Master Writing Task 1 Lesson 1

1. Types of charts
There are two main types of charts in Task 1: Trend and Comparison.
2. Writing introduction
Before writing the introduction:
1. Look at the timeline:
 One year or none:
 Two years or more:
2. Look at the unit axis:
 Countable noun
 Uncountable noun
 Percentage
3. Determine the target subject
 The number of something.
 The amount of something.
 The proportion of something.
Introduction structure for Task 1:

S V O Adv of place Adv of time

The chart shows the number of at a high school in 2010.
students who
learn Math
The graph illustrates how many in the year 2010.
students at a high
school learned
Math
The line/bar/pie chart provides the number of at a high school in 2010.
information about students who
take part in Math
class

Useful language:
namely: the chart shows the number of students studying different subjects, namely Math, Science and
Chemistry.
over a period of [how many] years; over a 10-year period: the chart shows the number of students
studying different subjects, namely Math, Science and Chemistry over a 10-year period.
Practice: Write the introduction for these charts
2. Writing an overview
When writing an overview, pay attention to these details:
 A category that increases in the given period
The number of students learning Math witnessed an upward trend
 A category that decreases in the given period
While the opposite was true for that of Science.
 A category that dominates in the given period
It is noticeable that the number of students learning Math held a dominant position
 A category that is lower than others in the given period
In contrast, the figure for Science tended to be lower than other subjects in the given period.
Example:

In general, it is evident from the graph that the proportion of people aged 16 to 54 who attended
concerts saw an upward trend while the opposite was true for the 55-64 age group. Furthermore, it is
also noticeable that the 16-25 age group held a dominant position throughout the given period while
fewest people in the oldest age group took part in this activity in the survey years.
Practice
Writing about trends
A. Showing data
The most basic task when writing about a chart is showing data. Here are ways to do it:

S V O
the number of people who is 100 people.
learned Math
there are 100 people who learned Math.
100 people learn Math.
Math classes have 100 students.

Apply these structures to these data:

 KFC: 1000 customers in 2012.
 Toyota: 900 cars in 2000.

B. Describing changes

Subject Verb Adverb Data Adverb

The number of people to 100 people after 2

increased dramatically
who learned Math by 80 people years.

The number of people to 100 people 2 years

rose sharply
who learned Math by 80 people later.
 Subject Verb Adjective Noun Data

The number of
people who learned saw a dramatic increase to 100 people
Math

The number of
people who learned witnessed a substantial growth of 80 people
Math

The number of
people who learned reached a peak of 100 people
Math

The number of
people who learned hit the lowest point of 10 people.
Math

The number of
at around 50
people who learned hit a plateau
people.
Math

Practice:
i. (2010) Apple - 5000 smartphones . (2011) Apple - 10 000 smartphones. (2012) Apple 1000
smartphones.

ii. (2000) Students study abroad - 1 million students. (2002) students study abroad - 0.5 million
students. (2003) students study abroad - 3 million students.
Luyện tập
Bài 1
The chart shows the percentage of tourists to Scotland who visited different attractions.