An Occasion You Remember When You Saw a Lot of People Smiling

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 reasons why people smile?

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

   Band 6.5

   Sticks to short, list-like clauses such as 'Some people smiled with joy' and closes with a flat summary sentence, which keeps meaning clear but never lets the ideas connect.

   People smile for a lot of different reasons. I saw this clearly in an airport arrivals hall. Some people smiled with joy when their family came through the doors. Others smiled with relief because they had been waiting for a long time. A few people smiled just to be polite when they looked at a stranger, and one man smiled nervously before he hugged someone. People also smile for photos, or to be friendly, or to hide bad feelings. So smiling can show many different things, not just happiness.

   Why this band

   • FC“So smiling can show many different things, not just happiness.” — The answer is organised as a simple list joined by 'and', 'but', 'so', which is easy to follow but mechanical. A 7.0 answer links the same ideas with a reflective aside, and a 7.5 answer compresses the whole list into one flowing sentence after a colon. Here the flatness of the final sentence signals 6.5-level cohesion rather than genuine idea-linking.
   • LR“one man smiled nervously before he hugged someone” — 'Smiled nervously' is accurate but the most ordinary adverb-verb pairing available. The 7.0 version adds 'which I found quite touching' for evaluative colour, and 7.5 pushes further into 'so nervously, and so early, that it was almost painful to watch', which is far more precise and idiomatic. The 6.5 choice does the job but adds no texture.
   • GRA“A few people smiled just to be polite when they looked at a stranger” — This is a single clause with one subordinate 'when' clause — safe and controlled, typical of 6.5 grammar. Higher bands nest this same idea inside longer sentences with parallel structures ('joy... relief... politeness...'), showing a range this sentence doesn't attempt.

   Band 7.0

   The hedge 'To be fair' and the aside 'which I found quite touching' add the kind of spoken reflection that lifts this past a 6.5 list.

   Honestly, I think people smile for far more reasons than just happiness, and an airport arrivals hall taught me that. I saw joy when families finally met, relief on parents who had been waiting for hours, and polite little smiles between strangers who caught each other's eye. One man even smiled nervously before he hugged someone, which I found quite touching. To be fair, smiling isn't always about being happy — people also smile to make others feel comfortable, to hide embarrassment, or simply because a camera is pointed at them. It's probably the most flexible expression we have.

   Why this band

   • FC“Honestly, I think people smile for far more reasons than just happiness” — Opening with 'Honestly' immediately signals a personal, spoken stance rather than a flat statement, something the 6.5 answer never attempts. It's less compact than the 7.5 answer's structural cohesion built through parallel clauses, but it's a clear step up in creating a natural, conversational voice.
   • LR“which I found quite touching” — 'Quite touching' is a natural collocation that adds evaluative colour missing from the plain 6.5 'smiled nervously'. It's still a fairly safe phrase compared with the 7.5 answer's 'almost painful to watch', which is more vivid and risk-taking, but it shows the speaker judging the scene rather than just describing it.
   • GRA“which I found quite touching” — This non-defining relative clause tacked onto the end of a longer sentence shows more grammatical range than the short main clauses of 6.5, though it's a fairly low-risk addition. The 7.5 answer takes bigger risks with a colon to compress ideas, whereas this stays close to a standard sentence pattern with one added clause.

   Band 7.5

   The colon after 'in one room' and the closing metaphor 'less an emotion than a language' show the compact, idiomatic control that separates this from the 7.0 version.

   An airport arrivals hall pretty much had every reason on display in one room: joy when someone finally came through the doors, relief on the faces of parents who'd been counting the days, and polite little smiles exchanged between strangers across the barrier. One man smiled so nervously, and so early, that it was almost painful to watch. Beyond that obvious range, people smile to soften a refusal, to mask embarrassment, or simply because a camera demands it. In Vietnam, a smile can even mean 'I'm sorry' rather than genuine amusement, which throws foreigners completely. If anything, that hall convinced me smiling is less an emotion than a language — endlessly adaptable, and rarely as simple as it looks.

   Why this band

   • FC“Beyond that obvious range” — This phrase works as a cohesive device that signals a shift from the concrete example to a wider generalisation, doing in three words what the 6.5 answer needs a whole new sentence with 'also' to achieve. It's more economical than the 7.0 answer's reliance on discourse markers like 'To be fair', showing cohesion built into the grammar itself rather than added on top.
   • LR“less an emotion than a language” — This is a genuinely idiomatic, image-based phrase that reframes the whole answer at the end — something neither the 6.5 nor the 7.0 answer attempts. Where 6.5 settles for 'many different things' and 7.0 for 'the most flexible expression', this closing metaphor shows precise, deliberate word choice used for effect, not just accuracy.
   • GRA“An airport arrivals hall pretty much had every reason on display in one room: joy when someone finally came through the doors, relief on the faces of parents who'd been counting the days, and polite little smiles exchanged between strangers across the barrier.” — A single sentence carries three parallel examples joined after a colon, exactly the kind of compact, flexible structure 6.5 and 7.0 break into separate short sentences. This risk pays off because the parallelism ('joy... relief... smiles...') stays controlled despite the length.

