NHU Y IELTS LINE GRAPH WRITING TASK 1 Mobile: 0126 4650 439

EXERCISE: Change the verb into simple past forms.

Preposition problem 1 – by and to

Prepositions are horrid in English. Have another look at the graph:

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Note how these two sentences mean exactly the same:

* The rate of unemployment rose to 12% in 2010.
* The rate of unemployment rose by 5% in 2010.

Preposition problem 2 – in and of

This one is harder. We use “in” to describe changes in things and “of” to describe changes in number
or amount. For example,
* There was a rise in the rate of unemployment
* There was a rise of 5% in the rate of unemployment.

Vocabulary for Band 7.0+

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.

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Down verbs

Notes:
 “Plummet” is the strongest word here. It means to fall very quickly and a long way.
 “Drop”  and “dip” 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 of degree – strong level

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

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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”

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* MODEL STRUCTURE *

Introduction + Basic/ General Trends + Details Description +

(Conclusion)

Each part has a specific format and therefore being equipped with the necessary
vocabulary will help you to write the task 1 efficiently and will save a great deal of time.

 Vocabulary for the Introduction Part:

Starting Presentation Verb Description

Type

The given / The diagram / table / shows / the comparison of ….

supplied / The figure / illustration represents / the differences ….
presented / The / graph / figure / depicts / the number of ….
shown / The chart / flow chart / illustrates / information on ….
provided picture/ presents/ gives / data on ….
presentation/ pie provides / the proportion of….
chart / bar graph/ describes / the amount of ….
line graph / table compares/
data/ data / shows / figures /
information gives data on /
gives information
on/ presents
information
about/ shows
data about

Example : 
1. The provided diagram shows data on employment categories in energy producing
sectors in Europe starting from 1925 to 1985.
2. The given pie charts represent the proportion of male and female employees in 6
broad categories, divided into manual and non-manual occupations. 
3. The chart gives information on expenditures of 4 European countries on six consumer
products namely Germany, Italy, Britain and France. 
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Vocabulary for the General trends Part:

In general, As is presented, Generally speaking, As is observed.
Example:
1. In general, the employment opportunity has increased till 1970 and has dropped down
afterward.
2. As is observed, the figures for imprisonment in the five mentioned countries show no
overall pattern of increase or decrease rather shows the considerable fluctuation from
country to country.
3. Generally speaking, USA had far more standard life than all the other 4 mentioned
countries. 

 Vocabulary to show the changes:

Trends Verb form Noun Form

Increase rise / increase / go up / uplift / a rise / an increase / an

rocketed / climb / upsurge / soar. upward trend / a growth

Decrease fall / decrease / decline / plummet / a fall / a decrease / a

plunge / drop / reduce reduction / a downward
trends /a  downward
tendency /  a decline/ a drop

Steadiness unchanged / level out / remain a steadiness/ a plateau / a

constant / remain steady / plateau / stability/ a static
remain the same / remain stable /
remain static

Gradual   an upward trend / an upward

Increase tendency / a ceiling trend
------

Gradual   a downward trend / a

decrease downward tendency / a
   ------

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descending trend

Standability leveled off / remained constant /  

remained unchanged / remained
stable / prevailed consistency / --------
plateaued / reached a plateau /
stayed uniform /immutable /
leveled out

Examples:
1. The overall sale of the Company has increased by 20% at the end of the year.
2. The expenditure of the office remained for the last 6 months but the profit rose by
almost 25%.
3. There was a 15% drop in the student enrollment of the University.
4. The population of the country remained almost the same as it was 2 years ago.

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Vocabulary to represent changes in graphs:

Type of Adverb form Adjective form

Change

Rapid dramatically / dramatic / rapid /

change rapidly / sharply / sharp / quick /
quickly / hurriedly / hurried / speedy / swift
speedily / swiftly

Moderate moderately / moderate / gradual /

change gradually / progressive / 
progressively / sequential
sequentially   

Slight slightly / slowly / slight / slow / mild /

change mildly / tediously tedious

Example: 
1. The economic inflation of the country increased sharply by 20% in 2008.
2. There was a sharp drop in the industrial production in the year 2009. 
3. The demand for new houses dramatically increased in 2002.  

 Vocabulary to represent frequent changes in graphs:

Type of Verb form Noun form

Change

 Rapid ups wave / fluctuate / waves / fluctuations /

and downs oscillate / vacillate / oscillations /
palpitate vacillations / 
palpitations

Example: 
1. The price of the raw materials fluctuated for the first three months.
2. The graph shows the oscillations of the price of fuel from 1998 to 2002.

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*** STRUCTURES TO USE ***

Describing Increases and Decreases

When describing any of the charts in IELTS writing task 1, you might have to describe increases
and decreases. There are three main ways you can describe increases and decreases.

1. Noun phrase + verb + adverb + data + year

Example:

The price of property fell sharply.

The percentage of homes dropped dramatically.

2. There + be + a/an + adj + noun + of data + in + noun phrase + year

Example:

There was a sharp/dramatic fall in literacy levels.

There has been a sharp/dramatic increase in the cost of coffee.

3. Subject + experienced/underwent/witnessed/took/had + a/an+ adj + noun + of +

data + year:

Example:

Literacy levels experienced a sharp fall.

Making Comparisons

IELTS writing task 1 will often require you to make comparisons between data sources, groups
and times. Here are five grammatical structures you can use to make comparisons.

1. More/few/less + noun + than

Example:

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Overall, more people preferred public transport than taxis.

2. of one syllable -er + than

Example:

A higher number for people preferred public transport than taxis.

3. More/less + adj. of more than one syllable + than

Example:

Taxis were more popular than public transport.

4. of one syllable -est.

Example: 

The highest percentage of commuters preferred taxis.

5. The most/least + adj. of more than one syllable.

Example:

The least popular mode of transport was buses.

Summarising

IELTS writing task 1 is essentially a summarising task. Your overview paragraph should contain

two or three sentences summarising the main features of the graph. In order to help you do this,
here are some short phrases.

 To summarise, the most marked change is….

 Overall it is clear….

 Overall the majority/minority….

 In sum, the most noticeable trend is….

Don’t say ‘to conclude’. This is only for discursive essays.

Fractions

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73%- nearly three quarters

51%- just over a half

49%- just under a half

32%- nearly a third

3%- a tiny fraction

50%- exactly a half

26%- roughly one quarter

49%- around a half

24%- almost a quarter

77%- approximately three quarters

Proportions

70%- a large proportion

71%- a significant majority

15% a small minority

3%- an insignificant minority

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