IELTS Writing Task 1

IELTS Writing Task One By James

Task 1  In

Task 1 of the IELTS writing test, you can be asked to describe different kinds of visuals such as graphs or diagrams.

We

will first practice describing a pie chart.

Useful words for describing graphs 

Useful verb phrases for describing percentages:

make up represent account for

 Pizza

makes up 26% of the total survey.  Hamburgers account for the largest proportion of the pie chart.  French fries represent 55% of the total.  Food

and cars made up the two biggest items of expenditure in both years.  Food accounted for 44% of spending in 1966, but this dropped by two thirds to 14% in 1996.

Useful words for describing pie charts  as

a percentage of total participation

 with

a 67.5 participation rate

 with

30 percent of students involved in this activity

 With

15 percent students choosing this activity

Individually, music is by far the most popular activity, at 35 percent, followed by drama, with a 21 percent participation rate.

Overall, the most popular activities are spending time with friends and shopping which, at 25 percent and 20 percent respectively, make up nearly half of the participation rate.

Of the population of 1,300 students at Mary High School, the largest percentage of students prefers team sports as their option, whereas at Frank High School, this is reversed and 55 percent choose individual sports such as athletics rather than team sports. At both schools, basketball attracts a significant percentage of students.

Four sentence structures: 1. 15% of the young people get online in their offices. 2. There are 15% of the young people who get online in their offices. 3. The people who get online in their offices take up 15% of the total. 4. The percentage of the people who get online in their offices is 15 percent.

Eight core/frequently-used words or phrases: take up/make up account for form/constitute/comprise occupy/represent

In Task 1 of the IELTS writing test you are often asked to compare two pie charts.  Useful

words and synonyms or words of similar/opposite meaning: significant/insignificant considerable/inconsiderable, major/minor

contribute, comprise, make up account for, occupy, represent, constitute production, output percentage, ratio, proportion share

How to describe proportion? 26 percent—about one in four– just over a quarter 33 percent—one third—one in three 48 percent—almost a half—nearly a half—just under one half 75 percent—three out of four—three quarters

very big—the vast/overwhelming majority very big (before numbers)—a massive/hefty 93 percent very small—a tiny minority very small (before numbers)—a mere/modest 10 percent

描写倍数关系： double/triple/quadruple a two/three/four-fold increase increase/decrease two/threefold two/three/four times this amount/number/figure/quantity… two/three times as…as…

描写相同与相异： 1. to be of the same with… 2. A corresponds to B 3. to be identical in the aspect of... 4. A is similar to B 5. to resemble each other 6. to show great resemblance in…

7. A differs from B in several aspects/A is different from B in…/A can be distinguished from B by… 8. A, as distinct from B, has…/A has…, as compared with B/In spite of their similarities (differences), A/B…

Sample A: The pie charts compare the highest level of education achieved by women in Someland across two years, 1945 and 1995. It can be clearly seen that women received a much higher level of education in Someland in 1995 than they did in 1945.

In 1945 only 30 percent of women completed their secondary education and 1 per cent went on to a first degree. No women had completed postgraduate studies. This situation had changed radically by 1995. In 1995, 90 percent of women in Someland had completed secondary education and of those, half had graduated from an initial degree and

and 20 percent had gone on to postgraduate studies. At the other end of the scale we can see that by 1995 all girls were completing lower secondary, although 10 percent ended their schooling at this point. This is in stark contrast to 1945 when only 30 percent of girls completed primary school, 35 percent had no schooling at all and

35 percent only completed the third grade. In conclusion, we can see that in the 50 years from 1945 to 1995 there have been huge positive developments to the education levels of women in Someland.

Sample B The pie charts below illustrate the number of journal articles read per week by all students, PhD students, and junior lecturers at an Australian university. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The three pie charts illustrate how many articles from academic journals are read weekly by PhD students and junior lecturers compared to other students at an Australian university.

For example, the overwhelming majority of those studying doctorates read at least twelve articles per week in comparison with the average student. The figures were 80 percent and twelve percent respectively. Furthermore,

only five percent of PhD level students read between one and five articles, whereas the average for all students in this category is a hefty 67 percent. Meanwhile, for junior lecturers the pattern appears to be slightly different. Most read six or more articles per week (99 percent), but out of this total 24 percent read

twelve or more, which is almost a third of the corresponding figure for PhD level students. It is clear that those students who are researching for a PhD read more articles than either junior lecturers or other students.

SampleC The pie charts show the market share of washing machines made by four companies over the period 1990 to 2000 and the results of a survey on whether customers would consider buying the new Sanyo washing machine over the same period.

During the first year of sales of the new Sanyo machine in 1990, its market share stood at two percent as opposed to 60 percent for the Panasonic product, 20 for the Haier washing machine and 18 for that of Samsung. In 1995, however, Panasonic lost ground to its three other competitors. While Samsung and

Haier both increased their market share by one percentage point each in 1995, Sanyo captured 8% of the market, a rise of 300%.

