Describing a process: Making Chocolate

The writing example below is an example of writing task 1 in IELTS test. Unfortunately, we could not provide the picture of the process.

The first diagram illustrates the process of making chocolate. The process begins with cocoa grinding, in which cocoa seeds are grinded to produce cocoa liquor. It also results waste products. Then, cocoa liquor either is pressed become cocoa powder and sold to food industry or is pressed become cocoa butter. Next, industrial chocolate is made from cocoa liquor or cocoa butter. Finally, sugar and other ingredients are added to refine the industrial chocolate and produce chocolate bar.

The second diagram shows how is the proportion from the retail price of a chocolate bar divided up. The pie chart indicates that the farmer who provides the raw material receive only 4% of the retail price. The supermarket, on the other hand, receives 34%. A rather small 10% due to the chocolate company while 15% is taken by the government in the form of taxes. The cost of overheads and production, make up the largest proportion, 37% of the retail price of a chocolate bar.

Submitted by Ady (ADS6mE, 2006)

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Writing Task1: Useful Words

Some useful words in IELTS writing task 1 that can be used especially in describing charts and graphs.

Expressing Ups :
rocket, soar, improve, bound/ bounce, rise, grow, escalate, increase, above trend, levitate, shoot up, jump up, surge, enhance, climb, upwards, hike/ boom, leap/ leapt.

Expressing Downs:
plunged, crash down, tumble, fall (down), fall over, collide, decrease, shrink, sink, drop, jump, down, dive, turn down, decline, reduce, descend, plummet

Other Expressions
hover, stay close, constant, remain stable, linger, hang around, went ups and downs, fluctuate, turn around, rotate/ revolve, reach the peak/ climax, recover, reach the lowest point, hit a low/ the highest point, dip, by pass, take over/ took over, overtake

Adverbs
approximately, steady, slowly, slightly, fairly, moderately, subsequently, significantly, suddenly, sharply/ rapidly, dramatically, quickly, erratically, irregularly, gradually, restlessly, simultaniously, fitfully

Please add more from your collections!!

Submitted by: Roni Wahyudi, Canberra

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Describing Graphs: Books Bought

Below is an example of IELTS writing task 1, especially on how to describe a chart or graph. Inspite of having no picture, I hope the experssion, structure, vocabulary and connecting words used are still worthwhile.

The graph indicates the average number of books bought per person per year from 1960 to 1990. Over the 30-year period, the trends were upward. The number of paperbacks bought was always above the hardback ones. The paperback books rose erratically from 20 in 1960 to nearly 40 in 1990. The hardback books, on the other hand, showed a steadily increase from 1960 to 1975, followed by a slight fall in 1980, before rising again to nearly 10 in 1990.

The bar chart shows the number of books bought, divided into five types i.e. biography, history, self-help, political and religious. From 1960 to 1990, there was a decidedly upward trend of self-help books bought, from only about 2 in 1960, reaching a peak at 30 in 1980, before standing at roughly 27 in 1990. In contrast, political books, which was quiet high at about 20 in the first ten years, dropped considerably to 8 in 1975 and remained steady until 1990. The religious books bought showed a decline in the first decade from 23 to 13, before climbing sightly to nearly 17 in 1990. Biography and history books, which were quiet popular in the first year, decreased gradually and hovered at less than 5.

Overall, the number of books bought over 30 years was upward, and the self-help books became more popular than biography and history.


(226 words)
This writing was corrected by my EAP teacher at IALF Bali.
Submitted by Ady Wirawan, ADS6ME, 2006

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Describing Charts: Cigarette Advertising

Below is an example of IELTS writing task 1, especially on how to describe a chart or graph. Inspite of having no picture, I hope the experssion, structure, vocabulary and connecting words used are still worthwhile.

The bar chart indicates the expenditure on cigarette advertising per media in Indonesia from 1995 to 2005. In general, there was a decline in expenditure. National newspaper and national TV were the two highest media in advertising expenditure, and both decreased significantly over the eleven-year period. Consumer magazines and local newspaper showed a slight fall, however consumer magazines had the highest amount of about 9.5 million dollars in 2005. National radio and network radio show a stable amount of advertising expenditure and show a significant decline to nearly zero in 2005. Cable TV and the Internet, however, showed an increase, even the Internet shot up more than 400% in advertising expenditure.

The line graph shows the comparison of male and female smokers in Indonesia from 1995 to 2005. Over the eleven-year period, the trends were obviously downward. The decline of male smokers was significant, of more than 50%. Female smokers showed a slight decrease and in 2005, the gap between male and female smokers was only about 10%.

Overall, there was a correlation between the amount of expenditure on smoking advertisements and the decline in the number of smokers.

(189 words)
This writing was corrected by my EAP teacher at IALF Bali.
Submitted by Ady Wirawan, ADS 6ME, 2006

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Describing a process: Camera

In IELTS writing task 1, sometimes we are asked to describe a process. Here, I present an example of how to describe the development of the camera. Unfortunately, I cannot present the diagram or picture, but we can learn the expression, structure, and connecting word used.
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The diagrams illustrate how the camera has developed since its invention in 1893. Basically, the design of all cameras is similar. They consist of two main parts i.e. body and lens.

There are some considerable similarities between all cameras. The shape of all cameras from the Daguerrotype to the Digital camera is roughly rectangular. Another similarity is the lenses on the front of the cameras, which are cylindrical in shape.

The development of the camera from 1839 to 2000 is characterized by a number of significant differences. First, the structure of the cameras has considerably changed. The first camera is made of wood, the 1888 Kodak No.1 and 1925 Leica 1 are made of metal, and the 2000 Digital camera is made of plastic. Second, the size of the cameras has gradually become smaller. The 1839 Daguerrotype is 36 cm in length, while the Kodak and Leica are approximately half the size of the first one, and the Digital camera is only 8 cm in length. Finally, the features of the cameras have also developed from the simple to the more complex types, which have LCD screens, Internet connections and zoom lenses.

Overall, although the basic concept of the camera has remained the same since it was invented, there have been many changes in the development of the camera.

(219 words)
This work was corrected by my EAP teacher at IALF Bali.
Submitted by Ady Wirawan, ADS 6ME, 2006

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