IELTS TASKS

A.
Those who want to study, work and migrate in countries where the language of communication
is English, The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) provides a test that
grades a persons proficiency in the English language. IELTS is owned by the British Council,
IDP, IELTS Australia, and Cambridge English Language Assessment. Readily accessible
worldwide, candidates can sit for the IELTS exam in over 140 countries.
The test is designed to tackle real-life situations that non-native English speakers may encounter
while studying, working, or while conducting daily life.
The test has 2 versions: the IELTS Academic which usually for individuals wanting to pursue an
Academic Course and the IELTS General Training which is usually for individuals wanting to
pursue a non-academic course for immigration. Both exams assessed all of the English skills;
listening, writing, reading and speaking. Candidates can opt for the Academic or the General
tests thus all candidates take the same Listening and Speaking tests but different Reading and
Writing tests. In the listening test, candidates listen to a cassette which only played once.
Therefore, candidates need to be alert and quick to pick up the answers. However for the writing
test, the candidate must complete 2 pieces of writing task where in the first part, the candidate is
given a task based on some graphic or pictorial information and expected to write a descriptive
report of at least 150 words on the information provided. For the second part, the candidate is
expected to produce a written argument on a given topic for at least 250 words. In the reading
test, the texts will come from magazines, books, and journals and are written for general interest
or for an academic though non-specialist reader. At least one text will contain a logical
argument. One text may contain non-verbal materials such as a diagram, graph or illustrations. If
there are any words or terms of a specialist technical nature which candidates would not be
expected to know, then a short glossary will be provided. In addition, good grammar and spelling
are important. The grammar part is not as important as you cant make many grammar errors in 3
words but if you spell something is wrong, it will be marked as wrong. Moreover, the speaking
test is a face-to-face interview between the candidate and an examiner. The candidate is allowed
to prepare for the speaking test for a minute then the test will be recorded. The candidate may
write the answers with pen or pencil but keep track of the word-count. Responses must be in
complete sentences and bullet points will result in lost points. More importantly, spelling and
grammar do matter and points will be taken off for errors.

B.
IELTS measures reading, writing, listening and speaking skills, and assesses the ability to
communicate for work, study or life in an English-speaking country.
The first step is to make sure the candidate understands the IELTS test format. There are two
versions of the test. IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training. Both are graded in exactly
the same way. As a teacher, make sure that candidates are familiar with the format and types of
tasks in the different sections of the IELTS test. And looking carefully at the content of each part
of the IELTS test: listening, reading, writing and speaking and getting to know the different
types of questions that may be asked in each part would help the candidate on how to approach it
best. Prepare also the student to be aware of the time allowed for each section and include times
practice in class. Moreover, informed the candidate to read the instructions carefully and follow
them.
For the Listening part of the exam, make sure that students think about the context before they
listen and identify the type of information they will need to listen for. Next, read the questions
before they heat the text and use the time between each section to prepare for the following
section.
For reading, be sure that students will use the reading skills such as skimming and scanning-they
will need to use these skills to answer all the questions in 1 hour. Prepare the student to know
how best to approach each type of reading task. Lastly, answer the questions and transfer their
answers to the answer sheet within the time allowed.
Make sure that students will know the importance of analyzing the question carefully and
planning their answer before starting to write. Students must keep in mind the reader and the
purpose when writing. Also, structure their writing logically and clearly. They must also decide
on a position and use examples and evidence to support points they make in task 2. Most
importantly, they must be familiar with the assessment criteria.
Preparing the students to feel confident and remind them to relax and enjoy the conversation
with the examiner, listen to the questions, try using fillers and hesitation devices if they need
thinking time before answering. Make them realized it is their language level not their
opinions which are being evaluated and familiarized them with the assessment criteria.
Once familiar with the test format, the candidate will need to undertake a number of focused
preparation activities. Moreover, the candidate must prepare for recommended activities by
examining the IELTS practice test papers and answers. Practicing with the British Councils
IELTS online preparation resources, available free when you book your test with the British
council and buying IELTS self-study books and materials might help the candidate prepare.
However, there are issues with teaching IELTS to different levels but these can be dealt
effectively if teachers take time to prepare and stage classes. One of the most important problems
is that students dont have the range of grammar and vocabulary they need to score highly in
IELTS, and this affects all papers. The students may also have accuracy problems which are
exacerbated when trying to stretch their language into more academic English. Thus, these

