Band 7 Example

Question: Are there any differences between cooking today and in the past?

Idea 1

Yes
Model Answer
Definitely, cooking today is quite different from the past. One major change is our access to international foods. We can easily buy ingredients from around the world, broadening our culinary horizons. Also, cooking has turned into a significant industry. There are endless cooking shows, cookbooks, and celebrity chefs, which shows just how much cooking has evolved and expanded as a cultural phenomenon.
Absolutely, there are marked differences in cooking today compared to the past. Now, we have the luxury of accessing a plethora of global ingredients, transforming the way we cook and eat. Moreover, cooking has become a vast business, with televised cookery shows running around the clock and celebrity chefs becoming household names. This evolution reflects a significant shift in how cooking is perceived and practiced in modern society.
Grammar Analysis
1. Present participle phrases as adverbial phrases: "marked differences in cooking" using present participle phrases as adverbial phrases enhances the descriptive power and complexity of the sentence. 2. Present perfect tense: "cooking has become a vast business" uses the present perfect tense to express changes and developments over time, demonstrating the correct use of complex tenses. 3. Parallel structure: "televised cookery shows and celebrity chefs" uses parallel structure to list the characteristics of modern cooking, adding to the amount of information and complexity of the sentence. 4. Adjective prepositional phrase: "significant shift" where "significant" serves as an adjective prepositional phrase, emphasizing the importance of the change and enhancing the expression of the sentence.
Vocabulary
  • marked differences
  • cooking today compared to the past
  • plethora of global ingredients
  • cook and eat
  • vast business
  • televised cookery shows
  • celebrity chefs
  • significant shift
  • perceived and practiced

Idea 2

No
Model Answer
I believe our eating habits have changed a lot from the past. Traditional foods, like those my grandparents ate, seem more costly now. Fast food is cheaper than having a hotpot at home or in a restaurant. Also, food is more processed today; we often buy ready-made sauces instead of making them ourselves. This means many of us can't make sauces from scratch.
I think what we eat today is completely different from the past. It seems to me that traditional food that my grandparents would have eaten is more expensive to buy today. It's cheaper to go to a fast food restaurant and eat there than it is to have a hotpot at home or in a restaurant. Food is also more processed today, so instead of having to make a sauce for vegetables, we can buy one ready-made from the supermarket. This means that most of us couldn't actually make a sauce from scratch.
Grammar Analysis
Comparison structure: "completely different from the past" is used to emphasize the contrast between present and past diets, highlighting the extent of change. Expressing speculation: "It seems to me that" is used to express personal opinions and speculation, making the language more subjective and personal. Passive voice: "is more expensive to buy today" uses the passive voice to describe the price changes of traditional foods, demonstrating an objective way of narrating the situation. Conditional adverbial clause: "instead of having to make a sauce" uses a conditional adverbial clause to compare premade sauce and homemade sauce, increasing the contrast and logic of the sentence.
Vocabulary
  • completely different from the past
  • traditional food
  • more expensive to buy today
  • fast food restaurant
  • more processed today
  • ready-made
  • make a sauce from scratch