IELTS JOURNAL 33 Selecting details and grouping them Some graphs or tables contain a lot of information, so you will not be able to include everything. Look at the exam bar graph below.
The number of prisoner in thousands in five different countries from 1930 to 1980 In a case like this you should make sure that you write something about each country. Select the most relevant
point for each country, and don't forget to mention some figures. Look at the example sentences about each country below.
United States The United States had the highest number of prisoners in four out of the six years shown on the chart, and in 1980 the figure for this country peaked at nearly 140,000 prisoners. (33 words) Canada Canada had the highest figures for imprisonment in 1930 and 1950, with about 120,000 prisoners in both years. (18 words) New Zealand and Australia The figures for New Zealand and Australia fluctuated between 40,000 and 100,000 prisoners, although New Zealand's prison population tended to be the higher of the two. (26 words) IELTS JOURNAL 34 Great Britain In contrast to the figures for the other countries, the number of prisoners in Great Britain rose steadily between 1930 and 1980, reaching a peak of about 80,000 at the end of the period. (34 words) By putting the classified and grouped sentences together, now we can form our body paragraphs. Read the sample answer below.
Sample Answer The information given in the chart makes comparisons in the number of prisoners in five different countries from 1930 to 1980. While the figures for imprisonment fluctuated
over the period shown, it is clear that the United States had the highest number of prisoners overall. Great Britain, on the other hand, had the lowest number of prisoners for the majority of the period.
As can be seen from the graph, the United States had the highest number of prisoners in four out of the six years shown on the chart, and in 1980 the figure for this country peaked at nearly 140,000 prisoners. Canada had the highest figures for imprisonment in 1930 and 1950, with about 120,000 prisoners in both years. The figures for New Zealand and Australia fluctuated between 40,000 and 100,000 prisoners, although New Zealand's prison population tended to be the higher of the two. In contrast to the figures for the other countries, the number of prisoners in Great Britain rose steadily between 1930 and 1980, reaching a peak of about 80,000 at the end of the period.
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