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Process diagram: Steel 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 steel is made from iron ore.

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

Write at least 150 words.

Steel production
  1. 1Mining oreIron ore is extracted from the ground
  2. 2Preparing materialsOre is mixed with coke and limestone
  3. 3Blast furnaceHot air melts the mixture at very high temperature
  4. 4Molten ironLiquid iron is drawn off the base
  5. 5ConverterOxygen is blown in to remove carbon
  6. 6AlloyingMetals are added to improve strength
  7. 7CastingLiquid steel is poured into slabs
  8. 8RollingSlabs are pressed into sheets or beams

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, steel production is a linear process with eight stages, starting with the mining of iron ore and ending with the rolling of steel into sheets or beams.
  2. 2The ore is mixed with coke and limestone and melted in a blast furnace to produce molten iron.
  3. 3Oxygen is blown into a converter to remove carbon, other metals are added, and the steel is cast into slabs and rolled.

Write it on the clock

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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 (176 words)

The diagram shows how steel is made from iron ore, in a process that consists of eight stages.

Overall, the process is linear. Iron ore is first mined and melted into iron, then the iron is purified and strengthened to make steel, and the steel is finally shaped into products. The first four stages produce iron, and the last four produce steel.

The process starts with the mining of iron ore, which is extracted from the ground. The ore is then mixed with coke and limestone. Next, the mixture is melted by hot air at a very high temperature in a blast furnace, and liquid iron is drawn off the base as molten iron.

The second half of the process turns the iron into steel. Oxygen is blown into the iron in a converter so that carbon is removed. Other metals are then added during alloying to improve the strength of the steel.

Finally, the liquid steel is poured into slabs in the casting stage, and the slabs are pressed into sheets or beams by rolling.

Useful vocabulary

PhraseMeaning
iron orerock containing iron
blast furnacea tall furnace for smelting
moltenmelted into liquid
remove carbontake out the element carbon
alloya mixture of metals
be cast into slabsbe poured into flat moulds

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