The given pie charts compare the expenses in 7 different categories in 1966 and 1996 by American Citizens.
Sample Response
The pie charts compare US residents' expenditurecompare the expenditure of US residents in 1966 and 1996two different years in seven categories, namelycategories namely food, cars, petrol, restaurants, furniture, computers and books. Overall,It is clear that the largest shares of expenditurethe largest proportion of American citizens’ spending went on foodfoods and cars. MeanwhileOn the other hand, computers and books had the lowest shareshave the lowest percentage in the chartschart in 1966 and 1996 respectively. In 1966, 23% of expenditureAmerican citizens’ expenditure went on cars. The percentage nearly doubled to 45%rose to nearly double at 45% in 1996.Spending on foodThe proportion of spending on food fell from 44% in 1966 to only 14% in 1996. Expenditure on computers stood at only 1% in 1966 but reached 10% in 1996. The proportion of expenditure on restaurantsThe percentage of American citizens spending on restaurants doubledhad doubled from 7% in 1966 to 14% in 1996. Spending on books was highest in 1966, at 6%. By contrast, there was no significant change in the shares for petrol and furniturethe proportions of petrol and furniture over thea period as a whole.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response selects most of the important changes and supports them with accurate figures, particularly for food, cars, computers and restaurants. Its main limitation is the inaccurate claim that books were the highest category in 1966, when food accounted for the largest share, while several smaller categories receive limited detail. The priority is to verify every comparative claim against both charts and state the smaller changes more precisely.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview and well-chosen figures capture most major changes, although the claim that books were highest in 1966 is inaccurate.
Check every superlative against the charts and specify that books fell from 6% to 1% while food was highest in 1966.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response moves logically from overview to major increases and decreases, with effective contrast despite being presented as a single paragraph.
Separate the overview from the detailed comparisons and group rising categories before the declining or stable ones.
Lexical Resource
A good range of expenditure and comparison vocabulary is used, with occasional imprecise phrases such as "foods" and "citizens spending".
Use precise noun phrases such as "spending on food" and "the proportion allocated to restaurants" consistently.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Sentence structures are varied and generally accurate, with minor lapses in tense choice, punctuation and article use that do not impede meaning.
Proofread sentence boundaries and keep past-tense comparisons consistent, particularly around the 1996 figures.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The given pie charts compare the expenses in 7 different categories in 1966 and 1996 by American Citizens.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.