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 percentabout one in four just
over a quarter
33 percentone thirdone in three
48 percentalmost a halfnearly a
halfjust under one half
75 percentthree out of fourthree
quarters

very bigthe vast/overwhelming

majority
very big (before numbers)a
massive/hefty 93 percent
very smalla tiny minority
very small (before numbers)a
mere/modest 10 percent


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 asas


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, Sanyos 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 oclock

 in

the afternoon and 9 oclock 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 (tensepast 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 (futureup)
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 (futurerise 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)


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.


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 Dubais 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
Australias 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

10 to 30

16

22

Under 10

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