The template trap — the phrases that cost you marks
Why memorised openers cost marks
- Chinese candidates are often taught openers to memorise and "high-level" words to insert.
- Examiners are trained to discount memorised language. A template-heavy essay reads as a lower Lexical resource band, not a higher one.
- The problem is not that the phrases are wrong English. It is that they carry no information, and the examiner has seen each one a thousand times.
- Every word in a 250-word essay has to earn its place. A 12-word opener that says nothing has cost you 5% of the essay.
Why does a memorised opener lower the Lexical resource band?
The phrases are correct English. They are discounted because they are memorised and say nothing, which is a different fault from an error.
The phrases to delete
| Delete | Write instead |
|---|---|
| With the development of society / the economy | (nothing — start with the topic) |
| It is undeniable that / There is no doubt that | Clearly, or nothing |
| Every coin has two sides | (state the two sides) |
| As far as I am concerned | I think / In my view |
| more and more people | a growing number of people, or a figure |
| in today's fast-paced world | (nothing) |
| Last but not least | Finally, |
| play an important role in | matter to, shape, decide |
Which of these should be deleted from a Task 2 essay? Choose all that apply.
'A growing number of people' is fine — it is ordinary English carrying a real claim. The other three are memorised fillers.
The same trap in single words
- A rare word used out of collocation is marked as an error, not as range.
- Ameliorate the problem — ameliorate does not go with problem. Improve the situation is better English and a higher band.
- Make a conclusion → draw a conclusion. Do a mistake → make a mistake. Heavy traffic, not crowded traffic.
- Learn words as chunks: the verb with its noun, the noun with its preposition. That is what Lexical resource measures.
Which is correct English?
'Draw' is the verb that goes with 'conclusion'. Learn the verb and its noun together — that pairing is what Lexical resource measures.
And in linking words
- Firstly, Moreover, Furthermore, In addition, Last but not least at the start of every sentence lowers Coherence and cohesion. It is counted as over-use.
- Real cohesion is quieter: a pronoun pointing back, a noun phrase repeated deliberately, and putting the ideas in an order a reader can predict.
- One or two signposts in an essay is plenty. If you need five, the ideas are not in order yet.
Roughly how many signpost linkers (Firstly, Moreover…) does a 250-word essay need at most?
One or two is plenty. If you need five, the ideas are not yet in an order a reader can predict.
What to do instead
- Start with the topic. Several European governments now subsidise night trains. That is a first sentence.
- Say your own thing. The examiner cannot mark an idea you did not have, and cannot fail one because it is ordinary.
- Use your own examples. One specific thing you have seen beats an invented statistic, and it cannot be a memorised phrase.
- ⚠ Deleting the templates makes your essay shorter. Use the space you get back for one more developed reason.
Replace the filler: 'In today's fast-paced world, more and more people use bicycles.' → '___ growing number of people use bicycles.'
The filler goes entirely and 'more and more' becomes 'a growing number of'. The sentence is shorter and says the same thing.