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Process diagram: Coffee processing

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 coffee beans are processed before export.

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

Write at least 150 words.

Coffee processing
  1. 1PickingRipe red cherries are harvested
  2. 2PulpingMachines remove the outer skin
  3. 3FermentationBeans soak in tanks to loosen the pulp
  4. 4WashingClean water rinses away the residue
  5. 5DryingBeans are dried on raised beds in the sun
  6. 6HullingThe parchment layer is removed
  7. 7GradingBeans are sorted by size and quality
  8. 8BaggingGreen beans are packed in sacks for export

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, coffee processing is a linear process with eight stages, from harvesting ripe cherries to bagging green beans for export.
  2. 2The cherries are picked, pulped to remove the skin, fermented and washed to remove the residue.
  3. 3The beans are then dried in the sun, hulled to remove the parchment layer, graded by size and quality, and bagged.

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 (171 words)

The diagram illustrates how coffee beans are processed before they are exported, in eight stages.

Overall, the process is linear. The coffee cherries are picked and cleaned by a series of treatments, and the dried beans are then graded and packed in sacks for export. The first four stages deal with the wet processing of the cherries, while the last four prepare the dry beans for export.

First, ripe red cherries are harvested. Machines then remove the outer skin in the pulping stage, and the beans are soaked in tanks so that the pulp is loosened. Following fermentation, the beans are rinsed in clean water, which washes away the residue.

In the next stage, the beans are dried on raised beds in the sun, so they are dried naturally rather than by machine. The parchment layer is then removed by hulling.

In the final two stages, the beans are sorted by size and quality, a stage called grading, and the green beans are then packed into sacks, ready to be exported.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
ripe cherriesfully mature coffee fruit
remove the outer skintake off the covering
ferment in tankssoak so the pulp loosens
rinsewash with water
hullremove the husk
be gradedbe sorted by quality

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