You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The following bar chart shows the different modes of transport used to
travel to and from work in one European city in 1960, 1980 and 2000.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features
and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

The graph chart illustrates how to transfer between home and travellers commuted to work
through by [1] four separate types of transports transport [2] in a city in Europe from 1960 to
2000.

Overall, the percentage of travellers who used car cars [3] increased dramatically, while the trend
of the [4] three remaining means of transports tended to decrease throughout the period shown.

In 1960, travel on [5] foot was the most commonly used mode of transports in this European
city, at approximately 40%. However, about 25% of total travellers using used [6] bikes bike,
compared to around 18% of the figure for bus buses. The proportion of people who used car cars
[3] was the lowest, at about 5%. Between 1960 and 1980, this city witnessed a remarkable
growth of about 10% in the use of bus buses, which ranked at the most popular mean of
transports means of transport [7]. Meanwhile, car attracted to the residents residents used cars
less than buses, at around 23%. The figures for travel by bike and on foot were lower, at about
20% and 17% respectively.

In 2000, the car was the most preferred type of transports, reached reaching [8] a peak at about
35%. However, the proportion of people involving commuting by bus and on foot were was
lower, at around 15% and 9% respectively. Bike was the less commonly used mode of transports
in this city, at only 6% of total travellers.

1. To explain the difference in usage between ‘by’ and ‘through’, I like the explanation
given in this forum post [the first answer by phenry]:
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/25459/what-general-rules-govern-the-usage-
of-by-versus-through
2. 99% of the time ‘transport’ is used as an uncountable noun, so without a plural form:
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/transport_1?q=transport
3. ‘Car/bus/bike/foot’ are all singular countable nouns, so we must use a determiner in front
of them except when we say by car/by bus/by bike/on foot. It can be very useful simply
to use the plural forms of cars, buses, bikes, as I have done in the amended answer.
4. Because it ends in the letter ‘s’, it appears that the noun ‘means’ is plural. However, it is
not plural. The singular and plural forms are both ‘means’. See:
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/means?q=means Now,
here you refer to three means of transport, so why did I add ‘the’? The answer is again
that both you and I know what specific means of transport you refer to here.
5. We could write ‘walking was the most common....’ or ‘travel on foot was.....’
6. Verb tense: use the past simple tense here to refer to completed past actions.
7. So, we know that ‘means of transport’ or ‘mode(s) of transport’ are both correct.
8. Here the present participle, not the past simple tense, is correct. It is a participial phrase.
See: http://grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/partphraseterm.htm

Task 1 plan:

 paraphrase task heading

 summary paragraph – key features [1] use of cars increased [2] percentage of
travellers by bike and on foot fell dramatically.
 paragraph 3: compare all 4 modes of transport in 1960 and 1980.
 paragraph 4: compare the final figures for 2000.
Amended essay [band 9]:

The chart illustrates how travellers commuted to work in a European city in three different years
from 1960 to 2000.

Overall, the proportion of commuters who used cars increased steadily over the period, whereas
the percentage of people who travelled by bike or on foot fell dramatically.

In 1960, almost 35% of travellers walked to work. The proportion of those who used bikes and
buses was 25% and 18% respectively, while in contrast only about 5% of people travelled by car.
However, in 1980 the percentage of people who went to work by bus reached 26%, making it the
most popular means of transport in that year. Although the proportion of commuters who used
cars to go to work saw an increase to around 23%, the percentage of travellers who used bikes
fell to 20%, and the figure for those who went on foot was slightly lower at 17%.

Over 35% of travellers used cars to go to work in this city in 2000, overtaking the figures for bus
users (16%). The proportion of those who travelled on foot and by bike decreased to 9% and 6%
respectively.

189 words

Written by Ngoc Bach

Website: www.ngocbach.com