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

222 words · Illustrative target band

The line graph illustrates the daily amount of oil consumed and produced in China from 1982 to 2006. It can clearly be seen that China saw increases in both oil production and consumption. However, there were differences in terms of the growth rate over the period surveyed. In 1982, Chinese people consumed and produced just under 2 million barrels per day in consumption and just under 3 million in production. These 1…

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AI-completed learning example

193 words · Illustrative target band

The line graph illustrates information about the oil production and consumption in China between 1982 and 2006. Overall, the amount of oil consumed in China exceed the amount of oil produced per day. The number of oil barrels produced in China increased significantly, while the number of oil barrels consumed increased dramatically. The number of oil barrels produced was about 2 million per day at the first plotted po…

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AI-completed learning example

235 words · Illustrative target band

The given graph illustrates how much oil was produced and consumed in China from 1982 to 2006. Overall, it can be seen that China witnessed an upward trend in both the production and consumption of oil over 24 years. In addition, oil consumption grew remarkably faster than its production during the period shown. At the first plotted point, production was about 2 million barrels per day, only slightly higher than cons…

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