Pick out the main features of this line graph 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 graph below shows the average monthly temperature, in degrees Celsius, in three cities over one year.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
| Category | Moscow | Dubai | Sydney |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -8°C | 19°C | 23°C |
| Mar | -2°C | 23°C | 22°C |
| May | 14°C | 34°C | 17°C |
| Jul | 19°C | 38°C | 13°C |
| Sep | 11°C | 34°C | 17°C |
| Nov | 0°C | 25°C | 21°C |
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
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Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.
The line graph compares average monthly temperatures in Moscow, Dubai and Sydney over one year, with readings shown for January, March, May, July, September and November.
Overall, Dubai was the hottest city in every month except January, while Moscow was the coldest in every month except July. Moscow and Dubai both peak in July, but Sydney follows the opposite seasonal pattern.
Dubai's temperature rose from 19°C in January to 23°C in March and 34°C in May, peaking at 38°C in July. It then fell back to 34°C in September and 25°C in November. Moscow experienced a far wider range. It was –8°C in January and –2°C in March, but then climbed steeply to 14°C in May and a high of 19°C in July. After that it dropped to 11°C in September and 0°C in November.
Sydney's pattern was the reverse. Its warmest reading was 23°C in January, and temperatures declined to 22°C in March, 17°C in May and a low of 13°C in July. They then recovered to 17°C in September and 21°C in November. Consequently, in July Sydney was 6°C cooler than Moscow.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| average temperature | the typical heat level over a period |
| peak in | reach the highest point in a given month |
| sub-zero | below zero degrees |
| seasonal pattern | a change that repeats each year |
| mirror image | an opposite pattern |
| range from X to Y | vary between two figures |
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