2. 2. Why do people often smile in photographs?

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

   Band 6.5

   Simple time-contrast sentences ('In the past... But my niece...') carry the whole idea without any linking phrase beyond 'because' and 'but'.

   People often smile in photos because it is a habit now. In the past, taking a photo was rare and expensive, so people did not always smile. For example, my grandmother's wedding photo from 1962 shows two serious faces. But my niece takes many smiling selfies every day, because photos are very common now and a smile looks friendly. People also smile because someone tells them to, and because they want to look happy for the future. So smiling for photos is mostly about habit and hope.

   Why this band

   • FC“But my niece takes many smiling selfies every day” — The contrast between grandmother and niece is signalled only by 'But', a basic connector. Higher bands build the same contrast into one sentence using a semi-colon or 'whereas', giving tighter cohesion than this simple two-sentence structure.
   • LR“photos are very common now” — 'Very common' is a generic intensifier-plus-adjective pairing. The 7.5 answer instead reaches for 'social currency', a precise, slightly abstract collocation that says far more in fewer words.
   • GRA“For example, my grandmother's wedding photo from 1962 shows two serious faces.” — A simple present-tense sentence with one prepositional phrase for the date. It's accurate but avoids any subordination, unlike the 7.0/7.5 versions, which fold the date and reason into a single 'because' clause.

   Band 7.0

   The dash before 'a photograph is like a message to the future' adds a reflective aside that a 6.5 answer wouldn't risk.

   Honestly, I think it's mostly habit and hope, and the habit is newer than people realise. My grandmother's wedding portrait from 1962 shows two completely serious faces, because photographs back then were rare and formal, whereas my niece takes about forty smiling selfies a day, since photos are now a kind of social currency. People smile for cameras because they want to look friendly and attractive, and because everyone else does it too. There's also a bit of hope involved — a photo is like a message to the future, and most of us want that future to think we were happy.

   Why this band

   • FC“There's also a bit of hope involved” — This phrase signals a shift to a new sub-point mid-paragraph, giving the answer a sense of building an argument rather than just listing facts. It's more developed than the simple listing in the 6.5 version but less seamlessly woven in than the 7.5 answer's single continuous sentence.
   • LR“a kind of social currency” — 'Social currency' is a precise, slightly abstract collocation that the 6.5 answer replaces with the flat 'very common'. It shows lexical reach without being as fully idiomatic as the 7.5 phrase 'the standard offering'.
   • GRA“whereas my niece takes about forty smiling selfies a day, since photos are now a kind of social currency” — This packs two subordinate clauses ('whereas...', 'since...') into one sentence, showing more grammatical range than the short separate sentences of 6.5. It's controlled but still simpler than the 7.5 sentence, which manages three clauses around a semi-colon.

   Band 7.5

   The semi-colon linking the grandmother and niece examples into one sentence, plus 'the standard offering', shows the compact precision typical of the top band.

   It comes down to habit and hope, though the habit is younger than it looks. My grandmother's 1962 wedding portrait shows two solemn, formal faces, back when a photograph was rare and expensive enough to be posed as you wanted to be remembered; my niece, by contrast, fires off forty smiling selfies a day, because a photo is now social currency and a smile is simply the standard offering. Beyond friendliness, there's a quiet hope tucked into every shot — a photograph is a message sent to the future, and most of us want that future to believe we were happy. 'Smile!' has become an instruction people rarely refuse, which is exactly why the unsmiling photograph now looks either artistic or faintly sad.

   Why this band

   • FC“Beyond friendliness, there's a quiet hope tucked into every shot” — This transition phrase moves fluidly from the visible reason (friendliness) to a subtler one (hope) without a basic connector like 'also', doing more cohesive work in fewer words than the 7.0 answer's 'There's also a bit of hope involved'.
   • LR“a message sent to the future” — This is an extended, slightly poetic image rather than a literal description, going beyond the 7.0 answer's flatter 'like a message to the future' by embedding it naturally into the sentence rhythm. It shows lexical control used for effect, not just accuracy.
   • GRA“back when a photograph was rare and expensive enough to be posed as you wanted to be remembered; my niece, by contrast, fires off forty smiling selfies a day, because a photo is now social currency and a smile is simply the standard offering” — One long sentence built around a semi-colon holds two contrasting mini-narratives together, each with its own subordinate clause. This is a considerably higher-risk structure than the two-sentence contrast in 6.5 or the 'whereas' clause in 7.0.

3. 3. Do children smile more than adults do?

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

   Band 6.5

   Short parallel clauses joined by dashes ('delight, boredom, then delight again') keep the list plain and countable.

