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Useful vocabulary to use in


IELTS Task 1 essays
Part of your score is based on vocabulary. Here are useful words and phrases to use that describe movement in
a graph or chart:

Similar words meaning “to become greater in number; to go up”:


to rise (v)
 Prices rose from $10 to $15 within 3 months. Prices rose by 50%.
 Note: Don’t confuse the verbs “rise” (to become more) with “raise” (to make something rise). Ex. School
fees are set to rise. Our school has raised their fees by 5%.
 As a noun: There was a rise of %5 in school fees.
to increase (v)
 Birth rates in New Zealand stood at 20,000 at the start of this period and increased to a peak of 66,000 in
1961.
 You can use increase from (a number) to (a number); increase by (number/percentage),
increase in value/price.
 Note: Don’t use “increase” to refer to the level or standard of something.
 As a noun: There was an increase in house prices for the first 5 years.
to grow (v)
 The population of internet users grew the fastest in Canada during this period.
 As a noun: Canada experienced the fastest growth in Internet usage.
to soar (v) - to fly upward, like a bird; rise to great heights
 While sales of Product B remained steady, sales of Product A soared during the fourth quarter.
to rocket/to skyrocket (v) - similar to soar – to fly upward to great heights
 By 2030 the elderly Japanese population is predicted to skyrocket 150% within one or two years. OR By
2030 the proportion of elderly Japanese is predicted to skyrocket to 25%of the population within one or
two years.
to spike (v) - to increase quickly then fall down again
 On the other hand, house prices spiked in the first two months after the recession.
 As a noun: There was a spike in house prices in the first two months after the recession.
to jump (v)
 New gym memberships jumped 10% immediately after the Christmas holiday period.
 As a noun: There was a 10% jump in new gym memberships immediately after the Christmas holiday
period.
to hit/reach a peak (v) - a peak is the highest point/level
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 From there, the audience level continues to rise sharply, reaching a peak of 45% of the population
between 6 and 10 pm, also aptly known as “prime time”.
to reach a high (v) - similar to “reach a peak”
 Conversely, audience levels for radio reaches a high in the morning by 9 am.
an upward trend (n)
 The graph shows an upward trend in household access to modern technology in the UK from 1996 to
2003.
to double (v) – increase 2 times
to triple (v) – increase 3 times
 House prices nearly doubled in that time period.

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Similar words meaning “to lessen, diminish, go down”:


to decrease (v)
 From that point, marriages decreased steadily until 1970 hitting a low of about 250,000.
 As a noun: From that point, there was a steady decease in marriages until 1970 when it hit a low of about
250,000.
to decline (v)
 Although Australian exports increased slightly in the first year to its peak in 1986, it gradually declined
to about 11 million tonnes in 1990, remaining the smallest of the three exporters.
 As a noun: Although there was an increase in Australian exports in the first year with a peak in 1986,
there was a gradual decline by 1990 and remained the smallest of the three exporters.
to drop (v)
 From 10 pm, audience levels drop dramatically to nearly 1% by 2 am.
 As a noun: From 10 pm there is a dramatic drop in audience levels to nearly 1% by 2 am.
to dip/ to take a dip (v) - to decrease but goes up again
 Between the 2nd and 3rd quarter, sales of Product D took a dip of 10%, but later regained growth by the
4th quarter.
 As a noun: There was a 10% dip in Product D sales between the 2nd and 3rd quarter followed by growth
by the 4th quarter.
to fall (v)
 From 10pm, audience levels fall sharply to nearly 1% by 2 am.
 As a noun: From 10 pm there is a sharp fall in audience levels to nearly 1% by 2 am.
to plunge (v); to plummet (v) - to fall quickly
to hit bottom (v); to reach a low (an all-time low) (v)
a downward trend (n)
 Overall, we can see a downward trend in marriages between 1951 and 2003.

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Similar words/expressions that mean ” to stay the same”:


to stabilize (v) - to hold at a steady level
 After a 10-year period of fluctuations, the total value stabilized at roughly 30% until 2005.
to remain/hold steady (v) ; to remain stable (v); to remain/stay constant (v) ; to remain/stay the same (v)
 By contrast, the figures for Japan remained steady just under 5% until the early 2000s.
 Remarriages, on the other hand enjoyed a slight increase from 1971, but overall remained
stable throughout the century, reaching around 100,000 by 2003.
to remain flat (v) - show no growth or little change
to level off (v) - after a period of change or shift, there is little movement and stays level
to plateau/to reach a plateau (v) - to reach a stable level
to bottom out (v) - to descend to the lowest point possible, after which only a rise can occur
 Exports continued to grow until it plateaued in 2002 for 5 years, after which it fell and then bottomed
out by 2009.

