a rise an increase a surge a growth a peak a fluctuation a variation a period of stability a plateau a a a a fall decrease decline dip rise

increase surge grow peak skyrocket

Nouns

to to to to to to Verbs

to fluctuate to vary to to to to to to fall decrease decline dip dive plunge

Phrases

to show an upward trend to show a downward trend to hit the highest point to hit the lowest point to reach a peak to show some fluctuation to fluctuate wildly to remain stable to remain static to remain unchanged to stay constant to reach a plateau to level off to flatten out the highest the lowest the second highest the third highest compared to compared with relative to sharply suddenly rapidly abruptly dramatically significantly steadily

Adverbs

considerably markedly slightly gently gradually wildly sharp sudden rapid abrupt dramatic steep significant steady considerable marked slight gentle gradual

Adjectives

SAMPLE SENTENCES There was a substantial increase in the value of stocks on March 15th. House prices rose dramatically in July. The number of tourists visiting New York fell sharply in October. The percentage of students walking to school continued to rise gradually over the ten year period from 20002010. There was a sharp increase in employee turnover after the strike. Interest in environmental issues has risen steadily over the last 10 years. MORE USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES 1. Percent the word percent comes after a number

Examples: More than 25% of the students are from Brazil. More than 25 percent of the students come from Brazil. 2. Percentage - The word percentage comes after words like the, a, this and that. Often, it is preceded by an adjective. Examples: A small percentage of residents have lived in the building for more than 20 years. The percentage of students who live on campus has fallen sharply since the fire. 3. For numbers up to ten, write the numbers in words. For numbers over 10, you can write the numbers in numbers. Examples: Five percent of the employees were late this month. More than 50 percent of the students handed in their assignments late after the long weekend. 4. If the sentence starts with a number, always write it in words. Examples: Wrong: 25 students were from China. Right: Twenty-five students were from China. GRAMMAR Take note of the following prepositions which you will need to describe dates, numbers and comparisons: Dates In December, In 2005, From 2001-2010, By 1998, Between 1965-1969 Numbers Increase of 25% Decreased by 10% Fell from 200 in July to 150 in August Comparison Compared to Compared with Relative to

rite at least 150 words

model answer: The line-graph indicates the number of people using a metro station in Paris over a given day of year. The number of passengers rises sharply in the morning reaching a peak of 400 at 8 am. After the morning peak there is a steady drop to 300 at 9 am and less than 200 at 10 am. Between 10 am and 11 am there is a slight increase. The number plateaus just below 300 between 12 noon and 2 pm. In the afternoon, there is a decline in the number of citizens using the station to just 80 at 4 pm. The evening brings a huge increase from 200 at 5 pm to almost 400 at 6 pm. The number of passengers tapers off slightly after 6 pm, but falls quickly to 120 by 8 pm. After a small rise at 9 pm, the number tails off to 120 at 10 pm. All in all, the time series show that the greatest number of passengers gather in the station early in the morning and also early in the evening. (178 words)

Model Answer

The line graph shows growth in the consumption of renewable energy during the period 1949-2008 in the USA. The results are also broken down by source.

The first thing to note is that renewable energy use more than doubled over the period, with particularly strong growth in biofuels. This sector did not exist in 1980 but experienced a steep rise during the 2000s to over one quadrillion Btu per year. This made biofuels a serious challenger to both wood and hydroelectric power, which both saw only limited growth overall. The former grew steadily between 1975 and 1985, but then slipped back to around its original level of 1.8 quadrillion Btu. The latter began the period at the same level as wood but experienced more substantial growth. However, it also fell back to around 2 quadrillion Btu, with a particularly sharp drop in the late 1990s. Finally, wind power emerged late in the period but showed a gradual rise to around 0.5 quadrillion Btu, suggesting that it, along with biofuels, will replace wood and hydroelectricity as the main sources of renewable every in the future. (184 words, IELTS 8.0)

Why does this Task 1 answer get an IELTS Band 8 score?

