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Introduction TheIELTSwritingtesthastwoparts,ortasks.Thefirstpartisaninformationtransfertask.This meansyouneedtotakeinformationfromatable,chartordiagramandpresentitintheformofa shortwrittendescription.Thesecondpartisadiscursivecomposition.Forthistaskyouaregivena statementoranopinionaboutsomethingandyoumustpresentyourview. Thewholetesttakesanhour,butyouwillneedmoretimeforTask2thanTask1becauseyou havetowritemorewordsanditisworthmorepoints.Thetestisorganisedlikethis: words 150 250 suggestedtime 20minutes 40minutes
Activity1>TheIELTSwritingtesttypesofwriting>5minutes BelowisalistofthetypesofwritingyouhavetodointheIELTStest.Sortthelistintowritingfor Task1andwritingforTask2. compareandcontrastpointsofview describeanobjectorsystem evaluateandchallengeideasoranargument explainhowsomethingworks justifyanopinion organise,presentandcomparedata describethestagesofaprocess presentasolutiontoaproblem presentevidencetosupportanopinion Task1:InformationTransfer Task2:DiscursiveComposition
IELTSWRITINGTASK1:TABLES
Activity2>UnderstandingTables >10minutes InIELTSWritingTask1youmaybeaskedtodescribedatagiveninatable.Beforeyoubegin writing,takeafewminutestoreadandunderstandthetable.Thinkaboutthefollowing: Readtheinstructionscarefullythesewilltellyouwhatthetableshows. Doesthetablehaveatitle?Ifitdoes,readitcarefullysothatyouknowwhatthetableis about. Isthetablestaticordynamic?Statictablesshowdataatonepointintimedynamictables showhowdatachangesovertime.Thiswillaffectthelanguageyouuseinyourdescription. Whatdothecolumnsandrowsrepresent? Whatunitofmeasurementdoeseachcellrepresent?Kilometres,euros,litres?? Beclearaboutwhatthetabledoesnotshow!
ReadthisIELTStaskandthendecidewhetherthestatementswhichfollowaretrueorfalseorifitis impossibletotellfromthedata.ChooseT/ForIm
ThetablebelowshowshowthepercentageofBritishadultswhousetheInternetchanged overafiveyearperiod. Writeareportforauniversitylecturerdescribingtheinformationshownbelow. PercentageofadultsinGreatBritainwhohaveusedtheInternetfor3monthsbeforebeing interviewed October 2000 1624 2544 4554 5564 70 53 46 24 Age groups October 2001 78 61 50 30 October 2002 85 73 59 41 October 2003 88 76 64 45 October 2004 90 79 67 48 October 2005 87 81 75 51
Source:NationalStatistics(seehttp://www.statistics.gov.uk/copyright.aspforcopyrightdetails)
Questions: 1ThetableshowsthenumberofpeopleinGreatBritainwhousetheInternet. T/F/Im 2ThetableshowsthepercentageofpeopleinGreatBritainwhousedtheInternetbetweenJuly andOctobereachyear.T/F/Im 3Thetableshowschangeovertime(dynamic).T/F/Im 4InOctober2000,more16to24yearoldsusedtheInternetthan25to44yearolds.T/F/Im 5ThelowestpercentageofInternetuseiswiththe55to64yearolds.T/F/Im 6InOctober2004,onlyfortyeight55to64yearoldsusedtheInternet.T/F/Im 710percentof1624yearoldsdidntusetheInternetinOctober2004. T/F/Im 8ThepercentageofpeopleinGreatBritainwhousedtheInternetincreasedoverthefiveyears.T/ F/Im
Activity3>Waysofexpressingnumbers>5minutes ThereareanumberofdifferentwaysofexpressingthesamefigureinEnglish.Forexample,we cansayahalf,oneintwoorfiftypercentandtheyallmeanthesame.Itsagoodideatovary thewayyouexpressfiguresinyourdescriptionofthetableorchart. Allthephrasesbelowcanbeusedtodescribefigures.Groupthemintophraseswhichmeanthe same. afifth aquarter atenth athird justoversixtypercent justoverthirtypercent oneinfive oneinfour oneinten oneinthree seventyfivepercent tenpercent threeoutoffour threequarters twentyfivepercent twentypercent twooutofthree twothirds
Activity4:Waysofexpressingnumbers>10minutes. NowlookagainatthetableaboutInternetusagefromActivity2.UseexpressionsfromActivity3to completethesesentencesaboutthetable.Remembertouseavarietyofwaystodescribethe figures. 1624yearoldshadthegreatestInternetusage.In2004,forexample,1[]outoftenpeoplein thisagegroupusedtheInternet. In2001justover 2[]of2544yearoldsusedtheInternet.Twoyearslater,thefigurewas justover3[]. Forthe4554agegroup,Internetusagerosefromjustunder4[]in2000to5[]in 2005. In2000,onlyonein 6[]5564yearoldsusedtheInternet.Thisfigurehadrisentoover7[]by 2005.
