IELTS Writing Task 1: How to Analyse a Process

IELTS Writing Task 1: How to Analyse a Process

It’s very important to study and practice all the different Task 1 types so you can be fully prepared for your exam, including an IELTS Writing Task 1 Process.

A lot of IELTS students (and teachers & books) focus too much on charts and tables, and not enough on other types such as maps and processes.

Recently, process diagrams have been appearing more and more in the IELTS Writing exam. In this post we look at how to analyse a process carefully including the kind of process, how many steps and main stages, and knowing what is happening at each step.

Be sure to avoid the mistakes that most students make on writing by signing up for my exclusive IELTS Ebooks here on Patreon.

Dave

The Kind of Process

The process diagram below is based on a real IELTS exam from Jan 2018, and shows how orange juice is made. Click here for a sample answer for this question with line by line analysis.

As you can see I’ve written on the top of the diagram (in red), to help me remember two important points:

  • It’s a man-made process, which means it is carried out by people, compared to a natural process (e.g. the salmon life cycle below).

  • It’s a linear process. This means it starts and finishes in different places. It doesn’t repeat itself. In a cyclical process (salmon life cycle below), at the end of the process it goes back to the beginning – it repeats.

Steps and Stages

After confirming the kind of process, you should identify (find) how many steps there are, and categorise them logically into main stages.

Count and Order the Steps Logically

The first task is easy – just follow the process logically (following the arrows) and number them as you go (see my example below). From this it’s clear to see that there are a total of 17 steps

Remember to number the steps logically so that it follows the process (following the arrows), which helps you to see the process and its main stages. Compare my numbering above with the one below.

The 2nd example also shows 17 steps but I numbered them left to right, which is not as helpful for analysing the diagram.

Divide the Steps into Stages

Similar to other Task 1 question types, if you want a band 7 or above for Task Achievement you need a clear overview that summarises the whole diagram. For a process diagram, this means the examiner wants you to divide the process into main stages.

This is tricky (difficult) as there is often more than one possible way. Choose whichever way you think is logical, and draw lines on the diagram to help you analyse and remember the stages.

In the first example (see below), I have divided the process into three main stages. This is logical because it matches the three main industrial processes in three different factory locations:

  • Purple: (Extraction) – producing & delivering fresh juice to supermarkets (and its by-product to farms).

  • Blue: (Evaporation) – creating concentrated juice for storage.

  • Pink: (Rehydration)  – producing reconstituted orange juice for supermarkets.

Alternatively, you could break the process down into four main stages (see below). Again I have used lines to help me analyse and remember:

  • Purple: (Extraction) – processing fresh juice and its by-product

  • Green: (Delivery) – the fresh juice is taken to supermarkets, and the solid waste to farms

  • Blue: (Evaporation) – creating concentrated juice for storage.

  • Pink: (Rehydration) – producing reconstituted orange juice for supermarkets.

Analyse Every Step – What, Where, How, Why

You need to analyse every step of the process and identify what kind of step it is, and therefore what is happening to the oranges at each step. For example:

  • Does it show an activity? (e.g. packaging) or a product? (e.g. fresh juice)

  • Is it a main industrial activity? (e.g. evaporation, extraction, rehydration)

  • Is it preparation for a main industrial activity? (e.g. washing)

  • Does it involve a break in the process? (e.g. storage)

  • Does it involve transportation? (being taken from one factory to another, or to a warehouse or shop)

  • Does it involve packaging? (e.g. canning)

  • Is something being added or removed? (e.g. water in evaporation / rehydration)

  • Does it involve a by-product of the main process? (e.g. producing animal feed from solid waste)

  • Is it labelled? (e.g. rehydration doesn’t have the word. It just says factory + water)

Now it’s your turn! Put your answers in the comments.

Using my notes write some sentences to describe this process.

Check your ideas with my model answer here.

IELTS Writing Task 1 Sample Answer: Orange Juice (Process)

IELTS Writing Task 1 Sample Answer: Orange Juice (Process)

This sample answer is based on a real IELTS Writing Task 1 question from Jan 2018. But there is so much more in this post than just a sample answer. Aren’t you guys lucky? I’ve also included:

  • A quick analysis of the question – check here for more detailed analysis.

