IELTS Writing task 1 Introduction & Overview for Data

MODULE 1

Task 1 : Introduction & Overview

FOCUS ON INTRODUCTION
A. How to write an introduction:
This is the template for writing introduction for both types of data.

The graph/chart + indicates / illustrates/provides + information about/on (+ what + where+ when)

Common paraphrased phrases and clauses.

Phrases  Clauses

The number of  How many + n + V

The quantity of
The amount of  How much + n + V
The percentage of  The proportion of
The noun + of/for + n  Wh-words + S + V + O

Task question: The graph below gives information about car ownership in the UK from 1971 to 2007.
 The line graph describes (descriptive verb) information about changes in the number of cars
owned (what) in the UK (where) during a period of 36 years, between 1971 and 2007 (when).
Exercise 1: Which is the best introductory sentence for a description of this graph from the
following?

a. This graph shows the changes in world meat Production between 1950 and 1990.
b. From this graph we can see that most meat production is a lot higher in 1990 than in 1950.
c. Between 1950 and 1990 meat production in the world rose significantly for all kinds of meat
except sheep and goat meat.
d. The graph shows that in 1950 production of poultry and sheep and goat meat was less than 5
million tons, while production of pork and beef and buffalo meat was around 20 million tons.

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IELTS Writing task 1 Introduction & Overview for Data

Exercise 2: Identify descriptive verbs, what, where, and when in the following introductions.
Underline the corresponding parts and mark DV (descriptive verb), what, where and when.
DV what where when
Ex: The graph describes changes in the number of cars owned in the UK during a period of 36 years,
from 1971 to 2007.
1. The line graph compares the percentage of unemployed people in France from 1990 to 2000.
2. The charts show how much water was used for agriculture, industry and homes around the world,
and water use in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
3. The bar chart illustrates how much money was spent on six consumer goods in four European
countries.
4. The bar chart compares how many students had part-time jobs in Canada over the 10- year course
from 1990 to 2000.
5. The three bar charts show average years of schooling, numbers of scientists and technicians, and
research and development in developing and developed countries. Figures are given for 1980 and
1990.
Exercise 3: The following sentences are the task questions of the introductions in Exercise 2.
Identify the paraphrased versions and complete the following table.
0. The graph below gives information about car ownership in the UK from 1971 to 2007.
1. The graph below shows the proportion of people who were unemployed in France from 1990 to
2000.
2. The graph and table below give information about water use worldwide and water consumption in
two different countries.
3. The graph below gives information about the amount of money spent on six different items in
Germany, Italy, France and Britain.
4. The bar chart gives information about the number of students who had part-time jobs in Canada
from 1990 to 2000.
5. The charts below show the levels of participation in education and science in developing and
industrialized countries in 1980 and 1990.
No Features Task question (Ex3) Introduction (Ex2)
0 DV gives information about describes changes
what car ownership the number of cars owned
where in the UK in the UK
when from 1971 to 2007 during a period of 36 years, from 1971 to 2007
1 DV shows compares

what the proportion of people who were the percentage of umemployed people
unemployed
where in France in France

when from 1990 to 2000 from 1990 to 2000

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IELTS Writing task 1 Introduction & Overview for Data

2 DV give information about show

what water use worldwide and water comsumption how much water was used for agriculture, industry and homes
around the world, and water use
where in two different countries in Brazil and Democratic Republic of Congo

when
3 DV gives information about illustrates

what the amount of money spent on six different

how much money was spent on six consumer goods
items
where in Germany, Italy, France and Britain in four European countries

when
4 DV gives information about compares

what the number of students who had part-time jobs how many students had part-time jobs

where in Canada in Canada

when from 1980 to 1990 over the 10-year course from 1990 to 2000

5 DV show show

what the levels of participation in education and average years of schooling, numbers of scientists
and technicians, and research and development
science
where in developing and industrialized countries in developing and developed countries

when in 1980 and 1990 for 1980 and 1990

B. How to use time expressions

Here are the common ones:
o in o around / about o (in) the period from…to
o between … and o by o (in) the period between … and
o during o at o in the first/last three months of the year
o before o since o over the period of …… years
o from - to / until o then o over the next years/ decades/ quarter of a
o after o in the 1980s century
o for o after that o over a ten-year period
o in the 1980s o throughout the 19th century
o from that time on

Exercise 4: Look again at the graph of World Meat Production (in Ex 1) and complete the following
statements with a suitable expression of time
1. The production of sheep and goat meat remained almost unchanged …………………. .
2. ……………………. the production of pork rose sharply.
3. Poultry production increased slowly …………………. and …………………. rose dramatically.
4. Beef and buffalo production experienced steady growth …………………. .

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IELTS Writing task 1 Introduction & Overview for Data

C. How to use quantifiers

 the number of + plurals
The given graph illustrates the number of tourists who arrived in London last year.
• how many + plurals
The given graph illustrates how many tourists arrived in London last year.
• the amount of + unaccountable
The given graph illustrates the amount of money which was spent in London last year.
• how much + unaccountable
The given graph illustrates how much money was spent in London last year.
• the percentage of + nouns
The given graph illustrates the percentage of tourists who arrived in London last year.
• the proportion of + nouns
The given graph illustrates the percentage of tourists who arrived in London last year.
• the … rates/the rate of nouns
The given graph illustrates the unemployment rates of London last year.
• the quantity of + water/food/money/materials (oil, fuel, gas)
The given graph illustrates the quantity of money which was spent in London last year.
• the volume of + water/air/traffic/work/production
The given graph illustrates the volume of traffic in London last year.

