IELTS WRITING TASK 1

SOME EXAMPLES OF VISUAL INFORMATION YOU MAY ENCOUNTER IN THIS

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THE STRUCTURE FOR WRITING TASK 1

INTRODUCTION: an introductory sentence which says what the chart shows. (or what the charts
show). You should paraphrase (=rewrite) the question by:

- using a synonym of the words in the question.

- changing the form of a word (e.g. changing a verb into a noun).

BODY PARAGRAPHS: the detailed information: the dates, the numbers, and the comparisons

OVERVIEW: [this can be put at the end of the report or after the introduction]: a summary of the main
points or the most noticeable features.

GHI CHÚ:
- Nên dành thời gian đọc kĩ đề để hiểu câu hỏi và các bảng biểu/biểu đồ/hình ảnh được cho trong đề bài
- Viết phần mở đầu bằng cách dùng từ đồng nghĩa hoặc thay đổi từ loại của từ được cho trong đề bài.
Chú ý không sao chép lại hoàn toàn đề bài.
- Trong phần thân bài, chọn lọc các số liệu và thông tin quan trọng, mô tả chi tiết và so sánh các số
liệu nổi bật đó, số liệu cao nhất, thấp nhất, nêu ra các xu hướng, tăng, giảm, … một cách khách quan,
không được thêm ý kiến cá nhân vào.
- Trong phần tổng quan (có thể viết sau phần mở đầu, hoặc viết ở cuối bài) nêu tóm tắt điểm quan
trọng, sự liên kết giữa các bảng biểu/biểu đồ (nếu đề bài cho nhiều bảng biểu/biểu đồ.) Chú ý không nên
đưa số liệu chi tiết vào phần tổng quan.
- Bài viết có 150 từ trở lên.

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SOME EXAMPLES FOR WRITING AN INTRODUCTORY SENTENCE:

1. The graph shows traffic growth in the Netherlands between 1960 and 2010.

=> The graph indicates the changes in the number of vehicles on the road in the Netherlands from 1960

to 2010.

2. The bar chart shows the sporting preferences of 100 adults, boys and girls in Manchester.

=>The bar chart tells us the different sports preferred by a group of people of a range of ages in

Manchester.

3. The graphs show the number of students that have attended the college since 1980 and their

different nationalities.

=> From the graphs, we can see how many students have taken courses at the college since 1980 as

well as the countries they come from.

4. The two pie charts show the average household expenditure in the US in 1900 and in 2000.

=> The pie charts reveal how much people spent in the US in 1900 and 2000.

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SOME MORE EXAMPLES:

1. The table shows percentage attendance figures for seven types of cultural event in Great Britain
between 1985 and 2000.

=> The table gives information about the percentages of British people who attended various types of
cultural events at five-year intervals from 1985 to 2000.

2. The chart shows the number of underweight children aged 5 or below in seven regions of the
world.

=> The pie chart is about children who are below average weight in the first five years of life. It shows
numbers of such children in seven global regions.

3. The chart shows UK citizens' spending on three types of reading materials.

=> The bar chart gives information about the money spent by people in the UK on magazines,
newspapers and books.

4. The chart illustrates the world's mobile phone subscribers in 2006, showing their distribution
between six geographical regions.

=> The pie chart shows how mobile phone owners were distributed between six different parts of the
world in 2006. The figures are percentages of the global total.

5. The chart gives information about the activities on weekdays of adults in the UK aged 16 and
over at various times throughout the 24-hour cycle.

=> The chart illustrates how people over 16 in the UK are occupied at various times of the day and night
from Monday to Friday.

6. The chart shows the percentage change in serious crimes recorded by the police in European
Union countries between 1996 and 2000.

=> The bar chart gives information based on police figures about serious crimes in a number of EU
countries in the four years to 2000. It shows percentage changes for each country.

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SOME TIME EXPRESSIONS:

- between 1910 and 1980

- from 1910 to 1980

- starting in 1910 and ending in 1980

- for a 70-year period beginning in 1910

- during/throughout the period from 1910 to 1980

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 SOME MODEL ANSWERS

EXAMPLE 1:
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The table below gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

The table shows data about the underground rail networks in six major cities.
The table compares the six networks in terms of their age, size and the number of people who use them
each year. It is clear that the three oldest underground systems are larger and serve significantly more
passengers than the newer systems.
The London underground is the oldest system, having opened in 1863. It is also the largest system, with
394 kilometres of route. The second largest system, in Paris, is only about half the size of the London
underground, with 199 kilometres of route. However, it serves more people per year. While only third in
terms of size, the Tokyo system is easily the most used, with 1927 million passengers per year.
Of the three newer networks, the Washington DC underground is the most extensive, with 126
kilometres of route, compared to only 11 kilometres and 28 kilometres for the Kyoto and Los Angeles
systems. The Los Angeles network is the newest, having opened in 2001, while the Kyoto network is the
smallest and serves only 45 million passengers per year.

