Exam information | Describing tables
In Task 1 of the writing paper, you need to describe some visual information. This visual information might be a table. You need to identify and describe the key points in the table, using formal or semi-formal writing. You have 20 minutes to do this task and you must write 150 words or more.
1. Look at the table. Write the correct option in each sentence below.
Class Sports Survey
1. Football /Tennis is the most popular sport in the class.
2. A lot of students don't like football/ hockey.
3. Football/ Hockey is liked and disliked by the same number of students.
4. Few students dislike tennis / football.
5. All the students dislike cricket/ football.
2. Now look at this table and write T (True) or F (False) next to each sentence. Give reasons for your answers.
Number of hours a week spent on activities by age range
1. Older teenagers spend a lot of time swimming.
2. All older teenagers like playing computer games.
3. Listening to music is more popular with older teenagers.
4. Teenagers don't spend much time swimming.
5. Younger teenagers spend a lot of hours listening to music.
Exam tip | Identifying key points
Make sure you understand the following in a table:
(a) the main heading / title of the table
(b) the column headings / categories and exactly what these show.
Look for the most important information in the table by comparing categories and groups. Notice any similarities, any differences, any obvious changes and / or trends. These are what you will need to write about in your answer.
3. Look at the table below, then choose the sentence, a, b or c, which best explains what the table shows.
% of time spent on types of Internet activity, by age group
a. The table shows how much time people spend on the Internet.
b. The table shows how much time people spend on Internet activities depending on their age.
c. The table shows the percentage of time spent on types of Internet activity by age group.
best explains the table because it includes all
the information and uses different words.
Exam tip | Writing an introduction
Use the following structure for the introduction to a Task 1 answer:
- One sentence to explain what the table shows. (Use different words from the words used in the heading for the table wherever possible.)
- One or two sentences summarizing the information shown in the table.
- Do not include details in the introduction. Save the details for the main part of your text, after the introduction.
4. Read two different introductions (A and B) to a text about the table in Exercise 3 and answer the questions.
1. Write all the verbs in the introductions. What tense are the verbs?
Introduction A:
Introduction B:
2. Look at the first sentence of each introduction. Do these sentences accurately explain the title of the table?
Model Answer
A’s first sentence explains the title of the
table accurately because the table shows how
much time people spend on the Internet. B’s
first sentence is inaccurate because the table
does not show how much people like the
Internet.
3. Write any details in A and B.
Model Answer
70% of children between ages 10-15 play games on the Internet, and no children between ages 10-15 like shopping. Most older people browse news sites. They spend 54% of their time reading the news on the Internet.
4. Which introduction is better, A or B? Why?
Model Answer
Introduction A is better because it explains
the table correctly and contains general
information. Introduction B does not explain the
table correctly and contains too many details.
Introduction A: The table shows how much time the age groups spend on different types of Internet activity. There are six age ranges in the table from 10-15 to over 50. The Internet activities include shopping, browsing, social networking and playing games.
Introduction B: The table shows how much people like the Internet depending on their age. 70% of children between ages 10-15 play games on the Internet, and no children between ages 10-15 like shopping. Most older people browse news sites. They spend 54% of their
time reading the news on the Internet.
5. Now complete the rest of the text about the table, using the words from the box.
In general there are many differences depending on age group.The table shows that (1) spend a lot of time playing games, but older people do not spend (2) time playing games. Younger people spend more time social networking than older people, especially the age range (3) They spend 51 % of their time on social networking. Most age groups shop on the Internet except for the age group (4) (5) people in this age group shop on the Internet. Browsing news and sports sites is popular with (6) age groups. Overall, young people like playing games and social networking but older people (7) reading news and (8) on the Internet.
Exam tip | Using the right tense
Always use the present tense to describe a table, unless it contains information about a time in the past or if past dates, e.g. years, are used as categories.
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