Researching Family History and Genealogy

In some parts of the world, it is becoming increasingly popular to try to find out the history of someone’s family. Why do you think people do this? Do you think it is a positive or negative development?

8 sample answers, estimated Band 6.0–7.0. Your turn?

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Essay ideas: Researching Family History and Genealogy

WhyThis is aTwo-part question — it asks two separate questions in one prompt.

SoWe split the ideas intoQuestion 1(answers the first question)andQuestion 2(answers the second question).

Question 1

12 ideas

Question 2

8 ideas

Same question · Different responses

Sample responses and feedback

Response 01

Must fixSuggested

Essay · 321 words · 4 paragraphs · 14 comments

Score details

Response 01
Estimated band6.0/ 9

Overall assessment

The response addresses both parts of the question and maintains a clear positive stance, supported by two extended reasons about employers and historians. The main limitation is frequent awkward and inaccurate phrasing that blurs the meaning of several ideas, along with ideas that are under-explained or debatable rather than convincingly developed.

TR

Task Response

The response answers both questions with a clear position and relevant main ideas, but the ideas are unevenly developed and the employer argument is questionable and imprecisely explained.

6.0
CC

Coherence and Cohesion

Paragraphing and sequencing are broadly logical with linking devices such as firstly and secondly, though referencing and cohesion are sometimes mechanical and the progression within sentences is hard to follow.

6.0
LR

Lexical Resource

There is adequate range of vocabulary for the topic, but repeated awkward collocations and imprecise word choices, such as social ranges and this trend is a good improvement, reduce precision.

6.0
GRA

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

Simple and complex structures are attempted, but frequent errors and awkward constructions strain readability. Examples include the repeated infinitive marker in "to not to forget" and the incorrect dummy subject in "there will always be great to find out". The intended meaning is usually recoverable.

6.0

What to work on next

Revise sentence by sentence for accurate word choice and grammar so that each developed idea is expressed precisely and unambiguously.

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Useful vocabulary: Researching Family History and Genealogy

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Sentence patterns: Researching Family History and Genealogy

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Part 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write at least 250 words.

Words: 040:00 starts on first word