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EXAMPLE 2:
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The chart below shows the means of transport used by Germans for holiday trips in Germany and
abroad in 2019.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Means of transport used by Germans for holiday trips in Germany and abroad in 2019

Domestic Abroad
75%

58%

32%

15%
9%
5% 2%
1%

Car/caravan Airplane Bus Train

The chart provides information about different modes of transport used by people in Germany for
holiday trips in Germany and other countries in 2019.

75 percent of Germans travelled within the country by car/caravan, which was the most common means
of transport. The second most common way of travelling in the country was by train, and just 15% of
people used this type of public transport. By comparison, only 10 percent of German people used bus or
airplane to travel around the country, with just 9% and 1% respectively.

In the same year, nearly 60% of Germans chose air travelling when going to other countries, which was
the most common mode of transport. One-third of Germans used car/caravan for their overseas trips.
And about 5% and 2% of people chose public transport such as bus or train as their means of
transportation.

Overall, for domestic trips, Germans used car/caravan whereas they tended to choose air travelling for
their overseas trips in 2019.

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EXAMPLE 3:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The bar graph below shows the average housing costs in three different regions for two different
years.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting in the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The bar graph shows the average cost of housing in rural, urban, and suburban areas in 2005 and 2015.
Housing costs were different in each of the areas. However, they rose significantly in all three areas in
the time period shown on the graph.

There was a significant difference in housing costs in all three areas in both 2005 and 2015. The average
housing cost in rural areas was lowest at $75,000 in 2005 and $125,000 in 2015. The average housing
cost in suburban areas was slightly higher than rural areas in 2005 and a good deal higher in 2015.
Urban housing costs were the highest and were around twice as high as costs in rural areas in both years.

Housing costs in all three areas rose between 2005 and 2015. Average rural housing costs rose from
$75,000 to $125,000. Average urban housing costs doubled, going from $150,000 to $300,000. Average
suburban housing costs almost tripled, rising from $100,000 to $275,000.

Overall, average housing costs in urban and suburban areas remained higher than in rural areas, but they
rose significantly more in the time period shown on the graph.

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EXAMPLE 4:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graph shows the percentages of male and female populations in the United Kingdom who smoked
in the years from 1974 to 2004-5.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The chart illustrates the changing trends in smoking among the UK population, by sex, for a period of
about 30 years from 1974 onwards. The most obvious change was a general fall in the proportion of
both men and women who smoked - by almost exactly half, in the case of men, and by a little less in the
case of women.

The proportion of male smokers stood at about 52% in 1974. It then fell, with variations in the rate of
fall, to around 30% in about 1994, when it began to rise again, peaking in 1998-9, when it began to fall
once more. There was another slight rise in about 2004 before the downward trend continued, ending at
about 26% in 2004-5.

The pattern among the female population was broadly similar, with an overall fall from about 42% in
1974 to about 24% at the end of the period. There was only one slight rise, between 1994-5 and 1996-7.

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EXAMPLE 5:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The chart below shows school enrolment in the USA.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting in the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The chart shows the increase in the number of people who received an education in the USA between
1890 and 2001.

From the beginning of the twentieth century numbers of those who were enrolled in grades 1-8 and in
grades 9-12 (high school) began to increase. By the end of the twentieth century figures for the former
had risen to around 38 million, compared to 15 million for high school. Only two periods showed a fall
— starting in the 1930s and 1970s for grades 1-8, and in the 1940s and 1980s for grades 9-12.

The number of students in colleges and universities was much lower than those enrolled in grades 1-8,
and was generally below those in grades 9-12. The number of students going on to further education
rose steadily until the end of the 1960s, when there was a sharp increase. This increase continued until
the 1990s, when numbers were level with those leaving high school — around 15 million.

Overall, during the twentieth century there was a rise in the number of Americans receiving an
education at all levels.

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EXAMPLE 6:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The chart below shows the numbers of male and female research students studying six science-
related subjects at a UK university in 2019.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where
relevant.

Write about 150 words.

The chart gives information about the gender distribution of students doing scientific research across a
range of disciplines at a UK university in 2019.

Male students made up a large proportion of the student group in subjects related to the study of objects
and materials: physics, astronomy, and geology. The gender gap was particularly large in the field of
physics, where there were five times as many male students as female students.

Women students outnumbered male students in subjects related to the study of living things: biology,
medicine, and veterinary medicine. In biology, there were significantly more women (approximately
230) than men (approximately 180). This was also true of medicine, and especially veterinary medicine,
where there were twice as many female research students as male research students.