In 2000, Sanyo’s market share had increased to 32% at the expense of its three main competitors with Panasonic, Samsung and Haier falling to 39 percent, 17 percent and 12 percent respectively. The bar chart shows that the Sanyo machine exceeded its

popularity rating in each year, rising from 5 in 1990 to 40 percent in the year 2000. It is clear from the data that sales of the Sanyo washing machine were on the increase over the period.





The line graph above illustrates that how the demand for electricity in England usually changes during typical days in winter and summer, while the use of electricity in an average English home is shown in the pie chart. The graph indicates that the amount of electricity used in winter is double that used in summer.

 It

is generally obvious that in winter the demand is in its maximum around 45,000 in the late night and in its minimum around 30,000. To be precise, the curve gradually increases to 40,000 units of electricity at 3 in the morning, followed by a steady decline to its lowest point of 30,000 units at 8 a.m. After that, a gradual rise is seen again to reach a stationary level between 1 o’clock

 in

the afternoon and 9 o’clock at night of about 40,000 again. Then, there is a sharp rise in the next hours to reach its maximum (about 45,000 units) around 11 p.m., before collapsing again to a lower level by the end of the day. …

 The

pie chart shows that heating makes up over half of electricity, so the amount of electricity consumption in winter is significantly higher than that in summer. The remaining electricity is split for other purposes, such as 17.5% for ovens, kettles and washing machines and 15% for lighting, TV and radio.

In Task 1 you are often asked to describe a line graph showing changes over time.

Trend (tense—past simple) Verbs and nouns rose to increased to ascended to soared to

a rise in an increase in an ascent to a soar

swelled to went up to climbed up to boomed to

a swell in a growth in an upward trend in a boom in

fell to declined to decreased to collapsed to

a fall in a decline in a decrease in a collapse

reduced to a reduction in went down to a slide in plummeted to a sudden/quick/ sharp fall in plunged to a downward trend of/in slumped to a slump in

stayed constant at maintained the same level at remained stable at leveled out at no change in on a level with/at

peaked at a peak of stood at arrived at a climax reached a maximum number of hit a peak at soared/rocked to a highest point of reached a plateau at fluctuated around a fluctuation around

hit a historic low touch/rock/reach the bottom of hit a trough reached a lowest point of

adverbs and adjectives: surprisingly strikingly enormously considerably remarkably obviously noticeably significantly dramatically substantially drastically steeply markedly sharply strongly

moderately steadily slowly marginally

slightly gradually minimally

The share price fell dramatically between 1995 and 1996. The share price reached its highest level between $6.6 and $7.2 for/in three years. There was a fluctuation in the share price between 2001 and 2008.

Six elements:  Subject  Trend  Extent/degree  Data  Time  Connectives

Between March and April, sales of laptops increased slightly from 10 thousand to 25 thousand. In contrast, during the next month, its sales volume rose dramatically to 90,000 units.

How to use different tenses to describe change over time and into the future. Oil prices: 1995,1997,1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 (future—up) This chart shows oil prices in two-yearly intervals starting from 1995, and future predictions to 2013. It is predicted that oil prices will continue to rise to 2014.

★ Population: 1981-1990, 1991-2000, 2001-2010, 20112020, 2021-2030 (future— steady) ★ GDP: 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020 (future—rise to 2015, then fall). ★ CPI: 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015,

★ Cell phone sales: Jan 2005, Jan 2006, Jan 2007, Jan 2008, Jan 2009, Jan 2010 (future— dramatic rise) ★ House prices: 2005,2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 (future— steady fall)

两 条 曲 线 的 描 述 The graph compares the rate of smoking in men and women in Someland between the years 1960 and 2000. It can be clearly seen that the rate of smoking for both men and women is currently declining and that fewer women have smoked throughout the period.

In 1960, 600 men in every 1,000 was smoking. This number decreased gradually to 500 by 1974 and continued to decrease but more steeply to 250 in 2,000. In contrast, the rate of smoking in women in 1960 was very low at only 80 in every 1,000. By 1968 this increased to170, and increased again but more

steeply to 320 in 1977. The rate of female smokers then remained stable at 320 until 1984 at which point the figures began to decline and had dropped to 200 by 2000.

In conclusion, we can see that the rate of smoking in men dropped throughout the whole period but was always at a higher level than the female figures. The rate of smoking in women increased until 1977 but then decreased for the rest of the period.

三 条 曲 线 的 描 述 举 例 The graph shows the numbers of tourists in hundreds of thousands visiting Dubai between 1990 and 1994. There are several features in the graph. First of all, the total number of tourists increased rapidly between 1990 and 1994. In 1990 there was a

total of 450,000 tourists in Dubai. This rose sharply to 625,000 in 1991, an increase of more than 30%, and rose slightly again to just under 700,000 in 1992. In the following two years, the number of visitors started to pick up again and reached 1 million in 1994. This was more than double the figure for 1990.

