IELTS Writing Task 1

 All the verbs in past tense!!!

 Try using adverbs before verbs

 Introduction (paraphrase the question)

 Overview

 Feature 1

 Feature 2

Introduction

1. The xxx (the graph)

2. presents information on / gives information on / demonstrates / illustrates

3. the xxx (the topic)

 e.g. The table presents information on the reasons for U.S. students to visit other
countries from 2009 to 2013.

 e.g. The bar chart presents information on the amount spend on fast food in 2009 in
the U.K. while the pie chart illustrates the percentages of different age groups
spending a lot on fast food.

Overview

 What + Where + When

 Start with ‘Overall, …”

 Do not quote any data, numbers, etc.

 e.g. Overall, the figures for imprisonment in the five mentioned countries showed no
overall pattern, rather showed the considerable fluctuations from country to
country.

 For diagrams,
o 1) number of stages
o 2) how the process begins and ends
o 3) whether the diagram has repeating stages or the process is cyclic

 e.g. Overall, the process consists of N stages, beginning with … and ending up with …
Synonyms

 Time periods

o at the beginning / end of the period

o in / during the n-year timeframe / span / period

o between 2000 and 2010 / from 2000 to 2010

o in the years 2000, 2005 and 2010

 Increase

o rose / increased / went up / climbed / soared / rocketed / leapt

o a rise / an increase / X / a climb / X / X / a leap

 Decrease

o fell / decreased / went down / declined / deteriorated / plummet / plunge

o a fall / a decreased / X / a decline / X / X / X / a slide

 Steadiness

o remained constant / was unchanged / leveled out / remained stable /

plateaued

o X

 Gradual change

o gradual / steady / consistent

o an upward / a downward trend / tendency

o an ascending / a descending trend / tendency

 Rapid change

o dramatically / rapidly / sharply / significantly

 Highest point

o peaked / reach the peak / reach the highest point

 Lowest point

o touched the lowest point / hit the all-time low

 Percentages

o 20% / 20 per cent

o half / one-third / a quarter / one-fifth

o one out of two / three / four / five

 Change

o halved / doubled / tripled / quadrupled

 Around

o about / almost / nearly / roughly / approximately

 Was / Were

o stood at / exactly / as high as / as low as / made up / constituted / accounted

for

 Just over / Well over (larger extent)

o just above / just bigger than

 Just below / Well below (larger extent)

o just beneath / just under

 Regarding

o with regards to / as for / when it comes to

 Similarly

o in a similar fashion

 However

o on the contrary / on the other hand / in contrast

 Same

o identical to / equal to / exactly the same / precisely the same

 Similar

o nearly the same as / about the same as

 Transitions of time

o prior to / following that / subsequently / simultaneously / finally

 Maps

o built, erected, installed, replaced, constructed, developed

o situated, located

o changed to / converted to / became

 Process diagram

o firstly / in the beginning

o secondly / thirdly / after that / following that / subsequently / afterwards /

then / next / in the next stage

o finally / lastly / in the end

 End of a step

o after this step / stage / phase / process, …

o once this step / stage / phase / process is completed, …

 Repetition of a cycle / process

o the cycle / process then repeat itself