Writing Task 1/ Graph Writing – Bar Chart + Table + Line Graph
The charts below show the growth in the population in some of the world’s largest cities as well as the population distribution in urban and rural areas.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
You should write at least 150 words.
Sample Answer 1:
The bar graph compares the population in five metropolitan areas during 1970 and 2010 while the table outlines the top five cities with the highest population. Finally, the line graph compares urban and rural population distribution from 1980 to 2010.
Generally speaking, the population growth in Bombay and Jakarta was faster than that of other cities and Tokyo had the highest residents in 2010.
Moreover, a higher number of people started living in urban areas than in rural areas after 2005. According to the bar graph, more than 15 million people lived in Tokyo in 1970 and that was higher than that of New York and Shanghai. Population in Bombay was one-third than that of Tokyo and Jakarta had only 2.5 million residents, the least among the five cities. The population in Tokyo increased to 27.6 million in 2010 and this was the city with the highest population. However, population growth in Bombay and Jakarta, almost 5.5 times, was higher than any other city listed.
The table data shows that New York was the most populous city in the world in 1950 with exactly 12.5 million people. London and Tokyo stood at the second and third position in this list while Moscow with its 5.3 million people was in 5th position. In 2010, Tokyo topped the rank followed by Bombay and Lagos.
Finally, globally 3 billion people lived in rural areas in 1980 while less than 2 billion in cities. In 2010, the number of city-living-residents upsurged to over 4 billion while it was slightly over 3 in villages.
Model Answer 2:
The bar graph compares the population growth in five large cities between 1970 and 2010 while the table lists down the five most populous cities in the world both in 1950 and 2010. In addition, the line graph analyses the global population in rural and urban areas.
Overall, Tokyo had the largest population in 2010 but the population growth in Bombay and Jakarta outranked other cities. Finally, more people started to live in cities after 2005 despite a different scenario in earlier years.
As the data suggests, Tokyo had over 15 million residents in 1970 which was three and five times higher than that of Bombay and Jakarta respectively. New York and Shanghai had approximately 14 and 12 million inhabitants in this year. After two decades, New York witnessed a meagre population growth while it was dramatic both in Jakarta and Bombay. It is evident that population growth in Jakarta and Bombay exceeded all other cities.
In 1950, New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Moskow were the top five populous cities in the world. In 2010 Bombay, Lagos, Shanghai and Jakarta ranked in the list by eliminating all other cites except Tokyo which stood first on the chart with over 27 million citizens.
Finally, the global urban population in 1980 was below 2 billion while 3 billion lived in villages. The population in cities grew steadily and went over 4 billion in 2010 at which point 3 billion global population resided in rural areas.