  • Line by line analysis of the sample answer.

  • Useful Vocabulary from the sample answer and links to practice games and exercises.

  • Cool topic-related links about all things orangey.

As well as our Task 1 sample answers, check out our Task 2 sample essays here: IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answers.

You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel for some IELTS Speaking Sample Answers: HowtodoIELTS YouTube.

Be sure to avoid the mistakes that most students make on writing by signing up for my exclusive IELTS Ebooks here on Patreon.

Dave

Question Analysis 

Looking at the diagram above, you can see the question focuses on how fresh and reconstituted orange juice is produced. An exciting topic!

If you need more help with analysing this process, check out my recent post on how to identify the kind of process, how to divide the process into its main stages, and how to recognise what is happening at every step.

I suggest making notes on the diagram in the exam, in order to number the steps and divide them logically into main stages. Your question paper should end up looking something like this:

Sample Answer

The diagram illustrates the linear process of producing fresh and concentrated orange juice for the purposes of selling in supermarkets. There are total of 17 steps which can be organised into three main stages. These include producing and delivering fresh orange juice to supermarkets, processing the fresh juice to create concentrated juice for storage, and finally producing reconstituted orange juice which is then sold to the general public.

The process commences with fresh oranges being delivered to a factory, where the raw product is washed and juice is extracted with excess solid waste being used as animal feed. At this point in the process the fresh juice is either delivered in refrigerated trucks for evaporation or packaged and transported to supermarkets for selling to customers. Evaporation is carried out at a separate facility, removing water and resulting in the production of concentrated orange juice, which is subsequently canned and stored in a warehouse. As required, the orange concentrate is then processed in a third and final plant, where it is mixed with water in order to produce reconstituted orange juice, which is then packaged and ultimately delivered to supermarkets.

Analysis 

Firstly, it’s important to note that this answer has clear paragraphing.

The first paragraph contains an introductory sentence and the overview. The second paragraph presents the detailed figures.

Although in IELTS Writing Task 1, paragraphing isn’t mentioned in the band descriptors below band 8, it is still a good idea to use paragraphs to organise your writing as it makes it more logical.

This helps the examiner to read your answer, and that is always a good thing!

Paragraph 1: Introduction and Overview

The diagram illustrates the linear process of producing fresh and concentrated orange juice for the purposes of selling in supermarkets. There are total of 17 steps which can be organised into three main stages. These include producing and delivering fresh orange juice to supermarkets, processing the fresh juice to create concentrated juice for storage, and finally producing reconstituted orange juice which is then sold to the general public.

  • The first sentence introduces the process, by paraphrasing (not copying) the question.

  • The second sentence begins the overview of the process by confirming the number of steps and main stages.

  • The third sentence completes the overview by summarising the whole process by identifying the three main stages. 

Paragraph 2: Detailed Figures

The process commences with fresh oranges being delivered to a factory, where the raw product is washed and juice is extracted with excess solid waste being used as animal feed. At this point in the process the fresh juice is either delivered in refrigerated trucks for evaporation or packaged and transported to supermarkets for selling to customers. Evaporation is carried out at a separate facility, removing water and resulting in the production of concentrated orange juice, which is subsequently canned and stored in a warehouse. As required, the orange concentrate is then processed in a third and final plant, where it is mixed with water in order to produce reconstituted orange juice, which is then packaged and ultimately delivered to supermarkets.

  • The first sentence begins the description of the detail of the process by describing the first six steps. 

  • The second sentence describes steps 7-10. 

  • The third sentence describes steps 11-14.

  • The fourth sentence completes the detailed description of the process by describing steps 15-17. No conclusion is required for Task 1 writing. 

