IELTS WRITING FOUNDATION 1

Aims: Overview of the writing task and process Understanding the task 1 of IELTS writing Describing a line graph ? Examination information

? About the Writing test (Academic):

Task 1: 20mins: description of a table, chart, graph or diagram (150 words minimum) Task 2: 40mins: an essay in response to an argument or problem (250 words minimum) ? Marking

Writing is marked according to performance descriptions

? Task achievement (Task 1) ? Task response (Task 2) ? Coherence and cohesion

? Lexical resource and grammatical range and accuracy

? Pre- task

In IELTS Writing Task 1, you have to summarise information which is usually presented in a visual form. Match the figures 1-6 with the heading s-f. Then complete the descriptions with the words i-ix. The first one has been done for you.

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a bar chart c flow chart e pie chart b diagram d line graph f table

i comparisons iv trends vii segment ii axis v percentage viii features iii columns vi vertical ix stage

? Writing task

1 Read the task 1 instructions below and answer the questions 1-5.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graph below shows the proportion of the population aged 65 and over between 1940 and 2040 in three different countries.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Write at least 150 words.

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What type of visual form is it? What is the visual form about? How will you develop your essay?

How many paragraphs will you contain?

List the main points you will contain in your essay.

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2 Your answer to Task 1 should include a brief introductory paragraph, 1-3 body paragraphs and, if you wish, a brief concluding paragraph. Read the sample answer and answer the questions 1-6 below.

This is a curve graph which compares the percentage of people who are 65 or over in Japan, Sweden and USA from 1940 to 2040.

As is shown clearly, the proportion in all three countries is predicted to undergo an overall upward trend during this period. More precisely, the percentage in Japan stood at 5% in 1940, followed by a gradual decrease to about 2.5% in 1960. Being stable for more than 2 decades, it bounces back to 5% again at the present time. In the last 35 years, it is thought to shoot up to approximately 27% in 2040.

Turing to that in Sweden and USA, both rose steadily until 1980, growing from around 7% and 9% for each in 1940, a bit higher than that of Japan. After that, a more dramatic increase was recorded for the former while that for the latter was at a slower pace, keeping almost stable at roughly 14% till now. Like Japan, the last ten-year period (2030-2040) is predicted to witness a sharp growth of aging population in these two countries, ascending to 25% for Sweden and 23% for USA respectively, a little lower than that of Japan.

1 Compare your list with this essay, what main points are missing in your list? 2 What information does the introduction contain?

3 What is the main focus of the first and second body paragraphs?

4 What is the purpose of the first sentence in each of the body paragraphs? 5 Do you think there should be a conclusion?

3 Find the following words in the text above relating to the line graph. What other words or phrases can replace them?

increase upward decrease rise(rose) grow shoot up bounces back to

gradual stable dramatic sharp steadily roughly around approximately

? Post-task: Useful vocabulary 句型：

According to the（图表名称）, … As shown in the（图表名称）, …

As can be seen from the（图表名称）, … We can see from the （图表名称） that… It is manifest from the （图表名称） that… “具体来说”的写法

To be more exact,… = more exactly, … To be more precise,… = more precisely, … To be more specific,… = more specificly, …

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上升：increase, rise, ascend, surge, go up, climb, mount, level up, grow

急剧上升：jump, shoot up, surge, soar

下降：decrease, fall, drop, descend, decline, reduce, lessen, level down, dip, sink 急剧下降：plummet, plunge

平稳：stable, steady, remain, maintain, keep, be the same as, be similar to

波动：fluctuate, fluctuation, rise up and fall down，

占：occupy, take up, account for, gain，make up, represent, constitute 而：while, however, whereas, on the other hand, actually, in fact 相比：by/in contrast, on the contrary, likewise, compared with， in comparison, similarly, unlike

最高点：the highest, the top, the summit, the peak, the most

达到最高点：reach the peak at, reach the highest point at, peak at

最低点：bottom, less, least

达到最低点：reach the bottom at, bottom out at, the lowest point at, rock bottom 平均：mean, average

趋势：tendency, trend, inclination 预见：prediction 达到顶峰：mount to

速度快：sharp, rapid, dramatic, precipitous, drastic, steep

缓慢、逐渐或者持续：gradual, gentle, steady, slow, consistent 幅度大：marked，significant，substantial 幅度小：modest, slight, moderate

稳定在一个水平上：level off at, stabilize at, level out at, reached a plateau at, hover at 到达多少数量：reach，hit, arrive at, register, amount to, stand at 大约：about, roughly, around, just over, approximately, just under

对将来数字预测的：expect, predict, project, forecast 句型：A is expected/projected/predicted /forecast to reach…

表示?分别?的副词：respectively

表示?由…组成?：be made up of, be composed of, consist of, comprise/be comprised of

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