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Pie chart: Methods of travelling to work

Pick out the main features of this pie chart for your overview, write your report on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.

WRITING TASK 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The pie charts below show the methods people used to travel to work in London, Delhi and Amsterdam.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Methods of travelling to work
Pie chart: Methods of travelling to work (%). The values are in the data table below.London34%46%14%6%Delhi22%48%22%8%Amsterdam22%20%38%20%
  • Car
  • Public transit
  • Bicycle
  • Walking
Show data table
Methods of travelling to work
CategoryLondonDelhiAmsterdam
Car34%22%22%
Public transit46%48%20%
Bicycle6%8%38%
Walking14%22%20%

GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.

What your overview should say

An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:

  1. 1Overall, public transit was the main way of reaching work in London and Delhi, whereas cycling dominated in Amsterdam.
  2. 2Amsterdam had 38% of commuters on bicycles, compared with only 6% in London and 8% in Delhi.
  3. 3Car use was highest in London at 34%, while Delhi had the most walkers at 22%, similar to Amsterdam.

Write it on the clock

Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.

20:00

0 words of 150 minimum

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Band-8 model answer

Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.

Show model answer (175 words)

The pie charts compare the methods people used to travel to work in London, Delhi and Amsterdam.

Overall, public transit was the leading method in London and Delhi, whereas cycling was the most popular option in Amsterdam. Cycling was rare in the other two cities.

In London, 46% of commuters used public transit and 34% travelled by car. Walking accounted for 14%, and just 6% cycled. Delhi had a similar pattern, with 48% using public transit, the highest figure for any city, and 22% going by car. Walking was more common than in London, at 22%, while cycling was slightly higher, at 8%.

Amsterdam presented a completely different picture. The bicycle was used by 38% of commuters, the largest share for any mode in that city and more than four times the figure for Delhi. The remaining three methods were close together, with car use at 22% and both walking and public transit at 20%.

Delhi and Amsterdam had the same car share, at 22%, while London's was the highest of the three, at 34%.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
commuterspeople travelling to work
public transitbuses, trains and trams
cycle to workuse a bicycle for commuting
the most popularchosen by most
compared within contrast to
account formake up

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