   Yes, children definitely smile more than adults. In the arrivals hall, my nephew's face changed constantly in just ten minutes — delight, boredom, then delight again — while his parents kept one calm expression for a whole hour. Children smile more because they haven't learned to control their faces yet, and everything is still new and funny to them. Adults smile less because they get tired, stay busy, and deal with more serious things. So children show their feelings much more openly than adults do.

   Why this band

   • FC“So children show their feelings much more openly than adults do.” — A flat closing sentence restates the position without adding anything new, typical 6.5 cohesion that names the conclusion rather than letting it emerge from the argument, unlike the 7.5 closing, which extends the idea with a new detail about grandchildren.
   • LR“everything is still new and funny to them” — Plain, common vocabulary with no particular precision. The 7.5 version's 'the whole world is still novel to them' reaches for a more formal, exact register through 'novel' instead of 'new'.
   • GRA“while his parents kept one calm expression for a whole hour” — A single subordinate clause attached with 'while' — controlled but limited. The 7.5 answer stretches this same contrast across a much longer sentence with a participle clause and multiple coordinated images.

   Band 7.0

   'Honestly, watching my nephew that day made me realise...' closes the answer with genuine personal reflection rather than a flat summary.

   Far more, I'd say, and I think it's because children haven't yet learned to manage their faces the way adults have. In the arrivals hall, my nephew went through about fifty expressions in ten minutes — delight, boredom, alarm, delight again — while his parents held one polite expression for an hour. To be fair, adults do smile less partly because they're tired or preoccupied, but it's also because they've learned when smiling is socially appropriate. Children, on the other hand, still find almost everything funny, simply because it's new to them. Honestly, watching my nephew that day made me realise how much control adults quietly practise without noticing.

   Why this band

   • FC“To be fair, adults do smile less partly because they're tired or preoccupied, but it's also because” — 'To be fair' concedes a simple explanation before complicating it with a second reason, showing an argument that develops rather than just lists — more advanced than the 6.5 answer's plain 'because' but less compressed than the 7.5 answer's triple 'partly... partly... partly...' structure.
   • LR“quietly practise without noticing” — 'Quietly practise' is a fairly natural collocation with some nuance, sitting between the plain 6.5 vocabulary and the more idiomatic 7.5 phrase 'an advantage that used to be ordinary'. It shows developing precision.
   • GRA“Far more, I'd say, and I think it's because children haven't yet learned to manage their faces the way adults have.” — This opens with a fronted response ('Far more, I'd say') before the main clause, a more natural spoken-grammar pattern than the plain declarative openings of the 6.5 answer, though it's still a fairly standard sentence shape compared with the heavier embedding in 7.5.

   Band 7.5

   The single sentence stretching from 'my nephew ran through' to 'straight' packs four coordinated images into one breath, which is the hallmark of this band.

   Far more — and I'd argue it's less about happiness than about children not yet having learned to manage their faces. In that arrivals hall, my nephew ran through what felt like fifty expressions in ten minutes, delight tumbling into boredom into alarm and back to delight, while his parents held one composed expression for an hour straight. Adults smile less partly because they've learned when a smile is appropriate, partly because they're tired and preoccupied, and partly because adult life simply contains more that isn't funny. Children, by contrast, find almost everything amusing, since the whole world is still novel to them. Studies apparently clock children smiling hundreds of times a day against a mere few dozen for adults — a gap that only narrows again, oddly enough, around grandchildren.

   Why this band

   • FC“Children, by contrast, find almost everything amusing” — The parallel 'partly... partly... partly...' structure just before this sentence builds three reasons into one flowing unit, then pivots with 'by contrast' — a far tighter piece of cohesion than the 7.0 answer's separate 'to be fair' sentence, let alone the simple 'while' clause in 6.5.
   • LR“a gap that only narrows again, oddly enough, around grandchildren” — 'Oddly enough' is a genuinely idiomatic aside that adds a wry, evaluative tone absent from both lower bands. It shows vocabulary being used to convey attitude, not just information, which the 6.5 and 7.0 closings don't attempt.
   • GRA“my nephew ran through what felt like fifty expressions in ten minutes, delight tumbling into boredom into alarm and back to delight, while his parents held one composed expression for an hour straight” — This sentence uses a participle clause ('delight tumbling into...') instead of a plain list, considerably more complex than the coordinated nouns in the 6.5 version or the single 'while' clause in 7.0. The risk of the long structure pays off because it mimics the rapid change it describes.

4. 4. When is it important for people not to show their feelings?

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

   Band 6.5

   The short clause 'not because she feels nothing, but because' is the most complex structure attempted here.

   I think it's important not to show your feelings when it could upset someone else. For example, a nurse I know delivers bad news to patients with a calm face, not because she feels nothing, but because the patient needs to stay calm to understand the diagnosis. Doctors, pilots and teachers also need to control their feelings in emergencies, so other people don't panic. In some situations, hiding disappointment can also protect someone's feelings, like a host or a gift-giver. So controlling feelings can be a kind of kindness, not just hiding them.

