Task 1 · line graph · 18 samples

The line graph below shows the oil production and consumption in China between 1982 and 2006.

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Plan your answer

Try your own response before reading the samples.

Ideas to explore

  • Compare which series begins higher and which one ends higher; here, production starts slightly above consumption, but consumption finishes much higher.
  • Identify the different rates of change: production rises gradually, while consumption accelerates after the early plotted years.
  • Mention the axis-label problem: the task’s stated dates do not match the displayed years, and the last year is printed twice.

Suggested structure

  1. Introduce the graph, measures, and units.
  2. Give an overview of the overall direction and the main contrast between the two lines.
  3. Describe production’s starting level, plateau, and gradual later rise.
  4. Describe consumption’s early stability and sharper increase, then compare the final plotted values.
  5. Briefly note that the displayed dates are inconsistent or duplicated where this affects interpretation.
Useful vocabulary & examples
rose gradually
increased slowly over time

Oil production rose gradually after remaining near 3 million barrels per day.

remained stable
stayed at approximately the same level

Production remained stable at around 3 million barrels per day for a period.

increased substantially
went up by a large amount

Consumption increased substantially and reached about 6.3 million barrels per day at the final plotted point.

the gap widened
the difference between two values became greater

The gap between oil consumption and production widened as consumption climbed.

Sample answers

AI-completed learning example

200 words · Illustrative target band

This line graph provides information about the consumption and production of oil in China from 1982 to 2006.The data is measured in millions of oil barrels per day. Overall,there is an upward trend in both consumption and production of oil in China.But the consumption of oil increases very fast with the passage of time. In the first observation, production stands at about 2 million barrels per day, slightly above con…

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AI-completed learning example

205 words · Illustrative target band

The line graph below compares production and consumption of oil in China from 1982 to 2006. Overall, it is clear that although the oil used in first eight years was stable, it showed a significant rise in next 15 years to outscale the level of oil production which present slight increase over the mentioned period. According to the plotted lines, production began at about 2 million barrels per day and climbed to rough…

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AI-completed learning example

197 words · Illustrative target band

The chart gives information about oil production and consumption in China from 1982 to 2006. Overall, the general trend is to go up, the highest number belongs to oil consumption in 2006. In 1982, the amount of oil production and consumption were nearly the same at bout 2 million oil barrels per day. The production rose to about 3 million barrels per day and then remained almost stable for several points, before edgi…

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