Cambridge IELTS 8 Test 1 Writing Task 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The pi Chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. the table shows how these causes affected three regions of the world during the 1990s.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Causes of land degradation by region
Example : 01
IELTS 8 Test 1 Writing Task 1 Answer
The pie chart shows the main causes for agricultural land degradation worldwide: over-grazing, deforestation, over-cultivation and other. The table illustrates how such land in North America, Europe and Oceania was affected as a result of these factors in the 1990s. On a worldwide scale, over-grazing affected more land negatively than any other cause, being responsible for 35% of land degraded while deforestation and over-cultivation came a close second and third.
At regional level, Europe had the highest percentage of land negatively affected by deforestation and over-cultivation while Oceania had the highest percentage of land degraded by over-grazing. North America saw the least effect from deforestation and over-grazing while Oceania suffered no effect on its land as a result of over-cultivation.
Overall, Europe was affected the most; the result being 23% of its agricultural land negatively impacted by the causes mentioned. North America was least affected with only 5% of its land degraded. Comparing the regional figures for the 1990s with the worldwide figures it can be seen that Oceania clearly followed the worldwide trend but Europe and North America did not.
Source: ENGLISH SOLUTIONS
Example : 02
Sample Essay
The pie chart displays the major causes of global land degradation, while the table illustrates how three regions of the world were affected by these causes during the 1990s.
Overall, over-grazing, deforestation, and over-cultivation are the main reasons why agricultural land worldwide is degraded. Europe had a much higher percentage of degraded land than Oceania and North America. Over-grazing, which accounts for 35% of the world's degraded land, is the single biggest reason for global land degradation. Deforestation and over-cultivation constitute another 30% and 28% respectively.
Of the three regions, Europe had the greatest proportion of degraded land during the 1990s, at 23%. However, there, the biggest factor was not over-grazing but deforestation, which caused 9.8% of the land to become less productive. Oceania was the second most affected region, with a total of 13% of its land degraded, and this was mostly caused by over-grazing, at 11.3%. It is also noteworthy that Oceania didn't over-cultivate its land. In comparison, only a total of 5% of the land in North America was degraded and over-cultivation, responsible for 3.3%, was the biggest cause. (185 Words)
How to Understand the Pie Chart
A certain percentage of the world's land is degraded, but we are not told what this percentage is. As you can see, the percentages in the pie add up to 100 (35+30+28+7). This doesn't mean that 100% of the world's land is degraded. The pie chart only tells us that over-grazing, for example, accounts for 35% of the world's degraded land, not 35% of all the world's land. So don't say something like "35% of land worldwide is degraded by over-grazing".
Source: ieltsessaybank
Model answer:
The pie chart is a depiction of the prime reasons of low productive agricultural lands whereas the table illustrates the effects of these reasons in three regions of the earth during the 1990s. As for the pie chart, excessive animal grazing and cutting down of trees cause 35% and 30% of the worldwide land dilapidation respectively. Over-cultivation accounts for 3% more than a quarter of the land degradation while other causes comprises of 7% collectively. The table presents information on how these reasons differently affected three regions in the 1990s. Europe had the highest percentage of land clearance that was 23%. In the same period the lowest percentage of land degradation was in North America and it reached only 5%. The major cause of the problem was deforestation in Europe (9.8%) while in North America and Oceania the reasons were over-cultivation (3.3%) and over-grazing (11.3%) respectively. Moreover, deforestation in Europe was higher than in North America and Oceania combined. Though in Europe and North America over-cultivation was quite huge, no land was degraded for over-cultivation in Oceania. Overall, it is clear that farmland degradation in Europe was a bigger problem than other regions and the main reasons were deforestation and over-cultivation.
(201 words)
source: ieltsdeal