“The bar chart shows forest area as a percentage of total land area in five countries in 1990 and 2020.”

Compare how forest cover changed across three decades in Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, India and China — some shrank, some grew.

Task 1 · Academic·20 min·≥ 150 words·📚 Practice prompt

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The bar chart below shows forest area, expressed as a percentage of total land area, in five countries in 1990 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

🧠 5-step plan

How to crack it

Open if you want a structure to follow

1
Read the question twice.
Underline every keyword. The instruction word ("agree", "discuss") decides your structure. Get this wrong and you cap at 5.
2
Plan for 5 minutes.
Two body paragraphs. One main idea each. Pick examples BEFORE you write the intro.
3
Write your intro last in your head.
Once you know the conclusion, the intro writes itself. Paraphrase the question, don’t copy it.
4
Aim for 270–290 words.
Less = task incomplete. More = grammar errors. Stay in the pocket.
5
Leave 3 minutes to proofread.
Hunt articles ("a/an/the"), subject-verb agreement, and "make/do" mix-ups. They’re your usual suspects.

⚠️ Examiner watch-outs

What loses you the band

The four traps this question sets

⚠️
Off-topic intro
Paraphrase the question. Don’t broaden it.
⚠️
Conclusion that just repeats
Add one new reason. Or a recommendation.
⚠️
"Make a damage"
Collocation slip. Use "cause damage".
⚠️
"Furthermore. Moreover."
Pick one. Both = robotic.

Model answer

Band 8 · 192 words

The bar chart compares forest area as a percentage of land area in five countries in 1990 and 2020. Overall, all five countries r…

Read it

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