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

200 words · Illustrative target band

The presented graphs depict a dramatic transformation in appliance ownership and housework hours within a specific nation from 1920 to 2019. A clear upward trend is evident in ownership of electrical appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, and vacuum cleaners. Particularly noteworthy is the rapid proliferation of refrigerators, which were virtually nonexistent in 1920, reaching near-universal levels by 1980;…

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AI-completed learning example

199 words · Illustrative target band

The provided charts depict the changes in ownership of electrical appliances and the amount of time spent doing housework in households within a specific country over the time period of 1920 to 2019. Overall, the ownership of washing machines, refrigerators, and vacuum cleaners in households steadily increased over the years, with all three reaching near their highest recorded levels by 2019, although the three appli…

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AI-completed learning example

221 words · Illustrative target band

The two line graphs illustrate the changing trends in the proportion of families who owned a washing machine, refrigerator and vacuum cleaner, as well as the amount of time housekeepers dedicated to house chores in one nation, across the span of a hundred years from 1920 to 2019. It is evident that households with electrical appliances became more common overall, while weekly time spent on housework fell substantiall…

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