Academic Writing - Model Answer (Task 2)

In many countries very few young people read newspapers or follow the news on TV. What do you think are the causes of this? What solutions can you suggest?

Many youngsters have a poor general knowledge of what is happening in their country and about world events because they do not follow the news. This is sad because it leads to apathy and it means they are not interested in decisions that affect their daily lives.

There are so many distractions and ways for young people to spend their free time that it’s hardly surprising that they don’t follow the news. They would rather be doing something else like shopping, going out with their friends or travelling than listening to all the depressing information broadcasted on TV. Young people have a different attitude towards the news with many of them believing it is boring or it has nothing to do with them, or perhaps their parents never encouraged them to take an interest in the world around them when they were children.

It is now possible to read newspapers online and watch live updates minute by minute on the internet. This change in direction of mass media might attract young viewers' interests as they spend a great portion of their time surfing the web. Perhaps leading newspapers and networks can use smart marketing tactics to increase clicks on their sites from young people. If they make news bulletins interactive, allowing some form of interaction (like tweets) and comments, young people are likely to take an interest.

If a young person is not interested in following the news that is their personal choice. The internet however has increased involvement in shaping events by allowing people to share what interests them and allowing them to voice their opinions.

Question taken from IELTS for Academic Purposes Student's Book p.77

Academic Writing - Model Answer (Task 1)

The table shows how many millions of people speak six languages either as a native language or as an additional one.

The language that is spoken the most by far is Mandarin reaching a total of 1,051 billion speakers of which 873 million are native speakers. English follows with 810 million speakers in total but it is mainly spoken as an additional language (470 million). Of the 490 million Hindi speakers, only 120 million speak it as an additional language. 70 million less people speak Spanish with 20 million less native speakers compared to Hindi speakers.

Arabic speakers surpass Portuguese speakers by 17 million and 3 million more speak it as a native language. Portuguese is not popular as an additional language. It has 10 million speakers.

Mandarin is spoken the most as a native language however English ranks the highest in terms of number of speakers who use it as an additional language. On the other hand, Portuguese is spoken the least on all accounts.

Question taken from IELTS for Academic Purposes Student's Book p.28

Academic Writing - Model Answer (Task 1)

The bar chart show how much energy was consumed in the UK and the USA over a six year period, using five types of energy sources.

35% of energy consumption in the USA in 2000 came from oil and coal whilst the UK consumed 5% less. The UK used around 5% more gas, nuclear power and other renewable resources than the USA at 20%, 15% and 10% respectively.

Six years later the USA consumed 40% oil and the UK 10% less. Coal consumption dropped and reached 25% in the USA and 15% in the UK. Gas usage increased for both countries and reached 38% for the UK and 25% for the USA. The consumption of nuclear power and other renewable sources was less than 10%.

In 2000, oil and coal were consumed the most (by both countries) while coal consumption fell six years later giving rise to gas usage (mostly used in the UK).  The usage of other renewable resources remained relatively stable and nuclear power was used less.
 



Question taken from Achieve IELTS p.25

Academic Writing - Model Answer (Task 1)

The pie chart show government spending on the arts in 1995 and 2005 and the bar chart shows the number of participants in these two time periods.

In 1995, the government spent about half of its arts budget on music, approximately a quarter on visual arts, less than a quarter on the theatre and the smallest proportion on literature. Ten years later it spent equal amounts on the theatre and music (around 40%) and equal amounts on visual arts and literature.

The number of people participating in visual arts in 1995 and 2005 were around 50,000 whilst for literature there was considerably less participation (about half of this ). Over the ten year period theatre participation remained relatively stable, between 80.000 - 90.000. Music was popular with 120,000 participants in 1995 and 30.000 more in 2005.

We can see that the government favoured spending money on music in both years and participation levels were highest for this art form. In contrast, very little was spent on literature resulting in lower participation numbers.

Question taken from Achieve IELTS p.61

Academic Writing - Model Answer (Task 1)

The table shows four reasons why adults in the UK attended the arts over a 20 year period.


To begin with, over half of the attendees listed their desire to see a specific artist as their most important reason for attending an event in all the time periods. To be more precise, 58% gave this as their reason 20 years ago, 55% ten years ago and 1% more today. Attending the arts to celebrate a special occasion dropped over this time span. Whereas the figure was 27% twenty years ago this percentage has fallen to 9% today.

In contrast, accompanying children and attending for business reasons increased.  9% of the adults cited accompanying children as the motive behind going to an arts event 20 years ago. This percentage went up to 15% ten years ago and grew to 24% where it stands today. Finally, only 6% of UK adults went to an arts event for business reasons twenty years ago. This rose to 10% a decade later and a further 1% today.

To sum up, UK adults wanted to see an artist and that was the main reason behind attending an arts event while very few adults attending for business reasons. Many more adults began attending the arts in order to accompany their children whilst there were fewer who opted to go to an event as a way to celebrate an occasion.

Question taken from IELTS Academic Purposes Student's book p.27

Academic Writing - Model Answer (Task 1)

The information shown in the bar graph relates to Science qualifications in Italy and Germany.

Most people in Germany and Italy have no qualification in Science at all. In other words 60% of Italians and 55% of Germans are without a Science qualification. In Italy 30% have passed school leaving exams in the Sciences whilst this qualification stands at 25% in Germany. More Germans than Italians have a Science Bachelor’s degree. This accounts for 15% in Germany and 8% in Italy. Finally, the number of Science Master’s degree holders are the same for both countries, approximately 3%.

It is clear to see that Science qualifications do not rank highly in these two European countries. More than 50% have no qualifications in Science and about half this number have passed school leaving exams in this area. Although the Germans have a greater number of people with a Science Bachelor less than 5% have a Master’s degree in this subject.

Question taken from IELTS for Academic Purposes Student's book p.67

Academic Writing - Model Answer (Task 1)

The diagram provided shows a method of producing coffee from the initial stages of hand sorting through to the final stages of packaging and sales.

The dry method to produce coffee begins with sorting the beans by hand. Once the sorted beans have been cleaned with the help of a sieve to filter out any impurities they are left out in the sun to dry for a duration of 4 weeks. The next step involves raking and turning the dry beans. Prior to being sent to the mill they are stored. At the mill they undergo a process known as hulling which involves crushing the beans manually. The finer coffee beans are then graded, bagged and sold to manufacturers in bulk. The manufacturers then need to roast the coffee, pack it and sell it to consumers.

The dry method used to produce coffee is lengthy and time consuming. It requires many steps for its completion before consumers can enjoy it and manual labour is required.

Question taken from Achieve IELTS p.80