   Why this band

   • FC“So controlling feelings can be a kind of kindness, not just hiding them.” — A tacked-on summary sentence restates the idea rather than letting the nurse example carry the conclusion itself, which is more developed in 7.5, where the same idea closes with a sharper contrast instead of a restatement.
   • LR“controlling feelings can be a kind of kindness” — A generic, literal phrase. The 7.5 version varies this with 'composure' and 'a gift rather than a mask', showing a wider range of near-synonyms for the same idea.
   • GRA“not because she feels nothing, but because the patient needs to stay calm to understand the diagnosis” — One 'not because... but because' contrast — a useful pattern, but used only once and kept short, unlike the 7.5 answer, which nests a similar contrast inside a longer sentence with an added metaphor.

   Band 7.0

   'Her calm is more of a gift than a mask' borrows the source image but softens it with 'more of', a hedge typical of this band.

   Honestly, I'd say it matters most when your feelings would become someone else's burden. A nurse on a project I worked on always delivers bad news with a steady face, not because she feels nothing, but because a patient can't really take in a diagnosis through someone else's visible distress — her calm is more of a gift than a mask. The same goes for doctors, pilots and teachers in an emergency, since their composure keeps everyone else functioning. To be fair, in negotiations too, showing your feelings can simply give away information you'd rather keep to yourself. I think hiding feelings for others' sake is a skill worth having.

   Why this band

   • FC“The same goes for doctors, pilots and teachers in an emergency” — This links the nurse example to a wider category smoothly, doing more cohesive work than a bare list, though it's a simpler transition than the semicolon-based structure in the 7.5 answer.
   • LR“her calm is more of a gift than a mask” — This reuses a vivid image but hedges it with 'more of', which is natural spoken English but slightly less confident and compact than the unhedged 7.5 version 'a gift rather than a mask'.
   • GRA“not because she feels nothing, but because a patient can't really take in a diagnosis through someone else's visible distress” — This embeds the contrast clause inside a longer sentence with an added reason clause, more ambitious than the 6.5 version's shorter equivalent, though still less densely packed than the 7.5 sentence covering the same ground.

   Band 7.5

   The parallel closing 'Hiding feelings for others is a skill; hiding them from yourself is a problem' uses a semicolon to sharpen the contrast rather than spelling it out with a connector.

   It matters most, I'd say, whenever your feelings would become someone else's burden to carry. A nurse I know delivers bad news with a remarkably steady face — not because she feels nothing, but because a patient simply can't take in a diagnosis through someone else's visible distress, so her calm becomes a gift rather than a mask. The same logic applies to doctors, pilots, teachers, anyone in charge during an emergency, since their composure is what keeps everyone else functioning. In negotiations, showing feeling gives away information; at a gift exchange, hiding disappointment protects the giver. The one real danger is when that control becomes total and the feelings have nowhere left to go. Hiding feelings for others is a skill; hiding them from yourself is a problem.

   Why this band

   • FC“In negotiations, showing feeling gives away information; at a gift exchange, hiding disappointment protects the giver.” — A semicolon links two parallel mini-examples without a connector word at all, a more economical cohesive device than the 'also' or 'the same goes for' used at lower bands.
   • LR“her calm becomes a gift rather than a mask” — The unhedged, deliberate word choice here ('rather than', not 'more of') is more confident than the 7.0 version, and far more precise than the repeated literal 'controlling feelings' at 6.5.
   • GRA“The one real danger is when that control becomes total and the feelings have nowhere left to go.” — A complex sentence with a nominal clause as subject ('The one real danger is when...') is a more sophisticated pattern than the simple contrast clauses used at lower bands, showing flexible control of sentence openings.

5. 5. Are older people better at controlling their feelings than young people?

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

   Band 6.5

   The two short sentences describing the grandmother waiting then crying are simply placed side by side with 'But'.

   Yes, I think older people are usually better at controlling their feelings. At the airport, I saw a grandmother wait for hours without showing any impatience. But the moment her granddaughter came through the doors, she cried happily. This shows that older people know when to hold their feelings in and when to let them out. Young people often feel things more strongly and haven't learned to wait. But this doesn't mean older people don't feel as much — they have just had more practice controlling the timing.

   Why this band

   • FC“But the moment her granddaughter came through the doors, she cried happily.” — The pivot from waiting to crying relies on the basic connector 'But' at the start of a new sentence, whereas the 7.5 answer fuses the same pivot into one sentence using a comma and 'then', producing tighter flow.
   • LR“cried happily” — A simple adverb-verb pairing. The higher bands replace this with 'wept freely', where 'wept' is a more literary synonym and 'freely' adds a sense of release that 'happily' doesn't capture.
   • GRA“This shows that older people know when to hold their feelings in and when to let them out.” — A single sentence with two parallel 'when' clauses — a reasonable structure, but shorter and less risk-taking than the 7.5 sentence, which embeds a similar contrast inside a much longer construction with a colon.

