IELTS Writing Task-1 Daw Thuzar Latt (M.

A English)

Comparative Graphs
Task 1 Writing: How to write about comparative graphs

In this unit, you will look at how to write about a graph or table without a trend. The information given in this type
of chart does not change over time.

When you write a Task 1 essay, you will need to:

• Write an introduction to the topic of the graph in your own words (paragraph 1).
• Give an overview of the main ideas in the graph (paragraph 2).
• Describe the most important details, including numbers (paragraph 3 & 4).
• Write a minimum of 150 words.

1 Look at the essay question below and answer the questions that follow.
The graph shows data about the average Saturday sales of two bakeries in London, in 2010.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where
relevant.

160

140
Avg number of items sold

120

100

Bernie's Buns
80

60 Lovely Loaves

40

20

0
cakes cookies rolls fresh loaves toasted salads crisps doughnuts
sandwiches

1. What will you write in the introduction?

2. What are the main differences between the sales from the two bakeries?
3. How could you group the data?
4. What grammar and vocabulary will you need to use?

1
IELTS Writing Task-1 Daw Thuzar Latt (M.A English)

I. Key Language for making comparisons

In task 1, you need to compare accurately the information presented in line graphs, pie charts, tables and bar
graphs in a variety of different ways. In this section you will review and develop a variety of useful ways of doing
this.

1 Write these adjectives in their comparative and superlative forms in the correct columns of the table
below.
busy cheap comfortable common crowded dangerous difficult easy economical
expensive far fast good healthy high intelligent interesting
noisy popular quiet successful tall useful well-paid

comparative superlative
-er more/less the + adjective + -est/-iest the most/ the least + adjective
busier more comfortable the busiest the most comfortable

Before comparatives, you can use words to indicate if the difference is large or small.
A Rolls Royce is much more expensive than a Ford.

2 Say whether these words relate to small differences or big differences.

much a lot slightly a bit considerably a little far

3 Look at the chart and write accurate comparative sentences about the information in it using these
prompts.

Latvia
1. Coffee in the UK/ expensive/ France

Portugal
coffee (£) 2. The cost of a coffee in Spain/ cheap/ France
Spain

France

UK

0 1 2 3 4

Superlatives are also a useful way to rank and order the information you find in Task 1 graph.

4 Complete these sentences using the information in the chart in Exercise 3.

1. The most expensive coffee is in ------------, at £2.90.

2. The second most expensive is in ------------, where it costs ------------.
3. Coffee in ------------ is the third most ------------, at ------------.
4. The next ------------ coffee is ------------, at £1.
5. The least ------------.

2
IELTS Writing Task-1 Daw Thuzar Latt (M.A English)

II. More comparative structures

Another important way to write about comparatives is to use the structure “X is not as + adjective + as y “.
Coffee in France is not as expensive as in the UK.
Becoming confident using this structure will make your writing more flexible.

1 Use the structure above to rewrite this sentence.

The Frantton Road library was less busy than the one in Commercial Road in March.
2 Look at this chart and write three sentences about the data using the same structure.

Favourtie school subjects for boys

2% 2%
physical education
5%
science
8%
30% mathematics

technology
10%
English

geography
18% history
25%
other

3 Rewrite the comparative sentences below using “not as + adjective(from the box) + as”.
expensive high popular successful

1. Monster Hits Records sold 230,000 CDs in 1990, whereas Crooner Plc. sold 225,000.
2. A hundred couples chose the name James in 2000, while just 20 couples opted for the name Peter.
3. It costs an average of £95 to spend a night in a hotel in Paris, as opposed to over £150 in Zurich.
4. The temperature in Rawai Island was much lower than in Phuket, at 15 degrees and 25 degrees
respectively.

4 Look at these phrases and decide whether they express a big difference or a small one.
1. X is/was nowhere near as expensive as Y.
2. X is/was not quite as expensive as Y.
3. X is/was not nearly as expensive as Y.
4. X is/was almost as expensive as Y.

3
IELTS Writing Task-1 Daw Thuzar Latt (M.A English)

III. Advanced comparatives and linking devices

A further way to increase your range of language for describing comparatives is to use
‘not + verb + as + noun phrase + as’.
Crooners plc did not sell as many CDs as Monster Hits Record in 1990, with 225,000 compared to 230,000.
Coffee in France does not cost as much as in the UK, at £2 and £2.90 respectively.

1 Look at the table and complete these sentences with ‘not + (verb) + as + noun phrase + as’. Be careful, one
sentence is different.

Gold medals, Beijing

Olympics, 2008 1. Japan did not ----------------Ethiopia, taking home nine compared to
China 62 Ethiopia’s ten.
USA 48
2. The USA won 48 gold medals, but this was nowhere near ----------------
Russia 47
UK 42 China won.
France 33 3. The USA was ---------------- China, winning 48 medals compared to 62.
Australia 21
4. Australia did not ---------------- the French athletes, taking home 21
Italy 19
Ethiopia 10 compared to France’s 33.
Japan 9
South Korea 5

Linking devices

2 These sentences contain four useful linking devices. Find and underline them. The first one has been done
for you.
1. a Monster Hits Records sold 230,000 CDs in 1990, while Crooners plc sold 225,000.
b Monster Hits Records sold 230,000 CDs in 1990, as opposed to Crooners plc who sold 225,000.

