IELTS Academic task 1

Lesson 1: how to write

introduction?

You should start your task 1

answer by introducing the graph
from your question. Just write 1-2
sentences to say what your graph
shows and for what period of
time (if there is one).

To do this, you need to paraphrase

text from your task 1 question.

Example of good introduction:

Question:

The graphs below give information about computer ownership as a percentage of the population
between 2002 and 2010, and by level of education for the years 2002 and 2010.

Introduction:

The bar charts show data about computer ownership, with a further classification by level of
education, from 2002 to 2010.

To write a good introduction, follow these techniques:

1. Change introductory expressions

the graph/chart/table/diagram

o gives information about/on

 o provides information about/on

o shows

o illustrates

o represents

o depicts

o gives reason why (only if graph provides reasons for smth)

o explains why (only if graph provides explanation for smth)

o compares (only if several items are compared)

Attention with word compare! You can say:

o compares smth in terms of smth

the charts compare two cities in terms of the number of employed people.

o compares smth in year1 and year2

the graph compares the population in 2000 and 2013.

Examples:

o “The pie charts provide information on the proportion of males and females
working in agricultural sector.” OR “The pie charts show the proportion of males
and females working in agricultural sector.”

o “The table compares five companies in terms of the number of employees.” OR

“The table illustrates the number of employees in five companies.”

2. Paraphrasing

You can rewrite a phrase by using the word how:

o shows the number of people ... = shows how many people ...

o depicts changes in spending on ... = depicts how much changed spending on ...
You can rewrite a phrase by using synonyms:

o number of = quantity of (not interchangeable with amount of)

o spending = expenditure

o rate = percentage

o ratio = proportion

o information = data

o change can be sometimes replaced by increase, decrease or variation

o share = portion

o place = site

3. Time periods

o from 1985 to 1995 = between 1985 and 1995

o in 1985 = in the year 1985

o in 1985 and 1995 = in 1985 and 1995 respectively = in the years 1985 and 1995

Examples:

o The table shows consumption rates from 2001 to 2004.

o The graph shows consumption rates in 2012 and 2015 respectively.

Paraphrasing in
use:

See how the topic

was paraphrased to
make a very good
task 1 introduction
(picture on the
right).

What was
changed:

 Show is
changed
to compare

 Percentages added

 Different added

 In 2007 and 2009 → In the years 2007 and 2009

As you see, you don't have to make up a completely new introduction. Just take the given topic
as a base, and change/add some details.
 Bar charts in IELTS Writing task 1

In this lesson we’re going to learn how to tackle bar charts in IELTS Writing task 1
questions to get the highest score. To get a band 9 in IELTS Writing task 1, you should follow
this answer structure:

1. Introduction

2. General overview

3. Specific features

Let’s look in detail how to apply this structure to an IELTS bar chart question.

IELTS bar chart Question:

The bar chart shows the divorce rates in two European countries from 2011 to 2015.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
And now let's learn how to answer IELTS bar chart questions.

IELTS bar chart answering strategy:

1. Introduction

You should start your answer by writing an introduction. The introduction is 1 or 2

sentences, where you paraphrase the information from your question. You should mention two
things in your introduction:

 what your graph shows

 for what period of time

In our example, the introduction can look like this:

The bar chart provides information about the percentages of divorces in Finland and Sweden
between 2011 and 2015.

See how I used synonyms to paraphrase the question:

shows → provides information about

divorce rates → percentages of divorces
two European countries → Finland and Sweden (it’s good to be more specific)
from 2011 to 2015 → between 2011 and 2015.

2. General Overview

The second paragraph of your answer is a general overview, where you briefly describe
major trends on your graph. Ideally, you should describe 2-4 key features.

