WRITING TASK 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The graph below compares changes in the birth rates of China and the USA between
1920 and 2000.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Model Answer A: IELTS Band 5+
The figure given shows the birth rates of China and the USA between 1920 and 2000. Clearly, both rates fluctuated dramatically during this period.
China’s birth rate rose from around 10 percent in the 1920s to 15 percent in 1935. Then it fell sharply to around 5 percent in both 1940 and 1945. It increased rapidly to a peak of 20 percent in 1950. After this it fell dramatically to less than 10 percent in 1955. Finally, it decrease steadily to about 2 percent in 1980 and remained at this level until 2000.
Meanwhile, the US birth rate fluctuated at around 12 percent from 1920 to 1940. It decreased dramatically to under 5 percent in 1945. Next it increased rapidly to a peak of about 15 percent in 1950. After 1950, it fell gradually to about 12 percent in the 1960s and around 7 or 8 percent during the last 20 years of this period.
Therefore, although the US birth rate generally higher than the birth rate of China (especially after 1950), both birth rates followed a very similar trend.
(190 words)
Model Answer B: IELTS Band 7+
A glance at the graph provided reveals some striking similarities between the Chinese and US birth rates during the period from 1920 to 2000. It is evident that both nations saw considerable fluctuations in fertility, with lows during the 1940s and highs during the 1950s.
Increasing from approximately 10 percent in 1920 to 15 percent in 1935, China’s birth rate then plunged to a low of just 5 percent in the 1940s. This was followed by a period of exponential growth, with fertility in the country reaching a peak of 20 percent in 1950. The latter half of the century, however, brought a sustained decline in this figure.
The US birth rate, meanwhile, fluctuated at somewhere between 11 and 13 percent prior to 1940, before dropping sharply to less than 5 percent in 1945. The following 5 years saw a rapid climb in this rate, to somewhere in the vicinity of 15 percent in 1950, followed by a steady fall. It is interesting to note that while the birth rates of both countries were comparable until 1950, the gap between the two widened after this time as fertility in China slid away.
(207 words)
