Line Graph Worksheet - Gap Fill

This line graph worksheet helps you with the language of change that is
very commonly needed to write about graphs, bar charts and tables in
IELTS task 1.
Firstly, take a look at the graph and check you understand it.

What does it show?

What are the main trends?

What are some important details?

Then look at the line graph answer and carefully work out which word
from the drop down menu fits in the gap.
Line Graph Worksheet - Gap Fill
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The line graph illustrates the amount of spreads
consumed from 1981 to 2007, in grams.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the
main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

The graph shows the quantity of margarine, low fat spreads and butter
consumed between 1981 and 2007. The quantities are measured in
grams. Over the period 1981 to 2007 as a whole, there was a significant
decrease in the consumption of butter and margarine and a marked
increase in the consumption of low fat and reduced spreads.
Butter was the most popular fat at the beginning of the period, and
consumption reached a peak of about 160 grams per person per week in
about 1986. After this, there was a sharp decline.
The consumption of margarine began lower than that for butter at 90
grams. Following this, in 1991, it exceeded that of butter for the first
time, but after 1996 there was a steady downward trend in the amount
consumed, which seemed set to continue.
Lowfat spreads were introduced in 1996, and they saw a significant
rise in their consumption from that time, so that by about 2001 they were
more popular than either butter or margarine.
How to Write an IELTS Writing Task 1
On the following pages you can see model answers for IELTS writing task 1
questions.
There are examples of all the different types of task which include line
graphs, pie charts, tables, processes, diagrams and maps.
First, on this page, youll get an overview of how to answer a task 1.

Answers will always vary depending on the type of graph or diagram, and
the type of language will vary, but there is a certain structure that they all
follow.
Once you have studied the general structure, you can view other
examples by following the links in the right hand column.
To get more practice on how to write a graph over time and use the
language of change, follow this link.
How do I answer an IELTS writing task 1?
To analyse this, well look at a line graph. Look at the following question
and the graph.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The line graph below shows changes in the amount
and type of fast food consumed by Australian
teenagers from 1975 to 2000.
Summarize the information by selecting and
reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

There are three basic things you need to structure an IELTS writing task 1.

1. Introduce the graph

2. Give an overview
3. Give the detail
Well look at each of these in turn.
1) Introduce the Graph
You need to begin with one or two sentences that state what the IELTS
writing task 1 shows. To do this, paraphrase the title of the graph, making
sure you put in a time frame if there is one.
Here is an example for the above line graph:
The line graph illustrates the amount of fast food consumed by
teenagers in Australia between 1975 and 2000, a period of 25
years.
You can see this says the same thing as the title, but in a different way.
2) Give an Overview
You also need to state what the main trend or trends in the graph are.
Dont give detail such as data here you are just looking for something
that describes what is happening overall.
One thing that stands out in this graph is that one type of fast food fell
over the period, whilst the other two increased, so this would be a good
overview.
Here is an example:
Overall, the consumption of fish and chips declined over the
period, whereas the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were
eaten increased.
This covers the main changes that took place over the whole period.
You may sometimes see this overview as a conclusion. It does not matter
if you put it in the conclusion or the introduction when you do an IELTS
writing task 1, but you should provide an overview in one of these places.
3) Give the Detail
You can now give more specific detail in the body paragraphs.

When you give the detail in your body paragraphs in your IELTS writing
task 1, you must make reference to the data.
The key to organizing your body paragraphs for an IELTS writing task 1 is
to group data together where there are patterns.
To do this you need to identify any similarities and differences.
Look at the graph what things are similar and what things are different?
As we have already identified in the overview, the consumption of fish and
chips declined over the period, whereas the amount of pizza and
hamburgers that were eaten increased.
So it is clear that pizza and hamburgers were following a similar pattern,
but fish and chips were different. On this basis, you can use these as your
groups, and focus one paragraph on fish and chip and the other one on
pizza and hamburgers.
Here is an example of the first paragraph:
In 1975, the most popular fast food with Australian teenagers was
fish and chips, being eaten 100 times a year. This was far higher
than pizza and hamburgers, which were consumed approximately
5 times a year. However, apart from a brief rise again from 1980
to 1985, the consumption of fish and chips gradually declined
over the 25 year timescale to finish at just under 40 times per
year.
As you can see, the focus is on fish and chips. This does not mean you
should not mention the other two foods, as you should still make
comparisons of the data as the questions asks.
The second body then focuses on the other foods:
In sharp contrast to this, teenagers ate the other two fast foods
at much higher levels. Pizza consumption increased gradually
until it overtook the consumption of fish and chips in 1990. It
then leveled off from 1995 to 2000. The biggest rise was seen in
hamburgers, increasing sharply throughout the 1970s and
1980s, exceeding fish and chips consumption in 1985. It finished
at the same level that fish and chips began, with consumption at
100 times a year.
Full Model Answer:

The line graph illustrates the amount of fast food consumed by teenagers
in Australia between 1975 and 2000, a period of 25 years. Overall, the
consumption of fish and chips declined over the period, whereas the
amount of pizza and hamburgers that were eaten increased.
In 1975, the most popular fast food with Australian teenagers was fish and
chips, being eaten 100 times a year. This was far higher than Pizza and
hamburgers, which were consumed approximately 5 times a year.
However, apart from a brief rise again from 1980 to 1985, the
consumption of fish and chips gradually declined over the 25 year
timescale to finish at just under 40 times per year.
In sharp contrast to this, teenagers ate the other two fast foods at much
higher levels. Pizza consumption increased gradually until it overtook the
consumption of fish and chips in 1990. It then leveled off from 1995 to
2000. The biggest rise was seen in hamburgers, increasing sharply
throughout the 1970s and 1980s, exceeding fish and chips consumption
in 1985. It finished at the same level that fish and chips began, with
consumption at 100 times a year.
ELTS Line Graph Examples
Continuing with the sites IELTS line graph examples, this is an example of
a line graph comparing car theft.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The line graph shows thefts per thousand vehicles in
four European countries between 1990 and 1999.
Summarize the information by selecting and
reporting the main features and make comparisons

where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

IELTS Line Graph Examples - Model Answer

The line graph compares the number of car thefts per thousand of the
population in four countries from 1990 to 1999. Overall, it can be seen
that car thefts were far higher in Great Britain than in the other three
counties throughout the whole time frame.
To begin, car thefts in Sweden, France and Canada followed a fairly similar
pattern over the first five years, all remaining at between 5 and 10 per
thousand. The general trend though for France and Canada was a decline
in the number of vehicles stolen over the period, with both at around 6 in
1999. In contrast, Sweden experienced an upward trend, starting the
period at approximately 8, and finishing at just under 15.
Interestingly, car thefts in Great Britain started at 18 per thousand, which
far exceeded that of the other countries. It then fluctuated over the next
nine years, reaching a peak of 20 thefts per 1000 in 1996, and ending the

period slightly lower than where it began, at approximately 17 per

thousand.
Two pie charts and a line graph farming in the UK
This lesson gives you a sample task one report when you need to describe
3 different charts/graphs. This may look tough, but the principle is the
same organise your writing by selecting and reporting the main
features in paragraphs. If you can do that, the writing is not so hard.
To help you, I talk you through the process of organising your report into
coherent paragraphs with a series of mini tasks. You can also download
the report to read my writing notes.
Understanding the question
The question is always the same for these charts and graphs:
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main
features, making comparisons where relevant.
This means that when you look at the charts for the first time, you should
ask yourself:

What are the main features?

How can I summarise them?

What are the comparisons?

How many paragraphs? Normally two

Before you write you want to decide how to organise the report. This
means deciding how many major paragraphs you will write. The answer
is almost always going to be two. If you only write one main
paragraph, you wont be able to make the main points clear. If you write
three main paras, you are almost certainly writing too much. Here it
should be clear that the line graph describes one kind of data and the two
pie charts another. Therefore you should write one para for the line graph
and another for the pie charts.
Line Graph
Finding the main points
This is the key stage. Remember the task is to summarise the main points
and this means selecting and not including absolutely everything. Very
often the main points are simple to see obvious things. Typically, there
will only be 2/3 main points per chart.
Task
Look at the line graph and select the main points that you will use to
organise your writing. At this stage you are not looking for numbers, just
patterns. The tip is to think visually here, look for:

extremes (highs and lows) (beginnings and endings)

major changes (beginnings and endings again)

comparisons (what is the same, what different) (which is greater,

which smaller)

