whenever', a subtly more emphatic, generalising conjunction, showing fine-grained control over near-synonymous function words.
   • GRA“My family has needed exactly three things from the state, and I can name every one of them: the clinic that saw my grandmother after her fall, the school that educated my sister's children, and the boat that reached our district in the flood — health, education and emergency services are the base, and they should be free at the point of use, no exceptions.” — Replaces 7.0's relative clause with a full independent clause before the colon, and adds the emphatic fragment 'no exceptions' at the very end, showing more elaborate, native-like sentence architecture.

9. 9. Why do companies give free gifts to customers?

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

   Band 6.5

   Closes with a plain 'since' clause: 'since that's cheaper than finding new ones.'

   I think it's mainly because it's cheaper than the alternative. That airline upgrade cost them an empty seat that would have flown empty anyway, but it made me choose them over other airlines for two years without thinking. Free gifts make people feel they should give something back, so they often buy more later. Samples let customers try things they wouldn't normally risk money on. Branded items like pens advertise the company for years at low cost. Companies also give gifts to keep existing customers happy, since that's cheaper than finding new ones.

   Why this band

   • FC“Companies also give gifts to keep existing customers happy, since that's cheaper than finding new ones.” — Closes with a plain 'since' clause. 7.0 replaces this with a relative clause ending in 'which is far cheaper than finding new ones', and 7.5 keeps a similar relative clause but adds a final extra sentence about companies wanting to be liked.
   • LR“cost them an empty seat that would have flown empty anyway” — Plain description. 7.0 adds 'otherwise' for smoother flow and an evaluative tag, and 7.5 sharpens this to 'generosity with careful arithmetic quietly running underneath it'.
   • GRA“Free gifts make people feel they should give something back, so they often buy more later.” — One sentence with a 'so' clause. 7.0 restructures this into a semicolon-linked pair of clauses with an appositive, and 7.5 keeps this semicolon structure with a slightly stronger appositive.

   Band 7.0

   Attaches the closing idea via a relative clause instead of a separate sentence: 'gifts to existing customers keep them from leaving, which is far cheaper than finding new ones.'

   Honestly, I'd say it's because it's cheaper than the alternative. That upgrade cost the airline an empty seat that would otherwise have flown empty, and it bought two years in which I chose them over their competitor without really thinking — generosity with some careful arithmetic behind it. Free gifts create a sense of obligation, which is a pretty deep human reflex; people who receive tend to give back, often by buying. Samples let customers try something they'd never risk money on otherwise. Branded objects advertise for years at the cost of a pen. And gifts to existing customers keep them from leaving, which is far cheaper than finding new ones.

   Why this band

   • FC“gifts to existing customers keep them from leaving, which is far cheaper than finding new ones” — Ends the answer on a relative clause attached after 'and', more integrated than 6.5's separate 'since' clause. 7.5 keeps a near-identical relative clause but adds one further sentence about wanting to be liked.
   • LR“generosity with some careful arithmetic behind it” — A more vivid, idiomatic evaluative phrase than 6.5's plain description. 7.5 intensifies this to 'generosity with careful arithmetic quietly running underneath it'.
   • GRA“Free gifts create a sense of obligation, which is a pretty deep human reflex; people who receive tend to give back, often by buying.” — Uses a semicolon to link a generalisation to its cause within one sentence, more complex than 6.5's simple 'so' clause. 7.5 keeps this semicolon structure but swaps 'pretty deep' for 'surprisingly deep'.

   Band 7.5

   Adds a final concluding sentence beyond 7.0's ending: 'a company genuinely just wants to be liked — though even that turns out to be a business asset.'

   I'd say it's mostly because it's cheaper than the alternative, dressed up as kindness. That upgrade cost the airline an empty seat that would otherwise have flown empty anyway, and it bought two years in which I chose them over the competition without a second thought — generosity with careful arithmetic quietly running underneath it. Free gifts trigger a sense of obligation, a surprisingly deep human reflex; people who receive tend to give back, often simply by buying. Samples let customers try, risk-free, something they'd never otherwise pay for. Branded objects advertise for years at the cost of a single pen. Gifts to existing customers keep them from drifting away, which is far cheaper than chasing new ones. And, every so often, a company genuinely just wants to be liked — though even that turns out to be a business asset.

   Why this band

   • FC“And, every so often, a company genuinely just wants to be liked — though even that turns out to be a business asset.” — Adds a further closing sentence beyond 7.0's ending, extending the coherence chain with a concluding twist and a concessive dash clause, a more rounded final flourish than 7.0's single relative-clause ending.
   • LR“generosity with careful arithmetic quietly running underneath it” — Intensifies 7.0's 'generosity with some careful arithmetic behind it' with the more vivid verb phrase 'quietly running underneath', showing stronger figurative control.
   • GRA“Samples let customers try, risk-free, something they'd never otherwise pay for.” — Inserts the parenthetical 'risk-free' mid-clause between subject and object, a more compact, native-like construction than 6.5's or 7.0's plainer 'try something they'd never risk money on'.