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Process diagram: Cement 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 cement is manufactured.

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

Write at least 150 words.

Cement production
  1. 1QuarryingLimestone and clay are dug from a quarry
  2. 2CrushingRock is broken into small pieces
  3. 3GrindingMaterials are ground into a fine powder
  4. 4BlendingThe powder is mixed in the correct proportions
  5. 5PreheatingRaw mix is heated in a tower
  6. 6Kiln heatingIt is burned at 1,450°C in a rotating kiln
  7. 7CoolingHard lumps called clinker are cooled
  8. 8Adding gypsumClinker is ground with gypsum
  9. 9PackingCement is stored and bagged for delivery

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, cement production is a linear process of nine stages, starting with quarrying raw materials and ending with packaging the finished cement.
  2. 2First, limestone and clay are quarried, crushed, ground into a powder and blended.
  3. 3The mixture is then preheated and burned in a kiln at 1,450°C, and the resulting clinker is cooled, ground with gypsum and packed.

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 diagram illustrates the nine stages involved in the manufacture of cement.

Overall, the process is linear. Raw materials are first dug up and ground into a powder, then heated at very high temperature, and the product is finally ground again and packed for delivery. The first four stages prepare the raw materials, the next three involve heating and cooling, and the last two complete the product.

The process starts with quarrying, when limestone and clay are dug from a quarry. The rock is then crushed so that it is broken into small pieces, and the materials are ground into a fine powder. Next, the powder is blended, or mixed in the correct proportions.

In the middle stages, the raw mix is heated in a tower, which is known as preheating. It is then burned at 1,450°C in a rotating kiln. The hard lumps that result, called clinker, are cooled.

In the last two stages, the clinker is ground with gypsum, and the finished cement is stored and bagged for delivery, which completes the process.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
quarrydig stone from the ground
be ground into powderbe crushed finely
rotary kilna large rotating oven
clinkerhard lumps produced in a kiln
add gypsummix in a mineral that controls setting
be packed for deliverybe bagged for transport

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