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Writing Task 1 Multiple Graph

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55 views

Writing Task 1 Multiple Graph

Uploaded by

Tangkas Priambodo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A common question on the IELTS academic task 1 paper asks

you to write about two different graphs.

For example, in the question above we are asked to summarise


both a pie chart and a table. You could also be given a line graph
and a bar chart, a pie chart and a line graph or any other
combination. Students normally score lower on these types of
questions, not because they are more difficult, but because they
are unfamiliar with this type of question.
This lesson will:

● discuss common problems

● suggest solutions to these problems

● give you a structure that can be used again and again for

these questions

● analyse a sample answer

Common Problems

Writing too much- Because there is more than one data source,
students tend to write about everything and this causes two
problems. The first problem is you only have 20 minutes to
answer task 1 questions and you therefore don’t have time to
write about everything. The second problem is that the question
asks you to ‘summarise‘ and ‘report the main features‘, therefore
you have to pick only a few features and report them. In other
words, if you write about everything, you have not answered the
question properly.

Solution– Pick 2 of the most obvious features from each graph


and limit yourself to writing about these things and these things
only. Don’t worry about leaving information out; the examiner will
be actually looking for your ability to leave insignificant
information out because this shows that you are summarising
and only reporting the main features. More on how to do this in
the question analysis below.

Can’t find the main features– This is related to the first point. As
stated above you will be looking for just 2 features in each graph.
It is often very difficult for students to decide which features are
the most significant.
Solution– The first important points should be very visual. By that
I mean, you should be able to identify them without looking at the
data; just by looking at the graphs. Also, look for extremes (highs
and lows), major trends, major changes (from beginning to end)
and any obvious comparisons that can be made between either
the two graphs or within the same graph.

Remember that the most obvious things are the ‘main features’.
The examiners are not trying to trick you and want you to tell
them the very obvious things about the graph, so don’t get too
clever and try to find something less obvious.

Not grouping information into paragraphs– It is very important


that you organise your ideas into paragraphs. Paragraphs should
be logical and have one main idea. Lots of students fail to do this
because they get confused between the multiple pieces of data in
the question and group data from different graphs into one
paragraph. This is very difficult to read and understand and you
will lose marks if you do this.

Solution– Don’t write about both graphs in one paragraph. Follow


the structure I suggest below. Group ideas for each paragraph
separately i.e. 1 paragraph for 1 graph.

Making comparisons– The question states ‘make comparisons


where relevant‘. The keyword here is ‘relevant’ and this is what
tricks many students. Sometimes there will be a relevant
comparison to make, but in some questions there will not. Some
students see two different graphs and they assume that there
must be a comparison. They then spend too long looking for a
comparison and then write about one even if they don’t find one.

Solution– If you don’t notice a very obvious comparison between


the two sources of data, then stop looking for one and don’t write
about one. It should also be noted that there may also be
comparisons to be made between the data in the same graph.
Structure

This structure can be used for every question in which you are
given two different graphs.

Paragraph 1

Sentence 1- Paraphrase question sentences.

There will normally be two question sentences and you should


combine them into one sentence by using ‘and’ or ‘while’. This will
allow you to produce a complex sentence and gain points for
grammatical range and accuracy.

Paragraph 2

Sentence 2- Overview of two of the main features from graph


number 1.

Sentence 3- Overview of two of the main features from graph


number 2.

Sentence 4- Overview of any comparisons if necessary (optional).

Paragraph 3

Sentence 5- Details of first main feature of graph number 1,

Sentence 6- Details of second main feature of graph number 1.

Paragraph 4

Sentence 7- Details of first main feature of graph number 2.

Sentence 8- Details of second main feature of graph number 2.


Sentence 9- Details of any comparisons (if any).

So paragraph 2 should just be an overview of the main features


and should not include any details. The details come in
paragraphs 3 and 4.

Sample Answer

Question– The pie chart below shows the main reasons why
agricultural land become lesson productive. The table shows how
these causes affected three regions of the world during the
1990s. (graphs in picture above).

Answer

The pie graph displays the principal causes why farming land
deteriorates while the table illustrates how three regions of the
planet were affected by these factors in the 1990s.

As you can see all I have done is change the words in the
questions using synonyms and then connected them using the
word ‘while’.

We can clearly see from the pie chart that there are three primary
causes of farmland degradation, and over-grazing is the major
one. The table shows that Europe had a far higher percentage of
unproductive land compared to the other two regions in this time
period.

For this paragraph I have picked out the main features from each
graph and wrote them in a general way. Notice that I have not
included any numbers. We will support our ideas with number in
the next two paragraphs. Also, notice that I am using the present
simple for the pie chart because there is no date and the past
tense for the table because it was in the 1990s.
The pie chart represents four causes, with over-grazing
representing the biggest proportion at just over a third.
Widespread clearing of trees and the over-use of crops constitute
nearly one third and just over a quarter respectively.

Here I have varied my language by using synonyms for the causes


and proportions and fractions for the data.

The table shows that nearly one quarter of Europe’s entire


surface had fallen victim to degeneration. Only a small proportion
of North America’s total land became less productive at 5% and
Oceania was marginally higher with a value of 13%.

(151 words)

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