Task 1 · multiple graphs · 18 samples

The charts below show the changes in ownership of electrical appliances and amount of time doing housework and households in one country between 1920 and 2019. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

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Plan your answer

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Ideas to explore

  • Compare the pace of adoption: refrigerator ownership rose especially quickly between 1940 and 1960, while washing-machine ownership changed more gradually.
  • Identify milestones in appliance ownership: refrigerators reached 100% by 1980, and vacuum cleaners did so by 2000.
  • Set the decline in housework hours alongside rising appliance ownership, while avoiding claims that the charts prove one trend caused the other.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce both charts, the measures shown and the 1920–2019 period.
  2. Give an overview of the broad appliance-ownership increases and the fall in housework hours.
  3. Compare the three appliances, highlighting their starting points and the years they reached universal ownership.
  4. Describe the housework-hour decline chronologically, noting the plateau at 15 hours between 1980 and 2000.
Useful vocabulary & examples
household ownership
the proportion of households that have a particular item

Household ownership of refrigerators rose to 100% by 1980.

reach universal ownership
be owned by all households shown in the chart

Vacuum cleaners reached universal ownership in 2000.

edge down
decrease slightly

Washing-machine ownership edged down between 1960 and 1980.

remain at that level
stay unchanged at a previously stated figure

Housework time remained at 15 hours per week from 1980 to 2000.

Sample answers

AI-completed learning example

224 words · Illustrative target band

The above line chart illustrates the change in the percentage of households that own three particular electrical appliances from 1920 to 2019, while the below line chart displays the number of hours spent on housework per week in each household across the same time period. Through observation of the above graph, it is apparent that ownership of all three appliances rose overall, whereas weekly housework time fell sub…

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AI-completed learning example

180 words · Illustrative target band

The provided charts illustrate the changes in the ownership of electrical appliances and the amount of time spent on housework in households in a particular country from 1920 to 2019. Overall, the percentage of households owning washing machines, refrigerators, and vacuum cleaners increased steadily over the years, with all three reaching 100% ownership by 2019. Looking more closely, however, the appliances did not f…

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AI-completed learning example

205 words · Illustrative target band

The provided line graphs illustrate changes in the ownership of electrical appliances and the amount of time spent doing housework in households in one country from 1920 to 2019. Overall, the ownership of washing machines, refrigerators, and vacuum cleaners gradually increased over the years, with a significant surge in 1940. By 2019, almost all households owned refrigerators and vacuum cleaners, while washing-machin…

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