Last week I showed you a "highest and lowest" overview, but I also said that a more general overview would have been better.
Let's look at the chart again:
Instead of writing about the "highest and lowest" figures, let's describe something more general. For example, landfill seems to be the most popular form of waste management overall, and only two countries (Austria and Belgium) recycle at least 50% of their waste.
So, here's an overview using the observations above:
If we look at the fifteen EU countries as a whole, it is clear that more waste goes to landfill sites than to any other refuse management facility. In fact, while around half of the countries put the majority of their waste into landfill sites, only two countries recycle at least half of the waste that they produce.
Dear sir,
I want to know that, if i get 30 numbers in listening out of 40.Then, how many band will i get?
Posted by: jk | November 09, 2017 at 17:27
@jk
https://www.ielts.org/ielts-for-organisations/ielts-scoring-in-detail
Google "IELTS Band Score Calculator"
Posted by: Kati | November 09, 2017 at 19:00
Dear Mr Simon
Thank you so much :=))
How to get band 9 for Task Achievement in Task 1 ?
"fully satisfies all the requirements of the task" (band 9)
versus
"covers the requirements of the task" (band 7)
Posted by: Erika | November 09, 2017 at 22:42
Erika
The difference between a 7 and 8 is sometimes seen in the 'amount' of information. An 8 level Task Achievement might include more comparisons, for example, or might be able to show a greater interpretation of the data. A 7 would probably state more numbers directly (eg: 73) whereas an 8 would be more descriptive (eg: almost three quarters). The difference between an 8 and 9 is usually more language based - a 9 has no vocabulary or grammar errors, so they are able to be more precise with the data because they have a stronger ability with vocabulary. (eg: the figure rose more modestly).
From an examiner's point of view, you only award a 9 for TA to people whose vocabulary and grammatical accuracy is in the 8 to 9 range. This is because people at the 6 or 7 level are making errors in these areas and that makes their description of the data less clear.
So my answer to your question is to improve your vocabulary and grammar scores to the 8/9 level first.
Posted by: sjm | November 10, 2017 at 02:51
@Kati
Thankyou for kind info.
Posted by: jk | November 10, 2017 at 19:03
@sjm
Thank you kind Sir
Posted by: Erika | November 11, 2017 at 00:23
The bar graph illustrates the proportions of European waste as to how it is disposed of.
It is clear that about half the EU countries dump most of their garbage in landfills. Also, all EU members employ the three most widely used methods of treating waste, except Greece and Ireland.
Landfill- managed waste accounts for more than half the total amount of waste from other means with Greece having the largest percentage (90%). In contrast, while Denmark has relatively the smallest figure for landfill use, most of its waste is incinerated which makes up just over 40%, the highest among EU countries.
Managing waste through recycling or composting is also a common practice in Europe. Austria recycles most of its rubbish (around 60%) while Greece's waste is recycle the least at only 10%. Other methods of managing waste are not comparatively common.
Would appreciate to hear some feedback. It's good to learn from each other. Thanks.
Posted by: timothy | November 11, 2017 at 03:35
@Timothy
"employ all three most widely used methods":
"all" is clearer.
Previous comments:
" Issues with Task 1, especially a) focusing too much on small details b) missing a key feature, such as not mentioning a category" (sjm)
http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2016/10/ielts-writing-task-1-did-you-notice-the-80.html
"...never describe each category (column or row) separately. The examiner wants to see comparisons."
http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2011/10/ielts-writing-task-1-tables.html
"Make sure that you write something about each country. Select the most relevant point for each country, and don't forget to mention some figures."
http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2011/07/ielts-writing-task-1-selecting-details.html
So maybe:
"...while Denmark and the Netherlands have relatively the smallest figures for landfill use."
"Austria and Belgium recycle most of ...and 50% respectively"
"Other methods played a small role in Spain and Germany (at about 8% and 12% in that order)."
Posted by: Hue | November 12, 2017 at 07:23
@Timothy
OR Other methods were relatively uncommon, playing a minor role in Spain and ... " etc
Posted by: Hue | November 12, 2017 at 08:28
@Timothy
To mention and categorize ALL countries:
3 countries landfill >80%-90% (the vast majority of waste)
4 countries landfill around 60-75% (the major portion)
2 countries incineration > 50%
2 countries recycling > 50%
2 countries (France and Germany) "using variety of methods" (and give detail)
Posted by: Hue | November 12, 2017 at 09:21
Thanks guys for the feedback.