Useful Vocabulary (see Quizlet link below for practice activities)

a diagram (n) –  a picture

illustrates (v) – shows

a linear process (n) – a process happening in a line

fresh (adj) – recently picked or prepared

concentrated (adj) – made stronger by removing water

purpose (n) – a reason for doing something

reconstituted (adj) – to add water to something

raw (adJ) – not cooked or processed

extraction (n) – to remove something

excess (n) – too much

solid waste (n) – leftover hard material (not a liquid or gas)

animal feed (n) – food for animals

evaporation (n) – remove water by heating

a facility (n) – a place with a special purpose

packaged (v) – to put in a packet or box for selling

transported (v) – to be moved from one place to another

delivered (v) – to be transported to the end user or customer

subsequently (adv) – after something else happened

a plant (n) – a factory

ultimately (adv) – finally

FREE Online Vocabulary Practice 

I’ve prepared some practice games and vocab exercises on Quizlet for these words taken from the sample answer. Quizlet is a really fun and convenient way to learn and practice vocab and it’s free!

Try it out, and use it whenever you have a spare few minutes.

If you need more help using Quizlet, check out this video lesson (starts from 34m36s).

Check out Quizlet for great online vocabulary activities for free!

Learn more about everything Orange! – Related Articles and Videos

Check out these links for fun and interesting videos and articles about all things orange!

Find out why Donald Trump is so orange.

Orange Juice’s Dirty Secret

How Orange Juice is Made

Cool Facts about Oranges

Health Benefits of Oranges

Unusual Uses of Orange

Why is Donald Trump’s Skin Orange?

Why do People Eat Oranges in the Shower?

Why do Dutch People Love the Colour Orange?

Should you Watch the Subtitles on Movies and TV when Learning English?

Should you Watch the Subtitles on Movies and TV when Learning English?

This is a question that students and friends ask me all the time on our Facebook and our Instagram. When watching a movie or TV show or YouTube video: ‘Should I watch it with English subtitles? Subtitles in my language? Or no subtitles at all?’

‘Just watching and learning is most important,’ I say to avoid thinking about the question. But there are actually good reasons for trying all 3 methods.

But let’s look at the reasons for all 3, based on 10 years of teaching experience and IELTS examining!

And head over to our YouTube Channel to practice if you have time!

Be sure to avoid the mistakes that most students make on writing by signing up for my exclusive IELTS Ebooks here on Patreon.

Dave

Should you subtitle when learning English?

Why English Subtitles are Good

The main reason that it is good to use the English subtitles is that your listening ability is probably not as good as your reading ability.

By watching and reading the subtitles you will be able to match together what the characters are saying with the actual words.

Not only that but the images and story will make some of the vocabulary clearer.

This is very similar to the way that you learned your native language as a kid.

But there is one big difference – as a kid you learned without subtitles and your listening and speaking probably improved faster than your reading and writing.

The big drawback to this approach is related to your listening and pronunciation.

Your listening may get worse because you may become dependent on the subtitles and not improve your listening. This might not happen, but if it does, you could end up with poor listening skills.

Your pronunciation could also get worse. That’s because in English words are not always said the way they are spelled. We don’t say ‘Sit down’ as two separate words – we say ‘Si-down,’ we don’t even pronounce the ‘b’ in ‘comb’ or the ‘k’ in ‘knight’!

Reading the subtitles may focus you too much on the spelling and hurt your pronunciation.

In conclusion, watching with English subtitles is good for improving your language skills (vocabulary, grammar, etc.) but it may hurt your listening and pronunciation.

You can practice it with the live lessons on our YouTube channel which all feature subtitling.

Why Native Language Subtitles are Good

I have a lot of friends who swear by this method.

One teacher I know, who spoke completely fluent English despite only beginning to learn at age 12, used to watch cartoons in English and figure out from the subtitles in Romanian what the words meant.

There is also a lot of good research to suggest this can be effective.

It works because a clever and active listener can link together the meaning they already understand from the subtitles.

This is supported by research that shows one of the best and most memorable ways to learn English is by making comparisons between your native language and English.

However, there are two very serious drawbacks.

The first one is what happens in the majority of cases: people just read the subtitles in their language and mostly ignore the English. Lots of people even turn down the volume and just read the screen!

The second one is that it encourages you to translate from English back to your language.

