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 world production of three cereal crops between 1990 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
| Category | Maize | Rice | Wheat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 480 | 520 | 590 |
| 1995 | 520 | 550 | 540 |
| 2000 | 590 | 600 | 585 |
| 2005 | 710 | 630 | 625 |
| 2010 | 850 | 700 | 650 |
| 2015 | 1,020 | 750 | 735 |
| 2020 | 1,160 | 780 | 760 |
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 line graph shows world production of maize, rice and wheat between 1990 and 2020, in millions of tonnes.
Overall, production of all three cereals rose, but maize grew far more quickly than the others. It started as the least produced crop and ended as by far the most produced.
Maize output stood at 480 million tonnes in 1990 and rose to 520 million in 1995 and 590 million in 2000. It then accelerated, reaching 710 million in 2005, 850 million in 2010 and 1,020 million in 2015. By 2020 it had reached 1,160 million tonnes, more than double its starting level.
Rice and wheat grew at a much more modest pace. Rice production rose steadily from 520 million tonnes in 1990 to 600 million in 2000, 700 million in 2010 and 780 million in 2020. Wheat began as the largest crop, at 590 million tonnes, but dipped to 540 million in 1995, the only fall recorded by any of the three crops. It recovered to 585 million in 2000 and then rose to 650 million in 2010 and 735 million in 2015, ending at 760 million in 2020, slightly below rice.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| cereal production | output of grain crops |
| more than double | increase to over twice |
| overtake | move ahead of |
| rise modestly | increase by a small amount |
| dip | fall briefly |
| move from last to first | change from lowest to highest rank |
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