Eating sweet foods produces acid in the mouth, which can cause tooth decay. (High acid levels are measured by low pH values) Describe the information below and discuss the implications for dental health.
Sample Response
The given line graph gives information on the acid levels produced in the mouththe acid level produced in our mouth decay after consuming fruit sugar, cane sugar and honey and compares the possible implicationsimplication of those three sweet foods forthose three sweet food items have on our tooth decay. As is observed from the given presentation, honey causes the least tooth decay while the cane sugar poses the greatest risk of tooth decaypossesses the possibility of decaying our tooth among the mentioned three sweet foods. The graph shows that different acid levels are createddifferent acid level is created in mouth after we consume different sweet food items.AThe higher acid level is indicated by a lower pH valueis measured by the lower pH level and tooth decay is likely when the pH level in our mouth goes below 5.5. After we eat fruit sugar, the pH level of our mouth declines below 5.5 in 5 minutes and remains in the danger zoneand remain in danger level until 13 minutes. Similarly, caneCane sugar causes the pH level to fall below pH 5.5to get under pH level 5.5 in 5 minutes but it remains in danger level for more than 30 minutes indicating thatwhich shows the fact that canecan sugar can cause more tooth decay than fruit sugarthan the fruit sugar. Finally, in 5 minutes the pH level of our mouth reaches theto danger level in 5 minutes after we consumetake honey and this level remains in the danger zone for about 20 minutes. The comparison of the three sweet items indicates that honey is comparatively saferthe honey is comparatively safer for our dental health as it possesses the least possibility of tooth decay while cane sugar poses the greatest dangerpossesses the most danger to our dental health as it would possibly cause the highest tooth decay.
Why this response received Band 5.5
The response clearly identifies honey as the least harmful option and cane sugar as the most harmful, and it links the pH threshold to dental risk. Its main weakness is inaccurate timing: the danger-zone durations for fruit sugar and honey are effectively reversed, while repeated wording and awkward grammar reduce precision. Prioritise reading where each line crosses pH 5.5 and reporting those durations accurately in a concise comparison.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The overall ranking of the three foods and the significance of pH 5.5 are clear, but two of the three danger-zone durations are reported inaccurately.
State that honey rises above pH 5.5 after about 13 minutes, fruit sugar after about 20 minutes, and cane sugar only after roughly 33 minutes.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response follows a generally logical route from overview to individual foods and conclusion, though repetition and the lack of paragraphing make it somewhat mechanical.
Separate the overview from a concise comparison paragraph and avoid repeating the same dental-health conclusion at both the beginning and end.
Lexical Resource
Relevant vocabulary about acidity and dental health is used, but awkward combinations such as mouth decay, possesses the most danger, and danger level recur.
Use precise phrases such as risk of tooth decay, remains below the threshold, and poses the greatest dental risk.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are attempted and meaning is mostly clear, but frequent agreement, article, plural, and preposition errors reduce grammatical control.
Edit recurring structures for accuracy, particularly subject-verb agreement and phrases such as reaches the danger level and remains in the danger zone.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
Eating sweet foods produces acid in the mouth, which can cause tooth decay. (High acid levels are measured by low pH values) Describe the information below and discuss the implications for dental health.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.