This might later hurt your listening comprehension: instead of listening and understanding you will listen, translate and understand.

If you carry over this habit to speaking and writing it will also slow you down. You don’t want to be translating every single word when speaking or writing – it should flow out more naturally.

This might not happen – but you must be very active practicing with the vocabulary that you learn to make sure you don’t end up like an old slow smartphone that takes 5 minutes just to load up Google!

Why No Subtitles at all are Good

This is the way that you learned your native language.

You listened to your parents, friends and teachers. You watched TV shows and movies without subtitles.

This is the most natural way to learn English.

When you learn this way, your pronunciation will be good because you only focus on the sounds, never the spelling of the words.

You will develop excellent listening skills because there will be no help from the subtitles.

However, because this way requires you to be completely independent, it is also much harder.

For a long time it will be confusing and difficult (maybe too difficult!) and you might give up.

Only use this method alone if you are already confident with English, you have lots of free time or you enjoy challenges.

Aristotle said this.

How to Combine Different Ways of Using Subtitles

Aristotle’s quote means that the best method is not at either extreme, but somewhere in the middle – moderation in all things.

Jumping in without any subs at all is a huge challenge – you might give up.

Using just one approach has advantages but also disadvantages. You will end up with one skill – listening or vocabulary – stronger than the other.

You should combine the approaches to make sure that your skills are well-rounded – moderation in all things.

Here are some ideas for how to combine these approaches (all Netflix programming has subtitles and you can also check out this YouTube playlist I made! (be sure to hit the CC button for some of them to turn on the subs!)):

  1. No Sound: Try watching a video on YouTube or Netflix with no sound first. Pay attention to the body language. Try to guess what they are saying. Write down some ideas. Then listen. Take some notes of words they said. Then watch with subtitles and check again. Then watch again with no sound and no subtitles and try to remember what they said. Keep trying variations of this until you know the whole scene by heart!

  2. Native Language First: Watch with subtitles in your native language first so that the meaning is clear. Then make notes on some of the English words used. Try to rewrite the whole thing in English. Keep watching until you fully understand the English.

  3. Eng Subs First: Watch it with English subtitles first. How much can you understand? Make notes in two columns: things you understand and things you don’t understand. Watch it a couple of times with English subtitles and try to move everything into the understand column. Then watch it with your native language subtitles and again try to move everything to the understand column.

  4. No Subs First: Watch it without any subtitles. Write down the things you can and can’t understand. Keep watching it until you understand as much as possible. Then put on the English subtitles and keep watching it. Finally, use your native language subtitles to understand it totally. Watch it from the beginning with no subs again and see the progress you have made!

  5. Switching Throughout: The above 4 ideas work best with short videos that you watch repeatedly. That might be boring. Watch a whole show or movie. But don’t just use one technique. Keep your brain active by changing it up: sometimes no subs, sometimes native language subs and sometimes English subs. Try to enjoy it as well!

  6. Review, Review, Review: All the above ideas will work – my personal guarantee as a teacher and former IELTS examiner. But the most important thing to make real progress is to review. Studying without reviewing is like working out once a week – you won’t see a big difference. Drag yourself back to the gym to exercise again and again and you’ll get stronger. Review the same scenes, movies and shows over and over again until you are confident you understand everything. Then begin to practice using the language you learned. That is the essence of language learning – now stop reading this and just go do it!

IELTS Writing Task 1 Sample Answer: Movie Production (Bar Chart)

IELTS Writing Task 1 Sample Answer: Movie Production (Bar Chart)

This is an example of a real question from the exam – keep reading our IELTS sample answer to find out exactly how to deal with bar charts showing time!

Be sure to avoid the mistakes that most students make on writing by signing up for my exclusive IELTS Ebooks here on Patreon.

You can also check out this post on pie charts and changes over time for more tips. On our YouTube Channel you’ll find sample speaking answers.

The first important thing to notice about this chart isn’t that it is a bar chart. That isn’t very important.

