The tables below provide information about the consumption and production of potatoes in five parts of the world in 2006.
Sample Response
The table data illustrates per person potato consumption and total production of this crop in five different regions in the world- South and Central America, Africa, North America, Europe, and Asia, in 2016. According to the information provided, Europeans ate more potatoes than the citizens of other regions on an average and Asia harvested the largest quantity of potatoes in 2016. In details, Europeans were the chief consumers of potatoes in 2006 as each European ate 96.1 kilograms potatoes. Then, North America and Asia followed the second and the third highest consumer list of this crop, 57.9 and 25.8 kg per person intake respectively. It is interesting to note that an average European consumed almost the double quantity of potatoes than a North American and almost four times higher than that of an Asian citizen. The consumption in Africa was the least, nearly 14 kg per person while it was 23.6 kg in South and Central America. Furthermore, Asia produced the highest quantity of potatoes 131.2 million tonnes despite their lower consumption rate. Europe grew over 126 million tonnes potato and these two regions were the main potato producers in 2006. [Author - Ranto Ari]
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use plural subject Original: The table data illustrates Suggested revision: The tables illustrate Why it matters: The visual contains two tables, so the subject and verb must be plural.
- 2. Hyphenate compound modifier Original: per person potato consumption Suggested revision: per-person potato consumption Why it matters: Per-person functions as a compound modifier before the noun phrase.
- 3. Introduce list correctly Original: in the world- Suggested revision: in the world: Why it matters: A colon correctly introduces the list of five regions.
- 4. Correct reporting year Original: 2016 Suggested revision: 2006 Why it matters: Both tables report data for 2006, not 2016.
- 5. Correct overview year Original: 2016 Suggested revision: 2006 Why it matters: The production figures in the visual refer to 2006.
- 6. Correct fixed phrase Original: on an average Suggested revision: on average Why it matters: The standard adverbial expression is on average without an article.
- 7. Use singular expression Original: details Suggested revision: detail Why it matters: In detail is the correct fixed expression for introducing specifics.
- 8. Use numerical ranking Original: chief Suggested revision: largest Why it matters: Largest consumers more directly describes Europe's highest per-person figure.
- 9. Add quantity preposition Original: 96.1 kilograms potatoes Suggested revision: 96.1 kilograms of potatoes Why it matters: Measurements of a count noun require of before the item measured.
- 10. Clarify ranking Original: followed the second and the third highest consumer list of this crop Suggested revision: ranked second and third for consumption Why it matters: The original phrase is unidiomatic and obscures the intended ranking.
- 11. Complete figure structure Original: 57.9 and 25.8 kg per person intake respectively Suggested revision: at 57.9 and 25.8 kg per person, respectively Why it matters: The figures need a linking preposition and a comma before respectively.
- 12. Correct ratio structure Original: almost the double quantity of potatoes than Suggested revision: almost twice as many potatoes as Why it matters: Multiplicative comparisons use twice as many as rather than double than.
Suggested Rewrites
- The table data illustrates The tables illustrate
- per person potato consumption per-person potato consumption
- in the world- in the world:
- 2016 2006
- 2016 2006
- on an average on average
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response provides a clear overview and accurately identifies Europe as the largest consumer and Asia as the largest producer, supported by useful regional comparisons. Its main limitation is uneven coverage of production and an incorrect reference to 2016, while several comparative forms are awkward. The priority is to use the correct year consistently and add selected figures for the three much smaller producing regions to complete the contrast.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The principal consumption and production features are selected accurately, but the year is misstated twice and production outside Europe and Asia is omitted.
Use 2006 consistently and contrast Asia and Europe with North America, Africa, and South and Central America using their production figures.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses logically from consumption to production, though all information is compressed into one paragraph and some comparisons are overextended.
Separate the overview from two detail paragraphs, one for consumption and one for production, with figures grouped by clear ranking.
Lexical Resource
The range is adequate for ranking and comparing regions, but expressions such as 'in details', 'consumer list', and 'on an average' are unnatural.
Use conventional phrases such as 'in detail', 'ranked second', 'per-capita consumption', and 'on average'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied sentence structures communicate the data clearly, despite recurring errors with articles, noun forms, and comparative constructions.
Practise accurate patterns such as 'almost twice as much as' and check plural forms in phrases like 'kilograms of potatoes' and 'million tonnes of potatoes'.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The tables below provide information about the consumption and production of potatoes in five parts of the world in 2006.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.