The graph below shows the area of land from which grain was harvested.

The graph shows the total world grain harvest area in millions of hectares between 1950 and 1996. In general, the total harvest area increased until 1980, at which point there was a reduction in the area harvested due to retrenchment. In 1950 almost 600 million hectares of grain were harvested worldwide. During the 1950s the USSR initiated a Virgin Lands Program which greatly increased the area harvested to around 650 million hectares. From this point until the mid-1970s the area harvested increased slowly, with some fluctuations, to just over 700 million hectares. Then around 1975 the price of grain doubled and this caused a rapid increase in the amount of land devoted to grain production until 1980. From 1980 to 1995 there was a gradual decease in the amount of land used for grain cultivation. After this the area harvested again began to rise. In summary, we can see that the area devoted to grain production was affected by both government policy and market forces. (166 words) The graph below gives information on wages of Somecountry over a ten-year period.

The line graph describes the growth of wages in Somecountry from year 1993 to year 2003. The growth starts at two percent in 1993, but it doesnt stay there very long before it rapidly doubles in 1994. Further on, the percentages declines to three percent in 1995, stays steady for year, before it start to rise slowly and ends up just under four percent in 1997. 1998 is the best year where the wages peaked at six percent. However, after 1998 the wages declines nearly every year. Only a year after, the percentage drops to well under three percent, stays there on roughly three percent till 2000. In 2002 the wages reach the lowest point of just one percent growth. Luckily the growth rises in 2003 at just under two percent. Overall, the growth rate in wages in Somecountry has shown striking changes through the ten years. (147 words) (Band 7) The graph below shows the unemployment rates in the US and Japan between March 1993 and March 1999.

According to the results of the labor-force research published recently, the following conclusions can be drawn from it: In March, 1993, United States had seven percent of their workforce which might not seem disastrous until compared with Japan, where 2.5% were unemployed. However, the unemployment rate in United States began declining slowly since March 1993, and reached 5% mark in the middle of 1996. Japan turned out to be less lucky, as their unemployment rate doubled in three years. From then on the percentage of unemployed workforce in United States remained roughly the same about 5% until March 99, although there were minor falls and rises in the unemployment rate. As for Japan, the percentage of unemployed fell rapidly by 0.50.6% after March 1996, but from summer 1996 and onwards it grew steadily and without any falls to reach 5.0% boundary in March 1999. The major conclusion that Ive drawn using the graph, is that number of unemployed in USA decreased by about 2.0% in the course of six years, while in Japan it actually increased by 2.5% percent. As a result, in March 99, both Japan and US had about 5% of their work force unemployed. (198 words) (Band 7) Comments: This is a good account of the information presented in the graph, although occasionally the organization of the data is slightly unusual. The writer grasps all the key points, however, and supports these with figures, before providing a summary of the main points. Sentence structures are more than adequate, although the writer has some problems with the use of tenses and prepositions. There are minor examples of unsuitable register (e.g. turned out, disastrous, and one contracted verb form), but as there are only a few instances of this, the candidate has not been penalized. The graph below shows the monthly profits of 3 British companies in the car retail industry for the 2000 financial year. Write a report for a university lecturer comparing the performance of Acme Sports Cars and Branson Motors for the period given. 3

The graph shows the four quarters of the 2000 financial year and the monthly profit of Acme Sports Cars and Branson Motors for 12 months. The former was making almost twice the profit at the beginning than at the end of the financial year. There was a three-fold increase in the latter's monthly profit over the same period. During the first quarter, Acme Sports Cars' monthly profit decreased slightly from 70,000 to 60,000, but rose sharply to 80,000 by the end of June. Branson Motors' monthly profit, however, doubled from 20,000 to 40,000. Due to the introduction of a luxury goods tax, Acme Sports Cars' monthly profit fell dramatically during the second quarter from 80,000 to only 10,000, whereas that of Branson Motors continued to rise, peaking at just over 60,000 by the end of September. In the third quarter, Acme Sports Cars' monthly profit increased steadily to 20,000 and remained stable, while Branson Motors' monthly profits fluctuated between just over 60,000 and 40,000. At the beginning of the last quarter, a boost in the economy meant the monthly profit of both Acme Sports Cars and Branson Motors gradually increased to 40,000 and 60,000 respectively by the financial year's end. (200 words) The graph below shows the number of passenger railway journeys made in Great Britain between 1950 and 2004/5.

