Achieve ielts academic Writing Success

Reports
statistics/data
o
Compares
o
Contrasts
o
Identifies trends
Conclusion 
(1 sentence)
·
Begins with “In
conclusion,” or
“To sum up,”

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Exercise:
Use the bar graph to fill in the blanks below with the correct information.
 
1.
The least popular payment option in 1993 was _______________.
2.
In 2001, the percentage of purchases paid for with ______________ and
_________________ were similar.
3.
More people paid with ______________ than with cheques in 1999.
4.
The year with the largest discrepancy between the percentage of payments made
with cheques and with electronic payments was in _______________.
5.
In 2002, more people paid with credit cards than with ___________.
6.
Between 1993 and 1996, the most popular form of electronic payment was
_______________.
7.
The form of payment that decreased steadily in popularity between 1993 and 2003
was ________________.
8.
_______________ showed a slight decrease in popularity between 2002 and
2003.
9.
The percentage of people using _______________ surpassed the percentage of
people using cheques in 1998.
10.
The percentage of people using direct debit cards for payment was lowest in

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_______________.

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Now check your answers.
Question 1:
Sample Answer:
 
The bar chart shows the percentage of people in New Zealand using cheque, direct debit
cards and credit cards to make payments, between 1993 and 2003. Overall, the use of
cheques decreased while the use of direct debit cards increased.
To begin, in 1993, cheques were by far the most popular payment method, at 55%, while
direct debit cards and credit cards accounted for only 8% and 5%, respectively. After 1993,
however, the percentage of people using cheques steadily decreased, finishing at only 11%
in 2003. Conversely, direct debit cards increased in popularity, showing an upward trend
in use until 2003, when almost 40% of all purchases were made by direct debit card. 
Credit card usage remained relatively stable; the use of credit cards rose in a fluctuating
trend. The percentage of people using credit cards was equal to the percentage of people
using cheques in 2001 (15%). In the final year shown on the chart (2003), credit card use
accounted for approximately 12% of the total percentage of payments.