The map below shows the changes in an American town between 1948 and 2010.
Sample Response
The provided map displays how an American town changed betweentransformed, by providing how it looked in two different years - 1948 and 2010. A quick look suggests that with some residential housing in the southeast remainingwith the exception of the town's southeast residential area, new structures have been built and changes have been made, but the overall area neither expanded nor contracted. To begin with, it can be seen that the factories on the northeast cornernorth-east corner were demolished to build an airport and several commercial buildings. Similarly, a supermarket was built near the former central open areaa supermarket replaced a lake which had been next to the factories. It is also worth noticing that four commercial buildings were also constructed toon the southwest of the new supermarket. They were located on both sides of a big road, with two on each side. A church to the southin the south direction back in 1948 was replaced by a sports stadium in 2010. On the other hand, several features of this town did not change throughout the period. The natural elements, a canal and the canal and many trees remainedtrees to be specific, remain untouched. The road system did not change either, with 2 small and 2 big roads. Additionally, the petrol station in the north was kept intact and so were residential houses on the southeast cornerbottom right corner, unlike those on the other side of the canal.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response presents a clear overview and follows the town's redevelopment logically, using varied map-comparison vocabulary to cover most major changes. Its main weakness is precision: the treatment of the trees and lake is overgeneralised, while some location phrases and tense choices are awkward; prioritise checking every claimed change against both maps, then organise the details into clear paragraphs with accurate spatial language.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response gives a clear overview of the town's redevelopment and correctly identifies many major changes, including the replacement of factories with an airport and commercial buildings, the new supermarket, and the sports stadium. A few details are slightly inaccurate or overgeneralised, especially the claim that trees remained untouched and the description of the lake.
Keep the strong overview, but qualify unchanged features more carefully and describe only changes clearly visible in both maps.
Coherence and Cohesion
Organisation is logical, moving from an overview to changes and then unchanged features. The lack of paragraph breaks weakens presentation slightly, but progression and referencing are clear.
Use three paragraphs: overview, changed features, and features that remained.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally suitable for map comparison, including transformed, demolished, replaced, constructed, and kept intact. Some phrases are awkward, such as by providing how it looked and in the south direction.
Use more natural map language such as to the south, in the northeast, remained in place, and was replaced by.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a range of structures with generally good control. Errors with tense consistency, prepositions, and article choice occur but do not obscure meaning.
Maintain past tense for 1948 and 2010 changes, and use precise prepositions for locations.
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The map below shows the changes in an American town between 1948 and 2010.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.