Easy Word | Luyện IELTS

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- Exercise 1

Exercise 1

TIP To get a good mark, you need to make the report interesting.

Look at the data. Someone has collected this data for a reason, and it tells us something interesting.You need to explain why the data is important and interesting.

Example

The following tables describe bill-paying habits and attitudes to unpaid bills, by age group.

Table 1 Proportion of people who are worried about their unpaid bills, by age group.

	Worried
Under 30	74%
30-45	66%
45-60	33%
Over 60	20%

Table 2 Proportion of people who usually pay their bills on time, by age group.

	No
Under 30	65%
30-45	58%
45-60	30%
Over 60	15%

This data comes from a survey. A researcher asked the questions 'Are you worried about your unpaid bills?' and 'Do you pay your bills on time?' They asked thousands of people, and then put the results into these tables.

Activity 2 .1

Imagine that you are the researcher who did this survey. Who paid you to do it? Why do they need the information? Match the client (1-4) with the reason (a-d).

Client	Need
1. A bank paid you	a ... to find out about their customers, who are people over 60.
2. You were paid by a government department that regulates the bank system	b ... to find out about their customers, who are people aged 30 to 45.
3. A private pension fund paid you	c ... to find out whether citizens are suffering financial stress.
4. A mortgage company paid you	... to find out about their customers for a new advertising campaign.

Your job now is to show the survey results to the bank, pension fund, government department, etc. They don't have time to look at every number in the tables -theyjust need the general idea. However, it is a technical report, so you need to prove that what you say is true by giving accurate details.
When people read data reports, they usually just skim-read the first sentences. Then they might read more, ifit is interesting. That is why you should start with an 'overview' or 'executive summary' that summarises the most important information.

STEP 1. What is the main message you get from the data in the table?

Activity 2.2

Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.

The majority of people under 30 are worried about their unpaid bills.
More than half of people aged 30-45 are worried about their unpaid bills.
The majority of people who are under 45 years old are worried about their unpaid bills.
The majority of people aged over 45 aren't worried about their unpaid bills.
The majority of people aged 30-45 and 45-60 pay their bills on time.
The majority of people aged 45-60 and over 60 pay their bills on time.
The older someone is, the more likely they are to pay their bills on time.
There seems to be a change in behaviour and attitude around age 45.
Most people aged 45-60 and over 60 don't have unpaid bills.

STEP 2. Write one or two sentences about the main message - this is your overview. It is best to give the overview at the beginning of your report.That way, the examiner is sure to notice it.
You should NOT copy the task prompt as your overview. For example: DO NOT write 'The tables describe bill-paying habits and attitudes to unpaid bills, by age group.' This is a waste of time. It is not your own language, so the examiner will ignore it. It doesn't show how well you can use English, because you have copied it. It also doesn't show how well you have analysed the data because it doesn't say anything about the results of the study.
DO write:'This survey of bill-paying habits and attitudes to unpaid bills shows that as people get older, particularly after age 45, they become better at paying their bills on time and become less worried about their unpaid bills.'

TIP Do NOT use your own ideas to explain the data. For example, 'Older people have more money, so that's why they can pay their bills on time.· This may be true, but the information is not in the graph, so don't write it.

STEP 3. Now you need to give details to prove that your main idea is correct. You need to quote some real survey results.
We made three main statements in the overview. We'll describe them one by one, with a paragraph for each one.

Activity 2.3

Match the overview statement (a, b, c) with the paragraph (D, E, F) that supports it.

'The survey results show that as people get older, particularly after age 45, they become better at paying their bills on time.'
'The survey results show that as people get older, particularly after age 45, they ... become less worried about their unpaid bills.'
'There seems to be a relationship between these things.'

Paragraph D

Overall, there seems to be a connection between not paying bills on time and being worried about unpaid bills. Where there is one, you also see the other.

Paragraph E

Most people aged under 45 (65 per cent of under 30s and 58 per cent of 30- to 45-year-olds) don't pay their bills on time. Meanwhile, most people over 45 do pay their bills on time, with 30 per cent of 45- to 60-year-olds and only 15 per cent of the over-60s not paying. It seems that bill-paying behaviour splits the population into two groups: under 45 and over 45.

Paragraph F

This is the same with worrying about unpaid bills. In the two younger age groups, most people are worried about them: 74 per cent of the under 30s and 66 per cent of the 30-45s. In contrast, only 33 per cent of 45- to 60-year-olds and 15 per cent of over- 60-year-olds are concerned about unpaid bills.

Now, let's put the answer all together. The survey results show that as people get older, particularly efter age 45, they become better at paying their bills on time and become less worried about their unpaid bills. There seems to be a relationship between these things.
Most people aged under 45 (65 per cent ofunder 30s and 58 per cent of 30- to 45-year-olds) don't pay their bills on time. Meanwhile, most people over 45 do pay their bills on time, with 30 per cent of 45- to 60-year-olds and only 15 per cent ofthe over-60s not paying. It seems that bill paying behaviour splits the population into two groups: under 45 and over 45.
This is the same with worrying about unpaid bills. In the two younger age groups, most people are worried about them: 74 per cent ofthe under 30s and 66 per cent of the 30-45s. In contrast, only 33 per cent of 45- to 60-year-olds and 15 per cent ofover-60-year-olds are concerned about unpaid bills.
Overall, there seems to be a connection between not paying bills on time and being worried about unpaid bills. vVhere there is one, you also see the other.

TIP In this example, there are probably other ways to explain the data, but you don't have that information. For example, people have more money as they get older, so they can pay their bills on time. This is why you should use Academic English expressions like 'there may be'/ 'it seems·/ 'there could be' I 'there appears to be'.

STEP 4. Check your work.

Look back at the Task 1 instructions. Have you followed them? Yes, 'described the main trends and differences' and 'made comparisons'.
Have you written an 'overview' (a short description of the main message)? Yes, the first sentence.
Have you written about all the main points - the trends, differences or stages? Have you supported this with data?Yes. Every statement includes some numbers to explain it.
Have you described the data accurately? Pay attention to any labels or headings. For example, does this table show number of people, or percentage of people? (Percentage of people.) Check that you have quoted numbers accurately.Yes.

TIP A good Task 1 should give a clear message. Imagine you are a bank director who requested this report. Does it give you a clear idea for action? Yes. You would probably start advertising to people aged around 45, because this seems to be a pivotal age.