The process by which bricks are manufactured for the building industry can be outlined in

seven consecutive steps. First the raw material, clay, which was just below the surface of
soil in certain clay-rich areas has to be dug up by a digger.
Then the lumps of clay are placed on a metal grid in order to break up the big chunks of
clay into much smaller areas, which fall through the metal grid onto a roller, whose
motion further segregates the bits of clay. Sand and water are added to make a
homogenous mixture, which is then either formed in moulds or cut into brick-shaped
pieces by means of a wire cutter.
Those fresh bricks are then kept in a drying oven for at least 24 and a maximum of 48
hours, several dozens if not hundreds of bricks at a time. The dried bricks are then
transferred to a so-called kiln, another type of high temperature oven. First they are kept
at a moderate temperature of 200 -1300 . This process is followed by cooling down
the finished bricks for 48 to 72 hours in a cooling chamber.
Once the bricks have cooled down and have become hard, they get packaged and
delivered to their final destination, be it a building site or storage.
(215 words)

The diagram below shows the water cycle, which is the continuous
movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth.

The picture illustrates the way in which water passes from ocean to air to land during the
natural process known as the water cycle.
Three main stages are shown on the diagram. Ocean water evaporates, falls as rain, and
eventually runs back into the oceans again.
Beginning at the evaporation stage, we can see that 80% of water vapour in the air
comes from the oceans. Heat from the sun causes water to evaporate, and water vapour
condenses to form clouds. At the second stage, labelled precipitation on the diagram,
water falls as rain or snow.
At the third stage in the cycle, rainwater may take various paths. Some of it may fall into
lakes or return to the oceans via surface runoff. Otherwise, rainwater may filter through
the ground, reaching the impervious layer of the earth. Salt water intrusion is shown to
take place just before groundwater passes into the oceans to complete the cycle.
(156 words, band 9)

The diagrams below show some principles of house design for cool and for warm climates.

Introduction: paraphrase the question.

Summary: describe the main differences - the design of the roof and windows, and the
use of insulation.

Details: compare the roof design and use of insulation.

Details: compare the window design and how windows are used during the day and at
night.

The diagrams show how house designs differ according to climate. The most noticeable
difference between houses designed for cool and warm climates is in the shape of the roof.
The designs also differ with regard to the windows and the use of insulation. We can see
that the cool climate house has a high-angled roof, which allows sunlight to enter through
the window. By contrast, the roof of the warm climate house has a peak in the middle and
roof overhangs to shade the windows. Insulation and thermal building materials are used
in cool climates to reduce heat loss, whereas insulation and reflective materials are used
to keep the heat out in warm climates. Finally, the cool climate house has one window
which faces the direction of the sun, while the warm climate house has windows on two

sides which are shaded from the sun. By opening the two windows at night, the house
designed for warm climates can be ventilated. (162 words, band 9)

This diagram shows the different stages in the process of making a purchase with a credit card. We
can see from it that there are five different parties involved in such a transaction and there are seven
different steps until the merchant receives payment.
The first step is that the customer offers to pay for the goods by credit card. At that point, the merchant
has to request for the payment to be authorised by the credit card organisation, which must also
request authorisation in turn from the consumers bank. Once that authorisation has been received,
the merchant can then release the goods to the customer.
The merchant, however, does not receive the money for the transaction until it has paid a fee to the
credit card organisation. After that has been paid, the consumers issuing bank will transfer the money
for the transaction to the merchants own bank, which will then credit the merchants bank account with
the amount of the purchase less the credit card fee.