IELTS Writing Task 1: map essay

Here is a band 9 answer for this question:

The map shows the growth of a village called Chorleywood between 1868 and 1994.

It is clear that the village grew as the transport infrastructure was improved. Four periods of development are shown on the map, and each of the populated areas is near to the main roads, the railway or the motorway.

From 1868 to 1883, Chorleywood covered a small area next to one of the main roads. Chorleywood Park and Golf Course is now located next to this original village area. The village grew along the main road to the south between 1883 and 1922, and in 1909 a railway line was built crossing this area from west to east. Chorleywood station is in this part of the village.

The expansion of Chorleywood continued to the east and west alongside the railway line until 1970. At that time, a motorway was built to the east of the village, and from 1970 to 1994, further development of the village took place around motorway intersections with the railway and one of the main roads.

Don't just read this essay once. Spend some time analysing it:

• In what order did I describe the information shown on the map?
• What information did I choose for paragraphs 3 and 4?
• What good vocabulary does the essay contain?

Comments

[MN]

1.According to passage of time.
2.what are the main developments,especially in roads and railway sector.
3.transport infrastructure,grew along,motorway intersection with railway.

[MN]

Thanks a lot Simon Sir.I bought your book,it's really helpful.Thank you once again.

[Hibba]

1. chronological order
2. P3: first and second development +construction of the railway
P4: further expansion +building of the motorway.
3. transport infrastructure, populated area, expansion, alongside the railway, further development, motor intersections.

[Wiz Khalifa]

Hi Simon,

Thank you very much for this useful question but I think map question is not a popular type question, I mean it is rare. So I think we should ignore it completely.

Regards.

[MG]

To Wiz Khalifa ....

Even if this type of question is not very common, we should be ready and prepared for it. Beside, writing Task 1 measures your ability to describe a graph regardless of what does it contains, so you should enhance your describing skills by practising on different types of graph.

[Baher]

Simon, you are the best
Reading =8.5
Listening=8.5
Writing =7
Speaking=7.5
Overall score=8

[Umair]

Alhamdullilah
L R W S 8/8.5/7/7.5
Simon thanx it's your valuable page which helps me getting this band in writing.

[Hung]

Near to the main roads or near the main roads?

[smitha]

Hai simon sir,am new to this blog.it is really useful..am sitting for ielts exam on 5th april..sir plz let me know abt recent writing que...thanks sir...

[kulwant kaur]

Hello everyone
I would like to share the exam topic I recently confronted with on 15 March academic module .
Reading :
It was about Chariot wheel discovery,it's structure and its excavation in Egypt.Second paragraph was about behavioral comparison ,origin between human and Chimpanzee by Dr.Gabloo.
Third paragraph was about a new theatre ,which I do not remember.
Writing:
Task 1.
World production comparison of UK,Europe and rest of world in form of a bar graph
Task 2:
Do you agree or disagree essay:-cities and small towns must have city squares and parks ?
Speaking :-
General questions about my place of living and what I dont like about this place.
Part 2 was describe a place you visited where you learned about a different culture.
Listening:
A lady calls about a party booking in a restaurant.
Discussion between the supervisor and new employee about walk parks and various duties of employee.
Compariosn between traditional farming and more about vertical farming( its advantages over traditional farming).

[Nguyen Thi Hai Yen]

Hi Simon and everyone,

Can Simon or anyone show me how to know the north, south, west, east direction of the map to describe as teacher Simon did while it is not noted in the map.

I am studpid at this, I cannot determine, this kind of direction.

Thank you very much.

[jasmine canda]

simon, thank you .... your page is really helpful and all your techniques
I took the Ielts 5x and only with my last attempt that I followede your techniques . I finally got that elusive 7 in writing.
L-8.5 R-8.5 W -7.0 S- 8.0

I only prayed for 7.7.7.7 but God gave me more.

Please continue in helping everyone in need to pass the Ielts Mr. Simon.

Godbless you more and your family- Jasmine Canda

[sjm]

Wiz

There is a feeling that diagram/map/process questions are actually becoming a bit more popular.

Hung

The second one is correct.

[bob]

You introduced the map in order of time.
You split evenly all the four periods of development into two parts which was described individually in the third and fourth paragraph. Besides, the Park and Golf course and the railway was put into the third paragraph and the motorway was placed in the fourth one.
The good vocabulary includes growth, infrastructure, populated areas, cover, grow along, expansion, alongside, intersections with

[Ashwani]

Thanks Simon
You are really doing a great job !

[Hibba]

congratulation Jasmine Canada. all the best in your future career.
im struggling to get the 4 (7) as well and my problem is writing. wish me luck my exam is coming soon.

