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Process diagram: Cheese production

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

WRITING TASK 1

Process diagram

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The diagram below shows how cheese is made from milk.

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

Write at least 150 words.

Cheese production
  1. 1Milk deliveredFresh milk arrives at the dairy
  2. 2PasteurisingMilk is heated to kill bacteria
  3. 3Adding cultureBacteria and rennet are stirred in
  4. 4CurdlingMilk separates into curds and whey
  5. 5Cutting curdsCurds are cut and the whey drained
  6. 6PressingCurds are pressed into blocks
  7. 7SaltingBlocks are salted or soaked in brine
  8. 8MaturingCheese is stored to ripen for months

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, cheese production is a linear process with eight stages, beginning with the delivery of fresh milk and ending with the maturing of the cheese.
  2. 2The milk is pasteurised, a culture and rennet are added, and the milk separates into curds and whey.
  3. 3The curds are cut, drained and pressed into blocks, which are then salted and left to ripen for months.

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 (178 words)

The diagram illustrates how cheese is made from milk, in a process that consists of eight stages.

Overall, the process is linear. The milk is heated and treated with bacteria so that it separates, the solid part is pressed and salted, and the cheese is finally stored to ripen. The first three stages prepare the milk, the next four separate and shape the solid part, and the final stage allows the cheese to ripen.

First, fresh milk is delivered to the dairy. It is then pasteurised, which means that it is heated to kill bacteria. Bacteria and rennet are stirred in, and the milk separates into curds and whey in the curdling stage.

In the next stages, the curds are cut and the whey is drained. The curds are then pressed into blocks.

Finally, the blocks are salted or soaked in brine, and the cheese is stored for months so that it can ripen. Throughout the process, the milk is gradually changed from a liquid into a solid. Maturing, which lasts for months, is the longest stage mentioned.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
pasteuriseheat to kill bacteria
curds and wheysolid and liquid parts of milk
rennetan enzyme that thickens milk
drainremove liquid
press into blockssqueeze into shape
ripenmature

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