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.