To make major trends easier to notice, you can outline Sweden’s bars and Finland’s bars like
this:

Now it’s obvious that:

  Sweden experienced a downward trend

 Finland experienced an upward trend

 both countries showed fluctuations

 Initially Finland had a lower rate, but in 2015 Finland outraced Sweden

Use word overall to start your general overview. In our case, the overview may look as follows:

Overall, Sweden experienced a downward trend, while Finland showed an upward trend
throughout the period. Both countries’ divorce rates had some fluctuations. Although Finland
initially had a lower rate, it outraced Sweden at the end of the period.

3. Specific details

After we’ve written the introduction and general overview, it’s time to give the specific
details. You should describe the specific features in 2 or 3 (sometimes more) paragraphs.

You can group data in such way:

 Details about Sweden

 Details about Finland

When you have two countries (or two cities or any other two things depicted on the graph), the
simplest way of grouping data - is to describe each country’s trend in a separate paragraph.

When giving specific features, you have to write exact numbers/percentages and include as
much details as you can.

In our case, the specific details may look as follows:

Sweden’s divorce rate was about 45% in 2011, being higher than Finland’s rate by
approximately 8%. Then, it rose to almost fifty percent in 2012. However, the figure showed a
gradual decrease to about 47% in 2013, and continued to decline steadily to the end of the
period, reaching around 45% in 2014 and hitting a low-point of about 37% in 2015.
Percentage of divorces in Finland was less than 40% in 2011, and it decreased in 2012, when
about one third of marriages in Finland ended with a divorce (as opposed to almost a half in
Sweden). However, the figure experienced a steady growth during the next two years. It rose to
approximately 39% in 2013, then increased by around 3% in 2014, and remained steady for the
next year, outracing the rate of Sweden.

Tips:

 When analyzing a bar-chart, we cannot always give exact details (due to inaccuracies of
the chart), so use words around, about and approximately when giving inexact data.

 Give data for each year shown on the chart

The full answer + Practice

It’s the end, we have finally written the answer for IELTS bar chart question. And now, let’s
practice: fill in the gaps in this answer with appropriate words.

The provides about the percentages of divorces in Finland and

Sweden between 2011 and 2015.

, Sweden experienced a downward trend, while Finland showed

an trend throughout the period. Both countries’ divorce rates had some

fluctuations. Although Finland initially had a lower rate, it Sweden at the end of
the period.

Sweden’s divorce rate was about 45% in 2011, being higher than Finland’s rate by

approximately 8%. Then, it rose to fifty percent in 2012. However, the figure
showed a gradual decrease to about 47% in 2013, and continued to decline steadily to the end of

the period, reaching around 45% in 2014 and hitting a of about 37% in 2015.

Percentage of divorces in Finland was than 40% in 2011, and it decreased in

2012, when about one third of marriages in Finland ended with a divorce (as to
almost a half in Sweden). However, the figure experienced a steady growth during the next two
years. It rose to approximately 39% in 2013, then increased by around 3% in 2014, and
remained steady for the next year, outracing the rate of Sweden.

(190 words)
 IELTS writing task 1: describing a pie chart

In this lesson we're going to learn how to effectively describe a pie chart in IELTS Writing
task 1. To get a band 9 for your answer, you should follow this answer structure:

1. Introduction

2. General overview

3. Specific features

Let's look in detail how to apply this structure to answer IELTS pie chart question.

IELTS pie chart Question:

The two pie charts below show the percentages of industry sectors' contribution to the economy
of Turkey in 2000 and 2016.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.
And now let's learn how to describe IELTS pie charts by doing this example.

IELTS pie chart answering strategy:

1. Introduction

The first paragraph you write is an introduction. The introduction is 1 or 2 sentences, where
you introduce your chart. In the introduction you have to paraphrase the information from your
question and mention 2 important things:

 what your graph shows

 for what period of time

In our example, I wrote the introduction this way:

The two pie charts illustrate how different industry sectors contributed to the economy of Turkey
percentagewise in the years 2000 and 2016.