Task achievement: The model answer describes the overall trend first, followed by an analysis of the different energy sources. Numerical evidence is used sparingly to illustrate the trends. The main trends are used as the basis of a prediction in the final sentence. Coherence and cohesion: Trends are explained in general terms first, followed by supporting figures. Some energy sources are grouped together for ease of understanding. It and this are used throughout as cohesive devices, and the writer uses the former and the latter to refer back to information in a previous sentence. Lexical resource: The writer uses a wide range of vocabulary to describe change, including adjectives and adverbs such as limited, substantial and particularly sharp, and verbs such as doubled, slipped and emerged. Grammatical range and accuracy: The model answer is free from grammatical errors. Sentence forms are complex and include relative clauses and linking words such as with. The candidate makes use of past, present and future tenses. Punctuation is also used carefully and accurately throughout.

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

Sample Answer :

The line graph compares the percentage of people aged 65 or more in three countries over a period of 100 years.

It is clear that the proportion of elderly people increases in each country between 1940 and 2040. Japan is expected to see the most dramatic changes in its elderly population.

In 1940, around 9% of Americans were aged 65 or over, compared to about 7% of Swedish people and 5% of Japanese people. The proportions of elderly people in the USA and Sweden rose gradually over the next 50 years, reaching just under 15% in 1990. By contrast, the figures for Japan remained below 5% until the early 2000s.

Looking into the future, a sudden increase in the percentage of elderly people is predicted for Japan, with a jump of over 15% in just 10 years from 2030 to 2040. By 2040, it is thought that around 27% of the Japanese population will be 65 years old or more, while the figures for Sweden and the USA will be slightly lower, at about 25% and 23% respectively. These verbs are alternatives to the basic rise and fall vocabulary. One benefit of using them is that sometimes they help you avoid repeating too many numbers. If you have a strong verb, you dont always have to give the exact figure. Up verbs

Notes:

Soar and rocket are both very strong words that describe large rises. Rocket is more sudden. You probably do not need to qualify these verbs with adverbs. Leap shows a large and sudden rise. Again, you probably do not need to qualify it with an adverb. Climb is a relatively neutral verb that can be used with the adverbs below. Down verbs

Notes:

Plummet is the strongest word here. It means to fall very quickly and a long way. Drop and drop are normally used for fairly small decreases Slip back is used for falls that come after rises Drop and Dip are also frequently used as nouns: eg a slight dip a sudden drop

Adjectives and adverbs This is a selection of some of the most common adjectives and adverbs used for trend language. Please be careful. This is an area where it is possible to make low-level mistakes. Make sure that you use adjectives with nouns and adverbs with verbs:

a significant rise correct (adjective/noun) rose significantly correct (adverb/verb) a significantly rise wrong wrong wrong Please also note the spelling of the adverbs. There is a particular problem with the word dramatically: dramatically correct dramaticly wrong dramaticaly wrong Adjectives of degree

notes

sudden and sharp can be used of relatively minor changes that happen quickly spectacular and dramatic are very strong words only to used to big, big, big changes Steady adjectives

Small adjectives

notes

marginal is a particularly useful word for describing very small changes Other useful adjectives These adjectives can be used to describes more general trends

notes

overall can be used to describe changes in trend over the whole period: very useful in introductions and conclusions upward and downward are adjectives: the adverbs are upwards and downwards

Read more: Trend vocabulary for academic IELTS task 1 charts and graphsDominic Coles IELTS and Beyond http://www.dcielts.com/task-1-2/trend-vocabulary-ielts/#ixzz2pp0yNmUF Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives Academic task 1 pie charts (2) One task that seems to concern IELTS candidates is the pie chart. I think I understand why and I hope I have a solution. In this post I talk you through a major difficulty and give you some language to deal with it. Theres also an exercise at the end to test you out.

