📖 AVTC6_Unit 6_ Pie charts

UNIT 6: Pie charts

I. Pre-writing
1. Definition and Characteristics
* Definition: A pie chart is a circular chart divided into segments, representing percentages
(%).
* Characteristics:
- A pie chart in IELTS Writing Task 1 often consists of one or more circles which show how
the total amount is divided up.
- A pie chart task usually includes a title, segments, names of each segment and
percentages (%).
- If the pie charts illustrate how information is distributed in one year, they are called static
charts.
- If the pie charts show changes over years, they are called dynamic charts.

An example of a static chart:

The pie charts below compare water usage in San Diego,
California and the rest of the world.

(Ielts writing task 1: Pie charts. IELTS Simon. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www.ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-
english-pr/2016/06/ielts-writing-task-1-pie-charts-answer.html)

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📖 AVTC6_Unit 6_ Pie charts

An example of a dynamic chart:

The pie charts below show the percentage of housing owned
and rented in the UK in 1991 and 2007.

(Mock Test 2020 July Writing Practice Test 1. Retrieved January 5, 2022, from https://ieltsonlinetests.com/vi/wot/result/writing-
practice-test-1-145244)

2. General outline for a pie chart

Explain in your own words what the pie chart(s) shows by
paraphrasing the question in 1 sentence.
Make sure that your introduction can answer these questions

Introduction 1. What the pie chart(s) shows or represents

2. What time period is reported
3. What place is it reported?
4. What is the unit of measurement?
Describe general trend(s) or feature(s) in 1 or 2 sentences.
You can:
 Find the biggest and smallest slices of each pie chart.
Overview
 If there are 2 pie charts in different time periods, then you must
highlight key changes/ trends over time: e.g., find which slices
became bigger/ smaller or didn't change.
Describe categories that have (had) an increase (in at least 3-4
Body sentences) AND/ OR compare – contrast the first group of categories
Body 1
paragraphs
(bigger/ smaller slices).

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📖 AVTC6_Unit 6_ Pie charts

Describe categories that have (had) a decrease or didn't change (in

Body 2 at least 3-4 sentences) AND/ OR compare – contrast the second

group of categories (bigger/ smaller slices).

*Notes:

- Do not discuss specific data in the overview.

- If you do NOT give any overview, you will get below band 5 for the Task Achievement
criterion.
- You do not have to describe every single detail in the body paragraphs. Focus on the
biggest or most important proportions instead.

3. Language for Writing

a. Introduction
Type of
Verb Noun phrase Time (optional)
chart
The pie Illustrate(s)  the number of + countable  in 2010
chart(s) compare(s) noun  between 2010 and
highlight(s)  the amount of + 2020
give(s) information about uncountable noun  from 2010 to 2020
 how many/ how much +  over a 10-year
clause period
 the various + noun/ noun
phrase that + clause

b. Overview
a significant difference between A and B.
Overall, / Generally, there is
a wide disparity in + the number of/ the amount of + N.
It is obvious/ apparent that S + V + O.

Example: Overall, there is a significant difference between the two groups in this survey.

c. Details

* Language to describe proportions

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📖 AVTC6_Unit 6_ Pie charts

 per cent/ percent (%)

 percentage
 proportion
Example:
- The percentages/ proportion of water usage and power usage were 15% and 18%,
respectively.

*Common verbs in pie charts

- N + accounts for = makes up = represents = contributes + …%
- N + takes up the remaining + …%
Example: Gas, food, and electricity account for 85% of the total spending. Water takes up the
remaining 15%.

* Language to describe percentages and fractions:

Percentages Fractions Percentages Fractions
THIRDS TENTHS
33% a third/ one third 10% a tenth/ one tenth
66% two thirds 20% two tenths
30% three tenths
QUARTERS 40% four tenths
25% a quarter/ one quarter 50% a half/ one half/ half
50% a half/ one half/ half 60% six tenths
75% three quarters 70% seven tenths
FIFTHS 80% eight tenths
20% a fifth/ one fifth 90% nine tenths
40% two fifths
60% three fifths
80% four fifths

Task 1. Match the percentages (a-g) to the fractions (1-7).

a. 50% b. 75% c. 25% d. 33.3% e. 40% f. 10% g. 66.6%

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📖 AVTC6_Unit 6_ Pie charts

1. two-thirds 2. half 3. a / one quarter 4. two-fifths

5. three-quarters 6. a / one third 7. a/ one tenth

Task 2. Write a suitable percentage for each of these descriptions. 
Example: just over three-quarters of visitors … 77%

1. just over a quarter of people said …  _______

2. nearly a third of the respondents chose …  _______

3. around a fifth of all passengers …  _______

4. more than half of the total population …  _______

5. approximately two-thirds of the people in the survey … _______

* Language of majority and minority

> 76% a (large) majority
65% - 75% a significant proportion/ percentage
10% - 15% a minority
5% a very small number/ an insignificant amount
1% - 4% a tiny fraction

Example: A significant percentage of the local budget was spent on social services.

