Kinds of Good, Kinds of Bad
Two words branching into the eight that actually say something.
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Each scene answers the question good and bad leave open: good in what way?
Words that say what kind of good or bad you mean, instead of the two most overused words in English.
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A real Band 5 paragraph. Find the two words doing all the work.
"Good" announces an opinion without giving one. Eight words that give one.
When you write this policy is good, the reader learns that you approve. They do not learn why, or in what way, or on what grounds.
Compare:
The policy is good. → you approve
The policy is effective. → it achieves what it set out to do
The policy is popular. → people like it
The policy is affordable. → it does not cost much
Those are three different claims, and only one of them might be what you meant. Good covered all three and committed to none.
This is not a vocabulary problem. It is a precision problem — and precision is what the Lexical Resource band descriptor is measuring.
Two words branching into the eight that actually say something.
Each scene answers the question good and bad leave open: good in what way?
Eight situations. Each one is a different kind of good or bad.
Terms
Definitions
Three decisions. Name what is actually wrong before you name the word.
Chain 1
The situation: Air pollution from the factory damages the lungs of people living nearby.
Candidates: unpleasant / harmful
The issue is:
So the word is:
Chain 2
The situation: The smell from the bakery is overwhelming at six in the morning, though it is completely safe.
Candidates: unpleasant / harmful
The issue is:
So the word is:
Chain 3
The situation: The textbooks were out of date and full of mistakes.
Candidates: poor / negative
The issue is:
So the word is:
Five general words. Replace each with one that says what you actually mean.
Online learning
Online learning has had a effect on adults who work full-time, because it allows them to study in the evening. (was: good)
For these students it is an solution — completion rates have risen every year since 2020. (was: good)
For young children, however, the picture is different. Several studies suggest that long periods in front of a screen are to developing eyesight. (was: bad)
There is also the question of standards. The quality of some short online courses has damaged trust in the whole sector. (was: bad)
Finally, many learners find studying alone at home an experience, even when the course itself is well designed. (was: bad)