The chart below show the percentage of time working adults spent on different activities

The charts below show the proportion of people’s total spending on different commodities and services in a particular European country in 1998 and 2008.

The chart below show the percentage of time working adults spent on different activities

The chart below show the percentage of time working adults spent on different activities

Sample Band 8.5

The charts give information about how people in a European country spent their money on different commodities and services in 1998 and 2008.

In general, the proportions of expenditure on electronic goods and clothing were the highest in both surveyed years. Additionally, most of the given categories saw a decrease in their figures, while the expenses for clothing and electronic goods occupied larger proportions of people’s spending.

In 1998, 16% of people’s budget was spent on electronic goods, which was 4% higher than the percentage spent on clothing. Meanwhile, the amount of money spent on holidays and eating out accounted for 8% and 6% respectively. Only 3% of people’s expenditure was used to purchase newspapers and magazines, and an additional 3% for going to the cinema.

The proportion of money spent on clothing rose by 6% in 2008, while that of electronic goods saw a 4% growth. In contrast, the percentage of expenditure used for taking holidays dropped to 5%, while that of eating out remained unchanged. Notably, people reduced their spending on newspapers and magazines, and going to the cinema, down to 1% for each.

(182 words)

TR: 9.0 CC: 9.0 LR: 8.0 GRA: 8.0

Estimated Band Score: 8.5

TASK 2: Entertainment

The availability of entertainment such as video games on handheld devices is harmful to individuals and to the society they live in.
To what extent do you agree and disagree?

Sample Band 8.5

The increasing popularity of entertainment on portable devices is believed to have a negative effect on individuals and society. In my opinion, I think this development has both benefits and drawbacks.

To begin with, the availability of entertainment on handheld devices is advantageous in many ways. From an individual perspective, video games and other types of entertainment serve as excellent relaxation tools for people who suffer from high levels of work-related stress. These convenient sources of entertainment allow people to destress whenever they want, either during breaks or after a long day at work, without having any impact on their productivity. Also, many mobile games help to create global communities for people sharing the same interests. For example, PUBG mobile has successfully hosted international events and competitions, and thus connected millions of players together from all around the world.

Beneficial as it may be, entertainment on handheld devices can bring about several negative impacts. Since video games are addictive, many young people these days spend too much time on their devices, and therefore isolate themselves from their families and friends. This lack of face-to-face interaction not only hurts many real-life relationships but also increases the risk of mental health issues among the youth. In addition, when people waste large amounts of time on video games, they tend to be less physically active, which can eventually lead to a society of people leading sedentary lifestyles. Lack of exercise over a long period of time makes people vulnerable to metabolic diseases such as obesity, causing the deterioration of health and burdening a country’s healthcare system.

In conclusion, although the accessibility of entertainment on portable devices can result in many health risks, they can also be effective stress relievers for many people, and encourage the networking of like-minded individuals across the globe.

(299 word)

TR: 7.0 CC: 8.0 LR: 8.0 GRA: 9.0

Estimated Band Score: 8.0

Vocabulary

  • Relaxation tools /stress relievers: công cụ giải trí/ xả stress
  • Face-to-face interaction: tương tác trực tiếp
  • A society of people leading sedentary lifestyles: một xã hội của những người với lối sống thụ động
  • Make people vulnerable to: làm ai đó trở nên dễ bị ảnh hưởng bởi điều gì đó không tốt
  • Deterioration of health: sự xuống cấp tình hình sức khoẻ


The chart below show the percentage of time working adults spent on different activities

How to answer this task?

  1. Introduce the pie charts.

    Write what do they summarize.

  2. Write a general overview.

    Write in brief the main trends.

  3. Describe the first chart.

    Tell about the activities on the boys' chart and their popularity. Use linking structures and vocabulary to describe graphs.

  4. Describe the second chart.

    Tell about the activities on the girls' chart and their popularity. Use words from academic wordlist.


Model answer

The two pie charts draw the conclusion of a survey of boys' and girls' cultural and leisure activities.

Overall, equal quantities of both sexes enjoyed listening to music, but a dramatically larger number of girls liked reading. There were also many differences in terms of the children's preferred sports.

Turning to the first chart, we can observe that boys prefer playing computer games (34% participation rate) than taking other activities. Playing basketball comes as the second most popular leisure, practiced by almost a third of male children. Basketball is followed by soccer, which is exercised by 17%. Skateboarding and listening to music are less preferable activities, chosen by 11% and 10% of boys respectively. Reading, the least popular cultural activity among boys, represents only two percent.

Taking a closer look at the second chart, we can see that girls' most preferred activity is dancing, being 27% of the total. In contrast to the boys' preferences, reading is chosen by more than a fifth of all girls. Although percentage of female children who play computer games is roughly twice less than that of boys (16%), this activity is third most popular on the girls' chart. With a slight difference between computer games and netball, the latter is practiced at 15% rate. Similarly to skateboarding popularity among boys, 11% of girls go in for gymnastics. Listening to music comes as the least popular leisure, with a proportion of 10%, equal to those on the first chart.

(244 words)



You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The charts below show the percentage of time working adults spent on different activities in a particular country in 1958 and 2008. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The chart below show the percentage of time working adults spent on different activities

Model Answer

The two pie charts show the daily schedule of working adults in one country in two specific years: 1958 and 2008. Overall, people spent more time on working than on sleeping, and the time spent on relaxing at home increased, where as that on going out decreased over the years.

In 1958, almost one third of the day was spent on working (33%), and marginally less time on sleeping (32%). Going out with friends and family was then a common pastime, taking up 19%. All the other activities combined such as travel to work, other hobbies or playing sports and relaxing at home, just accounted for 16%.

In 2008, the time spent on working increased by 9%, whereas the time spent on sleeping decreased by 7%. The time spent on travelling to work increased four fold from 2% to 8%. There was a significant decline in the time spent on going out with friends and family. It dropped from 19% to 6%. In contrast, the time spent relaxing at home increased from 8% to 13%. Time spent on playing sports or pursuing other hobbies did not show any change and stood at 6% in both the given years.

Overall, working took more time of the day and relaxing at home also became more popular.