Use correct synonyms in your writing.

» Use a range of vocabulary.

» Do not repeat words and phrases from the exam question unless
there is no alternative.
» Use less common vocabulary.
» Do not use the same word more than once/twice.
» Use precise and accurate words in a sentence.

The general format for writing academic writing task 1 is as

follows:

Starting Presentation Verb Description

Type
The/ the diagram / shows / the comparison of…
given / the table / figure / represents / the differences…
supplied / illustration / depicts / the changes...
the graph / chart enumerates / the number of…
presented / / flow chart / illustrates / information on…
the shown / picture/ presents/ data on…
the provided presentation/ gives / the proportion of…
pie chart / bar provides / the amount of…
graph/ delineates/ information on...
column graph outlines/ data about...
/ line graph / describes / comparative data...
table data/ delineates/ the trend of...
data / expresses/ the percentages of...
information / denotes/ the ratio of...
pictorial/ compares/ how the...
process shows
diagram/ contrast /
map/ pie indicates /
chart and figures /
table/ bar gives data on
graph and pie / gives
chart ... information
on/ presents
information
about/ shows
data about/
demonstrates
/ sketch out/
summarises..
.
Example :

1. The diagram shows employment rates among adults in four European countries
from 1925 to 1985.

2. The given pie charts represent the proportion of male and female employees in 6
broad categories, dividing into manual and non-manual occupations in Australia,
between 2010 and 2015.

3. The chart gives information about consumer expenditures on six products in four
countries namely Germany, Italy, Britain and France.

4. The supplied bar graph compares the number of male and female graduates in
three developing countries while the table data presents the overall literacy rate in
these countries.

5. The bar graph and the table data depict the water consumption in different sectors
in five regions.

Paragraph 2 ( Overview)

In general, In common, Generally speaking, Overall, It is

obvious, As is observed, As a general trend, As can be seen,
As an overall trend, As is presented, It can be clearly seen that,
At the first glance, it is clear, At the onset, it is clear that, A
glance at the graphs reveals that...

Example:

1. In general, the employment opportunities increased till 1970 and then declined
throughout the next decade.

2. As is observed, the figures for imprisonment in the five mentioned countries

show no overall pattern, rather shows the considerable fluctuations from country to
country

3. Overall, citizens in the USA had a far better life standard than that of remaining
countries.
4. Overall, the highest number of passengers used the London Underground station
at 8:00 in the morning and at 6:00 in the evening.

4. Overall, more men were engaged in managerial positions in 1987 than that of
women in New York this year.

5. As an overall trend, the number of crimes reported increased fairly rapidly until
the mid-seventies, remained constant for five years and finally, dropped to 20 cases
a week after 1982.

6.Overall, the leisure hours enjoyed by males, regardless of their employment

status, was much higher than that of women.

Body paragraph

Just after you finish writing your 'Introduction' (i.e. General Statement +
General overview/ trend), you are expected to start a new paragraph to
describe the main features of the diagrams. This second and third
paragraph is called the 'Body Paragraph.
There are certain phrases you can use to start your body paragraph and
following is a list of such phrases :

1.It is clear from the data...

2. It is worth noticing that...
3. It is crystal clear/ lucid that...
4. It can be clearly observed that...
5. It could be plainly viewed that...
6. It could be noticed that..
7.The table data clearly shows that...
8. The diagram reveals that...
9. The data suggest that…

Trends Verb form Noun Form

Increase rise / increase / go up / a rise / an increase /
uplift / rocket(ed) / climb / an upward trend / a
upsurge / soar/ shot up/ growth / a leap / a
improve/ jump/ leap/ move jump / an
upward/ skyrocket/ soar/ improvement/ a climb.
surge.

Decrease fall / decrease / decline / a fall / a decrease / a

plummet / plunge / drop / reduction / a downward
reduce / collapse / trends /a downward
tendency / a decline/ a
deterioriate/ dip / dive / go
drop / a slide / a
down / take a nosedive /
collapse / a downfall.
slum / slide / go into free-
fall.

Steadiness unchanged / level out / a steadiness/ a

remain constant / remain plateau / a stability/ a
steady / plateau / remain static
the same / remain stable /
remain static

Gradual ------------ an upward trend / an

increase upward tendency / a
ceiling trend
 Gradual ------------ a downward trend / a
decrease downward tendency /
a descending trend

Standability/ level(ed) off / remain(ed) No change, a flat, a

Flat constant / remain(ed) plateau.
unchanged / remain(ed)
stable / prevail(ed)
consistency / plateaued /
reach(ed) a plateau /
stay(ed) uniform
/immutable / level(ed) out/
stabilise/ remain(ed) the
same.

