Writing 1 Line graphs show how information or data change over time. They highlight trends. 1 The line graph onthe right shows the changing trend in the level of car ownership in Britain, itlooks very simple but it may not be. 12 Work with a partner. B ‘Together, discuss the ae En ean a Is the graph about t eee people or vehicles? = renee b Whatdothe numbers 2 15- leer are along the horizontal 3 vane eo axis represent? 3 eta © Whatdothenumbers 10 — edit on the vertical axis Penal repre? : erent mora Cee aay paar, oe 13 Write a short, overall statement about car ownership in Britain. 14 Re-write your statement in two new sentences whi phrases: ‘h include these words and a since bb overa... period between 1960 and 2005 15 Now re-write your two sentences, a and b, to include the number of car owners, You will have to re-organise your sentences to do this.riting = What should | think about You need to ask yourself What is the main purpose of this chart/ before | start writing? table/graph? Whats the overall trend? = What should | do first? State what the char, table or graph shows in your own words. Then consider how to organise the rest of your answer, which should include the most important features and the overall ‘trend(s). = Whatis a trend? Trends are noticeable changes in a situation or in the way something usually behaves, e.9. downloading music from the Internet is now much more common than buying CDs. [irre An overview is an overall summary of the information and is different from an introduction, which simply states what the diagram or chart shows. arracteaai teal The examiner will expect to find an overview as part of ‘your answer to Task 1. 1 Lookat the bar chart and say what information is being shown, Here are two descriptions of the overall trend shown in the bar chart. 2 Add considerably to the first sentence and considerable to the second sentence. What effect do these words have? 3 Re-write the two sentences about tourism in Brazil to include a reference to time |MNanauce Mago and to the number of tourists in figures. oy sng 4 Lookat the table below and say what information is being shown. Write to AAA sentences which describe the information and provide an overview. Seton es | feahigsersinn sap Oct poser v0 paps (siete 1,800,700 | 1,401,800 pears 1,280,000 | 1,385,000Writing 2 (Am | The examiner will want to see that you know a range of words to describe and interpret visual information and that you can make precise statements in your answer using adjectives, adverbs and phrases. 5 Lookat these words and phrases which will help you describe trends. arise a fall afiuctuation | aperiod of | a plateau anincrease a drop variation stability | plateaux asurge a decline @ growth adip to rise ofall to peak Tofluctuate | tostabilise toincrease | to drop tovary to surge to decline to grow todip | to plateau Gee toshowan | toshowa [toreacha | toshowsome | toremain | toreacha upward trend | downward trend | peak fiyctuation/ | stable? | plateau toritthe lowest variation | constant to evel off point tofflattn out | | tohita trough | sharplly) | steady) | relatively) | considerablelably) | the second | sightliy) | gradually) ramatic(ally) highest gently) signiticantiy) thethird a litle | | lowest Use the nouns and adjectives from the table to help you describe the trends in line graphs 2-6. eee es Nee) eae mt 4 5 6 7 Describe each trend again, this time using the verbs and adverbs from exercise 5, eg. 1 Irfalls sharply. 100Writing 2 Lookat A-G, which present fal Percentage fnew stat ies different kinds of information La IF about a large multinational 16% cs paragraphs about the information. For each graph or chart, first write el sentence which describes what it & shows. Then write another sentence 8% which describes the overall oe tend you can see. Finally, write a sentence which includes some * specific data, 0% PPLE SPIO LS BT tats - tran we Sickle —cot xmpay at 1200007 Ey ev o0a 0 Ea x» 220000 ie - iL CREO ES £ CLP ELES gS 9 Lookat the graph below and answer the questions. are aa ‘a What does the graph show? a ear b Hows the overall trend in this graph different from the others you have looked atin this unit? © What tense will you use to describe it? eee ras pee see ane es een pear ey eel See Pena eee] 10 Write four or five sentences about the trends you can see in the graph of antl Hants HARRY’S annual sales of hamburgers. Try to include the words stable, fewer, rise, MNRAS sales, peak and drop. describing the 11 Write a general observation about the popularity of hamburgers over the year. _|iuhfidduatan Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun’ Jul Aug Sep Oct “Nov Dec 101Writing 2 | IELTS Writing test practice 12 State what is being shown in the graph below in your own words. Circle the most important trends. 13 Read a student's description of the graph and the advice on how to approach | Task 1. meh At Bam the station had 100 people. At 3am there was alsig increase to 400 tonapalge ain people, Not mary people went there af dam, The same thing happened after pase dpm It decined alot to 120 and 140 people at Spm and IGom respactivels | eeeeeai Between 12 noon and 2pm the nuniber of people wos stabilised at 300. at er ee How to approach the task ® State the purpose of the graph or chart. = Provide an overview. 1 Select the key trends or features. 1 Iilustrate these with figures = Make a simple, relevant rounding-off point - if appropriate. 14 Work with a partner. Together, discuss the description of the graph above. How successfully has the writer used the advice on how to approach Task 1? 15 €P Take 20 minutes to write a better description of the graph in exercise 12, using the advice to help you. Then compare your answer with the model answer in the key. 16 Work with a partner and discuss which of the numbered and underlined parts of the model answer provide: a an introduction to the chart b the key trends ¢ an overview of the trends 17 Look at the model answer in the key again and circle the words and phrases the writer uses to link the different points, 102