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Other useful vocabulary:


to fluctuate (v) - to change continually shifting up and down
 Student enrollment fluctuated wildly, but the trend was clearly upward.
 As a noun: There were wild fluctuations in student enrollment, but the trend was clearly upward.
to surpass (v) - to pass another and go beyond in amount, level or degree
 Although mobile phones started with the lowest accessibility in 1996, it surpassed the usage of home
computers at the beginning of 1999.
to exceed (v) - to go beyond in quantity, amount or degree
 In terms of following their budgets, Project X came in under their budget by 5K, whereas Project
Y exceeded their budget by 25K
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How do I answer an IELTS writing task 1?


To analyse this, we’ll look at a line graph. Look at the following question and the graph.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.


The line graph below shows changes in the amount and type
of fast food consumed by Australian teenagers from 1975 to
2000.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the


main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

There are three basic things you need to structure an IELTS writing task 1.

1. Introduce the graph


2. Give an overview
3. Give the detail

We’ll look at each of these in turn.


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1) Introduce the Graph


You need to begin with one or two sentences that state what the IELTS writing task 1
shows. To do this, paraphrase the title of the graph, making sure you put in a time
frame if there is one.

Here is an example for the above line graph:

The line graph illustrates the amount of fast food consumed by teenagers in
Australia between 1975 and 2000, a period of 25 years.

You can see this says the same thing as the title, but in a different way.

2) Give an Overview
You also need to state what the main trend or trends in the graph are. Don’t give detail
such as data here – you are just looking for something that describes what is
happening overall.

One thing that stands out in this graph is that one type of fast food fell over the period,
whilst the other two increased, so this would be a good overview.

Here is an example:

Overall, the consumption of fish and chips declined over the period, whereas
the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were eaten increased.

This covers the main changes that took place over the whole period.

You may sometimes see this overview as a conclusion. It does not matter if you put it
in the conclusion or the introduction when you do an IELTS writing task 1, but you
should provide an overview in one of these places.

3) Give the Detail


You can now give more specific detail in the body paragraphs.

When you give the detail in your body paragraphs in your IELTS writing task 1, you
must make reference to the data.

The key to organizing your body paragraphs for an IELTS writing task 1 is to group
data together where there are patterns.

To do this you need to identify any similarities and differences.

Look at the graph – what things are similar and what things are different?
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As we have already identified in the overview, the consumption of fish and chips
declined over the period, whereas the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were eaten
increased.

So it is clear that pizza and hamburgers were following a similar pattern, but fish and
chips were different. On this basis, you can use these as your ‘groups’, and focus one
paragraph on fish and chip and the other one on pizza and hamburgers.

Here is an example of the first paragraph:

In 1975, the most popular fast food with Australian teenagers was fish and
chips, being eaten 100 times a year. This was far higher than pizza and
hamburgers, which were consumed approximately 5 times a year. However,
apart from a brief rise again from 1980 to 1985, the consumption of fish and
chips gradually declined over the 25 year timescale to finish at just under 40
times per year.

As you can see, the focus is on fish and chips. This does not mean you should not
mention the other two foods, as you should still make comparisons of the data as the
questions asks.

The second body then focuses on the other foods:

In sharp contrast to this, teenagers ate the other two fast foods at much
higher levels. Pizza consumption increased gradually until it overtook the
consumption of fish and chips in 1990. It then leveled off from 1995 to 2000.
The biggest rise was seen in hamburgers, increasing sharply throughout the
1970’s and 1980’s, exceeding fish and chips consumption in 1985. It finished
at the same level that fish and chips began, with consumption at 100 times a
year.
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Full Model Answer:

The line graph illustrates the amount of fast food consumed by teenagers in Australia
between 1975 and 2000, a period of 25 years. Overall, the consumption of fish and
chips declined over the period, whereas the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were
eaten increased.

In 1975, the most popular fast food with Australian teenagers was fish and chips, being
eaten 100 times a year. This was far higher than Pizza and hamburgers, which were
consumed approximately 5 times a year. However, apart from a brief rise again from
1980 to 1985, the consumption of fish and chips gradually declined over the 25 year
timescale to finish at just under 40 times per year.

In sharp contrast to this, teenagers ate the other two fast foods at much higher levels.
Pizza consumption increased gradually until it overtook the consumption of fish and
chips in 1990. It then leveled off from 1995 to 2000. The biggest rise was seen in
hamburgers, increasing sharply throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, exceeding fish and
chips consumption in 1985. It finished at the same level that fish and chips began, with
consumption at 100 times a year.

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