The difficulty I have nothing to say Typically, the problem is that candidates find they have very little to say about a pie chart in comparison with a bar chart. Really this is just a problem of language. Very often, candidates spend a long time learning about the language of trends when they prepare for task 1 and that language very rarely applies to a pie chart. You need some different language.

The necessary language The key point is that whatever the chart looks like the language you need is the same. Take a look at these 3 pie charts and ask yourself what language you need.

A chart with percentages

A chart without any numbers

A chart with numbers

The answer should be obvious. When you look at all three pie charts, you should see that you need exactly the same language:its the language of percentages. By definition the whole pie is 100% and each share of that pie is also a percentage. It should make little or no difference how the pie chart is labelled. Tip: if you see a pie chart without % figures written in, dont panic. Consider what the % must be. Some language variations on percentage Another possible problem is that you find yourself repeating the word percentage. Here are some helpful variations for you. There are variations possible in almost every case: using a fraction or a synonym such as proportion.

Notes 1. 2. percentage is more correct than percent (per cent is the correct spelling, though no one I know uses it! amount is correctly used only with uncountable nouns: the variation for countables in number Some practice This is an area that needs some practice to get right. So I suggest you make a start by having a go at these two quizzes: using percentages: a quick quiz checking you can know this language of percentages. It should be quite easy, so Ive made it more challenging by making it timed! write a task 1: can you use the language for yourself by doing a practice task 1 from the pie chart above. Try and write a good paragraph of between 60 75 words.

Read more: Academic task 1 pie charts (2) |Dominic Coles IELTS and Beyond http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-writing/academic-task1-pie-charts-2/#ixzz2pp38QbzY Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives A model pie chart report step by step This lesson gives you a step-by-step approach to dealing with pie charts in task 1. I talk you through how to identify the main points, select the supporting details and then structure your report. I then show you two model answers: one with standard vocabulary and then a much more advanced version with more vocabulary and grammar you can borrow.

The task The following pie charts show the results of a survey into the most popular leisure activities in the United States of America in 1999 and 2009. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Step 1: seeing the big picture The first step is to identify the main points of the two charts. This is not just an important part of the task and your band score, it will also help you write your description. The main points are normally obvious. Sometimes they are so obvious that candidates ignore them. Look at these questions: 1. 2. 3. How many activities are there in each chart? Just count Are the activities the same in each chart? Read the key Are there any changes in popularity between the two years? Look at the colours You should get these answers: 1. There are 8 activities for each year

2. 3.

7 of 8 activities are the same There are a number of differences in popularity between the two years. All you need to do now is put that into English and you have the main points of the report. Adding in a short description of the task we have:

These two pie charts show the changes in popularity of different leisure activities in the United States of America between 1999 and 2009. We can see that the most popular leisure activities were almost the same in both periods, but there were a number of differences in popularity between the various activities.
Step 2: choose the details to include There are 16 different figures you can include. This is too many. The task is to select and report the most important details. This will include naming all the activities, but not all the numbers. To do this, try looking for: 1. 2. the biggest number the smallest number These are generally important details to include. You should also consider what changes beween the two charts, not least because the task asks you to make comparisons. So, ask yourself: 1. 2. 3. 4. whats gone up whats gone down what hasnt changed whats new Putting this together, we need these details: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. walking is most popular in both periods yoga disappears and weightlifting is new swimming doubles aerobics, jogging and cycling all fall soccer and camping dont change much Step 3: organise your report This will vary from task to task, but typically you will be looking at two content paragraphs. As you write your paragraphs, you want to think of three key ideas:

highlight the main points they come first group similar ideas together find a logical structure to present the points In this case, I would go with this structure:

Paragraph 1 walking is much the biggest slice of the pie in both years weightlifting is new and yoga has gone It is clear that walking was the most popular activity in both 1999 and 2009 with around 30% of Americans saying that they preferred it. Also, yoga was no longer among the preferred activities in 2009, but weightlifting was chosen by 10% of people. Paragraph 2 refer to the other activities in order of popularity in 2009 soccer and swimming first, jogging and aerobics last note the biggest changes cycling, jogging and aerobics all big fallers, swimming the big riser. The second most popular activity was soccer at just under 20% in both years, a figure that was matched by swimming in 2009, having almost doubled in popularity over the previous decade. Most of the other activities became less popular over the same period of time, with cycling, jogging and aerobics all falling by at least a half to under 10%. The one exception to this trend was camping which stayed almost unchanged at around 9%. Step 4: get the vocabulary right This is the big one and will take time to learn. To help you on your way, I show you two model answers with extensive vocabulary notes. My suggestion is start with the first one. Dont be worries that it looks too simple. it isnt. It is in fact extremely good band score 9. The when you have that right, take a look at the second version which has some more advanced vocabulary.

A good version This is the final report

These two pie charts show the changes in popularity of different leisure activities in the United States of America between 1999 and 2009. We can see that the most popular leisure activities were almost the same in both periods, but there were a number of differences in popularity between the various activities. It is clear that walking was the most popular activity in both 1999 and 2009, with around 30% of Americans saying that they preferred it. Also, yoga was no longer among the preferred activities in 2009, but weightlifting was chosen by 10% of people. The second most popular activity was soccer at just under 20% in both years, a figure that was matched by swimming in 2009, having almost doubled in popularity over the previous decade. Most of the other activities became less

popular over the same period of time, with cycling, jogging and aerobics all falling by at least a half to under 10%. The one exception to this trend was camping which stayed almost unchanged at around 9%.
Read about the vocabulary My band score 10 answer The above report is exceptionally good. It covers all the right details (Task response), has a good range of grammar with relative clauses (Range and accuracy of grammar), is very coherent (well organised and linked) and has some range of vocabulary, even if some words are repeated (Lexical resource). This answer can help you by extending the range of vocabulary you use for:

general words dealing with numbers linking

These two charts illustrate how the preferred leisure activities of Americans changed between 1999 and 2009.Generally speaking, while the list of activities remained almost identical over the decade, there were a number of changes in their relative popularity. It is immediately evident that walking was by some distance the most popular pastime in both years,accounting for just under a third of the preferences expressed. Of equal note is that by 2009, yoga had disappeared from the list of preferred activities and had been replaced by weightlifting, which was chosen by one in ten Americans. Among the less popular activities, the most notable development was that the proportion of people who went swimming doubled, making it equal second in popularity with soccer at 18%. In stark contrast, around as half as many Americans went cycling in 2009 as compared to ten years earlier, with the result that it became less popular than camping, at 7% and 9% respectively. Likewise, the number of people who went jogging and did aerobics also dropped significantly, with less than 5% of respondents to the survey choosing them.

Read more: IELTS pie chart: a model answer step by stepDominic Coles IELTS and Beyond http://www.dcielts.com/task-1-2/amodel-bar-chart-report-step-by-step/#ixzz2pp3RgJpN Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives Academic task 1 tables Describing a table is almost certainly the most challenging IELTS writing task. In this post I look at what causes the difficulty and suggest a technique for dealing with it. You will find two exercises and a model report at the end of the post to help you write the report yourself. A sample task Lets look at this sample task and do a little analysis.

The table below shows the in which sector of the economy different age groups were employed . Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features , making comparisons where relevant

The problem too much information There are 30 different pieces of data here. How on earth can you describe all of that? The solution is simple: dont try to! Remember the task is to summarise and to select the main features of the table. This means leaving some items of information out. A solution divide and conquer My solution is to divide and conquer by looking at the table in columns and rows. This way you can more easily identify the key details and comparisons. The key is to understand that you have two sets of data: 1. 2. the data from the rows (across) the data from the columns (down) Rather than try and understand the table as a whole all at once, look at each row in turn and each column in turn and note the main features.