I doubt whether each country should be mentioned, even at least once, since there are too many.
Posted by: Timothy | November 12, 2017 at 14:50
@ Timothy
Your submission was only 142 words in total.
Below is the detail section only mentioning all countries @109 words:
Landfill accounts for the vast majority of waste (around 80-90%) in three countries: Greece, Ireland, and UK. Landfill also predominates in a further four countries, namely Italy, Portugal, Spain and Finland, at approximately 60-75%; while playing a much smaller role in most of the remaining countries.
Incineration is the main method in Denmark and Luxembourg, and significant in another four countries.
Recycling is used in all countries, predominant in Austria (~60%), and very significant (over 37%) in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden.
Disposal mechanisms are more evenly spread in France; and other methods played a small role in Spain and Germany (at about 8% and 12% in that order).
Posted by: Hue | November 12, 2017 at 18:49
@Timothy
Maybe you are right: it is easy to fall into the trap of "mechanically recounting detail" (band 5).
There is a real-life summary of waste management in the EU covering 32 countries here:
https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/waste/municipal-waste/municipal-waste-management-across-european-countries
Some quotes (which point up key features):
"The data suggest large differences in performance among countries."
"Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden recycled at least half of their municipal waste in 2014."
"The highest increase in recycling rates between 2004 and 2014 was reported in Lithuania, Poland, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic (increase of 20–29 percentage points)."
"Overall, in 15 out of 32 countries, the increase in recycling rates was at least 10 percentage points over this period."
"However, in seven countries, the proportion of recycled municipal waste barely changed and in two countries it even decreased slightly."
Posted by: Hue | November 12, 2017 at 21:02
@ Hue
Yeah I found out I made a short-of-words response just after I posted my answer.
Thanks for the feedback. Really appreciate it.
Posted by: timothy | November 18, 2017 at 08:49
The figure above shows percentages of different ways of waste management (landfill, recycling, incineration, and others) in 15 EU countries.
According to the data, landfill is the most used method in garbage disposal. seven of the mentioned countries (Greece, UK, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Finland) use it for more than 50 percent of their waste. Greece, Ireland and UK are the highest among them (80% to 90%). However, they are the lowest in recycling their garbage (less than 20 percent). Greece and Ireland don't burn trash.
On the other hand, Luxembourg and Denmark burn more than half of their waste and dispose less than 30%.
The waste products of Belgium, Austria, and Netherlands recycled (around 50 percent) and landfilled by less than thirty percent.
In general, the highest amount of waste is landfilled in the mentioned European countries.
Posted by: Hajer | November 20, 2017 at 19:51
The graph illustrates the percentage of the waste that is recycled, incinerated, and put into landfill in various European countries.
It is noticable that majority of European countries do not recycle most of their waste. However, Austria and Belgium can be considered as two of the most environmental friendly countries due to their high percentage of recycling; about 70% and 60%, respectively.
On the other hand, Greece appears to be the least environmental friendly country with only 10% of their waste being recycled and with 90% of their waste being put into landfill.
Further, Denmark and Luxembourg are the two countries that incinerate most of their waste; 60% of both Denmark's and Luxembourg's waste is incinerated.
By looking at the 15 European countries, one can say that most of the waste is not recycled, in fact goes straight into landfill. Excluding the two environmental friendly countries that recycle most of their waste; majority of European countries do not choose to environmental friendly ways to manage their waste.
(Any feedback is appreciated, thank you!)
Posted by: d.o | November 21, 2017 at 15:40
@d.o
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&ei=0kkUWoLxOsTy8QW6vZwI&q=%22percentage+of+waste+that%22&oq=%22percentage+of+waste+that%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3...31214.32285.0.32806.4.4.0.0.0.0.207.398.0j1j1.2.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..2.0.0....0.oQr-YgFJxqQ
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=that+the+majority+of%2C+that+majority+of&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cthat%20the%20majority%20of%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cthat%20majority%20of%3B%2Cc0
"Further, Denmark and Luxembourg are the two countries ...."
->
There are also two countries, Denmark and Luxembourg, which incinerate most of their waste; 60% in both cases.
By looking at the 15 European countries,..->
Looking at the 15 European countries as a whole/overall, it is clear that ...
Excluding ... environmentally friendly .. waste, the majority of ... environmentally friendly
There is some debate over whether incineration is "environmentally friendly" or not. As I understand it, we are not supposed to make judgements about the data in Task 1.
