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Process diagram: Silk 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 silk fabric is produced.

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

Write at least 150 words.

Silk production
  1. 1HatchingSilkworm eggs hatch into larvae
  2. 2FeedingLarvae eat mulberry leaves for about a month
  3. 3Spinning cocoonsEach worm spins a cocoon of silk thread
  4. 4StiflingCocoons are heated to kill the pupae
  5. 5ReelingThreads are unwound from the cocoons
  6. 6TwistingSeveral threads are twisted into yarn
  7. 7DyeingYarn is coloured in vats
  8. 8WeavingYarn is woven into cloth

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, silk production is a linear process of eight stages, beginning with the hatching of silkworm eggs and ending with weaving the yarn into cloth.
  2. 2The larvae feed on mulberry leaves for about a month and then spin cocoons of silk thread.
  3. 3The cocoons are heated, unwound, twisted into yarn, dyed and woven into fabric.

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 (174 words)

The diagram illustrates how silk fabric is produced, in a process that consists of eight stages.

Overall, the process is linear. Silkworms are raised and spin cocoons, the silk thread is extracted and made into dyed yarn, and the yarn is finally woven into cloth. The first three stages involve the silkworms themselves, the next two turn the cocoons into thread, and the last three produce cloth.

The process begins when silkworm eggs hatch into larvae. These larvae then feed on mulberry leaves for about a month. Each worm subsequently spins a cocoon of silk thread. At this point, the cocoons are heated to kill the pupae, a stage called stifling.

The second half of the process turns the thread into cloth. First, the threads are unwound from the cocoons by reeling. Several threads are then twisted together into yarn, so silk thread is obtained from the cocoons rather than from the worms themselves. Next, the yarn is coloured in vats during dyeing.

In the final stage, the dyed yarn is woven into cloth.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
silkwormthe larva that produces silk
mulberry leavesfood of the silkworm
spin a cocoonmake a protective case of thread
unwindunroll
be twisted into yarnbe turned into thread
be woven into clothbe made into fabric

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