issues can be overcome by providing targeted language practice in the IELTS classroom.
Grammars and Vocabularies must be taught explicitly in order to help them. Full practice tests
must be introduced to achieve enough progress.

C.
The criteria for the different IELTS band scores make it clear which areas of language need to be
developed, thereby setting clear goals and objectives. Teaching techniques for IELTS include
presenting language elements such as grammar and vocabulary in a wider context.
There is no actual grammar test section in the IELTS test, but the candidate is still graded on by
the examiner in the speaking test and writing test.
However, it is also important for the lexical resource part. This is the use of such things as
vocabulary, idiomatic vocabulary, and collocations. The candidate will be marked down on this
if making mistakes with such things as word forms (e.g. using a noun form instead of a verb
form) so this is also grammar related. This is not to suggest that the candidate should focus only
on grammar as the other elements such as fluency in speaking and the ability to answer the
question and organize the response in the writing are a major part of the marking. But it is clearly
important to work on improving the IELTS grammar, and this is often the part candidates have
the most problems with and the thing that brings their score down.
For Vocabulary and Sentence Structure, it checks the grammar and choice of words. The marker
will look at whether the right grammar and words are used and whether they are used at the right
time, in the right place and in the right way. Most people are predominantly worried about their
grammar but, as you can see, grammar is only half of one section of three used to grade the
writing. IELTS is much more interested in communication rather than grammatical accuracy.
Using some complex sentence types and have an understanding of the relevant tenses and
structures will help raise the IELTS score.

D.
WRITING TASK 1 AND 2
INTRODUCTION:
The IELTS writing test has two parts, or tasks. The first part is an information transfer task.
This means you need to take information from a table, chart or diagram and present it in the
form of a short written description. The second part is a discursive composition. For this task you
are given a statement or an opinion about something and you must present your view. The whole
test takes an hour, but you will need more time for Task 2 than Task 1 because you have to write
more words and it is worth more points. The test is organised like this:
In this lesson the students will
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Practice identifying the important information in a table.

Learn how to summarize figures from a table.
Look at what makes a good opening paragraph for task 2 discursive essays.
Review language for making comparisons.
Practice planning a composition.
Review useful language for structuring an argument.

ACTIVITY:
Looking for information at speed
OBJECTIVE: In this graph the student must read and understand the instructions carefully.
These will tell them what the table show and find specific answers for the questions quickly
The bar chart below shows the results of a questionnaire to find why native and non-native
speakers of English at a university in Australia learn languages. The questionnaire was given to

1,000 students.

Reasons for Learning Languages

100
90
80

70

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Native Speakers

Non-native Speakers

Write down the answers to the questions below about the bar chart as quickly as you can.
Remember to write the information accurately.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What does the bar chart show?

How many students participated in the survey?
Where were the students from?
Which of the two groups was more positive about language learning?
Which reason comes top among non-native speakers of English?

