Cambridge IELTS 19 Academic Writing Test 4 pairs a Task 1 pair of charts with a Task 2 positive-or-negative development essay, and the contrast between the two is what makes this paper a useful diagnostic. Task 1 asks you to summarise information on the location. Task 2 then turns to a discursive prompt: In many countries nowadays, consumers can go to a supermarket and buy food produced all over the world.
With paired charts, decide which pair you will compare paragraph by paragraph — same category across the two charts, or each chart in turn — and signal that choice in the overview. Cite units (percentage, megajoule, tonne) consistently and never assume the second chart uses the same scale as the first. State your overall judgement (positive, negative, or mixed) in the introduction and stick to it.
Spend twenty minutes flat on Task 1 — five planning, twelve writing, three reviewing — and forty on Task 2, with at least five of those at the end for proofreading. Task 2 is worth twice the marks, so do not let an over-long pair of charts description steal time from your essay. For band 7, the essay's argumentation matters more than the report's elegance, but a clean overview sentence in Task 1 is non-negotiable.
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