Task 2 · by section

Body paragraphs — the words this part of the exam actually needs

This is the language for one job: it opens a paragraph with one claim, develops it into a chain, and supports it without inventing sources. The two or three paragraphs that carry the essay. This is where most of the words go and where most of the marks are decided, because it is the only place a reader can see whether you can develop an idea rather than assert several.

The long versionwhat it is, what it costs, where it stops

21 entriesin 4 groups, each with its pattern

Guided practice3 steps, you write, then you compare

3 exercisesevery wrong option explains itself

Start here · the long version

What body paragraphs really asks you to write

A body paragraph makes one claim, explains why it holds, and shows it working. Each of those three moves has its own vocabulary, and the commonest failure is having only the first.

The difference between a list and a chain

A weak body paragraph states four things. A strong one states one thing and then follows it: because of this, which means that, which in turn produces this. The vocabulary of development is what turns the first into the second, and it is almost entirely made of linking phrases that name a consequence — “this stems from”, “as a result”, “which in turn”.

The reason this matters more than it sounds is that four asserted claims can all be true and still show nothing. An examiner reading them sees a writer who knows several things about the topic. A chain shows a writer who can reason, and reasoning is what the criterion calls development. It is also cheaper: one idea followed for five sentences fills a paragraph more convincingly than five ideas that each get one.

The opening sentence is what decides which of the two you get. A topic sentence that names one idea forces the rest of the paragraph to stay on it; one that names two gives you permission to drift, and the paragraph usually takes it.

Topic sentence

One claim, and it should be arguable. If nobody could disagree with it, it is not a claim.

Development

“this stems from”, “which in turn”, “consequently”. The words that turn a claim into a chain.

Support

“a case in point”, “for instance”. Illustration, not proof — and never an invented statistic.

Return

“this suggests that”, “it follows that”. Closing the paragraph on the claim it opened with.

Examples: illustration, not evidence

Task 2 gives you no sources and expects none. An example is there to make an abstract claim concrete — to show what it looks like when it happens — not to prove it. That distinction decides the vocabulary: “a case in point is” and “this can be seen in” are illustration, while “studies have proven that” and “according to a 2019 report” claim a source you do not have and cannot cite.

Invented statistics are the most damaging version of this, and they are common because they feel like rigour. “A recent study found that 73% of employees…” is a fabricated fact, and an examiner who has read four essays quoting four different invented percentages reads it as exactly what it is.

What it costs you to skip this

A paragraph of assertions with no development is the single most common shape in a mid-band response, and it is why the score does not move: everything in it is true, nothing in it is reasoned. And a fabricated source damages more than the sentence it sits in — it puts every other claim in the essay under suspicion.

Where it stops applying

Development has a natural end. Four links in a chain is usually one too many, and the last one tends to be the one you cannot defend. Examples have a limit too: one concrete case per paragraph is normally enough, and a paragraph that is mostly example has stopped arguing. And none of this vocabulary rescues a topic sentence that names two ideas — that has to be fixed at the top.

Examples · why precise words score better

The same sentence, twice

Lexical Resource is not a count of long words: it assesses range, precision and control. The fastest way to see that is to watch one sentence become precise. Nothing was added below except accuracy.

Vague

Public transport is good for cities. It reduces traffic. Also it is cheaper. And it helps the environment too.

Body paragraphs

Precise

Investment in public transport eases urban congestion. As fewer private vehicles compete for road space, journey times fall for everyone, which in turn makes the network more attractive to the drivers who remain.

The vague version asserts three unrelated benefits in three short sentences. The precise one takes a single claim and follows it: fewer cars, faster journeys, more users. Same length, and the second one shows reasoning the first only gestured at.

What the precise version earns
precision · range · collocation. No page here promises anyone a score: these are the things the criterion looks at, and they are the things you can control.

The bank · grouped by the job each word does

21 entries, and the pattern each one demands

Knowing a word and not its pattern is what produces a sentence that reads like a translation. The preposition, the verb form and the article are the part that carries the marks.

Opening with one claim

A topic sentence that names one idea forces the paragraph to stay on it.

The most compelling argument for X is that

Safe to use

Takes a clause. Names the claim and marks it as your strongest in one move.

A further consideration is

Safe to use

Takes a noun or a clause. Opens Body 2 without repeating “secondly”.

X is, above all, a question of

Safe to use

Takes a noun: “a question of cost”. Frames the paragraph around one dimension.

This is particularly true of

Watch the pattern

Takes a noun. Narrows a general claim to a case, which is a good second sentence and a weak first one.

There are many reasons why

Costs you marks

Announces a list and commits to no claim. The paragraph then has to deliver the list it promised.