See my ideas

1. twice as many dairy farms as arable farms (the blue line is higher)
2. difference between the two narrowed (look at the beginning and
end)
3. both fluctuated and the pattern was different (look at the lines
overall)
Finding supporting detail
The next step is to decide what details you want to include. Again, you
want to select here and not include all the detail. The details you choose
should support the main points.
Task
Which numbers will you include in the report? These should support the
main points above.
See my ideas
1. twice as many dairy farms as arable farms approximate numbers
1000 and 2000 and the years 2006 and 2011
2. difference between the two narrowed fall to around 1900, rise to
just under 1000
3. both fluctuated and the pattern was different perhaps major fall in
2007 compared to rise in 2009
Pie charts
Finding the main points
When you have two charts with similar data, you should automatically
look for comparisons between the two. The main questions to be asked
are:
1. What has changed?
2. What is the same?
See my ideas
What is the same?

five crops all should be named

potatoes and barley do not change

What is different?

rape seed rose dramatically

corn and wheat both fell slightly

Extremes

corn and wheat were highest in 2006

rape seed almost at same level in 2011

The details grouping information

The challenge here is not to simply list all the data. One way to do this is
to group similar bits of info together. In this case,

potatoes and barley belong together

wheat and corn belong together

If you can do this, then you will avoid some repetition and summarise
more effectively.
Read and download the report and notes
These charts show the changes in the number of dairy and arable farms in
the UK and the changes in the arable crops grown between 2006 and
2011
The line graphs show that there were almost twice as many dairy farms as
arable farms throughout this period, with the numbers fluctuating around
2000 farms and 1000 farms respectively. However, this difference did
narrow by 2011, when the number of dairy farms had fallen from 2000 to
approximately 1900, while arable farms had risen slightly to just under
1000. Although arable farming fluctuated only slightly, there was a steady
decrease in dairy farms from 2007 onwards from a high of around 2050.
The pie charts show that while there were the same five main crops in
2006 and 2011, there was a notable change in the proportion of these
crops. In 2006, wheat and corn accounted for just over and under one
third of arable farming respectively, with potatoes, rape seed and barley
all around 10%. By 2011, however, almost a quarter of arable farmland
was devoted to rape seed and corn and wheat were around 5% less
common than before. There was little or no change in potatoes and barley.
In conclusion, the main changes were the growth of rape seed farming
and the fall in dairy farms.

IELTS Bar and Line Graph

This is an example of an IELTS bar and line graph together. It is not
uncommon to get two graphs to describe at the same time in the IELTS
test. It can look a bit scary at first. However, when you look more closely,
you'll see it is probably no more difficult than having one graph.
Take a look at the question and the graph:
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The line graph shows visits to and from the UK from
1979 to 1999, and the bar graph shows the most
popular countries visited by UK residents in 1999.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the
main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

These are the steps you need to take to describe a bar and line graph
together (or any two graphs) that may differ slightly from when you
describe one graph.
Introduction
When you state what the graph shows, mention both of them. Here is a
sample first sentence of the introduction:
The line graph illustrates the number of visitors in millions from the UK
who went abroad and those that came to the UK between 1979 and 1999,
while the bar chart shows which countries were the most popular for
UK residents to visit in 1999.
Remember to write this in your own words and not to copy from the
question.
Next you need to mention the key points from the graph. When you do
this, mention the most interesting things from each:
Overall, it can be seen that visits to and from the UK increased, and
that France was the most popular country to go to.
Body Paragraphs
If there are two graphs and a lot of information, you will have to be careful
not to describe everything as you may then have too much
information.
Also, the examiner is looking to see that you can select the important
things and not describe every single detail.
So the key skill when you have two graphs is being able to pick out the
important information or summarize things in a concise way, otherwise
you will end up writing too much and probably run out of time.
Here is an example description for the bar and line graph:
To begin, the number of visits abroad by UK residents was higher than for
those that came to the UK, and this remained so throughout the period.
The figures started at a similar amount, around 10 million, but visits
abroad increased significantly to over 50 million, whereas the number of
overseas residents rose steadily to reach just under 30 million.
By far the most popular countries to visit in 1999 were France at
approximately 11 million visitors, followed by Spain at 9 million. The USA,
Greece, and Turkey were far less popular at around 4, 3 and 2 million
visitors respectively.