WRITING TASK 2
OBJECTIVE: The exercise below helps students reinforce spelling and develop editing skills.
In order to prepare the students, you must
a. Reinforce spelling and limit the time according to the level of the class/students.
b. Ask students to go through the text backwards to teach students search for spelling
mistakes which enables them to see the word picture rather than looking at the
meaning of the word.
c. Work out with the students as you go on for their mistakes.
d. Encourage students to leave some time to do checking when they write an essay for
their work.
ACTIVITY:
The text below has a number of spelling mistakes. Read and correct as quickly as you can.
Computers have now become an esential tool both at work and in the home. While they have
brought countless benifits, their use also has many drawbacks. The most important advantage, in
my opinion, is that, with the speed and acuracy of the computer, it is possible for people to
perform complex tasks quicker and more eficiently than they have ever done befor. For example,
computers can be used to design cars; to link up workers in offices in any part of the world; and
to develop all kinds of equippment. The same efficiency applys to the users at home, who as well
as employing PCs to process information, can conect thier machines to the Internet. Instead of
sending letters, e-mails with photographs and huge amounts of documents atached can then be
sent to anyone anywhere in the world in seconds. Morover, to keep in touch with relatives and
friends, computers can be used as videophones on the Net. It can safely be said that unlike any
other tool develop by the human race in the past, the computer is the most versitile and has
speeded up human development. However, as everything in life there is a downside associated
with computers, which should not be overlooked. Evidence shows that using PCs can cause
psyhological problems. More and more users spend a lot of time in front of computer screens.
Undoubtedly, such a bad habit can led to people becoming more isolated from their families,
relatives and friends and work colleages, ending in desocialisation. As a result, depression as
well as anxiety are not uncommon among people who spend many hours glued to their computer.
Take teenagers, for instance. They can spend hours playing games on their own rather than being
outside playing games or enjoying the fresh air. Althoug research shows that computers are
developing the motor skills and intelligense of young people, they are becoming desensitised and
lazy by using them. To sum up, as we have seen it is quiet clear that using computers is a
doubleedged sword.

READING 1
OBJECTIVES: The student must develop techniques for answering questions efficiently in the
academic reading component and can develop techniques that can be applied in all reading tests.
In order to prepare students
a. Tell not to read the whole passage in detail first for theyre quite long and not
designed to be studied in detail.
b. Ensure them that they understood what is required in each set of instructions.
c. Enhance a technique to read one set of questions and then locate and answer those
questions.
d. Inform to leave questions which they are unable to answer and be trained to do so.
e. Avoid underlining unfamiliar words for it can cause confusion, underline words
which help with organization instead.
f. Emphasize importance of checking spelling and grammar.
READING PASSAGE:
London wins Olympics 2012 event will be secure, pledges capital's mayor By Paul Kelso When
he arrived in Singapore to give his speech for London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games last
week Sebastian Coe brought with him a secret weapon: 30 children. Where rival bids filled their
100 allotted seats in the Raffles hotel auditorium with suits, London presented the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) with a grinning multiracial example of the city's potential. It was to
prove inspired, although Lord Coe and his team had to wait six hours before they knew it.
London's victory was announced only after a presentation ceremony that scaled new heights of
kitsch. Two Singaporean sopranos and a tenor subjected the Olympic anthem, a tune whose
primary virtue is to be heard only once every four years, to a fearful mauling. Eventually the IOC
president, Jacques Rogge, recovered his composure and requested the envelope bearing the name
of the winning city. It was brought to him on a silk pillow by a 15- year-old sailor cadet in the
Singaporean navy. An excruciating preamble ensued, followed by one sweet word: "London".
Coe and Co had secured 54 votes to 50 for the favourite, Paris, in the final run-off. At the G8
summit in Gleneagles, Tony Blair found the build-up unbearable. He was attempting to calm his
nerves with a walk in the hotel grounds when the announcement was made. Downing Street
broke the news to him on his mobile. "We have won! We have won!" the official screamed.
According to his own account, the prime minister punched the air, did a jig and embraced his
startled chief of staff, Jonathan Powell. Mr Blair, who had helped to lay the groundwork for
victory during three days of intense one-toone lobbying of IOC members, said hard work had
paid off: "We had the right message that we wanted, a strong message for the Olympic mood."
Where Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris had sought to reassure and flatter the IOC with
presidential promises and high-budget tourism videos, Lord Coe set out a challenge to a
movement sometimes more concerned with its internal politics than its mission. "Some might
say your decision today is between five similar bids. That would be to undervalue the
opportunity before you," he said. "In the past you have made bold decisions. This is a decision
about which city will help us show a new generation why sport matters. On behalf of the youth

