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Scott' s Eng l i sh Success
Practice Writing Writin g Test 1, Task 1 SAMPLE ANSWER + ANALYSIS DO NOT VIEW UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED COM PLETED THE TEST Disclaimer: The tests available from this site are not official IELTS® tests. All materials have been created by Scott's English Success for practice purposes only and are only representative representative of the styl s tylee of tests students will will encounter in an official IELTS® IELTS® exam. Actual real test scores and results may vary.
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Writing Lab 1, Task 1:
Sample Answer The pie charts charts s how information in relation to population growth in Australia in 2001. The top two two pie charts sho w that there there was only a very very sli ght increase in the Australian Australian popul ation in 2001. The increase cam e fairly equally from from both a natural birth increase and im mi grants m ov oving ing to the country with the former being slightly greater than the latter. The bottom bottom p ie chart shows a breakdown of the countries countries from which the imm igrants cam e. With With a contribution contribution of 34%, North and West Europe easil y make up the larges t portion portion of im mig rants to Australia. Australia. The next next largest contributors contr ibutors are Asia Asia a nd South and East Europe Europe – with contributions contributions of 23% and 21% respectively respectively.. New Zealand is next making up 9% of the im mig ration total total with the Americas Americas only one percent percent less in their contribution contr ibution at 8%. The sm alles t contribution contribution comes from North Afric Africa a and the Middle Middle Eas t with 5%. In sum mary, ‘Natural increase’ and ‘Imm igrants’ m ake up a sm all proportion of Australia’s tot total al population and Europe and Asia Asia prov provide ide the greatest number of im mig rants.
Why this answer would score well • good use of describing words (e.g. slight increase, increase, largest largest portion portion ) • good use of academic words (e.g. proximity, proximity, signific significant ant ) • good logical flow of ideas • app roxima roximately tely 170 words (must be more than 150 words) • spelling and punctuation are good http://www.scottseng l i sh.com/0_swtyvr Za/labs/Wr i ti ng /1_testanswer s1.asp
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• suitable conclusion/summary statement in the final paragraph
Analysing Paragraphs 1 & 2:
The pie charts s how information in relation to population growth in Australia in 2001. The top two pie charts show that there was only a very sli ght increase in the Australian population in 200 1. The increase cam e fairly equally from both a natural birth increase and im migrants mo ving to the country with the former being sli ghtly greater than the latter. Notes:
A clear introduction is given w hich paraphras es (not restate s) the w ords in the question. The deta ils w ritten a bout a re accurate, according to the graph (i.e. a s pecific detail about the s ubject - there was only a slight increase). good use of comparative structures (e.g. former and latter )
Analysing Paragraph 3:
The bottom pie chart shows a breakdown of the countries from which the imm igrants came. With a contribution of 34%, North and West Europe eas ily make up the larges t portion of im migrants to Australia. The next largest contributors are Asia and South and East Europe – with contributions of 23% and 21% resp ectively. New Zealand is next making up 9% of the im migration total with the Ame ricas only one percent less i n their contribution at 8%. The sm alles t contribution comes from North Africa and the Middle Eas t with 5%. Notes:
The major aspe cts/trends ha ve bee n identified and w ritten abo ut in different w ays. (e.g. with a contribution, the next largest contributors, smallest contribution) The trends have be en pres ente d in an organised w ay. Similar statistics have be en grouped to gethe r and clear reference has b ee n given to the o rder of the statistics (i.e. first, s econ d, third, et c.)
Analysing Paragraph 4:
In sum mary, ‘Natural increase’ and ‘Imm igrants’ m ake up a sm all proportion of Australia’s total population and Europe and Asia provide the greatest number of im mi grants. Notes:
A brief conclusion/summary state ment is given w hich comments upon a key a spe ct of the pie charts. It address es the main, broad a spe cts of the charts (which is su itable for a concluding comment).
How I developed this answer (Time Taken: 1-3 minutes)
Step 1: Understand the question and the subject material
I read the quest ion carefully and studied the subject material. I then underlined the following summary http://www.scottsenglish.com/0_swtyvrZa/labs/Writing/1_testanswers1.asp
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words on the test booklet: • key words: growth, population, Australia, 2001 • top t wo charts = Total population and Population growth • 3rd pie chart = Immigrants by region/country I then started formulating my introduction.
Step 2: Identify Trends
For ease of comparison, I focused on describing the top two graphs t ogether. I noticed the ‘Tot al Population’ chart showed a small increase and that the two factors affecting that increase were basically the same. The third pie chart is t he one I focused on because it had the most information. Very quickly, I noted that Europe was a big contributor to the Australian population. Asia and New Zealand were also significant contributors. I took t he following summary notes on t he test booklet: • N & W Europe – largest • Asia, S & E. Europe – 2nd and 3rd • NZ & America = similar contributions • smallest contributors = N. Africa & M id. East
Step 3: Decide on Conclusion/Summary Statement and/or Outcomes
This is an import ant p art of my answer because it shows the examiner how well I have understood t he graphs in the question. In reviewing my notes I could see Europe played a significant part in the growth of the Australian population. I took t he following summary notes on t he test booklet: • natural increase + immigrants small % of total pop. • Europe + Asia greatest immigrant %
Step 4: Plan and write your answer
Before I started writing I reviewed my notes and made sure my ideas were correct. I re-read all the titles and sub-titles on the graphs to make sure I was correctly addressing the question. I asked mys elf, “Have I mentioned the key trends from the graphs”? After checking again, I felt confident that I had. As I began writing my introduction, I was very careful NOT to repeat t he exact same words as in t he question. Using my notes on the paper, I wrote my answer making edits constantly (I write my answers using a pencil – but y ou can use pen on the t est if y ou like). I tried to vary t he length of t he sentences – some shorter, some longer. Once I had mentioned all the points in complete sentences, I left myself 2 minutes to proof read and correct any spelling and punctuation errors.
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