Compare native against total speakers — English leads on total, Mandarin on native.
20 min·≥ 150 words·Practice prompt
The table below shows the number of native speakers and the total number of speakers (both in millions) for the five most spoken languages in the world in 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.
Ethnologue (24th edition)
How to crack it
A 4-step structure for the figure report
Read the axes twice.
Units, time span, and what's being measured. Misread the axis and the whole report is off.
Open with the overview.
The 1–2 biggest trends in one sentence — before any numbers.
Group the data, don't tour it.
Compare movers vs laggards. Describing each series in turn caps you at 6.
Quote exact values.
“Roughly a third” + the precise figure — data is your evidence. No opinions in Task 1.
What loses you the band
The four traps this question sets
No overview
One clear trends sentence is the biggest Task Achievement factor.
Touring every series
Group and compare — a line-by-line tour reads as a list, not a report.
Opinions or causes
Task 1 is report writing. No "because", no recommendations.
Copying the question
Paraphrase the rubric — copied wording doesn't count toward 150.
“Some people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing. O…”
40 min · ≥250 words
“In some countries, more and more people are becoming interested in finding out about the h…”
40 min · ≥250 words
“Some people say that music is a good way of bringing people of different cultures and ages…”
40 min · ≥250 words