   Band 7.0

   'I'd say' softens the opening claim into a personal judgement rather than a flat fact.

   Better at controlling when to show them, I'd say, rather than better at controlling them completely. I watched a grandmother stand at the arrivals barrier for hours without a flicker of impatience, and then burst into tears the instant her granddaughter finally appeared — decades of practice at holding a feeling until exactly the right moment. Older people have generally learned which feelings are worth expressing and which ones pass on their own, so their reactions tend to be slower and less extreme. Young people, on the other hand, feel things more sharply, since they haven't yet learned that most storms eventually end. Honestly, that grandmother's timing was the real skill, not suppression.

   Why this band

   • FC“Honestly, that grandmother's timing was the real skill, not suppression.” — The closing brings back the grandmother example to make the final point concrete, which is more cohesive than a generic closing sentence, though it's still a separate final sentence rather than woven into the main argument as in the 7.5 version.
   • LR“decades of practice at holding a feeling until exactly the right moment” — 'Decades of practice' is a natural, slightly formal collocation that adds weight the 6.5 answer's flat 'more practice' lacks, though it's not as compact as the 7.5 phrase covering the same idea plus its release.
   • GRA“Better at controlling when to show them, I'd say, rather than better at controlling them completely.” — This fronts a comparative phrase before the main clause and inserts 'I'd say' mid-sentence, a more natural spoken pattern than the plain declarative sentences of 6.5, though the sentence stays shorter than the equivalent 7.5 construction.

   Band 7.5

   The colon before 'decades of practice' lets the explanation land without a connector, and the closing antithesis 'Control isn't the same as health' sharpens the whole answer.

   Better at controlling when to show them, I'd argue, rather than at feeling any less — and I watched a fine example of exactly that. A grandmother beside me at the arrivals barrier stood for hours without a flicker of impatience, then wept freely the instant her granddaughter came through the doors: decades of practice at holding feeling until the right moment, and then not holding it at all. Older people have generally learned which emotions are worth expressing and which simply pass on their own, so their reactions run slower and less extreme, while young people feel things more sharply, not yet knowing that most storms end. Control isn't the same as health, though — some older people have simply stopped showing anything. The best of them have learned timing, not suppression.

   Why this band

   • FC“Control isn't the same as health, though” — This short sentence pivots the whole answer toward a qualification in just five words, a much more economical turn than the separate 'But this doesn't mean...' sentence used at 6.5.
   • LR“wept freely the instant her granddaughter came through the doors” — 'Wept freely' is a more precise, literary pairing than the plain 'cried happily' at 6.5, capturing release as well as emotion, and it's used without any hedge, unlike the 7.0 version's softer phrasing.
   • GRA“decades of practice at holding feeling until the right moment, and then not holding it at all” — This appositive phrase, attached after a colon, restates and sharpens the preceding clause without a new finite verb — a compact, flexible structure well beyond the separate simple sentences used at 6.5.

6. 6. Do you agree or disagree that people who show their feelings are more popular than people who don't?

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

   Band 6.5

   'I'd say warmth wins friends, but steadiness keeps them' closes with a plain balanced sentence.

   I think people who show their feelings are more liked, but not always more respected. My colleague Đức shows every feeling he has, and everyone at work loves him because they always know how he feels. But our old director showed almost nothing, and people trusted her more than anyone, because her mood never affected her decisions. So showing feelings makes people easier to like and bond with, while hiding feelings can make people seem cold but reliable. I'd say warmth wins friends, but steadiness keeps them.

   Why this band

   • FC“So showing feelings makes people easier to like and bond with” — 'So' introduces the concluding generalisation directly, a basic but clear cohesive device, less subtle than the 7.5 answer's use of a semicolon to hold the same contrast in one sentence.
   • LR“everyone at work loves him” — A simple, common phrase. The higher bands replace 'loves' with 'genuinely adored' and 'genuinely loved', adding the intensifier 'genuinely' for extra precision.
   • GRA“My colleague Đức shows every feeling he has, and everyone at work loves him because they always know how he feels.” — This links two ideas with 'and' plus a 'because' clause — a serviceable compound-complex sentence, but far simpler than the semicolon-joined pair of examples in the 7.5 answer, which manages two parallel contrasts within one sentence.

   Band 7.0

   'I'd separate those two things' turns a simple opinion into a considered distinction, typical of 7.0 reflection.

   More liked, perhaps, but not necessarily more valued — I'd separate those two things. My colleague Đức shows every feeling within seconds and is genuinely loved at the studio, since people always know exactly where they stand with him, whereas our old director showed almost nothing and was trusted more than anyone, because her mood never got to decide a decision. To be fair, people who show their feelings are easier to read and more fun to be around, which makes them popular in the everyday sense. Honestly, though, the ones others turn to in a crisis are often the quieter ones.