of today, the athletes of tomorrow and the Olympians of the future, we humbly submit the bid of
London 2012." London's mayor Ken Livingstone and the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir
Ian Blair, insisted that the London 2012 Olympics would be secure despite last week's terrorist
attacks. "We have reassured the IOC that we have the security to handle the games," said Mr
Livingstone, adding that the Metropolitan Police had been involved in the advisory group for the
Athens games. "The IOC know, through the experience of the 1972 Munich Olympics, that there
is nowhere that can ever be completely safe but there is nowhere that will be safer than London,"
he said. First published in The Guardian Weekly 15/7/2005.
EXERCISE:
Complete the following sentences with NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from Reading
Passage 1. Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet. 1 The 30 children were Coes
___________. 2 The seats of Londons competitors were filled with ___________. 3 The IOC
was shown an example of Londons __________.
Do the following statements agree with the writers opinion in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 4-7
on your answer sheet write: YES if the statement agrees with the writers opinion NO if the
statement contradicts the writers opinion NOT GIVEN if there is no information about the
writers opinion in the Passage
4 Londons presentation turned out brilliantly.
5 The Olympic anthem was performed well.
6 More members of the IOC should have voted for London in the final vote.
7 Tony Blair over-reacted to the announcement of Londons successful bid.

READING 2
OBJECTIVE: The exercise helps students to understand and develop strategies for tackling the
true, false and not given type explanations and questions in the IELTS.
To prepare the students, it is important that they must understand what false means in true, false
and not given. There are three types of contradictions:
1. Statements which are the opposite of the original text.
2. Statements which are the opposite of the original text, because they are negative.
3. Statements where the information is not the opposite or negative, but the information in
the statement contradicts that given in the text.
READING PASSAGE:
Italy is to try to turn the Uffizi gallery in Florence into Europe's premier art museum, with an
ambitious 56m euro ($69m) scheme to double its exhibition space. Giuliano Urbani, Italy's
culture minister, said the enlarged gallery would surpass "even the Louvre". By the time work is
completed, visitors to the extensively remodeled Uffizi will be able to see 800 new works,

including many now confined to the gallery's storerooms for lack of space. The project - the
outcome of nine months of intensive work by a team of architects, engineers and technicians - is
a centrepiece of the cultural policy of Silvio Berlusconi's government. With refurbishment plans
also afoot for the Accademia in Venice and the Brera in Milan, Italy is bent on securing its share
of a market for cultural tourism that is threatened by the Louvre and by the "art triangle" of
Madrid, which takes in the Prado, the Thyssen collection and the Reina Sofia museum of art.
Schemes for the expansion of the Uffizi's exhibition space stretch back almost 60 years. The
latest was mooted in the 1990s. But the one adopted by the current government has reached a far
more advanced stage than any of its forerunners. Roberto Cecchi, the government official in
charge of the project, said last month that all that remained to do was to tender for contracts. The
target date for completion of the project is 2006. But the first changes will be seen as early as this
month when a collection of pictures by Caravaggio and his school, currently crammed into a tiny
room on the second floor, is to be moved to larger premises on the first.
Mr Cecchi said the biggest problem was "inserting a museum into a building that is itself a
monument". The horseshoe-shaped Palazzo degli Uffizi, begun in 1560, was designed by the
artist and historian Giorgio Vasari. The latest plans are bound to stir controversy, involving as
they do the creation of new stairwells and lifts in the heart of the building. There has already
been an outcry over one proposed element, a seven-storey, canopy-like structure for a new exit
by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. At the heart of the plan is the opening up of the first
floor, which for decades was occupied by the local branch of the national archives. This will
allow visitors to follow a more extensive, and ordered, itinerary that would turn the Uffizi into
what Antonio Paolucci, Tuscany's top art official, called "a textbook of art history". As at
present, visitors will be channeled to the second floor, where they will be able to study early
works by Cimabue and Giotto before moving on to admire the gallery's extraordinary collection
of Renaissance masterpieces, including Botticelli's Primavera. Asked if the expansion might
increase the risk of inducing Stendhal's syndrome - the disorientation, noted by the French
novelist, in those who encounter dozens of Italian Renaissance masterpieces - Mr Cecchi replied
fatalistically: "Yes. It'll double it." Adapted from an original article by John Hooper in The
Guardian Weekly 20-03-04
EXERCISE:
Look at the statements below, which are all True as regards the text above. Each statement
has a blank space and after each one there are four alternatives (a-d). Add each alternative
in turn to the statement and decide what effect each one has on the sentence: is the
information in the sentence now True/ False/ Not Given?
1. There are plans to increase __________the space for displaying art at the Uffizi. (a)
twofold (b) slightly (c) by 100% (d) with great care (a) True. It says in the text: to
double . (b) False. See (a). (c) True. It says in the text: to double , which means
an increase of 100% (d) Not Given. There is no mention of whether care or great care
will be taken, even if we expect it to happen ourselves.
*There are plans to increase slightly the space for displaying art at the Uffizi.