Pay attention to the fact that it is showing change over time, from 2007 to 2009. That means that you have to include the general trend in your overview and include vocabulary like ‘sharp rise’ and ‘precipitous drop’ throughout.

Let’s take a look at the sample answer – then there is some online practice for you to do and an example of good note taking!

The chart below shows the number of films produced by five countries in three years. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Sample Answer

The bar chart compares film production in five different countries in the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. Overall, country A produced the most films during the given three-year period followed by country B, while the film industry was not as strong in countries C, D, and E. The largest increase was in country B while country A experienced a small decrease and there were minimal rises in the other nations.

Leading the chart in 2007, country A produced approximately 87 movies and this figure remained unchanged the next year before decreasing to 80 in 2009. On the contrary, a reverse trend was witnessed in B’s film production. Only manufacturing 50 movies in 2007,  country B produced 3 more films the next year and about 17 films in 2009, which was the most significant rise among all the countries surveyed.

With substantially lower output, countries C, D, and E were responsible for fewer than 20 movies in each year. Specifically, about 8 films were manufactured in C in the first year, before this figure increased twofold in 2008 and finally reached 18 movies in 2009. Country E also experienced an upward trend, increasing from approximately 9 films to around 12 films by the end of the period. In contrast, country D decreased sharply from around 13 films in 2007 to 8 in 2008 (the lowest number among all countries that year) before recovering to 12 films produced in 2009.

Analysis

Introduction: 1. The bar chart compares film production in five different countries in the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. 2. Overall, country A produced the most films during the given three-year period followed by country B, while the film industry was not as strong in countries C, D, and E.  3. The largest increase was in country B while country A experienced a small decrease and there were minimal rises in the other nations.

1. The first sentence simple paraphrases the topic – don’t spend too much time worrying about this sentence. Write it quickly.

2-3. The second and third sentences are the most important sentence of the whole essay: the general overview. I describe which countries were the biggest/smallest overall and also whether or not each country had an increasing/decreasing trend for the whole period.

Body Paragraph 1: 1. Leading the chart in 2007, country A produced approximately 87 movies and this figure remained unchanged the next year before decreasing to 80 in 2009. 2. On the contrary, a reverse trend was witnessed in B’s film production. 3. Only manufacturing 50 movies in 2007, country B produced 3 more films the next year and about 17 films in 2009, which was the most significant rise among all the countries surveyed.

1. The first sentence describes the figures for the leading country.

2. My second sentence transitions to country B, which was in second place. It’s important to always compare. I compare country B to country C.

3. The third sentence gives the detailed data for country B.

Body Paragraph 2: 1. With substantially lower output, countries C, D, and E were responsible for fewer than 20 movies in each year. 2. Specifically, about 8 films were manufactured in C in the first year, before this figure increased twofold in 2008 and finally reached 18 movies in 2009. 3. Country E also experienced an upward trend, increasing from approximately 9 films to around 12 films by the end of the period. 4. In contrast, country D decreased sharply from around 13 films in 2007 to 8 in 2008 (the lowest number among all countries that year) before recovering to 12 films produced in 2009.

1. The first sentence is a topic sentence that focuses on the three countries with fewer films produced.

2. The second sentence describes the data across the whole period for country C.

3. My third sentence describes the data across the whole period for country E.

4. The fourth sentence describes the data across the whole period for country D.

Vocabulary Practice

Quizlet is an amazing website for helping students to improve their vocabulary and grammar through practice activities (that we designed).

Don’t believe me?

Check it out! We’ve included a set of vocabulary from the sample answer above for you to study.

Quizlet Vocabulary Study

IELTS sample answer vocabulary practice!

Related Articles and Videos

Film Production Statistics

Largest Film Industries in the World

Top 10 Countries for Film Production Video

Example Notes

Here are some notes I made on the vocabulary from the IELTS sample answer (from our Instagram page)!

IELTS Task 1 Writing notes from our Instagram page!

IELTS Task 1 Writing notes from our Instagram page!

IELTS Task 1 Writing notes from our Instagram page!

FINALLY: Here is a BAND 6 STUDENT MODEL ANSWER

Can you find the mistakes in it?

