Flashcard phrase list

Hedging and precision — sounding measured

24 words

How this list was built

These 24 phrasings cover the 6 things you have to do in this part of the test. Each card gives the job you are doing, the phrasing that does it well, and the weaker phrasing it replaces — a low-scoring answer usually says the same thing, in worse words. Reach120 compared the 254 Write an Email answers it has scored 24 or above with the 239 scored below 18, keeping words used in at least 15% of the high-scoring group and at least 2.5 times as often as in the low-scoring one. Not one phrasing here is built on a word that cleared all three bars. The other 24 carry no qualifying rate, because a phrasing assembled from ordinary words is invisible to word counting. That is exactly why this deck is built by function instead. Reach120 wrote this practice material for the 2026 format — it is not ETS content, and any band figure beside it is a Reach120-scored estimate, not an ETS score.

Every word in this list

hedging
in some circumstances this can
Softening a claim — Admitting your claim does not hold everywhere.
Instead of sometimes this
B2
hedging
it appears that
Softening a claim — Stating an impression you have not fully verified.
Instead of it is obvious that
B1
hedging
the evidence suggests that
Softening a claim — Reporting what data shows without overstating it.
Instead of this proves that
B2
hedging
this may partly explain why
Softening a claim — Offering a reason you cannot prove is the only one.
Instead of this is why
B2
stance
in my view
Marking your own position — Marking an opinion as yours so it is not read as fact.
Instead of i think
B1
stance
inclined to think that
Marking your own position — Taking a position you hold but hold loosely.
Instead of maybe i think
C1
stance
my own position is that
Marking your own position — Separating your view from the ones you have just reported.
Instead of i say that
B2
stance
what strikes me most is
Marking your own position — Highlighting the point you personally find decisive.
Instead of the thing i like is
C1
cause-effect
as a consequence of
Linking cause and effect — Naming a result and its cause in one clause.
Instead of because of
B2
cause-effect
one factor behind this is
Linking cause and effect — Offering one cause while implying there are others.
Instead of one reason is
B2
cause-effect
this gives rise to
Linking cause and effect — Showing that one situation produces another.
Instead of this makes
C1
cause-effect
this in turn leads to
Linking cause and effect — Building a chain of consequences rather than a list.
Instead of and then
B2
contrast
by contrast
Marking a contrast — Turning from one case to an opposite one.
Instead of but
B1
contrast
the alternative would
Marking a contrast — Setting out the option you are arguing against.
Instead of the other way would
B2
contrast
this is at odds with
Marking a contrast — Noting that evidence contradicts a stated position.
Instead of this does not match
C1
contrast
this stands in tension with
Marking a contrast — Pointing out that two claims cannot both be fully right.
Instead of this is different from
C1
sequencing
a further consideration is
Ordering your points — Adding a point that is genuinely additional, not a repeat.
Instead of also
B2
sequencing
finally, and most significantly
Ordering your points — Closing a list with the point you want remembered.
Instead of last
B2
sequencing
more importantly
Ordering your points — Signalling that the next point outranks the last one.
Instead of and
B1
sequencing
to begin with
Ordering your points — Opening the first of several points.
Instead of first
B1
reporting-views
as the previous speaker noted
Reporting someone else's view — Crediting a classmate before you build on their point.
Instead of he said
B2
reporting-views
critics counter that
Reporting someone else's view — Introducing the opposing side of a debate you are summarising.
Instead of other people say no
C1
reporting-views
it is often claimed that
Reporting someone else's view — Reporting a common view you are about to examine.
Instead of people say that
B2
reporting-views
proponents of this view hold that
Reporting someone else's view — Stating a position fairly before you answer it.
Instead of some people think
C1