As you can see, the first paragraph discusses the line graph, and the
second the bar chart.
You will not usually need to mix up the descriptions. This will only make
things complicated and difficult to follow. Writing about the first one and
then the second one is ok.
As with any task 1, you will need to make sure you use the right language,
make comparisons, and group data appropriately.
Lesson
11:
IELTS Task 1 Line Graph
In this lesson we'll look at an IELTS task 1 line graph in order to help you
understand how to deal with 'age groups' and to show you how it is
possible to organize an answer in different ways.
There is usually more than one way to write about a graph. Each person
may view it in a different way and decide on a different way to present the
information.
One way is not necessarily better than another. However, if one way is
difficult to follow, then this is obviously not the best choice.
What is important when you plan a task one is to think about how you can
organize your graph in the most logical and clear way.
This often means grouping the information in some way, and you can
do this by looking for patterns - look for similarities and diffferences.
This sample IELTS task 1 line graph is divided up into age groups.
Although a graph like this is not over time as such, it can still be viewed in
this way as it is showing how something changes over different ages - in
this case, how certain factors in a neighbourhood when choosing a new
home vary over age.
Take a look at the following question, the graph below, and the model
answers.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The line graph shows the percentage of people of
different age groups and how they rate a set of
factors in terms of importance when buying a new
home.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the

main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Model Answer 1 - Organizing by Factors

The line graph illustrates the importance, measured in percentages, that
four ages groups place on five different factors when they move to a new
home. It is immediately apparent that a low crime rate is the most
important variable across all the age groups.
Of all the factors, the desire for a low crime rate is by far the most
important. Amongst the all the age groups this figure stands at around
80%, with the middle aged and elderly viewing it as slightly more
important. Next, schools are seen as very important by a significant
proportion of 25 to 44 year olds although the percentages drop
significantly as people get older, with just under 25% of 55 to 64 year olds
viewing this as important.
Shopping facilities, being chosen by around 13%, are not viewed with such
importance as schools and crime by the younger age groups. However, as
people get older, this increases in importance to approximately 30%, and,
as would be expected, is actually more important than schools to those
over 55. Finally, although increasing in importance with age, neither parks
nor public transport are viewed to be as important as the other factors by
any of the groups.
Comments

As you can see in this answer to the IELTS task 1 line graph, the candidate
has organized the answer mainly around the 'factors'.
Each one is described in turn, starting with the most important, low crime.
Less is said about those that are not viewed as so important (parks and
public transport).
Notice that the graph does not talk about each factor in isolation, but
makes comparisons across the factors and groups. For example:
Of all the factors, the desire for a low crime rate is by far the most
important.
Shopping facilities are not viewed with such importance as schools
and crime by the younger age groups.
With an IELTS task 1 line graph you should always avoid simply discussing
each point on a graph with no reference of how it relates to the other
points.

Model Answer 2 - Organizing by Age Groups

The line graph illustrates the importance, measured in percentages, that
four ages groups place on five different factors when they move to a new
home. It is immediately apparent that a low crime rate is the most
important variable across all the age groups.

The factors that are very important when purchasing a new house are
very similar for the first two age groups. A low crime rate represents the
greatest percentage of these groups at around 80%, though it is slightly
higher for those aged 35 to 44. Schools as a factor is again very similar at
around 60% for the younger age group, but dropping to around 45-50%
for 35 to 44 year olds. A much lower percentage rate shopping, parks and
public transport as important.
Turning to those aged over 45, low crime accounted for the largest
proportion at approximately 80%, similar to those of a younger age. In
constast to the younger goups though, schooling was far less important,
falling to below 25% for those aged over 55. This older group rated them
as less important than shopping facilities. In fact, shopping facilities, parks
and public transport all become more important factors as people get
older.
Comments
This IELTS task 1 line graph has been organized primarily around the age
groups.
The candidate has decided that the first two age groups are fairly similar
and so can be grouped together, and the second two age group have
similarities.
The differences between the under 44s and over 44s have also been
highlighed. For example:
Turning to those aged over 45, low crime accounted for the largest
proportion at approximately 80%, similar to those of a younger age.

Summary
This lesson has been about how to write about age groups and examples
of how answers may be organized differently.
Although this was about an IELTS task 1 line graph, it applies to any
graphs or charts in task 1, such as bar graphs or pie charts.
You need to make sure that you spend a few minutes analyzing the graph
and deciding on the best way to organize it so it will be easy to follow
when the examiner reads it.