Writing: Comparatives

For IELTS Spouting

1. Fill in the gaps in the model answer below. Use one word in each gap.
The charts below show the number and types of books bought by men and women and four

different age groups in the UK.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make

comparisons where relevant.

The charts give information about the types of books that British men and women and

different age groups buy. The initial impression from the charts is that women tend to buy

(1) _____more____ books than men overall, although they buy slightly (2) _________ non-

fiction books. The people that buy the (3) _________ books are in the 45+ are group.

Nearly 60% of women buy fiction, which is almost (4) _________ as many as the number of

men who choose this type of book Nevertheless most age group buy (5) _________ fiction

books than non-fiction ones showing that non-fiction is generally (6) _________ popular than

fiction.

The number of people buying fiction increases steadily from ages 16 to 45 with the (7)

_________ number of books, at just over 40% of the age group, bought by 16 – to 24-year-

olds and the (8) _________ number, at just over 50% bought by the over 45s.

However: the pattern is different for non-fiction. The number of books bought by 25- to 44-

year-olds is (9) _________ lower than the number bought by 16- to 24-year-olds and those

over 45. Just over 40% of 16- to 24-year-olds buy non-fiction, but this number is not (10)

_________ high as the number of people aged 45 and over buying non-fiction, at nearly

60%. Only 31% of 35- to 44-year-olds buy non-fiction and the number of 24- to 34-year-olds

is (11) _________ lower at 28%.

 1. What kind of charts are these?

2. Which sentence is the introduction?

3. Which sentence is the overview? How many sentences are there in the overview?

4. In the text find how else we can say approximately?

2. Look at the Writing Part 1 task below. Before you start writing, answer these
questions about the graph.
1. What are the two groups in green and purple?

2. What do the vertical ⇕ and horizontal axes show?

⇕

3. Which two regions had the highest literacy rates?

4. How many regions show different literacy rates for men and women?

5. Which regions show different literacy rates for men and women?

6. What are the male and female literacy rates in the least literate region?

7. What is the percentage difference between the most and least literate areas?

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The bar chart shows the literacy rate (% of people who can read and write) by region and

gender in 2011.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make

comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

3. Write you answer.
Remember to:
Include introductory and concluding sentences and an overview

Use expressions with prepositions

Use the past simple tense.