Band 9 model answer
As technology reshapes daily life at dizzying speed, some commentators dismiss inherited customs as quaint relics with no place in the modern world. I strongly disagree: far from being obsolete, traditions provide continuity, identity and wisdom that rapid change makes more, not less, valuable.
The first reason traditions endure is that they anchor personal and collective identity. Seasonal festivals, rites of passage and shared cuisines tell people who they are and where they come from, offering a sense of belonging that fast-moving consumer culture rarely supplies. When everything around us is in flux, these familiar rituals furnish a reassuring constant, which is precisely why even highly modern societies still gather for ancestral celebrations.
A second, more practical argument is that many traditions encode accumulated knowledge. Time-honoured farming techniques, herbal remedies and methods of building suited to local climates often reflect centuries of trial and error. To discard them as outdated is to risk losing solutions that science is only now beginning to validate. Sustainable irrigation practices revived from old agricultural customs, for instance, have proved remarkably effective in drought-prone regions.
Admittedly, certain traditions that perpetuate injustice or harm deserve to be retired, and blind reverence for the past can stifle progress. Yet the answer is to refine traditions thoughtfully, not to abandon them wholesale. In conclusion, I firmly believe that preserving meaningful traditions is far from pointless; in a turbulent era they supply the identity and inherited wisdom that allow communities to navigate change with confidence rather than rootlessness.
Examiner’s notes
- Task Response: the position ('strongly disagree') is unambiguous and sustained, with a balanced concession about harmful traditions that strengthens rather than dilutes the argument.
- Coherence and Cohesion: clear enumerative framing ('The first reason', 'A second, more practical argument') guides the reader, and 'Admittedly' cleanly signals the counter-move before the conclusion.
- Lexical Resource: evocative phrasing such as 'quaint relics', 'rites of passage' and 'navigate change with confidence rather than rootlessness' demonstrates flexible, idiomatic control.