Overall, the chart shows that at this university there were differences in the type of scientific research
undertaken by male and female students.

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EXAMPLE 7:
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The chart below shows information about the problems people have when they go to live in other
countries.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The chart shows the difficulties people have when they move to a new country and how the problems
vary according to people's ages.

The greatest problem for young people aged 18 to 34 is forming friendships, a problem experienced by
46 percent of the people in this age group. However, only 36 percent of 35- to 54-year-olds find it hard
to make friends, while even fewer people over 55 (23 percent) have this problem.

Fifty-four percent of the older age group find learning to speak the local language the most problematic.
In comparison, the youngest age group finds this easier, and the percentage who have problems learning
the language is much lower, at 29 percent.

In contrast to their language-learning difficulties, only 22 percent of people in the oldest age group have
trouble finding accommodation. However, this is the second most significant problem for the other two
age groups with 39 to 40 percent of the people in each group finding it hard.

In general, all age groups experience the same problems to some extent, but the percentage of older
people who find language learning difficult is much higher than the others.

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EXAMPLE 8:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The chart below shows the numbers of new cases of three infectious diseases in the UK between
1991 and 2004.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The graph gives approximate figures for UK measles, mumps and rubella infections between 1991 and
2004. Despite large variations, it shows a general fall until a sudden increase in mumps in the last two
years.

Cases of measles and rubella tended to fall, although there were sudden rises in both, causing peaks of
23000 for measles in 1994 and 12000 for rubella two years later. Both then showed remarkable falls and
followed very similar trends from 1997 to 2004, with the rate of measles infections being generally a
little higher.

In contrast, mumps cases fluctuated between 2000 and 4000 until 1999 and, although they began to rise
a little, all three diseases had very low rates (below 4000) until 2002.

At this point the figures for mumps began to rise, first rapidly and then more so, to reach 21000 in 2004,
with no indication of a slowdown — compared with a level of 4000 in 1991. The corresponding figures
for measles were a fall from 12000 cases in 1991 to 3000 in 2004; and for rubella, from 10000 to 2000.

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EXAMPLE 9:
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The chart shows the percentage of male and female teachers in six different types of educational
setting in the UK in 2010.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting in the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The bar chart gives the proportion of male and female teachers in six types of educational institution in
the UK in 2010.

Women predominated in schools for children. This was particularly true of schools for very young
children. Over 95 per cent of nursery school teachers, for example, were female. The situation was
similarly one-sided in primary schools, where over 90 per cent of teachers were women.

Men and women were more equally represented in teaching institutions catering for older children and
young adults: secondary schools and colleges. College lecturers, for example, were 50 per cent female
and 50 per cent male.

Males held a larger share of teaching posts in higher-level institutions. This was particularly true for
universities, where twice as many males were teaching staff than females.

Overall, women were more likely to hold the more typically maternal role of teaching young children.
Males, on the other hand, predominated in the higher status teaching role of university lecturer.

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EXAMPLE 10:
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graphs below show the percentage of adults accessing the internet in the United Kingdom
between January 2001 and February 2006, and the percentage of households with various kinds of
internet connections during part of the same period.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The charts illustrate the changing patterns of Internet use among adults in the UK in January 2001 and in
the February of the following five years; and the changes in household internet connections between
April 2003 and July 2005. Two aspects of the data are particularly striking: first, that people steadily
used the web more and more; and second, that broadband replaced narrowband as the most popular type
of connection.

From January 2001 to February 2006, the proportion of adults accessing the internet rose from about
46% to about 62%. The rate of increase was rapid over the first two years, fell a little in 2004, and
accelerated again in 2005.

In the two years from April 2003 there was a less steady increase in the proportion of households with
an internet connection, of about 6%, to about 56%. The most interesting trend, despite some
fluctuations, was the steady fall in the popularity of narrowband connections (from about 40% to about
25%) and the corresponding increase in the use of broadband (from about 8% to about 32%).

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THESE EXAMPLES ARE TAKEN FROM THE FOLLOWING SOURCES:

https://ieltsliz.com/

https://ielts-simon.com/

Barron's IELTS by Lin Lougheed, Barrons Educational Series, 2019

IELTS Graduation Student's Book by Mark Allen, Debra Powell,DickieDolby, Macmillan

IELTS Graduation Study skills by Charlie Martineau and Jane Short, Macmillan ELT, 2007

Objective IELTS Intermediate Student's Book by Michael Black and Wendy Sharp,
Cambridge University Press, 2006

The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS Student's Book by Pauline Cullen, Amanda French,
Vanessa Jakeman, Cambridge University Press, 2014

Writing for IELTS by Anneli Williams, Collins Publishers, 2020

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