You can see that the statement is False, because a slight increase contradicts an
increase of 100%
2. __________ the plan to increase the space for displaying art at the Uffizi gallery is
ambitious. (a) The writer feels that (b) It is clear that the cultural minister does not feel
(c) To most Italians, (d) The writer does not feel
*From the authors point of view, the plan to increase the space for displaying art at the
Uffizi gallery is not at all ambitious.
You can see that the statement is False, because the negative contradicts the text,
which says it is ambitious.
3. The Palazzo degli Uffizi was designed by Giorgio Vasari, __________. (a) who was an
artist (b) who was an historian (c) who was not a well-known historian (d) who wrote
many books on art history
*The Palazzo degli Uffizi was designed by Giorgio Vasari, who was an artist.
The statement is checking one piece of information. It is easy for students to become
confused
here, because the text states that Vasari was an historian and an artist, but the
stamen here is
only asking if he was an artist(not an artist only excluding the idea of
his being an historian.

LISTENING
OBJECTIVE: This helps students learn a strategy for developing pre-listening prediction skills
and may need them to discriminate between pictures, maps, diagrams, graphs etc. in multiplechoice questions.
Prepare the students to
a. Have copies of the pictures and give each a set of the four pictures below for the
question.
b. Put them in pairs.
c. Select a picture and describe it to the other.
d. Listen and select the picture that their partner was describing. Then repeat process for
all four pictures taking it in turn.

By doing activities like this you are in fact improving the students pre-listening prediction skills.

SPEAKING
OBJECTIVE: To let the candidate focus on what part of the exam involves topics to be covered
and to let students practice in talking about these topics using related vocabulary and practice
answering the types of questions that may be asked in the part of the exams. And use expressions
that help make answers full and cohesive.

Prepare the students to

a. Explain what happens in Part 1 and discuss what topics might be asked about, e.g.
accommodation, friends, hobbies, food, work or studies.
b. Copy the topics in the form of a mind map onto a large piece of paper.
c. Choose some typical useful vocabulary for each topic including nouns, verbs and
adjectives, e.g. accommodation-flat, neighborhood
d. Write the following questions on the board and elicit possible questions about
accommodation and write on the paper.
e. Explain that the candidate should try to give a full interesting answer consisting of 2
or 3 sentences to the questions on one of the topics.
f. Encourage candidates to use some of the vocabulary covered.
g. With a partner, brainstorm some interesting vocabulary the candidates could have
used in their answers.
h. Record speaking and play back the recording, reflecting on what the candidate could
improve.
i. For part 3, Review the Speaking test involves and what the assessment criteria are.
j. Encourage lengthy (but natural) responses. Then put candidates into pairs to ask and
answer the questions, with students swapping roles after the first two questions.
k. Orient candidates that they are going to think of some interesting questions on topics
which might be used in Part 3.
l. Have a drill with the pronunciation of the expressions and allow a couple of minutes
of individual practice.

