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September 2009

IELTS Writing – homework

Knowing that many people have exams this weekend, our teachers at BENCHMARK suggested an exercise.

Academic IELTS candidates

This graph is similar to the recent ones that were given in IELTS exams, which is why it makes a good practice. Here is your homework for the day:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The following pie charts and the table show how three countries (USA, UK and Malaysia) deal with dangerous waste. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below.

You should write at least 150 words.

IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 Pie Charts

Amount of waste generated in three countries in year 2000:
IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 Table
mt = million tons

And if you want someone to check your work – use our writing assessment service. Our teachers will be happy to grade your work, give you an approximate Band score and suggest how you could make your report better.

General Training Candidates

Your homework for today is to write a letter as follows, in about 20 minutes:

An Australian company offers money to foreign students to study in Australia. Write a letter to the company.
1. Introduce yourself.
2. Say what do you want to study.
3. How the money will help you.

To get feedback from our teachers, read here how to submit your work for assessment.

Remember – practice is the key!

IELTS tips from Mythri, our results competition winner

Remember Mythri, who got 8.5 in IELTS last month? I asked her for advice, what in her opinion is important to get a high score, and here is what she says:

“My tips will be relevant for those who are already conversant with the English language in general, but need to understand the dynamics of the exam.

1. Understanding the exam is the first step. One must have a clear idea of the modules, what the different components are, and what sort of questions could be asked under each component. I started with the IELTS blog as it explained each aspect of the module and had great tips. I also looked at the official IELTS site for examples of various types of questions.

2. I solved several tests, rigidly timed (time is a very critical commodity in the test).

3. Reading and listening test performance has to be perfect as it’s our accuracy which determines the score. Writing and speaking is not totally in our hands.

4. Listening – I listened to talk shows and the news for some time every day. UK postcodes may form an answer and they are of the form “HR 4 2 BL”. I was not expecting this, so i was a bit stunned.

5. Writing – Using the first 5 minutes to chalk out a plan and arranging the answer is vital. Practice the terminology for interpretation of graphs and use the terms liberally, creating variety in the answer.

6. Kindly use the last 5 minutes to revise the answer, as however good you are, you are bound to make spelling errors under stress.

7. Speaking – most examiners are very kind and it is really easy to make a slightly formal conversation. It s not exactly talking to your neighbor, but not that frightening either. You don’t have to sound brilliant. You do not necessarily have to use very complicated vocabulary. I spoke slowly with clarity and accuracy using rather average vocabulary.

8. Finally, it is important to take a mock test at least twice before the exam. You must time yourself and run through all the aspects of the module over 2 hrs and 40 minutes in one stretch.

It is a test of your endurance and ability to concentrate over that length of time. Its tough as you are hanging on to every little word like your life depends on it!

Thanking Simone for her wonderful effort, I’d like to wish all the exam goers the very best of luck.

Regards,
Mythri”