Developing into a chain

The words that turn a claim into reasoning rather than a set of assertions.

this stems from

Safe to use

Takes a noun: “this stems from years of underinvestment”. The effect comes first, the cause after.

which in turn

Safe to use

Continues a chain inside the sentence: “journey times fall, which in turn attracts more users”.

consequently / as a result

Safe to use

Opens a sentence with a comma, or follows a semicolon. Names a consequence, so there must be one.

the implication is that

Safe to use

Takes a clause. Draws out what the previous sentence entails without claiming it as new evidence.

this is compounded by

Watch the pattern

Takes a noun. Means the problem is made worse by a second factor — not merely that a second factor exists.

and also, and moreover

Costs you marks

Adding is not developing. Every “and also” is a place where a consequence could have been named instead.

Supporting with an example

Illustration. You have no sources and are expected to have none.

a case in point is

Safe to use

Takes a noun. The most economical way to introduce a concrete case.

this can be seen in

Safe to use

Takes a noun. Points at where the claim is visible without claiming to have measured it.

for instance / for example

Safe to use

Opens the sentence with a comma, or sits mid-sentence between commas. Never “for example of”.

take X, for example

Watch the pattern

Slightly conversational but accepted. Commas on both sides of “for example”.

studies have proven that

Costs you marks

You have no study. Research indicates or suggests; it does not prove, and you cannot cite it here.

a recent report found that 73%

Costs you marks

An invented figure. It reads as rigour to the writer and as fabrication to the reader.

Closing the paragraph

Returning to the claim you opened with, so the paragraph is a unit.

this suggests that

Safe to use

Takes a clause. Draws a conclusion at a strength the paragraph has earned.

it follows that

Watch the pattern

Takes a clause, and claims logical necessity. Only when it really does follow.

for this reason

Safe to use

Opens the closing sentence with a comma. Points back at the chain you just built.

on balance

Watch the pattern

Opens with a comma. It weighs two sides, so it needs both to have appeared in the paragraph.

Watch two · then the mistakes

The words doing their job in a real sentence

Worked example · topic sentence · As … · which in turn

Why it works: One claim followed for three steps. Note that no new idea is introduced: everything after the first sentence is a consequence of it, which is what development means.

Worked example · stems from … rather than · A case in point is

The shortage stems from decades of underinvestment rather than from recent demand. A case in point is the rail network, where no new line was opened for thirty years.

Why it works: “Stems from … rather than” names a cause and rules out a rival in one sentence, and the example illustrates rather than proves — no figure is invented.

Public transport is good. It is cheap. Also it helps the environment. And also it reduces traffic in the city.

Four assertions and no development. Every sentence starts a new idea, so none of them is followed, and “also” twice signals adding where reasoning was needed.

Repaired: Public transport eases congestion, and as fewer cars compete for road space, journey times fall for everyone.

Studies have proven that 68% of commuters would switch if services improved.

Two fabrications. You have no study to cite, and the figure is invented. Research also indicates rather than proves.

Repaired: Commuters are widely reported to be willing to switch where services are reliable.

Now you try · with the scaffolding on

Build it one step at a time

Build one paragraph: one claim, developed into a chain, with one example. No invented figures.

The material

Your position: cities should restrict private cars in the centre. Body 1 will argue the health case.

Step 1Write a topic sentence with exactly one claim

One idea, and it must be arguable — if nobody could disagree, it is not a claim. Do not name two benefits.

Your version0 words · minimum 8

8 more words before you can compare. Writing it yourself first is the whole exercise.

Step 2Follow it one step, then a second

Step 3Illustrate it, without inventing a source

Exercises · production

Choose the word that does the job and takes the right pattern

Every wrong option is wrong for its own reason, and it says so. Nothing here is scored automatically.

Journey times fall for everyone, ______ makes the network more attractive to remaining drivers.

Choose an option first

You want to illustrate a claim in Body 1. Which opening is safe?

Choose an option first

The shortage ______ decades of underinvestment rather than from recent demand.

Choose an option first

The rest of the vocabulary

Where else these words are needed

Task 1 introduction

It restates what the visual shows, without reusing the words printed above it.

21 entries · 3 exercises Task 1 overview

It states the two or three biggest things the visual shows, without a single figure.

20 entries · 3 exercises Trends over time

It reports change over time: the direction, how big it was, and how fast it happened.

31 entries · 3 exercises Comparisons

It states how two or more things differ, and by how much.

22 entries · 3 exercises Processes

It reports a sequence of stages in order, with the doer left out because nobody is named.

22 entries · 3 exercises Maps

It reports what changed in a place, and exactly where.

22 entries · 3 exercises Task 2 introduction

It restates the prompt in your own words and says, without hedging into invisibility, where you stand.

19 entries · 3 exercises Task 2 conclusion

It restates the position in different words and closes without introducing anything new.

19 entries · 3 exercises Final revision

It names what to hunt for in the last five minutes, and what to put in its place.

20 entries · 3 exercises