The table below gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities.
Sample Response
The given table shows data on underground railway systems in six citiesunderground railway system of six cities namely London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington DC, Kyoto and Los Angeles and compares their opening dates, route lengths and annual passenger numbersthese rail stations opening date, route and passengers number. As is observed from the given data, London's underground railway system openedLondon underground railway system was established earlier than the other systemsbefore other railway systems of other cities and it has the longest routethey have the largest route for this railroad. But Tokyo railway system has the highest number of passengers per year among the given cities. London's railway system openedLondon railway system was established in 1863, which makes it the oldest underground railway system and it has a 394-km routemore than 390 km route which is also the largest route among these six cities. Each year more than 700 million passengers use London's underground railway systemthese underground railway stations of London. Paris underground railway system was started in 1900 and it has a 199-km routeit has almost 200 km route with 1,191 million passengerswith more than 1190 millions of passengers. Again Tokyo underground railway system has the highest annual passenger totalthe largest passengers (1,927 millionmore than 1900 millions) and it opened in 1927 and has a 155-km routeit was established in 1927 that has 155 km of route. Kyoto underground railway system was opened in 1981 and it has the smallest route of 11 km and the fewest passengers (45 million) use this systemleast passengers (45 millions) use this system among the mentioned six cities. Washington DCDc and Los Angeles underground railway systems were established in 1976 and 2001 with comparatively smaller routes and few passengers. The Los Angeles underground railway system is the latest railway system in terms of the date it was opened and has the second-smallest route (28 km) and the second-lowest passenger total (50 million)has the second smallest route (28 km) and passengers (50 millions). In conclusion, the oldest underground railway system is in London and Tokyo has the largest number of passengers using its underground railway systemnumber of passengers of their underground railway system.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response identifies the most important contrasts accurately, especially London's age and route length and Tokyo's passenger total, and it includes relevant data for five cities. Its main limitation is presentation: Washington DC's exact route and passenger figures are omitted, the report is compressed into one paragraph, and recurring noun and agreement errors reduce precision. Organise the cities into clear comparative groups and report omitted figures accurately.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
A clear overview highlights the principal extremes and most figures are accurate, though Washington DC is only mentioned generally and some values are unnecessarily approximate.
Include Washington DC's 126-kilometre route and 144 million passengers, and use the exact table values when space allows.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a broadly logical city-by-city sequence, but the single long paragraph and repeated overview at the end weaken organisation.
Separate the overview from two detail paragraphs, grouping the older, larger systems and the newer, smaller systems for clearer comparison.
Lexical Resource
The response has sufficient vocabulary for the task, but repetition and inaccurate collocations such as largest passengers and passengers number limit precision.
Use varied, accurate combinations such as passenger numbers, annual ridership, route length, and carried the most passengers.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Simple and complex structures are both used, but recurring errors with articles, plurals, agreement, possessives, and clause control are noticeable.
Check noun phrases and subject-verb agreement carefully, especially singular system references and the use of million after numerical values.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The table below gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.