* Superlatives:
the most
is the second most + prevalent/ popular + Noun
the least
the (second/ third)
A is + countable Noun
largest/ smallest
the greatest/
has widest/ most + countable & uncountable Noun
significant

uses + proportion of (+ uncountable Noun)

the largest/ highest/
A produces + number of (+ countable Noun)
smallest/ lowest
consumes + amount of (+ uncountable Noun)

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📖 AVTC6_Unit 6_ Pie charts

is responsible for + quantity of (+ countable & uncountable

Noun)
the major producer/ company/ country/
A continues to be
(countable Noun)
A ranks first/ second/ third

Example:
- Listening to music is the second most popular choice among high school students.
- Japan produced the largest number of small cars in the 80s.
- Japan continued to be the major car producer in the 80s.

* Linking words
 Comparison (Similarities)
Similarly,
+ clause
Likewise,
Example: The money that the government spent on arts accounts for only a tiny fraction of the
total budget. Similarly, only a small amount of money was spent on facilities.
 Contrast (Differences)
However,
On the other hand, + clause
By/ In contrast,
Example: The money that the government spent on arts accounts for only a tiny fraction of the
total budget. On the other hand, a large amount of money was spent on social services.

Although
While/ clause 1, + clause 2
Whereas
Example: Although only a minority of the local budget was spent on facilities, it was still
higher than the budget for health care.
Clause 1, while/ whereas/ but + clause 2
Example: About seventy percent of the local budget was spent on social services, while/
whereas just approximately five percent was spent on arts.

4. Sample pie charts

The pie charts below show the first place Germans and Nigerians go to in order to
access the news in a typical week.

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📖 AVTC6_Unit 6_ Pie charts

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

(Source: Archer, G., & Wijayatilake, C. (2018). Mindset for IELTS Level 3. Cambridge University Press.)

Task 3. Look at the pie charts above and answer the following questions. Try to
write in complete sentences.
1. What do the pie charts show?
2. What places do Germans and Nigerians go to when they want to access news?
3. What is the unit of measurement?
4. Is there a time period in the charts?

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📖 AVTC6_Unit 6_ Pie charts

5. What is the most popular way people in German get the news? What is the percentage?
6. What is the most popular way people in Nigeria get the news? What is the percentage?
7. What is the least popular way people in German get the news? What is the percentage?
8. What is the least popular way people in Nigeria get the news? What is the percentage?
9. What are some major trends that you see in the charts?

Task 4. Look at the pie charts in Task 1 and fill in the blanks with suitable words
or phrases to complete the following outline.

The pie charts show _______________________________

________________________________________________
Introduction
Data is measured in __________.

 __________________________________

 Biggest sources of news in Germany: _______________

Overview
 Biggest sources of news in Nigeria: _________________

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________
Body 1
_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________
Body 2
_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

5. Practice
Look at the pie charts below and do the following tasks.

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📖 AVTC6_Unit 6_ Pie charts

The two pie charts below show the percentages of industry sectors' contribution to the
economy of Turkey in 2000 and 2016.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

Task 5. Analyze the charts by answering the following questions. Answers in your
own words.
1. What do the two pie charts illustrate?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
2. What are the industry sectors that contributed to the economy of Turkey?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
3. What are the time periods and what tense should you use to report the data?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the unit of measurement?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

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📖 AVTC6_Unit 6_ Pie charts

5. What are the most and the least important sectors of the economy of Turkey in the two
years?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Task 6. Complete the outline for the charts based on the ideas in Task 5 and the
useful language in Pre-writing.

Paragraph 1: _____________________________________________________
Introduction _____________________________________________________

Paragraph 2: _____________________________________________________
Overview _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________
Paragraph 3: Body 1
_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________
Paragraph 4: Body 2
_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

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