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Paragraph 4
Describe any significant numbers or overall trends in the second half of the time period,
then compare the lines (giving numbers) in the last year shown.
IELTS Writing Task 1: charts showing countries
A few things to remember when the graph or chart shows countries:
1. If the question doesn't name the countries (e.g. "in three countries"), you could
name them in your introduction (e.g. "in Britain, France and Germany"). You could
even write "in three countries, namely Britain, France and Germany".
2. Don't forget the word "the" when writing about "the USA" and "the UK".
3. Always compare the countries; never describe the figures for each country in
separate paragraphs.
Finally, try to vary the way you write about countries. For example:
The number of elderly people in the USA rose.
The USA saw a rise in the number of elderly people.
The figure for the USA rose.
Although it isn't grammatically wrong, I don't like this use of "given". It's completely
unnecessary, and it seems forced (like you're trying too hard).
Don't try to do anything 'less common' in the first few words of your task 1 introduction.
Just keep it simple and clear: The chart shows... (or compares or illustrates).
IELTS Writing Task 1: first, came first, first place
Don't describe items on a graph or chart in terms of coming first, second or last. This
makes it seem like you're describing a competition!
For example, don't write:
Theme parks were first.
Theme parks came first, and museums were in second place.
In last place were wildlife parks and zoos.
The line graph compares three companies in terms of their waste output between the years 2000 and
2015.
It is clear that there were significant changes in the amounts of waste produced by all three
companies shown on the graph. While companies A and B saw waste output fall over the 15-year
period, the amount of waste produced by company C increased considerably.
In 2000, company A produced 12 tonnes of waste, while companies B and C produced around 8
tonnes and 4 tonnes of waste material respectively. Over the following 5 years, the waste output of
companies B and C rose by around 2 tonnes, but the figure for company A fell by approximately 1
tonne.
From 2005 to 2015, company A cut waste production by roughly 3 tonnes, and company B reduced
its waste by around 7 tonnes. By contrast, company C saw an increase in waste production of
approximately 4 tonnes over the same 10-year period. By 2015, company Cs waste output had risen
to 10 tonnes, while the respective amounts of waste from companies A and B had dropped to 8
tonnes and only 3 tonnes.
(192 words, band 9)
The chart below shows the amount of time that 10 to 15-year-olds spend chatting on the
Internet and playing on games consoles on an average school day in the UK.
The bar chart compares the time spent by 10 to 15-year-olds in the UK on two activities, namely
chatting online and playing computer games.
Overall, we can see that playing computer games is marginally more popular than chatting on the
Internet. However, completely different trends can be seen if we look at the specific figures for boys
and girls.
Boys aged between 10 and 15 clearly favour playing on games consoles over chatting online.
According to the chart, while 85% of boys play computer games every day, only 55% chat online
daily. Furthermore, the majority of boys play on their consoles for more than one hour each day, and
10% do this activity for four hours or more.
By contrast, girls prefer chatting online. Close to 70% of 10 to 15-year-old girls engage in online
conversation each day, compared to about 50% of this cohort who play computer games. Of the girls
who do play on consoles, most of them play for less than an hour, whereas most girls who chat online
do so for more than one hour, and nearly 10% chat for four hours or more.
PARAPHRASING COMPARISON
the amount of time = the time spent ...is more popular than...
10 to 15-year-olds = aged between 10 and 15 Boys favour... / By contrast, girls prefer...
chatting on the Internet = chatting online = while 85% of boys..., only 55%...
chat online = engage in online conversation
playing on games consoles = playing close to 70% of girls..., compared to about
computer games = play on their consoles 50% of this cohort who...
most of them..., whereas most...
more popular = boys favour = girls prefer
the majority of = most of them = most girls