Introduction: The bar chart compares film in five different countries in three years 2007, 2008 and 2009. It is obvious that whereas countries A and D observed a slight decline in film production, a considerable growth in the figure of country C and a marginal rise in B and E were recorded during the period shown.

Body Paragraph 1: A created approximately 87 movies and this figure remained unchanged the next year before decreasing to 80 in 2009. On the contrary, a reverse trend witnessed in B’s film production. Only manufacture 50 movies in 2007, B produced 3 more films in the next year and rose about 17 films in 2009.

Body Paragraph 2: With substantially lower production, countries C, D, and E made less than 20 movies. Specifically, about 8 films manufactured in C in the first year, then reaching 18 in 2009. Likewise, an increase of 4 films from 9 to 13 was in country E. By contrast, country D was with 9 movies 2008 because overall downward trend to 14 movies in 2009.

Answers:

Introduction: The bar chart compares films in five different countries in three years 2007, 2008 and 2009. It is obvious that whereas countries A and D observed a slight decline in film production, a considerable growth in the figure of country C and a marginal rise in B and E were recorded during the period shown. (The overview isn’t good enough to get above Band 6. It clearly gives the main trends but doesn’t include any information ranking which countries produced the most/least.)

Body Paragraph 1: A created produced approximately 87 movies and this figure remained unchanged the next year before decreasing to 80 in 2009. On the contrary, a reverse trend was witnessed in B’s film production. Only manufacturing 50 movies in 2007, B produced 3 more films in the next year and rose to about 17 films in 2009.

Body Paragraph 2: With substantially lower production, countries C, D, and E made less than 20 movies. Specifically, about 8 films were manufactured in C in the first year, then before reaching 18 in 2009. Likewise, an increase of 4 films from 9 to 13 was seen in country E. By contrast, country D was with produced only 9 movies 2008 because and experienced an overall downward trend to 14 movies in 2009.

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer: Cities

IELTS Writing Task 2 Sample Answer: Cities

 

This is an IELTS Sample Answer for Task 2 Writing about cities from January, 2018 – it’s a good question as far as boring IELTS questions go!

Be sure to avoid the mistakes that most students make on writing by signing up for my exclusive IELTS Ebooks here on Patreon.

There’s nothing really that tricky with this question. The main area my students struggled with was not supporting their main ideas enough in the first paragraph.

Read this sample answer and analysis and complete the vocabulary exercises below it in quizlet.

Check out the links to articles and videos to become more familiar with the topic.

If you want to read another sample answer you can check out this one on businesses.

Here is a link for all my sample answers.

You can also follow us on our Instagram for early previews of our sample answers.

The recent questions from the IELTS writing task 2 exam are here, task 1 is here and the speaking questions and topics are here.

Dave

Task 2 IELTS Sample Answer

Living in large cities today poses many problems for people.

What are these problems? Should governments encourage more people to live in smaller towns?

 

More and more people live in cities today than at any point in the past and this trend will likely continue in the future. This has resulted in many problems including extreme overcrowding and governments should take measures to make living outside cities more attractive.

There are a wide range of drawbacks associated with the rise of modern cities but one of the most obvious issues is related to population density. The large number of people crammed into a relatively small area has caused expensive housing, increased traffic and severe pollution. For example, apartment prices in mega-cities like Tokyo and New York have soared to the point where only the wealthiest inhabitants can afford decent living standards. Regardless of financial status, all city dwellers have to deal with more and more traffic jams as the population increases while the area of cities remains fixed. Finally, all these people living and travelling in one place puts a tremendous strain on the environment and some cities, like Beijing in China, have become dangerously polluted.

In my opinion, governments have a duty to encourage citizens to move to more rural areas. If cities continue to expand unabated then the above problems will only get worse. We might one day find ourselves living in densely packed, heavily polluted cities that resemble scenes from a dystopian science fiction film. In order to prevent this from happening, the government can give tax breaks to companies that choose to locate offices and production facilities outside the city. This will provide more jobs for people who are willing to live in the countryside.