   Why this band

   • FC“To be fair, people who show their feelings are easier to read and more fun to be around” — 'To be fair' concedes a point about the visible-feelings group before the answer pivots to who people 'turn to in a crisis', giving the argument a to-and-fro shape absent from the flatter 6.5 list.
   • LR“genuinely loved at the studio” — 'Genuinely loved' adds an intensifier for precision, a small step up from the plain 'loves him' at 6.5, though less textured than the 7.5 phrase 'genuinely adored', which uses a stronger verb.
   • GRA“whereas our old director showed almost nothing and was trusted more than anyone, because her mood never got to decide a decision” — A 'whereas' clause followed by a nested 'because' clause shows more subordination than the simple compound sentence at 6.5, though it's slightly less tightly fused than the semicolon construction used at 7.5.

   Band 7.5

   The semicolon between the Đức and director sentences, plus the closing antithesis 'Warmth wins friends; steadiness is what keeps them', gives the whole answer a symmetrical shape.

   More liked, perhaps, though not necessarily more valued — and I'd draw a firm line between those two. Đức shows every feeling he has within seconds and is genuinely adored at the studio, because people always know exactly where they stand with him; our old director, by contrast, showed almost nothing and was trusted more than anyone, precisely because she never let a passing mood decide a decision. People who show their feelings are easier to read, easier to bond with and simply more fun, which makes them popular in the ordinary sense. Those who don't can seem cold, yet they're often the ones others quietly turn to when things go wrong. Warmth wins friends; steadiness is what keeps them.

   Why this band

   • FC“Đức shows every feeling he has within seconds and is genuinely adored at the studio, because people always know exactly where they stand with him; our old director, by contrast, showed almost nothing” — The two examples are fused into one sentence with a semicolon and 'by contrast', a tighter cohesive move than the separate sentences used at 6.5 and the 'whereas' clause at 7.0.
   • LR“genuinely adored at the studio” — 'Adored' is a stronger, more precise verb than 'loved', showing a wider vocabulary range than either lower band, which both settle for 'loved'.
   • GRA“Warmth wins friends; steadiness is what keeps them.” — A tight, balanced closing sentence built on a semicolon and a cleft structure ('is what keeps them') — considerably more compact and idiomatic than the plain 'but' sentence used to close the 6.5 answer.

7. 7. How important is recognising and understanding emotions in others?

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

   Band 6.5

   The plain past narrative 'I read... and replied... It took months' tells the story in simple sequential sentences.

   I think it is very important to understand other people's emotions. Once, I read a German client's blunt email as angry and replied too defensively. It took months to understand that it was just his normal directness, not anger. This misunderstanding almost damaged our working relationship. Understanding emotions helps us know when to speak, when to stay quiet, and when someone needs help. It is important in jobs like teaching, nursing and managing people too. Without this skill, people can hurt others without meaning to.

   Why this band

   • FC“This misunderstanding almost damaged our working relationship.” — A separate sentence sums up the consequence rather than folding it into the story itself, which the 7.5 answer instead compresses into a single dash-linked clause within the main narrative sentence.
   • LR“just his normal directness, not anger” — Plain, everyday vocabulary. The higher bands use 'ordinary directness' alongside 'a misread emotion did more damage than any actual design mistake', which show more precise, evaluative phrasing.
   • GRA“It took months to understand that it was just his normal directness, not anger.” — A single 'that' clause following 'understand' — a standard, safe structure. Higher bands embed the same idea inside a longer sentence introduced by a dash, taking more grammatical risk.

   Band 7.0

   'I nearly learned that the hard way' is an idiomatic hedge that frames the whole answer as personal reflection rather than a flat report.

   Honestly, I'd say it's close to essential, and I nearly learned that the hard way. I read our German client's first blunt email as anger and answered defensively, and it took months to realise it was simply ordinary directness — a misread emotion did more damage than any actual design mistake we made. To be fair, reading others is really how we know when to speak, when to stop, and when someone needs help they're too proud to ask for. It matters even more across cultures, where the signals don't always translate. It's learnable too, which is fortunate, since most jobs never test for it.

   Why this band

   • FC“To be fair, reading others is really how we know when to speak, when to stop, and when someone needs help” — 'To be fair' shifts from the personal anecdote to a general claim, and the triple 'when' list that follows builds momentum the 6.5 answer's short separate sentences don't achieve.
   • LR“a misread emotion did more damage than any actual design mistake we made” — This comparative structure ('did more damage than') is a more evaluative, precise way of stating the point than the plain 6.5 phrase 'almost damaged', though it's slightly less economical than the 7.5 version of the same idea.
   • GRA“I read our German client's first blunt email as anger and answered defensively, and it took months to realise it was simply ordinary directness” — Two coordinated clauses joined by 'and', followed by a further 'it took months to realise' clause — a longer chain than 6.5 attempts, though still built mainly through coordination rather than the embedded dash-construction used at 7.5.

   Band 7.5

   The dash before 'a misread emotion did more damage there than any design error ever could' lets the evaluation land as a single sharp clause.

