The line graph shows the historical oil prices per barrel from 1973 to January 2009.
Sample Response
The line graph illustrates changes in oil price between 1973between the year 1973 and the first month of 2009. The data was collectedData is collected by inflationdata.com and the Department of Revenue of Alaska. Overall, the price of oil per barreloil price per barrel ranged from as low as 5 dollars in the early years to as high as about 145 dollarsas high as 145 dollars in recent years. Additionally, it did not go beyond 40 dollars before 2006. APer barrel of oil was sold at 5 dollars in 1973, which was the lowest price compared with later yearscompared with the years afterwards. It took 8 years for the price to increase to approximately 40 dollars, before becoming nearly 20 USD in 1986. After thatFrom there, the oil price fluctuatedoil price fluctuated around 20 dollars a barrel until it dropped to 10 dollars in 1998. However, the price tripledincreased 3-fold by the end of the 20th century and thenfurtherly surged to nearly 40 dollars per barrel by around 2005in 2005. The most noticeable changes took place in the remaining years, as the price reached the zenith of over 140 dollars in 20082007. By January 2009But as of January 2009, after a sharp declinecontinuous decreases, the figure stood at about 4042 dollars a barrel.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The report gives a clear, logically ordered account of the long period of relatively low prices, the dramatic late surge, and the subsequent fall, using an effective range of graph vocabulary. Its main limitation is precision, most notably placing the peak in the wrong year, alongside a few awkward word choices and sentence forms. The highest-priority improvement is to correct the peak date and sharpen the contrast between the stable earlier decades and the rapid rise after 2003.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The report gives a clear overview of the low early prices, long period below 40 dollars, dramatic late rise, peak, and fall by January 2009. One key date is inaccurate because the peak appears in 2008, not 2007.
Correct the timing of the peak and include a clearer contrast between the pre-2000 stability and the rapid rise after 2003.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is logically sequenced and easy to follow, though it is presented in one paragraph and could separate overview from details.
Use two paragraphs after the introduction: one overview and one chronological detail paragraph.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is generally effective, with some less natural choices such as "zenith" and "furtherly".
Use precise but standard graph language such as "peak", "rose sharply", and "fell back".
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
There is a good range of structures, but errors with articles, sentence openings, and word forms remain.
Edit awkward clauses and avoid starting a sentence with an incomplete phrase like "Per barrel of oil".
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IELTS Academic Writing Task 1
The line graph shows the historical oil prices per barrel from 1973 to January 2009.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.