Say to what extent the statements below resonate with you and give reasons to support your opinions.
TEXT 1
For some people, it is only at home that they can truly relax. It is the place they go to to recover from both the excitements and the stress of their everyday life: the noisy hubbub of the city, the pressures of study and work, and the busy commute through rush-hour traffic. They appreciate the opportunity to reflect on all that has happened that day. They can contemplate the day’s significant events either in the peace and quiet of their own room or through participating in a discussion over a meal.
TEXT 2
For many of us, life at home can be rather restrictive, or simply dull, so we escape to public places where we can socialise and be ourselves, such as cafes and coffee bars. Yet home is still a place where people can express their personalities. The choice of furniture, the colour scheme, and the paintings or posters displayed on the walls, will all say a great deal about the person who lives there. Visiting a friend’s home for the first time may well reveal aspects of their personality which were previously unknown to us.
Cambridge essay – By a student
It is in human nature to settle down in some place and then call it home. It can be a bedsit in a run-down part of the town or a mansion in a clean suburban residential area – home is where you make it.
Throughout our lives we may have several homes. First, we live with our parents, then we might move to college, then start a family and finally we may end up in a care home. However, even in adulthood we may have to relocate several times due to e.g. a divorce, financial constraints or simply as a matter of choice.
Some people move homes easily, some suffer immensly when they are uprooted, but even people with itchy feet understand the concept of home.
What is home then? It is the most private place for every human being. It is a place where we can unwind after a stressful day by reading, spending time with the family or having a glass of wine and a family meal. Home is a private recluse, a shrine for contemplation on our own or with our loved ones. My house is my castle.
Moreover, our home speaks volumes about our personality. When we are socialising on a night out we should our public selves, but at home we present our private selves. The overall design and furnishing of our home expresses our taste, likes and dislikes, and also our attitudes in life.
Our personality also reflects itself in our willingness to share this place with others. There are people who enjoy entertaining friends at dinner parties while some people protect the sacred privacy of their precious home.
All in all, it is important to have a place we can call home and we should have sympathy for homeless people who cannot afford this luxury. As Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz: “There is no place like home.”
Mark: 4
All content is relevant to the task. However, the target reader would not be fully informed as the third content point has been entirely omitted. Although content points one and two are dealt with fairly briefly, the candidate does well in giving their own views on the topic.
Mark: 3
The text is a well-organised, coherent whole with a variety of cohesive devices (However, Moreover, All in all,) and organisational patterns (What is home, then?) used with flexibility.
Note also the fact that the essay has a good (though possibly slightly long) introduction and an effective conclusion.
Mark: 4
The candidate demonstrates a good command of the conventions of the communicative task. The register is consistently and appropriately formal.
Complex ideas are communicated highly effectively and often convincingly (note the discussion of human nature and the universality of the concept of home in the first and third paragraphs), holding the target reader’s attention with ease and fulfilling all communicative purposes.
Mark: 4
A wide range of vocabulary, including less common lexis, is used effectively and precisely, and sometimes with sophistication and style (bedsit, run-down, financial constraints, uprooted, itchy feet, a shrine, speaks volumes, sacred).
A wide range of simple and complex grammatical forms are used with full control and flexibility, and sometimes in a way that is very natural. There is a notable lack of inaccuracies.