Posted by: DaNang | November 21, 2017 at 16:05
@d.o
Might be better to mention the "other" category; see comments by Hue above.
Posted by: DaNang | November 21, 2017 at 16:09
@Hajer
"According to the data,": Simon doesn't seem to include this type of phrase in his model answers.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=method+*+garbage+disposal%2Cthe+mentioned+countries%2Cthe+countries+mentioned%2Cdispose+of+less%2C+dispose+less&year_start=1980&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cmethod%20of%20garbage%20disposal%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cthe%20mentioned%20countries%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cthe%20countries%20mentioned%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cdispose%20of%20less%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cdispose%20less%3B%2Cc0
Greece and Ireland
don'tdo not burn"The waste products of Belgium, Austria, and Netherlands were recycled (around 50 percent) and landfilled by less than thirty percent."
OR:
In Belgium, Austria, and Netherlands recycling accounted for around 50 percent of waste, and landfill less than thirty.
In general, the
highest amountmajority of waste is landfilled in thementionedEuropean countries mentioned/surveyed.Posted by: DaNang | November 21, 2017 at 16:34
@DaNang
Thank you for your feedback!
I will work on mentioning all categories and grouping information together.
I have one question though, why did you choose to change my "further, denmark and luxembourg..." sentence? Is it grammatically wrong?
Posted by: d.o | November 22, 2017 at 10:11
thank you very much for your feedback! would you tell me what band score do i get with this writing?
Posted by: Hajer | November 22, 2017 at 16:23
@d.o
(1) It seemed to me you were making a new point, rather than extending the previous one. (Also:"Furthermore, ..." seems more widespread as a linking adverb than "Further,..".)
(2) To avoid repetition of "Denmark and Luxembourg " and "incinerated".
http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2010/11/ielts-grammar-moreover-doesnt-get-you-a-7.html
http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2012/07/ielts-writing-advice-cohesion.html
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=_START_+Further%2C_START_+Furthermore%2C_START_+Further+*+&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2C_START_%20Further%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2C_START_%20Furthermore%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2C_START_%20Further%20%2A%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3B_START_%20Further%20on%3B%2Cc0%3B%3B_START_%20Further%20evidence%3B%2Cc0%3B%3B_START_%20Further%20than%3B%2Cc0%3B%3B_START_%20Further%20information%3B%2Cc0%3B%3B_START_%20Further%20details%3B%2Cc0%3B%3B_START_%20Further%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B%3B_START_%20Further%20studies%3B%2Cc0%3B%3B_START_%20Further%20research%3B%2Cc0%3B%3B_START_%20Further%20the%3B%2Cc0%3B%3B_START_%20Further%20investigation%3B%2Cc0
Posted by: DaNang | November 22, 2017 at 17:45
@Hajer
See comments by Hue above re mentioning "other" category; what about France?
Also see Simon's model answers and check whether your overview meets Simon's criteria:
http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2017/04/ielts-writing-task-1-how-to-write-the-overview.html
https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/IELTS_task_1_Writing_band_descriptors.pdf
Posted by: DaNang | November 22, 2017 at 17:57
The bar graph illustrates the disposal management in fifteen European countries. It is clear that there are three main methods of waste treatment, that is landfill, recycling or composting and incineration, while a few other methods are also employed.
The vast majority of waste are sent to landfill sites in Greece, Ireland, and the UK. Only less than one fifth of the rest waste are treated in different methods.
Another group of countries, including Italy, Portugal, Spain and Finland, also choose landfill as the prominent management strategy for the waste, with 60-70% of landfilled refuse.
Meanwhile, Luxembourg and Denmark are the two leading countries in incineration, of which percentage are over 50.
Belgium, Austria, Germany and Netherlands have the largest proportion of recycled/ composted waste, which accounts for 40-50%.
France and Sweden both have relatively equal contributions of all methods , each stands for around 30-40%.
IN general, European countries show various pattern in management of waste, however all utilizing three common approaches.
Above is my writing after reading some others'comments. Please any feedback would be appreciated. It's a little overword (163).
Posted by: Thea | December 06, 2017 at 10:06
Dear Simon,
Could you please explain why you used a singular noun "facility" in this phrase "any other refuse management facility" (in your sample overview), not a plural noun "facilites"?
Thank you so much.
Posted by: HanaNguyen | July 10, 2018 at 09:42