EXERCISES:
*In your group think of some interesting questions to ask people on the following topics:
1. Family Life/Relationships
2. Media and Communication
3. Travel and Leisure
*Lets consider first of all how peoples values have changed
1. What kinds of thing give status to people in your country?
2. Have things changed since your parents were young?
3. Finally lets talk about the role of advertising Do you think advertising influences
what people buy?

E.
WRITING TASK 1
The charts below show the results of a survey of adult education. The first chart
shows the reasons why adults decide to study. The pie chart shows how people think
the costs of adult education should be shared.

ADULT EDUCATION
To meet people
To able to change jobs
Enjoy learning/studying
To improve prospects of promotion
Helpful for current job
To gain qualifications
Interest in Subject
0

10

20

30

40

How the costs of each course should

be shared
Individual
40%

Taxpayer
25%
Employer
35%

Taxpayer
Employer
Individual

50

According to the survey, majority of adults were interested in subject, the percentage of that was
40. Similar quantity (38%) belonged to the adults, who saw usefulness of education in gaining
qualifications. Whereas, others preferred to think that education was helpful for their current jobs
(22%). To improve prospects of promotion and enjoy learning/studying took the same
percentage place, which was approximately near previous shown cause with 20%. A few percent
of adults (12%) decided to study for being able to change jobs. At last, minority of adults (9%)
were convinced that getting education was worth because of meeting people.
As we can see from the pie-chart, distributing of money has such picture. 40% of mentioned
amount would go to individuals, which was only 5% more than employers payment. The fewer
sums should go to taxpayers, the percentage of that was estimated 25%.
Thus, from the observation, we can conclude our thoughts like this: many people were persuaded
to get education because of subjects; average of them would like to improve their professions,
positions and studying quality. Whilst, there were some adults, who would use education to find
more suitable jobs or meet new people. The expenditure on education by the adults was divided
into three parts.

WRITING TASK 2
Some say that because many people are living much longer, the age at which people
retire from work should be raised considerably. To what extent do you agree or
disagree?
Researches reveal that compared to previous years, nowadays people are more likely to live
longer than they used to probably due to the fact that life conditions have become much better.
Consequently, some people claim that, for older people governments must arise an opportunity
to persist working by raising the age of retirement. I totally agree with this statement but before
drawing a quick conclusion it needs to be discussed.
To begin with, as the technology penetrates into our lives, we become surrounded with
innovative technologies which demands special abilities to use them. Undoubtedly, older
generations find it difficult to keep up with the demands of the modern life. Moreover, as people
get older they may have some health problems or become impatient, even sometimes forget
something about their job which leads to dropping the effectiveness of work. Therefore, staying
at work for longer time may result negatively both for them and society.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, we cannot completely deny benefits of it. Firstly, working at the
certain work for the years helps to gain valuable experience in this area. Additionally, if we take
into consideration some professions such as doctors and teachers, it must be acknowledged that
the role of them is quite unquestionable, because we can benefit from their experience and
knowledge.

Furthermore, from the psychological point of view, retiring earlier can affect older people
negatively if they still consider themselves in form, to be more specific, staying at home and
doing nothing can seems them very boring.
To sum it up, taking all the mentioned facts into account, I think there are still much information
and more things to learn from older people, so they must be allowed to continue their work life.

