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 number of births per woman in three countries between 1960 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
| Category | Niger | India | South Korea |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 7.4 | 5.9 | 6 |
| 1970 | 7.5 | 5.6 | 4.5 |
| 1980 | 7.6 | 4.9 | 2.7 |
| 1990 | 7.7 | 3.9 | 1.6 |
| 2000 | 7.3 | 3.3 | 1.5 |
| 2010 | 6.9 | 2.6 | 1.2 |
| 2020 | 6.8 | 2 | 0.8 |
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 the average number of births per woman in Niger, India and South Korea between 1960 and 2020.
Overall, fertility fell sharply in India and South Korea, whereas it stayed high in Niger. South Korea moved from a very high rate to the lowest of the three countries.
Niger's rate hardly changed, creeping up from 7.4 births per woman in 1960 to a peak of 7.7 in 1990, then declining slightly to 7.3 in 2000 and 6.8 in 2020, far higher than elsewhere.
India's rate fell steadily from 5.9 in 1960 to 4.9 in 1980 and 3.9 in 1990. The decline continued, to 3.3 in 2000 and 2.6 in 2010, and it reached 2.0 by 2020, around a third of its starting level.
South Korea's decline was the most dramatic. In 1960 its rate of 6 births per woman was similar to India's, but it fell to 4.5 in 1970 and 2.7 in 1980, and then to 1.6 in 1990. After 1.5 in 2000 and 1.2 in 2010, it stood at only 0.8 in 2020, a drop of more than 85% since 1960.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| fertility rate | average number of children per woman |
| fall sharply | decrease quickly |
| remain high | stay at a large figure |
| replacement level | about 2.1 children per woman |
| steepest decline | biggest drop |
| stay roughly constant | barely change |
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