The graph shows the number of commuters using London Underground, the national rail network and the light rail and metro systems in Great Britain from 1950 to 2004/5. Overall, the number of passenger journeys made on the 3 systems increased, but on London Underground it increased dramatically. The most striking figure was that 1 billion journeys were made a year on the national rail network in the 1950s. at that time, the London Underground was carrying around 750 million passengers and they fell to 500 million in 1980 compared to 600 million on the national rail network. From the beginning of the 1980s, the number of passenger journeys on all 3 main ways of transport rose rapidly. The number of passenger journeys on London Underground and the national rail network were very similar throughout the remaining period, rising to approximately 1.1 billion in 2004/5. The period ended with the national railway slightly up than the starting point and London Underground at the second place of just under 1 billion and light and metro at third place with approximately 200 million passenger journeys. (182 words) The graph below shows the differences in wheat exports over three different areas.

The three graphs of wheat exports each show a quite different pattern between 1985 and 1990. Exports from Australia declined over the five-year period, while the Canadian market fluctuated considerably, and the European Community showed an increase. In 1985, Australia exported about 15 millions of tons of wheat and the following year the number increased by one million tons to 16 million. After that, however, there was a gradual decline until 1989 and 1990 when it stabilized at about 11 million tones. Over the same period, the amount of Canadian exports varied greatly. It started at 19 million tons in 1985, reached a peak in 1988 of 24 million, dropped dramatically in 1989 to 14 million tones and then climbed back to 19 million in 1990. Seventeen million tons were exported from the European Community in 1985, but this decreased to 14 million tons in 1986 and then rose to 15 million in 1987 and 1988 before increasing once more to 20 million in 1990. (165 words) The graph below shows the quantities of goods transported in the UK between 1974 and 2002 by 4 different modes of transport.

The graph illustrates the quantities of goods transported in the United Kingdom by 4 different modes of transport between the time period of 1974 and 2002. Over this span of 28 years, the quantities of goods transported by road, water and pipeline have all increased while the quantity transported by rail has remained almost constant at about 40 million tones. The largest quantity of goods transported both in 1974 and 2002 was by road (70 million tones and 98 million tons respectively) while the lowest both in 1974 and 2002 was by pipeline (about 5 million tones and 22 million tons respectively). The amount of goods transported by water was constant from 1974 to 1978, where it showed an exponential growth, rising to almost 60 million tones after which it plateau for about 20 years before starting to rise gradually again. The amount of goods transported by rail is almost constant at 40 million tons in 1974 and 2002, with decreases in quantity in between the years. It is also interesting to note that almost all showed a decrease in 1994 in amount of goods transported except for the pipeline, which actually peaked in that year. In conclusion the road remains the most popular method of transporting goods in the UK while water and pipelines are becoming increasingly used, have not become more popular as a method of transport. (229 words) (Band 8) Comments: This answer covers all the relevant information in the task, and clearly highlights the main trends and comparisons. The only thing that would improve this answer is an introduction to the topic that is not so closely copied from the prompt. The message is easy to follow because paragraphing is logical and information is clearly linked across the whole answer. A wide range of vocabulary is used accurately and effectively, although there are some rare imprecise choices and repetitions. Similarly, a wide range of grammatical structures and 7

sentence forms is used accurately and effectively, with only 1 significant error where punctuation is omitted in the final paragraph. Overall, most sentences are accurate.