In conclusion, the concerns related to overcrowding in cities can and should be somewhat countered by governments incentivising living in rural areas. If this is done then we may still face problems related to cities in the future, but at least they will not be as serious.

You can download it here.

 

Analysis

Introduction: 1. More and more people live in cities today than at any point in the past and this trend will likely continue in the future. 2. This has resulted in many problems including extreme overcrowding and governments should take measures to make living outside cities more attractive.

1. The first sentence simply restates what the general topic is – expanding cities.

2. The second sentence gives my opinion about what the main problem with this is and my opinion that governments should encourage people to live outside cities.

 

Body Paragraph 1: 1. There are a wide range of drawbacks associated with the rise of modern cities but one of the most obvious issues is related to population density. 2. The large number of people crammed into a relatively small area has caused expensive housing, increased traffic and severe pollution. 3. For example, apartment prices in mega-cities like Tokyo and New York have soared to the point where only the wealthiest inhabitants can afford decent living standards. 4. Regardless of financial status, all city dwellers have to deal with more and more traffic jams as the population increases while the area of cities remains fixed. 5. Finally, all these people living and travelling in one place puts a tremendous strain on the environment and some cities, like Beijing in China, have become dangerously polluted.

1. The first sentence is a topic sentence that includes my main idea for the whole paragraph (the main problem is population density / overcrowding). 

2. The second sentence expands my main idea by saying that overcrowding has caused other problems related to housing, traffic and pollution. I must describe all three of these issues in order to effectively support my topic sentence.

3. The third sentence explains the first problem – expensive housing.

4. The fourth sentence explains the second problem – traffic jams.

5. The fifth sentence explains the third problem – pollution.

 

Body Paragraph 2: 1. In my opinion, governments have a duty to encourage citizens to move to more rural areas. 2. If cities continue to expand unabated then the above problems will only get worse. 3. We might one day find ourselves living in densely packed, heavily polluted cities that resemble scenes from a dystopian science fiction film. 4. In order to prevent this from happening, the government can give tax breaks to companies that choose to locate offices and production facilities outside the city. 5. This will provide more jobs for people who are willing to live in the countryside.

1. The first sentence is a topic sentence that includes my main idea for the whole paragraph (governments should encourage people to live in rural areas).

2. The second sentence supports my opinion by saying that problems in cities are only getting worse.

3. The third sentence further supports my opinion by saying how terrible life in cities may someday get. It’s important to say ‘might’ because I don’t want to make an argument that is too strong in a short essay.

4. The fourth sentence suggests governments have the power to do this by giving corporations tax breaks.

5. The fifth and final sentence extends my solution by saying that more people will move to the countryside if jobs are available there.

 

Conclusion: 1. In conclusion, the concerns related to overcrowding in cities can and should be somewhat countered by governments incentivising living in rural areas. 2. If this is done then we may still face problems related to cities in the future, but at least they will not be as serious.

1. The first sentence restates the main ideas from the sample answer as well as my overall opinion. Make sure you have an overall opinion because the question directly asks you whether or not governments should encourage people to live outside cities.

2. The second sentence adds an extra detail (claiming that by doing this inevitable future problems related to cities will not be as severe) that is needed to get above a Band 7 for Task Achievement according to some, but not all, examiners.

Vocabulary Practice

I really love this website – Quizlet – because it’s so convenient to practice with!

Don’t believe me? Click on the link below and use it to easily learn some high-level vocabulary from the sample answer above:

Quizlet Vocabulary Study

 

Study the vocabulary from our IELTS sample answer on cities!

Cities Articles

Cities of the Future

The World’s Most Overcrowded Cities

How to Prevent Overcrowding

Ghost Cities of China

Urban Threats

Rural Support Problems

Cities Videos

Top 10 Most Overcrowded Cities

New York City Problems

The Future of Cities

Responses to Urban Issues

Animated Short Film

Example Notes

Here are some notes I made about cities (on my Instagram page)!

Now it’s Your Turn! Comment below on our IELTS Sample Answer:

Tell us about your city! Is it big? What kind of problems are there? Do you live in a small town?