Activity5:Usingquantifiers(1)>5minutes InPart1ofthewritingtestyoumayhavetodescribeamounts.Youllneedtobecarefulusing quantifierswordslikemuch,many,someetc. Putthewordsandexpressionsbelowintothecorrectgroup. alargeamount alittle alotof asmallamount asmallnumber few fewer fewerandfewer less lessandless many more most much no noneof several themajorityof
Activity Sleep Personalcarei.e. wash/dress Housework Entertainmentand culture Hobbiesandgames WatchingTV Childcare
Men Women (totalinterviewed=100) (totalinterviewed=100) Averageminutesperday (Numberofpeopleparticipatinginactivity) 503 513 100 100 41 52 97 98 126 215 85 96 6 6 5 6 26 16 26 22 161 137 88 87 11 28 14 24
All
(adaptedfromNationalStatisticsinformation(seehttp://www.statistics.gov.uk/copyright.aspfor copyrightdetails) Thetableshowshow1[much/many]timepeoplespendoncertaindailyactivities.Notsurprisingly, everybodysurveyedspent2[alotof/many]timesleeping.However,menspentslightly3 [fewer/less]timesleepingthanwomendid.Aftersleeping,thenextmosttimeconsumingactivity washousework,takingup178minutesperday,onaverage.Again,though,therewasamarked differencebetweenmenandwomen,withwomenspending 4[many/much] moreminutesperday onthisactivitythanmen.Inaddition,agreater5[amount/number]ofwomenthanmenreported thattheyspenttimeonhouseworkandchildcare.Incontrast,menspentagreater6 [amount/number]oftimeontheirhobbiesandgamesthanwomendid.Very7[few/many]people surveyedspentmuchfreetimeonentertainmentandculture.Forthe8[majority/most]ofpeople, freetimewasspentwatchingtelevision.Almostnineoutoftenpeoplereportedthattheyspent9 [several/lots]hourswatchingTVeveryday.
Activity7>ExampleTask1>10minutes Lookattheexampletask1questionbelowandthentrytocompletethesampleanswerusing languagewevelookedatsofarinthislesson. ThetablebelowshowstheprevalenceofsmokingamongstadultsinGreatBritain.Writea reportforauniversitylecturerdescribingtheinformationshownbelow. Cigarettesmokingstatusbyageandgender Light Heavy All smoker smoker smokers %ofpopulation 19 4 23 32 5 36 26 9 35 18 12 31 13 12 26 10 5 15 24 25 22 19 14 10 1 5 6 9 8 4 25 29 28 28 22 14
Men 1619 2024 2534 3549 5059 60andover Women 1619 2024 2534 3549 5059 60andover
Thetableshows[ mostcommon[
]andcomparesthe ].Nearly[]menandexactly
IELTSWRITINGTASK2:PROBLEMANDSOLUTION Activity8>Brainstormingideas(1):5minutes InPart2oftheIELTStestyoumaybeaskedtowriteacompositiondiscussingthecausesofa problemandsuggestingpossiblesolutions.Heresanexample: Presentawrittenargumentorcasetoaneducatedreaderwithnospecialknowledgeofthe followingtopic. Overfishingoftheworldsoceansthreatensmanyspecieswithextinctionandisputting thelivelihoodofmillionsofpeoplearoundtheworldatrisk.Whatarethecausesofthis problemandwhatcanbedonetopreventitfromhappening? Youshoulduseyourownideas,knowledgeandexperienceandsupportyourargumentswith examplesandrelevantevidence. Beforeyoubeginwriting,spendafewminutestothinkofideasrelatedtothetopic.Atthisstage, dontworrytoomuchabouthowyouregoingtoexpressororganisetheseideasjustbrainstorm thetopicandjotdownnotes. Spend3minutesbrainstormingideasfortheexamplequestionabove.Usetheseheadings: Causesofoverfishing Waystopreventoverfishing