   Close to essential, I'd say, and I nearly lost a working relationship by getting it badly wrong. I read our German client's first blunt email as anger and answered defensively, and it took months to understand it was simply ordinary directness — a misread emotion did more damage there than any design error ever could. Reading others is how we know when to speak, when to stop, and when someone needs help they'll never actually ask for; it underpins teaching, nursing, managing, selling, parenting, friendship. People who can't do it cause hurt without meaning to, and can't understand why others quietly withdraw. It matters more still across cultures, where the signals shift completely — which makes it the one skill most jobs never test for, yet nearly all of them depend on.

   Why this band

   • FC“which makes it the one skill most jobs never test for, yet nearly all of them depend on” — This closing relative clause, built on a 'yet' contrast, ties the whole answer's argument to a memorable final point in one breath, doing more cohesive work than the separate closing sentences used at both lower bands.
   • LR“a misread emotion did more damage there than any design error ever could” — 'Design error' and the comparative 'ever could' give a precise, almost understated intensity that the plainer 6.5 phrase 'almost damaged our working relationship' doesn't reach.
   • GRA“Reading others is how we know when to speak, when to stop, and when someone needs help they'll never actually ask for; it underpins teaching, nursing, managing, selling, parenting, friendship.” — A triple parallel 'when' clause is extended further with a semicolon into a five-item list — a considerably more ambitious structure than the shorter lists at 6.5 and 7.0, and it stays grammatically controlled despite its length.

8. 8. Do you agree or disagree that people might be motivated more by their emotions than by logical reasoning?

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

   Band 6.5

   'This was not logical, but it felt completely right to them' states the contradiction directly and simply.

   I agree that people are often motivated more by emotions than logic. At the airport, a family drove two hours with flowers and food to meet their daughter, even though she could have taken a taxi home in twenty minutes. It wasn't logical, but it felt completely right to them. I think most big decisions, like who we love or where we live, are made by feeling first and explained by logic later. Logic helps us choose how to do something, but emotion usually decides why.

   Why this band

   • FC“I agree that people are often motivated more by emotions than logic.” — Opening with the position stated flatly is clear but blunt, unlike the 7.5 answer, which opens with 'Agree, mostly' — a shorter, more spoken-sounding fragment that still performs the same function with more economy.
   • LR“it felt completely right to them” — Simple, common vocabulary. The higher bands use 'all of it was right', a more compact and slightly more literary phrasing of the same idea.
   • GRA“I think most big decisions, like who we love or where we live, are made by feeling first and explained by logic later.” — A single sentence with one embedded 'like' example list — clear and controlled, but simpler than the 7.5 version's longer dash-separated list of examples within one continuous sentence.

   Band 7.0

   'nothing about it was logical, and yet all of it felt right' balances two clauses with 'and yet', a step up from plain 'but'.

   Agree, mostly, and that airport gave me a pretty clear example. A family beside me had driven two hours with flowers, a sign and a week of food, for a daughter who could easily have taken a taxi home in twenty minutes — nothing about it was logical, and yet all of it felt right. I'd say most of what people do, from whom they love to where they live, is decided by feeling first and only explained by reason afterwards. Logic is excellent at choosing the means once emotion has already chosen the end. Honestly, I think pure logic without any feeling would produce choices nobody could actually live with.

   Why this band

   • FC“Agree, mostly, and that airport gave me a pretty clear example.” — The fragment-like opening 'Agree, mostly' mimics natural spoken response before the full sentence begins, giving more conversational flow than the flat declarative opening at 6.5.
   • LR“nothing about it was logical, and yet all of it felt right” — The 'and yet' contrast is a more natural, slightly literary pairing than the plain 'but' used at 6.5, though it's not as tightly compressed as the semicolon version at 7.5.
   • GRA“A family beside me had driven two hours with flowers, a sign and a week of food, for a daughter who could easily have taken a taxi home in twenty minutes” — This sentence stacks three coordinated objects ('flowers, a sign and a week of food') before a relative clause, showing more listing complexity than the shorter 6.5 sentence describing the same scene.

   Band 7.5

   The semicolon in 'nothing about it was logical, and all of it was right' gives the contradiction a clean, almost aphoristic snap.

   Agree, mostly — and that airport more or less proved it to me. The family beside me had driven two hours with flowers, a sign and a week of food for a daughter who could have taken a taxi home in twenty minutes; nothing about it was logical, and all of it was right. Most of what people do — whom they love, where they live, why they work — gets decided by feeling and only explained by reason afterwards. Logic is superb at choosing means once emotion has already chosen the end, but it also moves slower: people act on fear or affection before they've finished thinking anything through. We're reasoning animals, in the end, who mostly reason in service of what we already wanted.

