You will be given one or more pie charts.docx

7/28/2019 You will be given one or more pie charts.docx

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Your task

Complete the task one report writing exercise above. Spend only 20 minutes. Then look at the guidelines

and the sample answer below.

Guidelines for a good answerDoes the report have a suitable structure?

Does it have an introduction, body and conclusion? Does it include connective words to make the writing cohesive within sentences and paragraphs?

Does the report use suitable grammar and vocabulary?

Does it include a variety of sentence structures? Does it include a range of appropriate vocabulary?

Does the report meet the requirements of the task?

Does it meet the word limit requirements? Does it describe the whole graph adequately? Does it focus on the important trends presented in the graphic information?

Now read sample answer one. How well does it follow the guidelines?

Sample answer one

The pie charts compare the highest level of education achieved by women in Someland across two years,

1945 and 1995. It can be clearly seen that women received a much higher level of education in Somelandin 1995 than they did in 1945.In 1945 only 30% of women completed their secondary education and 1% went on to a first degree. No

women had completed post-graduate studies. This situation had changed radically by 1995. In 1995, 90%of women in Someland had completed secondary education and of those, half had graduated from an

initial degree and 20% had gone on to postgraduate studies. At the other end of the scale we can see thatby 1995 all girls were completing lower secondary, although 10% ended their schooling at this point. Thisis in stark contrast with 1945 when only 30% of girls completed primary school, 35% had no schooling at

all and 35% only completed the third grade.In conclusion, we can see that in the 50 years from 1945 to 1995 there have been huge positive

developments to the education levels of women in Someland.

Teacher's comments on the sample answerHere is what an IELTS teacher said about the sample answer.

The report structure is clear and well organised with an introduction, body and conclusion.The candidate uses a variety of grammatical structures and vocabulary so that the writing is not repetitive.

In terms of task requirements, the report meets the word limit. Although the candidate has not includedevery figure presented in the charts, the answer does accurately reflect the content of the graphic materialand gives a strong impression of the trend of change in the education of women which is the main point ofthe comparison of those particular charts.The sample answer above is therefore a very good one.

Strategies for improving your IELTS scoreSelecting informationIn completing this task, it is important that you fully describe all of the graphic information given.

However, this does not mean that you should note every detail. In most cases there will be too muchinformation for you to mention each figure. You will therefore need to summarise the graph inmeaningful segments. In other words, you will describe the significant trends in your report.

Report structure

As in the line graphs task, your report should be structured simply with an introduction, body andconclusion. Tenses should be used appropriately.

Use two standard opening sentences to introduce the graph or graphs and your report. These opening

sentences should make up the first paragraph. Sentence one should define what the graph is about, that isthe date, location, what is being described in the graphs etc. For example:


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The pie charts compare the highest level of education achieved by women in Someland across two years,1945 and 1995.

Notice that in the single line graph we said that the graph shows' but with two charts we can moreaccurately say the pie charts compare.

Note the tense used. Even though it describes information from the past, the graph shows the informationin the present time.

Notice that the sample opening sentence does not simply copy the words used on the graphic material.Copied sentences will not be assessed by the examiner and so you waste your time including them.Sentence two (and possibly three) might sum up the overall trend. For example:

It can be clearly seen that women received a much higher level of education in Someland in 1995 thanthey did in 1945.

Notice the Simple Past tense is used. Here we are talking about what happened in the past.

The body of the report will describe the chart or charts in detail. You will need to decide on the most clearand logical order to present the material. In this case it might be best to work through the charts one by

one.Ideally your report should end with one or two sentences which summarise your report or draw a relevant

conclusion.

Grammar and vocabulary

You will receive a higher mark if your writing uses a range of structures and vocabulary correctly ratherthan a limited number.Pie charts generally show figures in percentages and your language in writing the report should reflect

this. You will talk about the percentage of graduates or the proportion of people who completedsecondary school.Make sure that you are confident with comparatives and superlatives used to compare and contrast and

the language used to describe pie charts.

Comparing and contrastingOne syllable

Adjectives with one syllable form their comparatives and superlatives like this:

cheap cheaper cheapest

large larger largestbright brighter brightest

Exceptions:

good better best

bad worse worst

Two syllables

Some adjectives with two syllables form their comparatives and superlatives like this:

pretty prettier prettiest

happy happier happiest

But many form their comparatives and superlatives like this:

striking more striking most striking

Although some can form their comparatives and superlatives like this:

common more common most common

clever more clever / cleverer most clever / cleverest


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Three or more syllables

All adjectives with three or more syllables form their comparatives and superlatives like this:

attractive more attractive most attractive

profitable more profitable most profitable

expensive more expensive most expensive

Exercise

What are the comparative and superlative forms of these adjectives:

COMPARITIVE SUPERLATIVE

accurate

certain

convenient

correct

dangerous

happy

likely

modern

new

possible

probable

up-to-date

Describing one part of the chart

Starting with the adjective:

The highest percentage of women are employed in the X

The greatest proportion of cars sold categoryThe lowest number of holiday makers are red

The most come from Spain

A significant

The

smallest

The largest

Starting with the subject:

Red is the most popular car colour

Professional is second/third most prevalent employment category

the least common holiday destination

Spain is the

Describing two parts of the chartStarting with the adjective:

As manyTwice as manyThree times asmany

as


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Not as many

red carswomenholiday makers

are soldareemployed in

Xcome from X

MoreFar more

Much moreMany moreA lot more

Substantially moreConsiderably

moreSignificantly moreSlightly more

Fractionally more

than

Starting with the subject:

Blue cars areWomen are

Spain is

asquite as

just as

nearly asalmost asnot as

commonpopular

prevalent

as

more

much morefar more

substantiallymoreconsiderably

moreslightly morefractionally more

lessmuch less

far lessconsiderably lessfractionally less

women

cars soldholiday makers

than


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Lesson 2: Describing an IELTS Pie ChartThis lesson will provide you with tips and advice on how to write an IELTS pie chart for task 1.To begin, take a look at the pie chart below, and then answer the quiz questions.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.The pie charts show the main reasons for migration to and from the UK in 2007.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons whererelevant.

Write at least 150 words.

IELTS Pie Chart Quiz________________________________________

1. What is the best way to organize your answer?Write one paragraph about immigration and one about emigration

Write about the pie charts together, comparing each of the reasons________________________________________2. What tense should you use to write about the IELTS pie chart?

PastPresent

________________________________________3. Can you talk about increases and decreases when describing the information?

YesNo

________________________________________

Now take a look at a model answer:


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The pie charts illustrate the primary reasons that people came to and left the UK in 2007. At first glance

it is clear that the main factor influencing this decision was employment.Having a definite job accounted for 30 per cent of immigration to the UK, and this figure was very similar

for emigration, at 29%. A large number of people, 22%, also emigrated because they were looking for ajob, though the proportion of people leaving the UK for this purpose was noticeably lower at less than afifth.Another major factor influencing a move to the UK was for formal study, with over a quarter of peopleimmigrating for this reason. However, interestingly, only a small minority, 4%, left for this.

The proportions of those moving to join a family member were quite similar for immigration andemigration, at 15% and 13% respectively. Although a significant number ofpeople (32%) gave otherreasons or did not give a reason why they emigrated, this accounted for only 17% with regards to

immigration.173 words

_________________________________________

As you can see, the pie chart description is easy to follow. Here are some key points in organizing your

answer.

Choose the most important points to write about firstThese will be the largest ones. As you can see in the model answer,definite job, looking for work, andformal study were all written about first, in order of importance, as these are the main reasons that werechosen for moving.

Items such as other are usually less important and account for small amounts, so can be left till the end.

Make it easy to readWhen you write a task 1, you should always group information in a logical way to make it easy to

follow and read.With an IELTS pie chart, the most logical thing to do is usually to compare categories together acrossthe charts, focusing on similarities and differences, rather than writing about each chart separately.

If you write about each one separately, the person reading it will have to keep looking between theparagraphs in order to see how each category differs.

Vary your languageAs with any task 1, this is important. You should not keep repeating the same structures. The key

language when you write about pie charts is proportions and percentages.Common phrases to see are "the proportion of" or "the percentage of"


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However, you can also use other words and fractions. These are some examples from the model answer:A large number of people

over a quarter of peoplea small minority

A significant number of peopleless than a fifth

This table presents some examples of how you can change percentages to fractions or ratios:

Percentage Fraction

80% four-fifths

75% three-quarters

70% seven in ten

65% two-thirds

60% three-fifths

55% more than half

50% half

45% more than two fifths

40% two-fifths

35% more than a third

30% less than a third

25% a quarter

20% a fifth

15% less than a fifth

10% one in ten

5% one in twenty

If the percentages are not exact as above, then you can use qualifiers to make sure your descriptionremains accurate. Here are some examples:

Percentage Qualifier

77% just over three quarters

77% approximately three quarters

49% just under a half

49% nearly a half

32% almost a third

This table presents some examples of how you can change percentages to other phrases:

Percentageproportion / number / amount /

majority / minority

75% - 85% a very large majority

65% - 75% a significant proportion

10% - 15% a minority


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5% a very small number

The words above are interchageable, though number is forcountable nouns and amount is foruncountable nouns.

Documents

You will be given one or more pie charts.docx