Examples:

1. The overall sale of the company increased by 20% at the end of the year.

2. The expenditure of the office remained constant for the last 6 months but the
profit rose by almost 25%.

3. There was a 15% drop in the ratio of student enrollment in this University.

4. The population of the country remained almost the same as it was 2 years ago.

5. The population of these two cities increase significantly in the last two decades
and it is expected that it will remain stable during the next 5 years.
Type of Adverb form Adjective form
Change

Rapid change dramatically / rapidly / dramatic / rapid / sharp /

sharply / quickly / quick / hurried / speedy /
hurriedly / speedily / swift / significant /
swiftly / significantly/ considerable / substantial
considerably / / noticable.
substantioally / noticably.

Moderate moderately / gradually / moderate / gradual /

change progressively / progressive / sequential.
sequentially.

Steady steadily/ ceaselessly. steady/ ceaseless.

change
 Slight change slightly / slowly / mildly / slight / slow / mild / tedious.
tediously.

Example:

1. The economic inflation of the country increased sharply by 20% in 2008.

2. There was a sharp drop in the industrial production in the year 2009.

3. The demand for new houses dramatically increased in 2002.

4. The population of the country dramatically increased in the last decade.

5. The price of the oil moderately increased during the last quarter but as a
consequence, the price of daily necessity rapidly went up.

Vocabulary to represent frequent changes in graphs:

Type of Verb form Noun form

Change

Rapid ups and wave / fluctuate / oscillate waves / fluctuations /

downs / vacillate / palpitate oscillations /
vacillations
/ palpitations

Example:
1. The price of the goods fluctuated during the first three months in 2017.

2. The graph shows the oscillations of the price from 1998 to 2002.

3. The passenger number in this station oscillates throughout the day and in early
morning and evening, it remains busy.

4. The changes of car production in Japan shows a palpitation for the second quarter
of the year.

5. The number of students in debate clubs fluctuated in different months of the year
and rapid ups and downs could be observed in the last three months of this year.

Dates, Months & Years related vocabulary and grammar:

» From 1990 to 2000, Commencing from 1980, Between 1995 and 2005, After
2012.
» By 1995, In 1998, In February, Over the period, During the period, During 2011.
» In the first half of the year, For the first quarter, The last quarter of the year,
During the first decade.
» In the 80s, In the 1980s, During the next 6 months, In the mid-70s, Next 10 years,
Previous year, Next year, Between 1980 - 1990.
» Within a time span of ten years, within five years.
» Next month, Next quarter, Next year, Previous month, Previous year.
» Since, Then, From.

Percentage, Portion and Numbers:

Percentages:
10% increase, 25 percent decrease, increased by 15%, dropped by 10 per cent, fall
at 50%, reached to 75%, tripled, doubled, one-fourth, three-quarters, half, double
fold, treble, 5 times higher, 3 timers lower, declined to about 49%, stood exactly at
43%.

Fractions:
4% = A tiny fraction.
24% = Almost a quarter.
25% Exactly a quarter.
26% = Roughly one quarter.
32% Nearly one-third, nearly a third.
49% = Around a half, just under a half.
50% Exactly a half.
51% = Just over a half.
73% = Nearly three quarters.
77% = Approximately three quarter, more than three-quarter.
79% = Well over three quarters.

Proportions:
2% = A tiny portion, a very small proportion.
4% = An insignificant minority, an insignificant proportion.
16% = A small minority, a small portion.
70% = A large proportion.
72% = A significant majority, A significant proportion.89% = A very large
proportion.
89% = A very large proportion.

Words/ Phrases of Approximation - Vocabulary:

» Approximately
» Nearly
» Roughly
» Almost
» About
» Around
» More or less
» Just over
» Just under
» Just around
» Just about
» Just below
» A little more than
» A little less than.

Tips:

1. For a single graph use 's' after the verb, like - gives data on, shows/ presents etc.
However, if there are multiple graphs, DO NOT use 's' after the verb.

2. If there are multiple graphs and each one presents a different type of data, you
can write which graph presents what type of data and use 'while' to show a
connection. For example -'The given bar graph shows the amount spent on fast food
items in 2009 in the UK while the pie chart presents a comparison of people's ages
who spent more on fast food.

3. Your introduction should be quite impressive as it makes the first impression to the
examiner. It either makes or breaks your overall score.

4. For multiple graphs and/ or table(s), you can write what they present in combination
instead of saying which each graph depicts. For example, "The two pie charts and
the column graph in combination depicts a picture of the crime in Australia
from 2005 to 2015 and the percentages of young offenders during this period."

Caution:
Never copy word for word from the question. If you do do, you would be penalised.
always paraphrase the introduction in your own words.

DO NOT give numbers, percentages or quantity in your general trend.

Rather give the most striking feature of the graph that could be easily
understood at a glance. Thus it is suggested to AVOID.