The diagram shows the water cycle, which is the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth.
Sample Response
The picture illustrates the way in which water moves from the ocean into the air and onto landpasses from ocean to air to land during the natural process known as the water cycle.
Three main stages are shown inon the diagram. Ocean water evaporates, falls as rain or snow, andevaporates, falls as rain, and eventually runs back into the oceans again.
Beginning at the evaporation stage, we can see that about 80% of the water vapour in the air comes from the ocean80% of water vapour in the air comes from the oceans. Heat from the sun causes water to evaporate, and water vapour condenses to form clouds. At the second stage, labelled ‘precipitation’ on the diagram, water falls as rain or snow.
At the third stage in the cycle, rainwater may take various paths. Some of it may fall into lakes or return to the oceans via ‘surface runoff’. In additionOtherwise, rainwater may infiltrate the groundmay filter through the ground, collecting above the impervious layerreaching the impervious layer of the earth. Salt water intrusion is shown to take place just before groundwater passes into the oceans to complete the cycle.
Why this response received Band 9.0
The response gives a clear, accurate overview and traces the cycle logically from evaporation through precipitation to the return of water to the ocean. Its strongest feature is the precise, economical selection of process stages, supported by highly controlled language. The only minor limitation is the compressed treatment of the land-based routes; the best refinement would be to distinguish surface runoff, lakes, and groundwater even more explicitly.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response fully and accurately presents the cycle's overall pattern and all major stages shown in the diagram.
For still greater precision, distinguish the separate surface-runoff, lake, and groundwater routes more explicitly.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses seamlessly from the overview through each stage, with clear and unobtrusive linking.
Maintain this concise stage-by-stage organisation while keeping each paragraph focused on one phase of the cycle.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise, natural, and suitably technical, including terms such as evaporation, precipitation, surface runoff, and impervious layer.
Preserve this exact process vocabulary and continue avoiding unnecessary paraphrase of technical labels.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of sentence structures is used with consistently accurate grammar and punctuation.
Continue varying clause structures while retaining the same level of control and clarity.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The diagram shows the water cycle, which is the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth.
Your response
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