Exercise 5: Write an introduction paragraph for these graphs.

1 The table below shows the percentage of cars owned in a European country from 1990 to 2010.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The table illustrates the proportion of car ownership in a European country between 1990 and 2010.

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2 The bar graph shows the number of tourists who came to Korea from 1970 to 2010 and projections
to 2050.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The bar chart describes how many visitors travel to Korea in the period from 1970 to 2010
and predictions to toward 2050
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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during a period of 4 decades from 1970 to
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2000 and projected figures to 2050
3 The bar graph below compares the amount of time people of different ages spent watching
television and being online in 2000 and 2010.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The bar chart indicates how much time of each groups age take time for watching programs on
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
the TV and using smartphone over two-year period.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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IELTS Writing task 1 Introduction & Overview for Data

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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4 The two pie charts compare levels of education reached by men and women in the USA in the years
1960 and 2010.
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5 The graph below gives information about the number of children born per woman in a country from
1970 and 2000
.……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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6 The graph below gives information about the number of people who were unemployed in the UK
from 2010 to 2015.
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7 The graph below gives information about literacy rates in 2004
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8 The graph below gives information about the amount of water stored in a reservoir.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The chart indicates how much water contain in the inventory.
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……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
9 The graph below shows the amount of greenhouse gas emitted from three different sources in the
UK.

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IELTS Writing task 1 Introduction & Overview for Data

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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10 The graph below gives information about how people aged 25-34 are housed in the UK.
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OVERVIEW
A. How to write overview:
The overview shows the ‘big picture’, or the the most general trend. It can be placed after the
introduction, or at the end of the report. Following is the suggested ways for writing an overview:

 Static data: Shape (the highest/biggest /the most popular OR the smallest/ lowest)
 Dynamic data: Trend + how + Comparison

B. Introductory expressions:

 Overall,
 In general,
 Generally,
 It can be clearly seen that
 It is noticeable that
 It is immediately apparent that
 Overall, what stands out from the graph/chart is that

C. Suggested templates:

 [1 trend] Overall, what stands out from the graph is that there were/was X upward/ downward
trend/upswing in the ….. + time expression.
 [1 trend] It is immediately apparent that the + n (of n) saw / witnessed + X increase/decrease +
time expression.
 [1 trend] The + n (of n) fluctuated / saw/ witnessed + Y + time expression.
 [2 opposite trends] Overall, what stands out from the graph is that there were/was X upward/
downward trend/upswing in the ….., while / whereas the + n (of n) fluctuated / saw/ witnessed
+ Y + time expression.

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IELTS Writing task 1 Introduction & Overview for Data

 [2 opposite trends] Overall, what stands out from the graph is that there were/was X upward/
downward trend/upswing in the ….., while / whereas it was opposite/ not true for + n + time
expression.
 [2 similar trends] Overall, what stands out from the graph is that there were X upward/
downward trends/upswings in the ….. of both ….and… + time expression.

Note:

 X: adjectives about trends (considerable, dramatic, significant, gradual, slightly, etc.)

 Y: adverbs about trends (considerably, significantly, gradually, slightly, ect.)

Exercise 6: Look at the chart and read the sentences, then decide which ones can be overviews for
this chart.

Yes/ No
no 1. Generally speaking, the three lines in the diagram fluctuated a lot.
2. It can be clearly seen that, while sales for all categories rose over this time
yes
period, figures for Windows were usually higher than the other two.
no 3. In general, all three categories went up over this time period.
4. Revenue for Windows was nearly always higher than the other two categories,
yes Google and iPod, over a three-year period from 2004 to 2006.
5. An overview of this diagram shows that Windows climb gradually and fell at the
yes
end, Google went up dramatically and iPod fluctuated a lot.
6. A close look at the diagram highlights the fact that the revenue for all three
no categories, Windows, Google and iPod, rose over this period of time.

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IELTS Writing task 1 Introduction & Overview for Data

Exercise 7: Read the following introduction and overview of the task. Then, draw a graph.
The given graph shows changes in the proportion of cars owned in the UK over the 30-year course
from 1975 to 2005.
The initial impression from the graph is that the percentage of people having 2 or more than 3 cars
showed upward trends, whereas the figure for those having no car generally decreased. 1-car
ownership rate, despite a marginal dip in the first ten years, still remained prevalent among the four
ownership classifications.
Exercise 8: Write overviews for the following graphs.
1. The bar chart shows the rate of overweight males and females in Australia from 1980 to 2010.

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2. The line graph shows the percentage of New Zealand population from 1950 to 2050.

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IELTS Writing task 1 Introduction & Overview for Data

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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3. The table gives information about five types of vehicles registered in Australia in 2010, 2012 and
2014

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4. The graph below shows the number of enquiries the Tourist Information Office received in one city
over a six-month period in 2011.

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IELTS Writing task 1 Introduction & Overview for Data

5. The table shows the number of employees and factories producing silk in England and Wales
between 1851 and 1901.

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6.The chart below shows the average hours of unpaid work per week done by people in different
categories.

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