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CPE Model Compositions-p1-17-q8_Layout 1 5/9/2013 7:28 µµ Page 2

WRITING SUPPLEMENT

The Writing Supplement includes model answers for all the writing tasks from each Practice Test (1 - 8) .

Test 1

Part 1, Question 1 - Model Answer: Essay

The two texts discuss different aspects of organic food and farming – whilst Text 1 focuses on attitudes
towards organic food, Text 2 looks at why organic farming has developed.

There is a fundamental disagreement between the two texts – whilst Text 1 considers the purchasing of
organic foods to be a sign of privilege, and not necessarily about the principles of the matter, Text 2
claims that a large number of people are deliberately choosing organic food in order to avoid GM foods
covered in chemicals.

I agree with Text 1 that the people who buy organic food tend to be wealthier people, but the reason for
this is the fact that it is more expensive – and this is because, at the moment, organic farming is a more
niche and expensive way of growing and producing food. Therefore, the food has to cost more in order
for the farmer to earn enough to continue. I do not think that there is a significant level of snobbery in-
volved – I think a lot of people like the idea of buying organic food, but not everyone can afford to shop
according to their principles.

The principle of not wanting chemical-covered food, as discussed in Text 2, is, for me, the clear priority
for most people. It is demeaning to claim that people do not understand the concept of organic food and
the potential dangers of using chemicals and pesticides. Not everyone is going to care, of course, and
there will probably be some who consider it a gimmick, a way of trying to sell products at a premium. But
for the most part, I think that people are suspicious of GM foods and organic food, when affordable, is
most people’s preference.

Part 2, Question 2 - Model Answer: Article

For me, the best form of public transport has to be the train. They are comfortable, easy to use and usu-
ally provide a relaxing journey. I enjoy train journeys, especially long-distance journeys, because it is an
opportunity to read a book or if I am travelling with a friend, it gives us time to chat and play card games.

For shorter, local journeys, there are regular trains that are almost always on time so it is a popular way
of travelling for local people – it is good to have a reliable service. The only problem is that the trains do
not run very late, so you cannot rely on them to get you home if you are going out in the evening.

There is also a local bus service, and it does run late at night which is good, but on the whole it is not very
popular with local people and I do not often travel via bus. It is just too unreliable – the buses run late
most days because there just are not enough of them on the roads to allow the route to run on time. The
buses are also very expensive considering the slow service that they offer. One solution would be for the
bus company to get more buses on the road, so that they were more frequent – at the moment none of
the services run faster than one bus every half hour. A large scale project would be for the roads to be
made wider and a bus lane added in along some of the main roads which currently do not have a special bus
lane. This would also speed the buses up, as at the moment they regularly get stuck in traffic.

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