The chart below shows the average daily minimum and maximum levels of two air pollutants in four big cities in 2000.
Sample Response
The column chart compares the lowest and highest levels of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and Dinitrous Oxide (N2ONO2), two air pollutants, in four cities, namely Los Angeles, Calcutta, Beijing and Mexico in 2000.
Overall, the average presence of these two air pollutantsair polluting ingredients werewas much higher in Mexico than the other three cities. The higher presence of Sulphur Dioxide and Dinitrous Oxide in Mexico revealsreveal that air pollution in this city is worse than in the other three citiesworse than the three other cities. As is presented in the graph, the level of Sulphur Dioxide in the air of Los Angeles ranges from 1 to 10, which10 which is remarkably lower than that of other cities. The level of this pollutant rangesThe presence of this air pollutant varies from 80 to 200 in Mexico the highest range shownwhich is the highest. The minimum level of SO2 is 47 in Calcutta and 25 in Beijing but the maximum levelrange goes as high as 130 in Beijing which is more than doublemore than double than that of Calcutta city.
On the other hand, the presence of the second air pollutantair polluting material - Dinitrous oxide, on averageon an average, could be found more in Mexico City’s airin the Mexico City’s air than any other city provided in the illustration. The minimum level of N2O in Mexico was 113 which was almost ten times higher than that of Beijing and approximately four times higher than that of Calcutta and Los Angeles. The maximumupper level of N2O in Los Angeles was higher than the presence of N2O in Calcutta and Beijing.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response gives a clear overview and selects the main contrasts, with Mexico identified as the most polluted city and useful comparisons across the other locations. Its main limitation is imprecise language and a few inaccurate proportional claims about nitrogen dioxide. Prioritise exact comparisons from the chart and replace awkward phrases with standard terms for pollutant levels and ranges.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and mostly accurate coverage of the principal minimum and maximum values address the task well, although some proportional comparisons are imprecise.
Report the exact nitrogen dioxide maximums and check each ratio against the chart before describing how many times larger one figure is.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from the overview to sulphur dioxide and then nitrogen dioxide, with generally effective referencing and linking.
Use a more precise transition than 'On the other hand' when moving between pollutant categories that are being compared rather than contrasted.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a sufficient range of topic vocabulary, but several collocations such as 'air polluting ingredients' and 'upper level' are unnatural.
Use conventional chart language such as 'pollutant concentration,' 'minimum level,' and 'maximum level' consistently.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentence forms is used and meaning remains clear, though agreement, comparison, and possessive errors recur.
Review comparative structures and noun phrases, especially forms such as 'more than double' and 'Mexico City's air.'
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The chart below shows the average daily minimum and maximum levels of two air pollutants in four big cities in 2000.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.