   Why this band

   • FC“and that airport more or less proved it to me” — This casual aside ('more or less') softens a strong claim in a natural, idiomatic way, doing more conversational work in fewer words than the fuller sentence used to the same effect at 7.0.
   • LR“people act on fear or affection before they've finished thinking anything through” — 'Act on fear or affection' is a precise, slightly abstract pairing that the lower bands don't attempt; both 6.5 and 7.0 stay with the more concrete 'feeling' rather than naming specific emotions like this.
   • GRA“The family beside me had driven two hours with flowers, a sign and a week of food for a daughter who could have taken a taxi home in twenty minutes; nothing about it was logical, and all of it was right.” — Two independent clauses fused by a semicolon, the second built from two short parallel statements — a tighter, more confident structure than the 'and yet' sentence at 7.0 or the two separate sentences at 6.5.

9. 9. Do you think human emotions are the same in all cultures?

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

   Band 6.5

   'So the emotions inside us are shared, but how we express them depends on culture' sums up the whole answer in one plain final sentence.

   I think the emotions are the same, but how people show them differs. At the airport, families from Japan, Korea and Singapore all cried and hugged the same way, so I believe joy and love are universal. But the rules for showing feelings are different. A Vietnamese smile, for example, can mean 'sorry' or embarrassment, and foreigners often misread this. Some cultures cry loudly at funerals, others cry quietly. So the emotions inside us are shared, but how we express them depends on culture.

   Why this band

   • FC“So the emotions inside us are shared, but how we express them depends on culture.” — A single summarising sentence at the very end restates the position learned from the examples, a common 6.5 pattern; the 7.5 answer instead builds the same conclusion into the opening line, making the whole answer feel argued rather than reported.
   • LR“foreigners often misread this” — 'Misread' is a reasonably useful verb, but the sentence around it stays plain. Higher bands extend the same idea with 'which foreigners never quite read correctly', adding an evaluative 'never quite' that this version lacks.
   • GRA“But the rules for showing feelings are different.” — A short, simple sentence with no subordination. The 7.5 answer folds an equivalent idea into a longer sentence packed with two further examples.

   Band 7.0

   'I'd guess you'd see the same in any airport on earth' extends the observation with a hedge rather than stating it as fact.

   The emotions themselves, yes; the way we express them, honestly, no. Families coming through the arrivals doors from Japan, Korea and Singapore produced exactly the same tears and the same embraces, and I'd guess you'd see the same in any airport on earth — joy, grief and love seem to be basic human equipment rather than something cultural. To be fair, though, the rules for showing them differ enormously: a Vietnamese smile can mean apology or embarrassment, which foreigners almost never read correctly, and anger that's perfectly normal in one country can feel shameful in another. So I'd say the raw material is shared, even if the way it's displayed is entirely local.

   Why this band

   • FC“To be fair, though, the rules for showing them differ enormously” — 'To be fair, though' signals a concession that pivots the answer from the universal claim to the cultural-difference claim, a clearer piece of argument-building than the plain 'But' used at 6.5.
   • LR“basic human equipment rather than something cultural” — 'Human equipment' is a slightly abstract, precise metaphor that a literal description wouldn't reach; it's a shade less polished than the 7.5 phrase 'human equipment rather than cultural inventions', which sharpens the same image with a parallel noun.
   • GRA“and I'd guess you'd see the same in any airport on earth — joy, grief and love seem to be basic human equipment rather than something cultural” — A dash introduces a list that expands on the preceding clause, a moderately complex structure sitting between the plain coordination of 6.5 and the denser parallel structure of the 7.5 version.

   Band 7.5

   The closing line 'the raw material is shared, and the grammar for displaying it is entirely local' extends a single metaphor across the whole final sentence.

   The emotions, yes; the expression of them, no — and that arrivals hall made the distinction obvious. Families coming through those doors from Japan, Korea and Singapore produced the same tears and the same embraces I'd expect at any airport on earth, which suggests joy, grief, fear and love are human equipment rather than cultural inventions. The rules for showing them, though, differ enormously: a Vietnamese smile can mean apology or embarrassment, which foreigners never quite read correctly, and anger that's unremarkable in one country is shameful in another. Cultures even differ in which emotions they bother to name — there are feelings in Vietnamese I genuinely can't translate. So the raw material is shared, and the grammar for displaying it is entirely local.

   Why this band

   • FC“The emotions, yes; the expression of them, no — and that arrivals hall made the distinction obvious.” — The semicolon-plus-dash opening states the whole answer's thesis in one breath, a far more economical piece of cohesion than the separate sentences the lower bands need to reach the same point.
   • LR“the grammar for displaying it is entirely local” — Extending the earlier 'human equipment' idea into a 'grammar' metaphor for cultural display rules is a genuinely idiomatic, unified piece of imagery that neither lower band attempts; they each state the idea literally instead.
   • GRA“Cultures even differ in which emotions they bother to name — there are feelings in Vietnamese I genuinely can't translate.” — A dash introduces a supporting clause that itself contains an embedded relative clause ('I genuinely can't translate'), a denser structure than the simple sentences used at 6.5 or the single dash-list at 7.0.