F.
In IELTS, there are four papers: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. There are two
different IELTS modules: Academic and General Training. The Speaking and Listening tests are
the same in both modules, but the Reading and Writing tests are different. For the Academic
module, you may choose this if you wish to study at undergraduate or postgraduate levels, or if
you are seeking professional registration, e.g. doctors and nurses. However, you may choose
General Training Module if you wish to migrate to an English-speaking country (e.g. Australia,
Canada, New Zealand, the UK) or if you wish to train or study at below degree level. All
candidates take the same Listening and Speaking tests.
Preparing for IELTS with the free practice tests and answers. Time yourself and develop your
exam technique. The practice tests would offer you the opportunity to get to know the test
format, experience the types of tasks you will be asked to undertake Practicing with the British
Councils IELTS online preparation resources will also make you focused-prepared. Buying an
IELTS self-study books and materials would add up to your knowledge about the exam, test
yourself under timed conditions and review the answers and compare with the model answers.
Working hard in class is seldom sufficient especially when you need to get a score of band 7. In
order to get the target score, you need self-reinforcement as well. You have to take part in some
online tests and drills and the most important is you need a teacher to guide and help you
organize your ideas and opinions in an academically way. Teachers help in pointing out the areas
of improvement would help raise your score especially in the crucial parts of the exam.
Meanwhile, Linking words and phrases play a vital role in the IELTS writing part. The words
and phrases you may use will help the reader to link sentences, paragraphs and sections both
forwards and backwards. Proper use of it will make readers to easily follow, otherwise, your
mark will be affected.
Below are the list of words and phrases that can be used to develop coherence in a paragraph.
Linking Words and Phrases
Listing

Giving examples

Generalising

first, second, third

for example

in general

first, furthermore, finally

for instance

generally

to begin, to conclude

as follows:

on the whole

next

that is

as a rule

Reinforcement

in this case

for the most part

also

namely

in most cases

furthermore

in other words

usually

moreover

Result/consequence

Highlighting

what is more

so

in particular

in addition

therefore

particularly

besides

as a result/consequence

especially

above all

accordingly

mainly

as well (as)

consequently

Reformulation

in the same way

because of this/that

in other words

not only ... but also

thus

rather

Similarity

hence

to put it more simply

equally

for this/that reason

Expressing an alternative

likewise

so that

alternatively

similarly

in that case

rather

correspondingly

under these circumstances

on the other hand

in the same way

Deduction

the alternative is

Transition to new point

then

another possibility would be

now,

in other words

Contrast

as far as x is concerned

in that case

instead

with regard/reference to

otherwise

conversely

as for ...

this implies that ...

on the contrary

it follows that

if so/not

in contrast

turning to

Stating the obvious

in comparison

Summary

obviously

Concession (sth unexpected)

in conclusion

clearly

however

to conclude

naturally

even though

in brief

of course

however much

to summarise

as can be expected

nevertheless

overall

surely

still

therefore

after all

yet

Here are just a few examples of some of the words in action:

REINFORCEMENT
Desktop computers are cheaper and more reliable than laptops; furthermore, they are more
flexible.
RESULT
Prices declined by more than 25% last year. As a result, sales increased by 20%.
GENERALISING
On the whole, his speech was well received, despite some complaints from new members.
CONTRAST
The South East of the UK often has the coldest weather in the winter. Conversely, the North West
of Scotland frequently has the mildest temperatures.
CONCESSION
He had multiple injuries. Nevertheless, he survived the accident.

Meanwhile, in describing an Illustration, it is important to consider that its not the same as
writing an essay. You dont need any kind of opinion about the significance of the information
nor a conclusion. Hence, you will generally describe the information factually. To keep up, you
have to identify the main idea behind the illustration. Then, consider the details of what is being
shown and consider the language to use when describing the illustration. To start, refer to the
visual directly and go directly to the main message conveyed by the visual in order to recognize
the main concept of the illustration. Then use fixed expressions to describe the illustration.
To analyze this, look at a line graph. Look at the following question and the graph.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The given line graph compares the aged people of Sweden, the
USA and Japan from 1940 and gives projection till 2040.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main
features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.