So, I just took the information from the question card and paraphrased it in such way:

show → illustrate
the percentages of industry sectors' contribution to the economy of Turkey → how different
industry sectors contributed to the economy of Turkey percentagewise
in 2000 and 2016 → in the years 2000 and 2016.

pie charts = pie charts (don't change this!)

2. General Overview

The second paragraph of your answer is a general overview, where you briefly describe 2-4
key features of your chart.

In our case there are two main options to describe key features:

a. find the biggest and smallest slices of each pie chart

 b. find which slices became bigger/smaller or didn't change

Each option is fine, but don't write both of them because you have to keep your overview short. I
have chosen then first option. Let's look again at our pie charts and identify the biggest/smallest
slices:

Now include the information you've gathered from the chart into your overview. Always start
your general overview with the word overall:

Overall, at the beginning of the period construction contributed the least to the economy of
Turkey and agriculture was the most significant economic sector. In comparison, at the end of
the period healthcare and education became the largest economic segment and the lowest
contribution was made by financial, business and other services.

3. Specific details

The last part of your answer is specific details. You should group the specific details of your
chart in 2 or 3 paragraphs.

You can group data in such way:

a. Sectors that had an increase (construction; trade utilities & transportation;

manufacturing; finance, business and other services)
 b. Sectors that had a decrease or didn't change (agriculture; government; leisure and
hospitality; healthcare and education)

In our case, paragraphs with specific details may look as follows:

Construction sector accounted for 3% of Turkey's economy in 2000, and experienced a more
than threefold increase to one-tenth in 2016. Economic income from trade, utilities and
transportation was 14% in 2000 and experienced a slight growth of 2% in 2016. At the
beginning of the period, manufacturing and finance, business and other services made up 8%
and 5% of Turkey's economy, respectively, and these figures rose to 12% and 8% in 2016.

Agriculture, which comprised almost a quarter of Turkey's economy in 2000, fell to 14% in 2016.
In 2000 economic outputs from government and leisure and hospitality sectors were at 12% and
17%, respectively, and both decreased by 3% after 16-year period. In contrast, contribution
from healthcare and education sector remained constant in both years at 17%.

Useful vocabulary to write a percentage of a certain sector::

 sector X was 3%

 sector X made up 3%

 sector X accounted for 3%

 sector X comprised 3% of [the whole chart]

The full answer + Practice

It's the end, we have finally written the answer for IELTS bar chart question. And now, let's
practice: fill in the gaps in this answer with appropriate words.

The two illustrate how different industry sectors contributed to the economy of
Turkey percentagewise in the years 2000 and 2016.
 , at the beginning of the period construction contributed the least to the economy

of Turkey and agriculture was the most significant economic sector. In , at the
end of the period healthcare and education became the largest economic segment and the lowest
contribution was made by financial, business and other services.

Construction sector accounted for 3% of Turkey's economy in 2000, and experienced a more

than increase to one-tenth in 2016. Economic income from trade, utilities and

transportation was 14% in 2000 and experienced a slight of 2% in 2016. At the

beginning of the period, manufacturing and finance, business and other services made up 8%
and 5% of Turkey's economy, respectively, and these figures rose to 12% and 8% in 2016.

Agriculture, which almost a quarter of Turkey's economy in 2000, fell to 14% in

2016. In 2000 economic outputs from government and leisure and hospitality sectors were at

12% and 17%, , and both decreased by 3% after 16-year period. In contrast,

contribution from healthcare and education sector remained in both years at

17%.

(203 words)
IELTS Writing task 1: describing a diagram

In this lesson you will learn how to describe a diagram in IELTS Writing task 1.

We will deal with a process diagram. Although diagrams are not very common in IELTS, they
do appear in Writing and are very different from other types of graphs you can get. So it's a good
idea to learn how to structure your answer when describing a diagram.

In this lesson you will:

 See IELTS Writing digram question

 Learn how to write a band 9 answer

 Learn useful vocabulary

 See video tutorial

As an example, let's take a look at the following question card:

The diagram illustrates how steel rods are manufactured in the furniture industry.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.
As it was explained the previous lesson, to get the highest score for the first task in IELTS
Writing, your answer should have the following structure:

1. Introduction

2. General overview

3. Specific features

Now we'll take a look at each part of the answer.

1. Introduction

The first paragraph of your answer should be an introduction. For the introduction, you need
to paraphrase the topic in your own words. It shouldn't be longer that 2 sentences.

Learn more strategies to write a task 1 introduction.

And this is a possible way to write your introduction:

The diagram explains the way in which steel rods are produced for the furniture industry.

You could also write the introduction in another way:

The diagram shows the process of metal rods production for the furniture industry.

In fact, there are plenty of ways to write your introduction. Just keep in mind that you should use
synonyms and paraphrase the topic from your question card.

2. Overview

After the introduction, you should give a general overview to summarize what’s going on in the
diagram. Unlike line graphs, pie charts and bar charts, diagrams have no general trends or key
changes to identify. So, in the overview paragraph you need to write:

1. how the process begins and ends

2. the number of stages

If the diagram has loops or repeating stages, or your process is cyclic - write that in your
overview too!

Here is a good way to write a general overview:

Overall, the process consists of eleven stages, beginning with the raw material and ending up
with the product’s inspection.

Always use word overall to start your overview. This way you will indicate the examiner that
you’re describing general trends.

3. Specific features

After you've given the overview, you should write about specific details of your diagram. To do
that, you need to describe each stage of your process in detail. Don't forget that you should
provide information in a logical way!

This is a possible way of describing the specific features of our diagram:

First of all, iron ore, yellow ore and carbon are collected to serve as a raw material for steel
rods manufacturing. After that, the raw material is melted in a melting slit, where it is heated to
a temperature in range of 1300-1500 °C. The melted mass is then transferred to a smelting cabin
to undergo refinement. Next, the candescent metal is put in a pouring machine and poured into
ingots.

In the next stage, the ingots are connected to a cooling reservoir, where the temperature falls to
60-100 °C. Metal goes through special nozzles and cools down, forming strands. Following this,
the metal strands proceed to rollers that change their shape. Next, the products are put into a
heating machine, where they undergo heat treatment. Subsequently, a measuring automaton
completes a surface check of the products.

After that, the metal rods are sized by special cutters and get ID stamping. Finally, the products
undergo inspection and are ready for use.

Using connectors

Process is a series of changes that happen over time. That's why time connectors are extremely
important for writing about process diagrams. Use these time connectors to describe specific
features of your diagram:

 first of all

 firstly

 to begin

 after that

 then

 next

 in the next stage

 following this

 subsequently

 finally
Using additional information

Your diagram will often provide you some additional information and hints for most stages of
the process. Make sure that you use all that information while describing specific features of
your diagram!

However, sometimes you may see that some stage lacks information for description. For
example, we only know that the third stage of our process is called refinement and it happens in
a smelting cabin. But we don't know what exactly happens during this stage.

In this case, you can use a verb to undergo. To undergo = to experience. For example, you can
write: "the material undergoes refinement in a smelting cabin".

And don't forget that you should NOT write a conclusion in Writing task 1 as you're not
giving your opinion, you're describing the data.
 IELTS agree or disagree essay - band 9 guide

This is a band 9 guide to writing agree/disagree essays in IELTS Writing. Agree or disagree
essay questions are very common for IELTS Writing task 2. This type of questions asks you to
say whether you agree or disagree with a given statement and justify your opinion.

In this lesson you will see IELTS writing task 2 sample question + model answer and learn

 how to choose an opinion for agree/disagree question

 how to generate ideas

 how to give a band 9 answer for agree/disagree question

IELTS agree/disagree question sample

Let’s look at an example of IELTS writing task 2:

Big salary is much more important than job satisfaction.

Do you agree or disagree?

Provide relevant examples if necessary.

This is a classic example of agree or disagree question that you may get on IELTS Writing task
2.

Choose your opinion & generate ideas

Agree or disagree question asks you to clearly determine whether you agree or disagree with
the statement. Unlike questions that ask you to what extent do you agree or disagree, this
question asks you to have a super-clear opinion. After you’ve decided your opinion, generate 2-
3 supporting points for it.

For the task above you have two possible options:

1. You fully agree that big salary is more important than job satisfaction

2. You completely disagree that big salary is more important than job satisfaction

Now let’s generate supporting points for each of the opinions:

Why
 Big salary is more important

o Having a job with a high salary makes people feel satisfied no matter what kind of
job they do

o Money is essential for survival and good living

 Job satisfaction is more important

o Job satisfaction gives you a sense of fulfillment

o Doing what you like keeps you motivated and therefore leads to a career growth

o Money can’t buy happiness and it’s more pleasant to pursue what you’re
interested in

For our essay, we’ll choose the second opinion.

Band 9 answer structure

After you’ve decided whether you agree or disagree and generated your supporting points, it’s
time to start writing your essay.

There are a lot of ways to structure your essay, but we’ll use a structure that has been approved
by many IELTS examiners to be high-scoring and coherent.

Band-9 essay structure:

1. Introduction

2. Body paragraph 1 - the 1st reason you agree/disagree

3. Body paragraph 2 - the 2nd reason you agree/disagree

4. Conclusion

Let’s take a look at each of these sections in detail.

Introduction

Write your introduction in two sentences:

 Sentence 1 - paraphrase the statement (you can use ‘it is argued/considered/thought

that’ to start):

It is often argued that it is more advantageous to choose a job with high wage, even if it doesn't
appeal to you at all.

 Sentence 2 - say whether you agree or disagree with it and extend your opinion:

I completely disagree with this opinion and think that job satisfaction is much more important
than salary.
Body paragraph 1 - the 1st reason you agree/disagree

 Sentence 1 - state the first reason you agree/disagree.

This sentence should contain the main idea of the whole 1st paragraph. Use words firstly or first
of all to introduce the first reason. In our case we’ll use the reason that job satisfaction gives you
a sense of fulfillment:

First of all, I believe that job satisfaction gives people a sense of fulfillment that no money can
guarantee.

 Sentences 2-3 - explain the reason.

To explain the reason effectively, you can imagine that your examiner has no knowledge of this
subject at all and you have to explain every detail:

Even if someone is earning a high salary, but feels tensed and compromises with his conscience,
this person won’t enjoy his life. While pursuing one’s interests will always bring pleasure and
feeling of satisfaction.

 Sentence 4 - example.

It’s always good to give examples in your body paragraphs, even if you’re not asked to do it. In
our case, the task asks you to provide relevant examples:

For example, a lot of famous researchers made their career choices not because of appealing
wages, but because they were passionate about science.

 Sentence 5 - a short summary of your ideas in this paragraph:

That’s why it’s more important to choose the kind of work that makes you happy than to look
only at a high salary.
Body paragraph 2 - the 2nd reason you agree/disagree

 Sentence 1 - state the second reason you agree/disagree.

This statement should contain the main idea of the whole 2nd paragraph. Use
words secondly or moreover to introduce the second reason:

Secondly, doing what you like keeps you motivated and therefore leads to a career growth.

 Sentences 2-3 - explain the reason (assume that your examiner doesn’t understand the
topic at all):

In other words, there is a strong relation between job satisfaction and productivity. People who
love their jobs can easily excel in their fields of work and achieve better results than those, who
put salary on the first place.

 Sentence 4 - support your idea with an example:

For instance, Henry Miller decided to leave his everyday job despite a good wage and ventured
to become a writer. And after enduring years of ups and downs he became one of the most
famous and well-paid authors of the twentieth century.

 Sentence 5 - a short summary of your thoughts in the 2nd paragraph.

Thus, advantages of jobs that keep you satisfied outweigh the drawback of a low salary in a
long-term perspective.

Conclusion

You can write the conclusion in one sentence that summarizes your opinion + 2 reasons for
it:

To conclude, I strongly believe that job satisfaction is more beneficial than high salary because
it makes people happy and motivated.

DO NOT write new ideas in the conclusion!

IELTS agree/disagree model answer

This is a full band-9 answer for IELTS agree or disagree question above:

It is often argued that it is more advantageous to choose a job with high wage, even if it doesn't
appeal to you at all. I completely disagree with this opinion and think that job satisfaction is
much more important than salary.

First of all, I believe that job satisfaction gives people a sense of fulfillment that no money can
guarantee. Even if someone is earning a high salary, but feels tensed and compromises with his
conscience, this person won’t enjoy his life. While pursuing one’s interests will always bring
pleasure and feeling of satisfaction. For example, a lot of famous researchers made their career
choices not because of appealing wages, but because they were passionate about science. That’s
why it’s more important to choose the kind of work that makes you happy than to look only at a
high salary.

Secondly, doing what you like keeps you motivated and therefore leads to a career growth. In
other words, there is a strong relation between job satisfaction and productivity. People who love
their jobs can easily excel in their fields of work and achieve better results than those, who put
salary on the first place. For instance, Henry Miller decided to leave his everyday job despite a
good wage and ventured to become a writer. And after enduring years of ups and downs he
became one of the most famous and well-paid authors of the twentieth century. Thus, advantages
of jobs that keep you satisfied outweigh the drawback of a low salary in a long-term perspective.

To conclude, I strongly believe that job satisfaction is more beneficial than high salary because it
makes people happy and motivated.

(277 words)
 IELTS causes and solutions essay - band 9 guide

In this lesson you will learn how to write a high-scoring causes & solutions essay in IELTS
Writing. As an example, the model essay will be about loss of bio-diversity.
Basically, causes & solutions essay is one of the most common question types in IELTS
writing task 2. This question asks you to describe causes and propose solutions for a given
problem.

In this lesson you will see:

 question sample + model answer

 band 9 answer structure for causes & solutions essay

 effective strategies to produce ideas for your answer

IELTS problems & solutions question sample

For example, this is the question you’ve got for IELTS writing task 2:

Influence of human beings on the world's ecosystem is leading to the extinction of species
and loss of bio-diversity.

What are the primary causes of loss of bio-diversity?

What solutions can you suggest?

Of course, the topics for causes & solutions essay may vary, but the answering strategy is
pretty much the same for all essays of causes/solutions type.
Producing ideas

As you know, it’s recommended to spend about 40 minutes on IELTS Writing task 2. But
before starting to write your essay, it’s a good idea to dedicate 2-4 minutes to producing
some ideas for your essay. This way you’ll know what to write about and your essay will be
more structured.

To produce ideas for causes and solutions essay, you have to determine 3 things:

 Problem

 Causes of this problem

 Solutions to this problem

The problem is already given: loss of bio-diversity (in other words, some animals and
plants are dying out).

Now let’s think about its causes and solutions. Don’t be afraid of simple ideas! Remember:
getting a high score means writing simple things well. Here are some ideas that may come
to your mind:

Causes:

 change of the natural habitats

When humans artificially transform the environment (build roads, houses etc.), they
destroy animals’ natural habitat.

 pollution

Pollution negatively changes the flow of energy, the chemical constitution of the
environment and the climate in general, so a lot of species cannot live under such
conditions and die out.

 overexploitation of resources
When the activities connected with capturing and harvesting a natural resource are too
intense in a particular area, the resource becomes exhausted. Example: too intense farming
exhausts the soil; too frequent fishing, which doesn’t leave enough time for fish to
reproduce, makes fish disappear.

After you’ve though of the possible causes, you can use them in your writing. You can
invent more reasons of this problem, but usually, it’s enough to give 1-2 causes in your
writing.

Possible solutions:

 protect areas

Protecting areas where human activity is limited and avoiding overexploitation of

resources are the best ways to save the environment and prevent species from dying out.

 promote awareness

Informing the general population about the disadvantages of loss of biodiversity will
encourage people to be more conscious of the environment.

1-2 solutions are enough for a good essay. Now, after we’ve collected some ideas, it’s time to
structure our thoughts into an essay.

Band 9 answer structure for causes & solutions essay

There may be many possible answering strategies, but we’ll use this good and time-tested
essay structure:

1. Introduction

2. Body paragraph 1 – causes

 3. Body paragraph 2 – solutions

4. Conclusion

Introduction

Write the introduction in 2 sentences:

o Sentence 1 - paraphrase the question (restate the problem):

Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time, human activity has been
causing massive extinctions of different species.

o Sentence 2 - tell the examiner what you’re going to describe in your essay:

This essay will examine the main causes of loss of biodiversity and possible solutions of this
problem.

Body paragraph 1 - causes

o Sentence 1 - state 2 main causes:

The two main causes of species extinction are change of their habitats and overexploitation of
natural resources.

o Sentences 2-4 - explain the first cause + give an example:

When humans artificially transform the environment, they destroy vegetation and animals’
natural habitat. For instance, to build new roads people are cutting down the trees and
cementing the soil, altering the environment. Because of that, a lot of species are dying out.

o Sentences 5-7 - explain the second cause + give an example:

Also, when the activities connected with capturing and harvesting a natural resource are too
intense in a particular area, the resource becomes exhausted. For example, too frequent
fishing doesn’t leave enough time for fish to reproduce and makes them disappear.

o The last sentence - give a short summary (if needed)

In other words, human activities often deplete local flora and fauna and cause loss of bio-
diversity.

Body paragraph 2 - solutions

o Sentence 1 - give 1-2 possible solutions

Some possible solutions to this problem are protecting natural areas and promoting awareness
among people.

o Sentences 2-4 - explain how each of the solutions solves the problem (you may give
an example if you wish)

By protecting areas where human activity is limited and avoiding overexploitation of its
resources, we can save the untouched environment and prevent species from dying out.
Moreover, the next step in fighting bio-diversity loss is informing the general population about
the dangers of this problem. This way, people will be more conscious of the environment and
won’t overuse or destroy its resources.

Conclusion

o Sentence 1 - restate the causes of the problem

To conclude, people’s activities that change the environment have negative impact on the
world's ecosystem.

o Sentence 2 - remind the reader of possible solutions

However, we can significantly lessen the extinction of species by protecting natural areas and
enlightening people as to this problem.

Model essay for IELTS Writing causes/solutions question

The model band-9 essay for this question will look as follows:

Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time, human activity has been
causing massive extinctions of different species. This essay will examine the main causes of
loss of biodiversity and possible solutions of this problem.

The two main causes of species extinction are change of their habitats and overexploitation
of natural resources. When humans artificially transform the environment, they destroy
vegetation and animals’ natural habitat. For instance, to build new roads people are
cutting down the trees and cementing the soil, altering the environment. Because of that, a
lot of species are dying out. Also, when the activities connected with capturing and
harvesting a natural resource are too intense in a particular area, the resource becomes
exhausted. For example, too frequent fishing doesn’t leave enough time for fish to
reproduce and makes them disappear. In other words, human activities often deplete local
flora and fauna and cause loss of bio-diversity.

Some possible solutions to this problem are protecting natural areas and promoting
awareness among people. By protecting areas where human activity is limited and avoiding
overexploitation of its resources, we can save the untouched environment and prevent
species from dying out. Moreover, the next step in fighting bio-diversity loss is informing
the general population about the dangers of this problem. This way, people will be more
conscious of the environment and won’t overuse or destroy its resources.

To conclude, people’s activities that change the environment have negative impact on the
world's ecosystem. However, we can significantly lessen the extinction of species by
protecting natural areas and enlightening people as to this problem.

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