You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Write at least 150 words.
The graph below gives information about the number of jobs in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
The line graph illustrates employment trends across four different sectors of the US economy over a sixty-year period, from 1960 to 2020.
Overall, the manufacturing sector consistently employed the largest number of people throughout the period, despite experiencing a significant decline in later years. Conversely, the retail sector saw a steady upward trajectory, eventually overtaking manufacturing by 2020. Meanwhile, agriculture remained relatively stable, and healthcare exhibited moderate fluctuations.
In 1960, manufacturing dominated with 15 million jobs, and this figure rose to a peak of 20 million in 1980. However, from that point onward, it experienced a gradual but continuous fall, dropping to 13 million by the end of the period. In contrast, the retail sector started at just 6 million jobs in 1960, but grew consistently, reaching 15 million in 2000 and finally 16 million in 2020, thus surpassing manufacturing as the largest employer.
The agricultural sector maintained a constant level of approximately 5 million jobs across all four decades, showing no significant change. Healthcare, on the other hand, began as the smallest sector with only 2 million employees in 1960, rose steadily to 4 million in 1980, but then unexpectedly declined back to 2 million by 2020, matching its initial figure.
Why this answer scores Band 7.0:
| Criteria | How the sample meets Band 7 requirements |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement | Clearly identifies all main trends (manufacturing decline, retail rise, stable agriculture, fluctuating healthcare). Provides specific data points for support. |
| Coherence & Cohesion | Logical paragraph structure: introduction → overview → detailed body paragraphs. Uses cohesive devices naturally (Overall, Conversely, However, In contrast, On the other hand). |
| Lexical Resource | Good range of vocabulary: illustrates, employment trends, trajectory, overtaking, steady upward trajectory, moderate fluctuations, dominated, surpassed, constant level, unexpected decline. No repetition of simple words. |
| Grammatical Range & Accuracy | Uses a mix of simple and complex sentences. Good use of tenses (past simple for finished periods, past perfect for earlier points). Accurate prepositions and comparisons. No significant grammatical errors. |
Key tips to maintain Band 7.0+ in Task 1:
Always start with an overview paragraph (second paragraph) – summarise the biggest overall changes before going into details.
Use accurate data – mention specific numbers from the graph.
Vary your vocabulary – avoid repeating rise/fall/increase/decrease. Use synonyms like surge, climb, drop, decline, plunge, recover, fluctuate.
Compare, don't just describe – explicitly contrast sectors (e.g., "while manufacturing fell, retail rose").
Write at least 150 words – this sample is around 170 words, which is ideal.
Band Score 6The Line graph provides information about number of jobs in US economy in four sectors from 1960 to 2020 where figures are presented in million. Overall, number of jobs in American economy increased significantly in Retail and Health care over the entire time period. While, jobs in Manufacturing declined drastically and remained relatively stable for agriculture. As the graph shows, Manufacturing recorded higher number of jobs amongst all the sectors with 15 million in 1960 increasing upto 20 million in 20 years after which it declined steadily until it fell just over 13 million in 2020. Whereas, there were 2 million jobs in Healthcare sector in 1960 with sector experiencing considerable growth to almost above 15 million in 2020. By Contrast, there were almost 6 million jobs in Retail industry in 1960 and experienced a relatively steady growth until 2020 with 15 million jobs before stablising to almost 16 million in 2020. However, Retail jobs decline to just below 5 million in 1980 and then subsequently remained stable until 2020.
Band Score 5The plan takes data about the amount of employment in four sectors of the economy in the US between 1960 and 2020. Overall, four sectors like manufacturing, retail, agriculture, healthcare are economy of the US. Retail and healthcare have highest number of jobs except agriculture. Manufacturing is similar to begins. the lowest number of jobs is agriculture. In 1960, manufacturing is in the highest jobs although it decrease until 2020.It has 15 millions of employment then 13 millions of job. The retail and healthcare are decrease in their own way and both has same amount of employment in 2020. In 1960, retail has 6 millions of job and healthcare have 3 millions of jobs and both increase around 16 millions of job. At last the lowest known as agriculture. It started from 6 millions of jobs in 1960 but go down in 2020 around 3 millions of jobs.