2. a A hundred couples chose the name James in 2000, whereas just 20 couples opted for the name Peter.
b A hundred couples chose the name James in 2000, compared to just 20 couples who opted for the
name Peter.

3 The linking devices whereas and while work with slightly different grammar to compared to and as opposed
to. Study the pairs of sentences in Exercise 2. What is the difference?

“Whereas” and “While” are followed by “Subject + Verb”.

“Compared to” and “as opposed to” are followed by “Subject + relative clause (who/which + verb)”.

4
IELTS Writing Task-1 Daw Thuzar Latt (M.A English)

Model answer: Comparative graphs

This bar graph compares the most popular items sold by two bakeries in London on a typical Saturday in 2010.
The graph shows average sales of eight items, including cakes, rolls and toasted sandwiches, in Bernie’s Buns and
Lovely Loaves.

Overall, it can be seen that Bernie’s Buns was generally the busiest bakery, outselling Lovely Loaves in six out of
eight items. On the whole, savoury foods such as toasted sandwiches, salads and rolls were not as popular as
sweet items like cakes and cookies.

In terms of sales at Bernie’s Buns, doughnuts came top of the list, with an average of around 135 sold on a
Saturday. Cookies and cakes were the next best sellers, with around 115 and 100 of these snacks sold
respectively. Savoury foods were less popular. Bernie’s Buns sold slightly more rolls than crisps, with roughly 75
of each leaving the shelves. Toasted sandwiches and salads are not nearly as popular, with just 25 and 18 sold in
turn.

Doughnuts were also the number-one purchase in Lovely Loaves, with just under 120 sold on a Saturday. Cookies
were third, at around 65 sales. Salads came next, with just over 60, three times as many as were sold in Bernie’s
Buns. Rolls and French loaves were joint fifth, with 50 sales apiece, followed by crisps at approximately 45. The
least popular item in Lovely Loaves was toasted sandwiches, with around 25 sales.

The word respectively is useful in Task 1 for placing data in the order that you write about it.
Cookies and cakes are the next best sellers, with around 115 and 100 of these snacks sold respectively.
This means: cookies sales 115; cake sales 100

You can also use the expression in turn in the same way as respectively.

Exam skills 1: Numerical comparatives

To add style and flexibility to the way you write about and compare information in Task 1, you can also start
sentences using a numerical comparative.

Favourite film genre: men

45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
action comedy thriller science fiction western romantic
comedy

5
IELTS Writing Task-1 Daw Thuzar Latt (M.A English)

1 Look at the bar chart and complete the sentences below using the words in the box. Then study the
grammar structure in each one.

three times half twice

1. Action movies are --------------------------------- as popular as comedies for men.

2. Thrillers are ------------------------------------------- as popular as romantic comedies.
3. Science-fiction films and westerns are only ---------------------------------- as popular as comedies among men.

These two sentences contain more useful structures you can use in Task 1.
The number of elementary students is three times higher than the number of students in the beginner’s classes, at
90 and 30 respectively.
There are twice as many students in the upper-intermediate level as students in the advanced classes.

Exam skills 2: Ranking information

In order to write a good Task 1 answer, you will need a wide range of language to help you to rank and order
information given in charts and tables.

1 Look at the table and complete the gaps in the list below using the words in the box.

list list one place place

1. In first/second/ last ……………… is/was……

Most popular leisure activities,
2. Top/ Bottom of the ……………… was…….
London, December 2008
3. The number- ……………… activity is/was…
Sport/fitness activities: 62% 4. ……………… was ranked second with…
Play a team sport: 54% 5. First/Last on the ……………… was….
Listen to music: 53%
Read: 46%
6. ……………… headed the list with…..
Use a computer/internet: 38% 7. Ranked in the third ……………… was…..
Travelling: 23% 8. The most/ second most/ next most/ least popular is/was ….
Socializing: 20%
Shopping: 20% 9. Next come…….
Eating out: 8% 10. This was followed by………
Playing music: 2%

Exam skills 3: Improving your writing style

A good way to increase your level further when writing Task 1 answers is to list/rank and compare in the same
sentences. Look at the example sentences.

1. Playing a team sport was next on the list at 54%, making it slightly more popular than listening to music at
53%.
2. Team sports were the second most popular activity at 54%, just ahead of listening to music at 53%.
3. Shopping came next at 10%, although this was much less popular than socializing, at 20%.
4. Socializing was next at 20%, which was twice as popular as shopping, with 10%.
6
IELTS Writing Task-1 Daw Thuzar Latt (M.A English)

5. Fifty-four per cent of people said they played a team sport in December, slightly more than the number who
listened to music, with 53%.
6. Second on the list were team sports at 54%, while listening to music was slightly less popular at 53%.

Writing Practice

The chart below shows the top eight honeymoon destinations for newlywed British couples in 2010. The results
came from a survey of 5,000 couples.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where
relevant.

Top honeymoon destinations

Spain 140

Paris 209

Thailand 1410

The Lake District 124

The Maldives 600

The Greek Islands 432

Bali 1335

Costa Rica 750

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

1 Using the language you studied in Exam skills 3, add a clause to these sentence starters to compare the data
in the chart.

1. Thailand was the number-one destination, with 1,410 couples choosing this, just ahead ---------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Bali was second on the list, with 1,335 couples spending their honeymoon there, making it ----------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Costa Rica was the third most popular destination for honeymooners at 750, although this was ----------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------
4. The Maldives came next, with 600, while the Greek Islands --------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------