The second trend is that there was a huge increase in the number of tourists from Russia. In 1990, Russian tourists comprised only 20,000 or less than 5% of visitors. This number shot up to 50,000 in 1991 and doubled again to more than 100,000 in 1992. Between 1992

and 1994, the number trebled, from 110,000 to 330,000. This meant that Russian tourists made up one-third, or 33%, of Dubai’s 1 million visitors in 1994. In comparison, the number of tourists from other countries increased only slightly, from 550,000 in 1991 to 580,000 in 1994.

In conclusion, although the number of tourists from all countries is increasing, Russian tourists are becoming more and more important for the tourist industry in Dubai.

In Task 1, you have to write a bar chart. Sentence patterns: (1) In contrast (to B)/In comparison (with B), A is larger/smaller by… -- In comparison with Japan, oil production in Brazil is larger by a narrow margin.

(2) A is just/well + number +larger/smaller than B A is approximately + number + larger/smaller than B -- Oil production in China is approximately 2 million barrels larger than in India.

(3) A is …times as large/great/ high as B A uses/produces more/less/ fewer + n. than B -- The money spent on TV is twice as much as on radio in 2008.

(4) A is considerably/marginally greater/higher/smaller than B A is almost as large/high as that in B -- Production in Germany is marginally higher than in France.

(5) A is the second/third largest/ smallest + n. (C) -- Japan is the second smallest oil producer in seven listed countries.

(6) A has the greatest/widest/ most significant + n. -- America has the greatest production of oil in the world

(7) A uses/produces/consumes the largest/highest/smallest/ lowest proportion/amount/ number of + n. (U, C) -- Japan produces the least amount of oil, 1.2 million of barrels per day.

B3T1 The bar chart above demonstrates that how many residents in Japan made the overseas journey over the decade between 1985 and 1995, while the information given by the line graph is about the percentage of Japanese choosing Australia as their destination during the 10-year period.

According to the first chart, it is clear that from 1985 to 1995 Japanese tourists traveling abroad dramatically increased to about 15 million, an alltime high. more specially, though at first the number of Japanese who went overseas stood at only 5 million in 1985, the next stage has experienced the dramatic climb until 1990 when the figure more than doubled to 11 million, followed by the comparably stable period between 1990 and 1993, before another upward trend in the final two years was recorded, to the top point (15 million) in 1995.

We can draw the conclusion from the two graphs that as the number of Japanese tourists traveling abroad has grown, so has Australia’s share of the Japanese tourist market.

B7T1 The table indicates that how much the residents in five countries spent on various items in 2002. Food, drinks and tobacco were in the most important position on consumer spending in all of the countries but the percentage has varied among them. To be exact, the Turks and Irish were the biggest consumers on these three products, costing 32.14% and 28.91% of their expenses respectively, while

the ratio the Spanish spent on these items was 18.80% and the Italians and the Swedes were the last two holders on the spending scale, only just around 16%.

As for the expenditure on clothing and footwear, the figures fluctuated between 5% and 10% in these nations. The greatest consumer belonged to Italy, its percentage standing at 9.0%, far exceeding the records of the other four nations, such as Turkey (6.63%), Spain (6.51%), Ireland (6.43%) and Sweden (5.40%).

According to the table, it is clear that the least consumer spending was on leisure/education compared with other expenditure. Among these nations, it was Turkey and Spain that consumed the most and the least with 4.35% and 1.98% respectively, whereas Italy, Ireland and Sweden paid out below 4% to cover their leisure and educational services.

Overall, we can find the conclusion that in 2002, products relating to foods consumed the most expenditure in these nations rather than clothing and leisure/education.

B7T3 The given diagram indicates that how the real estate market in five major cities around the world changed from 1989 to the period between 1990 and 2002.

According to the chart, during the period from 1990 to 1995 the average prices of houses in both Tokyo (Japan) and London (UK), compared with that in 1989, decreased significantly by about 7.5%, the biggest drop among five cities, followed by New York (USA), which saw a fall of 5%, while a slight climb in prices of real estate was recorded in two cities: Madrid in Spain (1.5%) and Frankfurt in Germany (2%).

As far as the next period (1996-2002) was concerned, on the other hand, it is clear that house prices were at recession only in Tokyo, declining 5%. In contrast, London had the largest boom in this area over the 6-year period from 1996 to 2002 as it increased dramatically by as high as 11%. Meanwhile, other cities underwent growth in varying degrees in property market, for example, New York rising 5%, Madrid 4% and Frankfurt 2%.

All in all, when we compared the house prices among five cities over the two periods with that in 1989, it is notable that London and New York had the dramatic fluctuations during these 12 years for both of them had the declining trends in the first 6 years and then the upward turns at the next stage. At the same time, there were varying increases in both stages in Madrid and Frankfurt whereas the downward changes also occurred in Tokyo throughout the time.

Hours worked at home in 2005

Hours per week

Male(%)

Female(%)

31+

82

5

10 to 30

16

22

Under 10

2

73

km3

Country

Population

Irrigated land

Water consumption per person

Brazil

176 million

26,500 km2

359 m3

Democratic Republic of Congo

5.2 million

100 km2

8 m3