IELTS Writing Task 1

IELTS Writing

Task One

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

 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

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

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

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

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

a rise in

increased to

an increase in

ascended to

an ascent to

soared to

a soar

swelled to

a swell in

went up to

a growth in

climbed up to an upward trend in

boomed to

a boom in

fell to

a fall in

declined to

a decline in

decreased to

a decrease in

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

stayed constant at

maintained the same level at

remained stable at

leveled out at

no change in

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

hit a historic low

touch/rock/reach the bottom of

hit a

trough

adverbs and adjectives:

surprisingly

strikingly

enormously

considerably

remarkably

obviously

noticeably

significantly

dramatically

substantially

drastically

steeply

markedly

sharply

strongly

moderately

slightly

steadily

gradually

slowly

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:

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

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,

2011-2020, 2021-2030 (future—

steady)

★ GDP: 2000, 2005, 2010,

2015,

2020 (future—rise to 2015, then

fall).

★ CPI: 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015,

2020 (future—slight fall)

★ 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

(6) A has the greatest/widest/

most significant + n.

-- America has the greatest

(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 all-time 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

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

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

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 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 m}3

Democratic Republic of

Congo 5.2 million 100 km