Lesson 4: Introduction + Basic/ General Trends/ Overview
Statement + Details Description + Summary (optional).
Each part has a specific format and therefore being equipped with the necessary
vocabulary will help you answer the task 1 efficiently and will save a great deal of
time.
Vocabulary for the Introduction Part:
Starting Presentation Type Verb Description
The/ the given / diagram / table / shows / represents / the comparison of…
the supplied / the figure / illustration / depicts / the differences…
presented / the graph / chart / flow enumerates / the changes in...
shown / the chart / picture/ illustrates / the number of…
provided presentation/ pie presents/ gives / information on…
chart / bar graph/ provides / data on…
column graph / line delineates/ outlines/ the proportion of…
graph / table data/ describes / the amount of…
data / information / delineates/ information on...
pictorial/ process expresses/ denotes/ data about...
diagram/ map/ pie compares/ shows comparative data...
chart and table/ bar contrast / indicates / the trend of...
graph and pie chart figures / gives data the percentages of...
... on / gives the ratio of…
information on/
presents information n clause:
about/ shows data how the...
about/
demonstrates/
sketch out/ wh + S + V
summarises..
Example :
0. The table shows how the population and the proportions of 3 age groups
changed.
The table compares how much the population of China and its
demographic features changed in more than 30 years from 1982 to 2014.
1. The diagram shows employment rates among adults in four European
countries from 1925 to 1985.
2. The given pie charts represent the proportion of male and female employees
in 6 broad categories, dividing into manual and non-manual occupations in
Australia, between 2010 and 2015.
3. The chart gives information about consumer expenditures on six products in
four countries namely Germany, Italy, Britain and France.
4. The supplied bar graph compares the number of male and female graduates
in three developing countries while the table data presents the overall literacy
rate in these countries.
5. The bar graph and the table data depict the water consumption in different
sectors in five regions.
6. The bar graph enumerates the money spent on different research projects
while the column graph demonstrates the fund sources over a decade,
commencing from 1981.
7. The line graph delineates the proportion of male and female employees in
three different sectors in Australia between 2010 and 2015.
Note that, some teachers prefer "The line graph demonstrates..." format
instead of "The given line graph demonstrates...". However, if you write "The
given/ provided/ presented...." it would be correct as well.
Tips:
1. For a single graph use 's' after the verb, like - gives data on, shows/ presents
etc. However, if there are multiple graphs, DO NOT use 's' after the verb.
2. If there are multiple graphs and each one presents a different type of data, you
can write which graph presents what type of data and use 'while' to show a
connection. For example -'The given bar graph shows the amount spent on fast
food items in 2009 in the UK while the pie chart presents a comparison of
people's ages who spent more on fast food.
3. Your introduction should be quite impressive as it makes the first impression to
the examiner. It either makes or breaks your overall score.
4. For multiple graphs and/ or table(s), you can write what they present in
combination instead of saying which each graph depicts. For example, "The two
pie charts and the column graph in combination depicts a picture of the
crime in Australia from 2005 to 2015 and the percentages of young
offenders during this period."
Caution:
Never copy word for word from the question. If you do do, you would be
penalized, so always paraphrase the introduction in your own words.
The first sentence is the introductory statement you write in your reporting. It
should always deal with:
What + Where + When + (who)
Example: The diagram presents information on the percentages of teachers who
have expressed their views about the different problems they face when dealing
with children in three Australian schools from 2001 to 2005.
What = the percentages of teachers...
Where = three Australian schools...
When = from 2001 to 2005...
A good introductory sentence/ statement should always have these parts.
Vocabulary for the Overview
In general, In common, Generally speaking, Overall, It is
obvious, As is observed, As a general trend, As can be seen,
As an overall trend, As is presented, It can be clearly seen
that, At the first glance, it is clear, At the onset, it is clear that,
A glance at the graphs reveals that...
Example:
1. In general, the employment opportunities increased till 1970 and then
declined throughout the next decade.
2. As is observed, the figures for imprisonment in the five mentioned countries
show no overall pattern, rather shows the considerable fluctuations from country
to country.
3. Generally speaking, citizens in the USA had a far better life standard than that
of remaining countries.
4. As can be seen, the highest number of passengers used the London
Underground station at 8:00 in the morning and at 6:00 in the evening.
4. Generally speaking, more men were engaged in managerial positions in 1987
than that of women in New York this year.
5. As an overall trend, the number of crimes reported increased fairly rapidly
until the mid-seventies, remained constant for five years and finally, dropped to
20 cases a week after 1982.
6. At a first glance, it is clear that more percentages of native university pupils
violated regulations and rules than the foreign students did during this period.
7. At the onset, it is clear that drinking in public and drink driving were the most
common reasons for US citizens to be arrested in 2014.
8. Overall, the leisure hours enjoyed by males, regardless of their employment
status, was much higher than that of women.
The structure of the IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 (Report Writing):
Introduction:
Introduction (never copy word for word from the question) + Overview/ General
trend (what the diagrams indicate at a first glance).
Reporting Details:
Main features in the Details
+ Comparison and Contrast of the data. (Do not give all the figures.)
+ Most striking features of the graph.
Conclusion:
Conclusion (General statement + Implications, significant comments)
[The conclusion part is optional.]
Tips:
1. Write introduction and General trend in the same paragraph. Some students
prefer to write the 'General Trend' in a separate paragraph and many teachers
suggest the both to be written in a single paragraph. Unless you have a really
good reason to write the general trend in the second paragraph, try to write them
both in the first paragraph. However, this is just a suggestion, not a requirement.
2. Your 'Introduction (general statement + overall trend/ general trend) should
have 75 - 80 words.
3. DO NOT give numbers, percentages or quantity in your general trend. Rather
give the most striking feature of the graph that could be easily understood at a
glance. Thus it is suggested to AVOID -
"A glance at the graphs reveals that 70% male were employed in 2001 while 40
thousand women in this year had jobs."
And use a format /comparison like the following:
"A glance at the graphs reveals that more men were employed than their
female counterpart in 2001 and almost two-third females were jobless in the
same year. "
Vocabulary to Start the Report Body:
Just after you finish writing your 'Introduction' (i.e. General Statement + General
overview/ trend), you are expected to start a new paragraph to describe the main
features of the diagrams. This second paragraph is called the 'Body Paragraph /
Report Body". You can have a single body paragraph/ report body or up to 3, (not
more than 3 in any case) depending on the number of graphs provided in the
question and the type of these graphs. There are certain phrases you can use to
start your body paragraph and following is a list of such phrases ---
1. As is presented in the diagram(s)/ graph(s)/ pie chart(s)/
table...
2. As (is) shown in the illustration...
3. As can be seen in the...
4. As the diagrams suggest...
5. According to the...
6. Categorically speaking...
7. Getting back to the details...
8. Now, turning to the details...
9. The table data clearly shows that...
10. The diagram reveals that...
11. The data suggest that...
12. The graph gives the figure...
13. It is interesting to note that...
14. It is apparently seen that...
15. It is conspicuous that...
16. It is explicitly observed that...
17. It is obvious...
18. It is clear from the data...
19. It is worth noticing that...
20. It is crystal clear/ lucid that...
21. It can be clearly observed that...
22. It could be plainly viewed that...
23. It could be noticed that...
24. We can see that...