What are the main features? Typically, the main features are 1. 2. 3. 4. high numbers low numbers the biggest contrasts the closest similarities An example Looking at this column, we see that we need to include 23 and 3 as the highest and lowest numbers

Now looking at the rows in turn we note the numbers for manufacturing are much higher than catering and agriculture.

Then once you have gone through each row and column, you need to look for the obvious comparisons and contrasts.

Organising your report This is the simple bit. The logical thing is almost always to write one paragraph for the rows (here the sectors of employment) and one for the columns (here the age groups).

Some practice Confused? Well, it does take a little practice. Here is my solution. The first exercise takes you through the table asking you questions about the key details in the columns and rows. The next exercise gets you to write the report yourself based on a model I wrote. exercise 1 find the key details exercise 2 write the repo Read more: Tables in IELTS academic task 1Dominic Coles IELTS and Beyond http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-writing/task-1tables/#ixzz2pp3q3Urs Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

Vary your comparison words The next stage is to write the report. The trap here is to use the same language all the time, something it is very easy for you to do if you are not careful. Dont worry though, you dont need lots of new words. You just need to use the words you already have, but more flexibly. The keys are: 1. 2. use different comparing words use different comparing structures To show you what I mean, here are a few variations for you to consider. Im going to choose In each case I suggest one word and show you how it can be used in different ways. The point is that if you change the form of the word, you change your gramamtical structure and that is a good thing. Tip: think about changing nouns to verbs or nouns to adjectives Compare This is probably the first word youll want to use. Note how it can be used both as a verb and as a noun and see also the different prepositions it uses.

Contrast This is the next most important word. Here I have just shown you the noun forms, but you should note that in each case you end up using a different grammatical structure.

Similar

Different This is a handy alternative: a simple word that is very effective when making comparisons. Here the main variations are between the noun difference and the adjective different.

Change This is another very useful alternative with a noun and verb form that can be used for comparisons sometimes. It is mostly used of course when there is a time element to the diagram, but it can also be used in other cases too.

Read more: How to use comparisons in describing IELTS tablesDominic Coles IELTS and Beyond http://www.dcielts.com/ieltsgrammar/comparisons-academic-task-1/#ixzz2pp4A28he Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives Reading a process diagram find the beginnings and ends The first step in learning to write about a process diagram is to see where the process starts and ends. Sometimes it is evident, frequently it is less so. This is important information as it will help structure your writing. The obvious thing to do is to start at the beginning and carry on until you get to the end. An example

Where is the beginning here? The customer pays by credit card (item 1). Where is the end? The merchant receives his money (item 7). We now know part of the structure of our report.

Understand the different stages of the process The next point is to try and understand how the process works. Typically, there will be some problem in understanding the diagram: it is not always the case that everything is in a natural order. The key is to stop and think and look. This is a visual task and you need to look at all the visual clues. What you are looking for are normally simple things. It is often a good idea to ask yourself the WH questions. In the diagram above, we see the following details:

there are 5 parties involved (the pictures) (WHO) there are 7 stages in the process (the numbers) (HOW MANY) some of the arrows point in two different directions this needs to be explained item 4 seems to be out of order as it is next to 1 Find a way of organising your description This is another thinking task. Before you start writing, you want to see if there is some way to organise your report into paragraphs. This is not absolutely essential but it can help the organisation of your writing. In the diagram above, there does seem to be a logical solution, as the process falls in to two parts:

1. 2.

the customer receives his goods the merchant gets his money As this is the case, I am going to do the logical thing and divide my description into two main paragraphs. One to describe the authorisation process until the customer gets his/her money and one for the payment process until the merchant is paid. The introduction and conclusion This is a key part of your description. What you need to do here is to give the examiner an overall view of the process. Again, you want to ask yourself questions, such as:

what happens as a result of this process? is there any change involved? how many stages are there in this process? is there one simple process or are there variations within the process? Typically, you will either write a longer introduction or add a conclusion. You will not normally need both an extended introduction and conclusion. The language of the description Topic language The process will normally be an everyday event that everyone is familiar with, you should not need any specialised language. Sometimes, as in this example, you will be given some topic vocabulary. If you are, be careful of two points:

1.

try to vary the language if you can, but dont worry too much if you cant. It may be that the language you are given is the correct topic language and there are no, or few, variations

2.

dont copy language incorrectly. If you are given a verb, you may need to change it into a noun Sequencing language Some of the most important language you need is vocabulary to say in what order things happen. It is important to have some variation here. Some very basic options are:

next then after

before once See this download for an explanation of this language: Sequencing language for process diagrams (28687) Passives A key grammatical area is very often the passive. We use this when it is not important who does the action. So, if you have a process diagram showing the making of wine, you may choose to write: the grapes are crushed and their stems are removed Put simply, we make the passive by taking part of the verb to be and adding the 3rd form of the verb.

Read more: IELTS writing task 1 - process diagrams - an introduction |Dominic Coles IELTS and Beyond http://www.dcielts.com/task-1-2/ielts-writing-task-1-process-diagrams/#ixzz2pp4W3DUZ Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives The diagram

Understanding the cycle what are the stages in it? The first step is to remember that your goal is to provide a clear summary of what the diagram shows. This cycle is difficult in that it has no obvious beginning or end. The idea is to try and look and see if you can divide the diagram into separate parts. This makes it easier to write about than if you look at he whole diagram at once. Put another way, I ask myself if there are any stages within this cycle I can use to structure my description. The top tip is to look for visual clues and here I see two distinct stages by looking at the arrows: some point down and some point up.

1. The food chain

Looking at the central part of the diagram, I see a row of arrows pointing downwards. This shows how carbon from the atmosphere is used by plants and animals. It is, if you look closely, a food chain. The atmosphere provides CO2 to plants which are eaten by insects which are eaten by small animals which are then eaten by larger animals. All I have to do now is put this into decent English, trying not to repeat the language of the diagram too much. 2. Return of CO2 to the atmosphere The second part of the cycle is quite straight forward. There are on either side a set of arrows pointing upwards to show the return of CO2 to the atmosphere. This shows me that respiration, fuel consumption and waste products are the 3 ways in which CO2 returns to the atmosphere to complete the cycle.

Thinking vocabulary This diagram gives you a certain of language. You have the choice of whether to repeat it in your description or try and vary it. What you do here will depend on how well you understand the diagram and the words. It is not an absolute disaster in this task if you do

repeat some of the words from the diagram as they are technical terms. You should, however, try and find alternatives for the more general English words. carbon dioxide: no alternative atmosphere: no alternative terrestrial and aquatic: either repeat the words, or if you understand them try land and water primary, secondary, tertiary: these mean first, second and third level consumers: try the word eat or vary it to consume or consumption respiration: this means breathing Read my sample description This diagram shows how the carbon cycle works in nature. The first part of the cycle is providing plants and animals on both land and sea with the carbon dioxide they need to exist and the second part of the cycle is the return of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The first part of the cycle shows a food chain where plants and grasses absorb carbon dioxide from the air. These plants are a food source for primary consumers such as insects which are in turn eaten by the second level consumers, including smaller birds and fish. At the end of this food chain are larger animals and mammals which use the secondary level consumers as a source of carbon and food. The second part of the cycle shows how there are two main ways in which carbon dioxide is returned to the atmosphere. This can either happen as a result of living beings breathing or consuming fuel, or as a product of the waste and remains from their death.

Read more: IELTS task 1 - process diagram - a natural cycleDominic Coles IELTS and Beyond http://www.dcielts.com/blog/describing-a-natural-process-in-task-1-writing/#ixzz2pp4qsoeg Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives