AIMS: Education words and collocations »The past simple • Quantifiers • Analysing and
describing a bar chart forTask 1
Part 1: Language development
I
L- \
Look at the pictures. Complete the sentences by putting the letters of the bold words in the
correct order.
1 At school, you have s a I c s e s .... for d fferent subjects, such as maths,
science and history.
2 The e t r e a h c .......................will answer any questions you may have.
3 Sometimes at the end of the year, students take an m e a x ......................... to check
what they have learnt.
4 Some students go on to university, where they will learn through seminars and
c t u r s e I e .......................
5 Sometimes a university student gives a s e i n r t a p n e t o ....................... to other
students.
When you learn new vocabulary, try to learn which words usually go together (or collocate).
Put the verbs in the box next to the nouns in the table. (You can use each verb more than
once, and each noun can have more than one verb.)
take sit do give write study make pass fail get
verbs nouns verbs nouns
ta fee, an exam an essay
a qualification a subject (e.g. biology)
a course a presentation
14 Get Ready for IELTS: Writing
Unit 2
Complete the text with verbs from the table.
Mustafa: I have just finished school. I (1) ....... all my exams so I am really
happy! I'm going to go to university. I want to (2)....................... Engineering. I have to
(3)....................... an entrance exam for my English because I want to study in Australia.
The course sounds really good. It's at a really good university and has a mixture of
assessments; I'll need to (4)....................... essays, (5)........................ presentations and
(6)....................... exams. I will also get some work experience! It's a lot of work but I think I
will (7)....................... a really good qualification.
b/a>tc& Out/
To pass an exam means to reach the required grade or pass mark, not to take the exam.
3 The notes show what the class of 2009 did after they left school. Because the information
refers to a time in the past, we must use past tense verbs to describe it. Complete the
sentences below with the correct past tense forms of the verbs in brackets and the correct
numbers from the notes:
T>es>tl\AMtloiA,& o f school leavers, zioo°)
UO/uVersltM: 12 boiA£> 14 a irls >
u u ^
Lo cal college: ^ bpws i c a rl
W dy\z \ 5 ho\A£> 8 (tin s .
1 g irls ........ ............... (go) to university after leaving school.
2 ....................... g irl........................ (start) college.
3 ....................... boys a n d ........................ g irls ........................ (start) work straight after
school.
4 ....................... school leavers........................ (continue) studying after leaving school.
5 O n ly ....................... school leavers........................ (not go) to university or college.
6 ....................... school leavers........................ (decide) to go to college.
Education 15
4 We can also use comparative forms to compare items. Look at the information below:
S tu d e n t iA.iAm.bers a t local p r im a r y schools, 2.002
P erciva l S chool: 20 bows, -4-0 6) Iris
-StJam es s c h o o l: ± oo boys, 1 00 g ir ls
R a s t e r s S chool: &o bows, 20 # lr ls
<J U
B llsli/u g s c h o o l: 3 5 ' boys, 3 5 g ir ls
/As much / many + noun + as (to show a quantity is the same): St James School had as
many boys as girls in 2008.
Not as much / many + noun + as + noun (to show that a quantity is less): Percival School
didn't have as many girls as St James School.
More + noun + than + noun (to show one quantity is larger than another): Percival School
had more boys than girls.
Less / fewer + noun + than + noun (to show one quantity is smaller than another): Percival
School had fewer boys than St James School (Note: fewer is used for countable nouns, and
less for uncountable nouns.)
Complete the sentences about Roysters and Bilsing schools using the words in brackets and
the expressions above.
1 Roysters School had.... .....VAQYt'g ir ls thfliA- boys.......... (girls / boys) in 2008.
2 Bilsing School h a d....... ....................................................(boys / girls).
3 Roysters School had ....................................................... (boys / girls)
4 Bilsing School had....... ....................................................(students) Roysters School
5 Roysters School had.... ....................................................... (students) Bilsing School
Get Ready for IELTS: Writing
Unit 2
Part 2: Skills development
Exam information I Describing a bar chart
For Task 1 of the w riting paper you may need to describe a bar chart. Bar charts are
useful for comparing the quantities of different categories (shown in the form of bars).
Bar charts usually show the numbers or percentages on the left-hand vertical axis
and the different categories that are being measured along the horizontal or bottom
axis (plural: axes). Both axes are labelled to show what they refer to. Sometimes each
category along the horizontal axis can be divided into tw o further sub-groups, e.g.
boys / girls, so that these different sub-groups can be compared.
1 The bar chart below shows the information about student numbers at primary schools from
Exercise 4 in Part 1. Answer the questions about the bar chart.
Student numbers at local primary schools, 2008
Boys
Girls
Percival School St James School Roysters School Bilsing School
1 What do the numbers on the vertical axis measure?
2 How is the information grouped on the horizontal axis?
3 What do the different shades of the bars show?
4 When was the data collected?
Exam tip I Understanding a bar chart
When you first see a bar chart, ask yourself the questions in Exercise 1 and the
answers will give you the essential information for understanding it. Make sure you
know which units are being used to measure quantities.
Education 17
2 Look at the following bar chart. Read the introduction to a text about it, then complete the
paragraph about the girls using the phrases from the box.
This bar chart shows the numbers (in thousands) of students w ith pass grades in different
subject exams in Wales in 2003. The chart groups the students according to subject and
divides these subject groups into boys and girls. There are clear differences between the
boys and the girls.
Similar numbers of girls achieved pass grades in all the subjects. The number of girls
with pass grades ranged from the highest number of just over (1).....; f..7.^Q.W&P......
to the lowest number of just over (2)................................... a difference of around
(3)...................................Girls did best in Art, Maths and (4).................................... while their
lowest pass rate was in (5)...................................Girls achieved (6)....................................
passes than boys in four subjects: English (7)..................................., History and
( 8 ) ........................................................
60 thousand more 40 thousand English Geography 20 thousand History Art
Exam tip I Beginning a paragraph
Begin a main text paragraph with a sentence summarizing the information in general
(e.g. Similar numbers o f girls gained pass grades in all the subjects.), and follow this
with sentences giving specific details.
3 Write a paragraph describing the boys’ results shown in the bar chart in Exercise 2. Begin
with a general sentence about the boys’ pass rates, then give specific details and numbers.
Use the paragraph about the girls as a model; the words and phrases in the box will also
help you. Write approximately 90 words.
( however range from (number) to (number) just over /ju s t under difference
\ highest / lowest pass rate achieve
Get Ready for IELTS: Writing
Unit 2
Part 3: Exam practice
Writing Task 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The bar chart below shows the number o f students who chose certain university subjects
in 2005. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 100 words.
University subjects chosen, 2005
c 20
Male
Female
Subjects
‘The Arts’ = subjects like Art, Music, Drama
Progress check
How many boxes can you tick? You should work towards being able to tick them all.
Did you ...
use common collocations (words that go together) correctly?
use comparison phrases to compare information?
make sure you understood which information the different axes of the bar chart show?
check the time period(s) shown in the bar chart?
write about the bar chart in general first, then add specific details afterwards?
Education 19
