The charts below show the percentage of time used for different activities in the office in the US in 1980 and 2000.

Time Used Different Activities Office US 1980 2000 - IELTS Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

A student's answer to this task, and the feedback on it

Written by an IELTSX user under exam conditions and published unedited and anonymously. Band 8 · 200 words.

The pie chart compares seven different types of office activities—computer, phone, paper document, face-to-face communication, meeting, email, and other activities—in terms of their proportion of time used in the US in two separate years, 1980 and 2000. Units are measured in percentages.

From an overall perspective, it is clear that computer and email experienced an upward trend, albeit with varying levels, while phone, paper document, and meeting declined. Of particular note is face-to-face communication and other activities, which remained unchanged throughout the whole period.

Of significance are the increasing trajectories observed for computer and email. As far as computer is concerned, it started at only 2% in 1980 before reaching the 30% mark by 2000. Interestingly, email did not appear in 1980, but the figure rose markedly to 8% by 2000.

By contrast, face-to-face communication and other activities stayed static at 14% and 15% during the entire period**,** respectively. However, phone dropped significantly to 17% by 2000 after commencing at 30% in 1980. When it comes to paper document, it began at 20% in 1980, prior to dipping drastically to 10% by 2000. Meanwhile, meeting stood at 19% in 1980. However, the figure trailed behind with only 6% in 2000.

Examiner feedback

This is a very strong response that clearly categorizes the data and identifies all significant trends. The language is sophisticated and the structure is logical, making it very easy for the reader to follow the changes between 1980 and 2000.

Task Achievement - 8

- The response covers all requirements of the task, including all seven activities across both years. - Key features are skillfully selected, especially the grouping of increasing vs. decreasing trends. - Provides a clear and accurate overview identifying the main shifts in office time usage.

Coherence & Cohesion - 8

- Information and ideas are logically sequenced with a clear progression from the overview to detailed comparisons. - Cohesive devices like 'By contrast' and 'Interestingly' are used naturally to link ideas. - Paragraphing is used sufficiently and appropriately to separate the trends.

Lexical Resource - 8

- A wide resource of vocabulary is used to convey precise meanings (e.g., 'trajectories', 'commencing', 'markedly'). - Use of uncommon lexical items like 'trailed behind' and 'static' shows flexibility. - Minor instances of missing pluralization (e.g., 'computer' instead of 'computers') are occasional.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy - 8

- A wide range of structures is used accurately, such as 'prior to dipping' and 'after commencing'. - The majority of sentences are error-free with well-managed punctuation. - Uses appropriate tenses (past simple) to describe the historical data.

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