Pick out the main features of this bar chart for your overview, write your report on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The chart below shows the number of recorded burglary, car theft and online fraud cases in one country in 2000, 2010 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
| Category | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary | 950 | 600 | 390 |
| Car theft | 620 | 380 | 210 |
| Online fraud | 40 | 310 | 1,100 |
GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.
An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:
Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.
0 words of 150 minimum
Your answer stays on this page only. Copy it before you leave.
Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.
The bar chart compares the number of recorded cases of burglary, car theft and online fraud per 100,000 people in one country in 2000, 2010 and 2020.
Overall, the two traditional crimes declined steadily, whereas online fraud grew explosively, so that by 2020 it was by far the most common offence.
Burglary fell consistently from 950 cases in 2000 to 600 in 2010 and 390 in 2020, a decline of almost 60%. Car theft followed the same pattern, decreasing from 620 cases to 380 and then 210, and ending at about a third of its starting level.
Online fraud moved in the opposite direction. It was almost non-existent in 2000, with just 40 cases, but it rose to 310 in 2010 and then more than tripled to 1,100 in 2020. In 2000 burglary was the most common of the three offences, and online fraud the least common. By 2020 online fraud had overtaken both, and was almost three times as frequent as burglary and more than five times as frequent as car theft. The rise in online fraud was larger than the combined fall in the two other crimes.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| recorded crime | offences reported to police |
| fall steadily | decrease at a regular rate |
| rise explosively | increase extremely rapidly |
| a 27-fold increase | growth to 27 times the original |
| burglary | breaking into buildings to steal |
| overtake | become greater than |
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