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Cambridge IELTS 13 Academic Writing Test 3 places a Task 1 bar chart before a Task 2 discussion essay, and the candidates who score band 7 here are the ones who plan both responses before writing either. Task 1 asks you to summarise the top ten countries for the production and consumption of electricity in 2014. Task 2 then turns to a discursive prompt: Some people say History is one the most important school subjects.
Group the bars by trend rather than reading them left to right: which categories grew, which fell, which stayed flat. Pick two contrasting bars to anchor the comparison paragraph and reserve numerical detail for them, citing units consistently throughout. Use two body paragraphs, one per view, then a balanced concluding paragraph that explains why both perspectives have merit. Use evaluative connectors — 'while it is true that', 'a stronger case can be made for' — to keep the discussion analytical rather than purely descriptive.
Keep Task 1 to twenty minutes by writing a one-sentence overview straight after the introduction; you can refine it during the review pass. For Task 2, plan for five minutes before you write — three minutes of planning here saves ten minutes of confused redrafting later. For band 7, vocabulary range and complex-sentence accuracy carry as much weight as the strength of the argument.
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