[drimran]

dear sir
i want to appeart in ielts exam soon to accheive target of 8+8+8+8
pls guide me how to start and be specific.
thx
[email protected]

[A K]

Thanks for sharing this map essay again! It gave me a chance to practice it again.

[Fiona]

1.The description order bases on the time.
2.village, transport
3.populated area,near to,transport infrastructure, grow along, crossing this area from west to east,take place

[VijayKS]

Sometimes maps are not given with any direction/ compass. From evaluation point of view, isn't this penalised for including the directions to point out an area in the map. Can it be generalised to common directions?

[Mahmoud Nafa]

Dear Simon
I appreciate your great efforts in IELTS Training.
Best regards
Mahmoud Nafa

[cristina]

Hi Sir, I was wondering if you could help me in improving my writing skills through one-on-one coaching session? Please😦

[Honey]

Could you help me to fix it? Thanks a lot

The map illustrates some changes to Chorleywood hamlet which has been grown up from 1868 to 1994.
It is clear that there have several developments during four periods, which has led to more infrastructure, better traffic and more populated areas.
Looking at the map in more detail, it can be seen that there was sparse population from 1868 to 1883. They lived near to main roads and Chorleywood Park and golf course. Then the hamlet was extended their sphere around a station since a railway had been constructed in 1909. The rail way ran parallel with one of the main routes and cut the other.
Moving on these developments, that village rose additionally two populated areas to the south-east and the south-west of the station over the period between 1922 and 1970. Moreover, a motorway had been built by 1970. As a result, there appeared more population round about motorway intersections with the railway and one of the main roads.

[surekha]

Sir
i want take the ielts exme so please tell me latest first task

[Atif]

Hi dear teacher,
I've written this task by immitating your style closely. Any comments please..

-----------------------------

The given map illustrates some significant developments that happened in a village called Chorleywood between 1868 and 1994.

It is clear that the village grew enormously during the given period of time. Several major improvements occurred in the transport infrastructure such as the construction of a railway line and station, and a motorway.

According to the map, in the first 15 years (1868-1883), Chorleywood had a main road to the west of the village traversing from north to south, and a small population lived in the village only adjacent to the main road. Chorleywood Park and Golf Course are now situated near to the original village area. In 1909, a railway track and station was built to the south, crossing from west to east. The village grew alongside the railway line mainly to the west and some part to the east until 1970.

In 1970, a motorway was constructed to the east of the village connecting the north to south, and in the following 24 years a massive development had happened around **the** motorway intersections with the railway and the main road in the north.

[surekha]

V gud

[Jamie]

hi Simon,
Would you please tell me why you used "is " instead of "are" in this sentence:
"Chorleywood Park and Golf Course is now located next to this original village area"?
Thank you for your guiding.

[Simon]

Hi Jamie,

You could definitely use "are".

I considered "Chorleywood Park and Golf Course" to be the name of one place, but it would probably be more normal to think of them separately. Putting them together as one place is maybe what a native speaker (like me) would do, but I'd advise you to treat them separately.

[Jisha]

Sir, I have been using your tips and essay writing ideas for a long time and is very useful for me.Last week I wrote an ielts academic writing exam. The task 1 question was on mapping. But, no direction was mentioned in the question, still I manage to wrote the exam using right, left, top, bottom like that. I didnot mentioned north, south like that. Is it will affect my scor? The task 2 question was very easy for me. What score can I expect? Please reply me.

[leeni]

Sir , I dont know about graph .please give me the details.

[Cavid]

Hi Simon,I wonder, looking at the map,how did you know that striped or cross striped areas are the populated areas?

[nisa]

http://www.51ielts.com.au/jeffrey/ielts-writing-academic-task1/ielts-writing-academic-task-1-describe-a-map-2/

Simon, I think someone is duplicate your writing! Isn't he?

[Simon]

nisa,

Thanks for telling me. Yes, there seem to be lots of lessons on that site that are copied from my blog. He has even copied my "about me" description!

I first published the answer above in 2010 - it's definitely my original work.

[Joko]

I'm an IELTS instructor, and I found this fine site after one of my students copied this essay during an in-class writing task. Unfortunately, as this task was available in the textbook, he either did a great job memorizing or had his phone in his lap and I didn't see it.

Students! If you're in a formal in-class training course, copying your essays from Simon does not help you practice. I'm finding more and more students trying to do this sort of thing.

[Joko]

One note. In my mind, the Park and Golf Course is a "trap" detail. As we don't know when it was built, we can't say how it fits into what the map shows: the story of Chorleywood's growth.

In fact, I would note the essay states the park NOW sits next to the old village. The map only includes details to 1994, nearly 25 years ago. Now, all of Chorleywood could have burned to the ground for all the map tells.

[Eliza]

Sir Simon where can I follow all task one writing