Activity9>brainstormingideas(2)>5minutes Herearesomeideaswevebrainstormedforthecomposition.Puteachideaundertheappropriate heading. factoryfishingmakeshugecatchestooeasy bringinlawstoprotectfishspeciesandlimitfishing createaninternationalbodytopolicetheoceansandenforcelaws fishingprovidesaquickreturnforcompaniesandgovernments hugeareasoftheworldsoceansarenotprotectedbyenvironmentallaws illegalfishingisdifficulttopolice puttaxesonfishingwhichmakeitlessattractivetocompanies raisepublicawarenessthoughthemedia theproblemdoesnotgetenoughpublicity theresagrowingdemandforfishworldwide banthefishingofcertainspeciesoffish
Causesofoverfishing
Waystopreventoverfishing
RESULT
(is)
CAUSE
CAUSE
RESULT
Eachofthesentencesbelowdescribesacauseandeffectrelationship.Choosethebestexpression tocompletethegap. 1Globalwarmingispartly[asaresultof/causes]increasingemissionsofgreenhousegases. 2Thedeclineofmanufacturingindustry[onaccountof/broughtabout]highunemploymentin manycountries. 3Peoplearemoreworriedaboutcrime[onaccountof/bringsabout]exaggeratedreportsinthe media. 4Increasingpressuretoworkovertime[owingto/causes]parentstospendlesstimewiththeir children. 5DrugsforthetreatmentofAIDSremainunavailabletomillions[owingto/givesriseto]theirhigh cost. 6Globalisation[asaresultof/hasgivenriseto]ablandpopculturefollowedbyyoungpeople worldwide. 7Poordisciplineatschool[isdueto/leadsto]poorparentingathome. 8Thedesireforhigherprofits[onaccountof/leadsto]companiessettingupincountrieswhere labourischeap.
Activity11>Expressingcauseandeffect(2)>5minutes. Nowletsseehowtheseexpressionscanbeusedinourcompositionabouttheoverfishingofthe worldsoceans.Completetheparagraphbyusingappropriatephrasesfromactivity9. Thereareanumberofreasonswhyoverfishingoftheworldsfishstockshasreachedcrisislevels. Firstly,catchinglargenumbersoffishhasbecomeveryeasy[1]modernmethodsoffactory fishing.Secondly,thescarcityoffish[2]higherprices,makingfishingamoreattractive industryforgovernmentsandcompaniestoinvestin.This[3]evenmorefishingand [4]aviciouscircleofincreasingdemandanddiminishingsupply.Furthermore,fishingin mostpartsoftheworldremainsuncontrolled[5]thelackofenvironmentallaws.Finally, wherelawsdoexisttheyaredifficulttoenforce[6]thelackofaninternational maritimepoliceauthority. Activity12>Suggestingsolutions>10minutes Onceyouhavediscussedthecausesoftheproblem,youarereadytoputforwardyoursuggestions forpossiblesolutions.Foreverysuggestionyoumake,youneedtobackupyourargumentby explaininghowthisideawillhelp.Again,thereareusefulwordsandphrasesforyoutodothis. Thephrasesbelowareusedtoshowthepurposeorreasonfordoingsomething.Matcheachone withtheverbformwhichfollowsit.
so(that) inthisway
A topreventoverfishing
2 withthepurposeof
B overfishingisprevented
inorder soas
C preventingoverfishing
Activity13>ExampleTask2 Heresanotherexampleofatask2questionrequiringaproblemandsolutionapproach.Spend fiveminutesbrainstormingthequestion,andthenwriteyourcomposition,usinglanguagewehave lookedatduringthislesson. Presentawrittenargumentorcasetoaneducatedreaderwithnospecialknowledgeofthe followingtopic. Thenumbersofindigenouspeopleslivingtraditionallivesintheworldsrainforestsare becomingfewerandfewer.Withinafewdecadesthelastoftheseindigenoustribesmay havedisappearedforever.Whatarethecausesofthisproblemandwhatcanbedoneto preventitfromhappening? Youshoulduseyourownideas,knowledgeandexperienceandsupportyourargumentswith examplesandrelevantevidence.