There are three basic things you need to structure an IELTS writing task 1.
1. Introduce the Graph
You need to begin with one or two sentences that state what the IELTS writing task 1
shows. To do this, paraphrase the title of the graph, making sure you put in a time
frame if there is one.
Here is an example for the above line graph:
The line graph shows the comparison of aged people from Sweden, the USA,
and Japan from 1940 till 2040, a period of 100 years.
You can see this says the same thing as the title, but in a different way.

2. Give an Overview
You also need to state what the main trend or trends in the graph are. Dont give
detail such as data here you are just looking for something that describes what is
happening over all.
One thing that stands out in this graph is that one countrys rate decreased almost
over the period then increased sharply, whilst the other two countries, so this would
be a good overview.
Here is an example:
Overall, the more the aged people in a country the better the life expectancy
and medical improvement as indicated by the three countries.

This covers the main changed that took place over the whole period.
You may sometimes see this overview as a conclusion. It does not matter if you put it
in the conclusion or the introduction when you do an IELTS writing task 1, but you
should provide an overview in one of these places.

3. Give the Detail

You can now give more specific detail in the body paragraphs. When you give the
detail in your body paragraphs in your IELTS writing task 1, you must make
reference to the data.
The key to organizing your body paragraphs for an IELTS writing task 1 is to group
data together where there are patterns. To do this you need to identify any similarities
and differences.

Look at the graph what things are similar and what things are different?
As we have already identified in the overview, the rate keeps on increasing for the
USA and Sweden while decreased in Japan during the initial period.

Here is an example of the first paragraph:

As is observed from the line graph, initially in 1940, the proportion of aged
people who were over 64 years old was between 5 to 10 percent. This rate kept
on increasing in the USA and Sweden while decreased in Japan. After 40 years
in 1989, this percentage was around 15% both in Sweden and the USA while it
was only 2-3% in Japan.
The second body then focuses on Japans projection of aged peoples rate from year
2000 onwards:
But after 2000, the rate of aged people in Japan kept increasing sharply and
it is projected that in 2040 the number of aged people would surplus the number
in Sweden and the USA though these later two countries would also have more
aged people in this coming years than they have now. This also forecast the life
expectancy and medical advancement in Japan after 2030.

FULL MODEL ANSWER:

The given line graph compares the aged people of Sweden, the USA and Japan from
1940 and gives projection till 2040.
As is observed from the line graph, initially in 1940, the proportion of aged people
who were over 64 years old was between 5 to 10 percent. This rate kept on increasing
in the USA and Sweden while decreased in Japan. After 40 years in 1989, this
percentage was around 15% both in Sweden and the USA while it was only 2-3% in
Japan. The more the aged people in a country the better the life expectancy and
medical improvement and this indicated the improvement in the USA and Sweden
while down-grade trend in Japan.
But after 2000, the rate of aged people in Japan kept increasing sharply and it is
projected that in 2040 the number of aged people would surplus the number in
Sweden and the USA though these later two countries would also have more aged
people in this coming years than they have now. This also forecast the life expectancy
and medical advancement in Japan after 2030.
(182 words)

REFERENCES:
https://www.studyinternational.com/help-and-advice/how-to-prepare-for-your-ielts-exam
http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_information/what_is_ielts/ielts.aspx
http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/prepare-test/understand-test-format
http://www.ielts.org/teachers.aspx
http://www.ielts.org/pdf/ielts%20guide%20for%20teachers_british_fa%2002_lr(v.2).pdf
http://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/ielts-taught-lower-levels
http://www.ieltsbuddy.com/ielts-grammar.html
http://www.onestopenglish.com/exams/ielts/ielts-strategies/
http://www.onestopenglish.com/exams/ielts/pdf-content/ielts-reading-test-1worksheet/147011.article
http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/writingguides/1.33.htm
http://www.ieltsbuddy.com/ielts-writing-task-1.html