Indefinite Articles: - Fast Track IELTS



IELTS WRITING LESSON 1: TASK 1 - REVIEW DURING THIS LESSON WE:Learned what is required in the IELTS writing exam and how to distinguish between question types for tasks 1 and pleted activities to improve your skills in reading and understanding graphs and pleted activities to support you with structuring your answers for task 1 questions.Discovered the key vocabulary and phrases that enable you to express cause and effect and undertake comparisons with fluency. Set homework for next week/arranged future lessons.REVIEWThe IELTS writing exam requires you to undertake two separate tasks within 60 minutes. Task 1 presents you with a graph or chart and you will need to write a report of around 150 words describing the main features of the graph/chart and making relevant comparisons in relation to the data presented. Task 2 is an essay of around 250 words where you will be required to discuss a statement on a controversial topic. Task 2 is worth twice as many marks as Task 1, so you should spend 40 minutes on this and 20 minutes on Task 1. This workbook focuses primarily on Task 1. Please see the follow-on workbook after next lesson for review of Task 2. HOW TASK 1 IS GRADEDCandidates are assessed against the following criteria, with each criteria constituting 25% of your overall score: Task Achievement This means that the examiner will check your information, overview, detail and accuracy. You can increase your score in this area by:Analysing the chart and identifying all key featuresHighlighting your key features in an overviewSupporting your body paragraph with data (numbers and dates if possible)Avoiding putting in information which is wrongAvoiding including an opinionWriting a factual reportWriting at least 150 words (you will be penalised for writing under the word count)Coherence and CohesionThis means that the examiner will check your organisation of information, your paragraphing and your use of linking devices. You can increase your score in this area by:Planning where to put your informationHaving clear body paragraphs each discussing a separate pointUsing a range of linking devicesAvoiding mistakes with linking wordsUsing clear signposting language ‘this demonstrates’, ‘however’, ‘clearly’, ‘in comparison’, etc. Lexical Resource (Vocabulary)Your use of vocabulary, your spelling and the number of mistakes will affect your score. You can increase your score in this area by:Using a range of vocabularyUsing vocabulary for presenting accurate dataAvoiding spelling mistakesAvoiding using the wrong words or informal language Grammatical Range and AccuracyThis means that the examiner will be looking at your sentence structures, tenses, control of grammar and the number of mistakes you make. You can increase your score in this area by:Using a range of sentence structuresUsing the right tense for the chart given to youUsing the right word orderAvoiding mistakesUsing the right punctuationThe Writing sub-test is scored by experienced assessors who receive ongoing training, monitoring and feedback on their performance after each administration of the test. Assessors give a band score for each of the four criteria, using a detailed set of level descriptors to guide their decisions. A score of 9.0 is the highest for each criterion. The four criteria are equally weighted in the scoring and analysis process.The rest of this workbook will guide you through a number of supported activities addressing each of these marking criteria to develop your skills and ensure that you are completely comfortable with undertaking IELTS writing Task 1.ACTIVITY 1As we discussed above, the most important part of ensuring that you achieve a top mark in the ‘Task Achievement’ criteria is undertaking a correct analysis of the graph/chart and identifying its key features. If you are not able to analyse the chart correctly and highlight exactly what it shows in your writing, you will struggle to achieve the band score you need in Task 1. It is therefore really worth taking some time to develop your skills in quickly analysing a range of graphs and charts. This activity will help you with this. 077279500Question 1. Take a look at these pie graphs which show the result of a survey of children’s activities. The first graph shows the cultural and leisure activities that boys participate in, whereas the second graph shows the activities in which the girls participate. Based on the information contained within these charts, make notes (not full sentences) on the following areas. It is useful to time yourself here and try to complete these notes within 5 – 7 minutes:Overview of the charts:Key finding of the boys’ chart:Key finding of the girls’ chart:Point of similarity between the two charts:Point of difference between the two charts 1:Point of difference between the two charts 2:Question 2. Take a look at the line graph below. This line graph shows average annual expenditures on cell phone and residential phone services between 2001 and 2010. ?Based on the information contained within this chart, make notes (not full sentences) on the following areas. It is useful to time yourself here and try to complete these notes within 5 – 7 minutes:Overview of the chart: Key finding 1:Key finding 2:Point of comparison between the two data sets:Point of comparison between the two data sets:Question 3. Take a look at this bar chart which shows the number of visitors to three London museums between 2007 and 2012. 3422659715500Based on the information contained within these charts, make notes (not full sentences) on the following areas. It is useful to time yourself here and try to complete these notes within 5 – 7 minutes:Overview of the chart: Key finding 1:Key finding 2:Point of comparison between the three data sets:Point of comparison between the three data sets:Answers The following are indicative answers. You do not need to have the exact same notes as you can see below, but you should be aiming for similar answers. If you have any questions about this, you can ask your teacher by email or next lesson. Question 1: Overview of the charts: Comparison of how boys and girls spend their leisure timeKey finding of the boys’ chart: The most popular activity is playing computer games (34%), followed by playing basketball (26%).Key finding of the girls’ chart: The most popular activity is dancing (27%), closely followed by reading (21%).Point of similarity between the two charts: The same proportion of boys and girls (10%) enjoy listening to music. Point of difference between the two charts 1: Girls do not enjoy playing computer games as much as boys; around half of the proportion of girls (16%) play computer games as boys (34%)Point of difference between the two charts 2: Very few boys enjoy reading (2%), whereas a significant minority of girls (21%) do enjoy this activity. Question 2: Overview of the chart: Line graph comparing how much people spent on their cell phones in comparison to their residential phones between 2001 and 2010Key finding 1: Significant increase in cell phone expenditure throughout the period from just above $200 per year in 2001 to around $750 per year in 2010Key finding 2: Steady decrease in residential phone services expenditure throughout the period from just below $700 per year in 2001 to around $400 per year in 2010Point of comparison between the two data sets: In 2006, annual expenditure on cell phone and on residential phone services was the same, at around $550 per yearPoint of comparison between the two data sets: There was a particularly steep fall in spending on residential phone services in 2007. At the same time, spending on cell phones was rising steadily. Question 3: Overview of the chart: Bar chart showing visitor numbers to the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum between 2007 and 2012. Key finding 1: Overall the peak number of visitors was in 2012, while the lowest point was in 2009 and 2010. Key finding 2: The National Gallery showed the most notable development with a steady growth in visitors throughout the period, from approximately 6 million visitors in 2007 to around 16 million in 2012. Point of comparison between the three data sets: The Victoria and Albert Museum experienced a clear decline in visitors over the period, from a peak of approximately 14 million in 2007 and 2008 to 10 million in 2012. In contrast, the British Museum experienced a modest increase in visitors from around 12 million in 2007 to approximately 14 million in 2012. Point of comparison between the three data sets: The British Museum was the second most popular in 2007, being outraced by the Victoria and Albert Museum. Nevertheless, its number of visitors experienced a sharp fall in 2008 and remained unchanged the following year. Then, the figure started to increase. It reached its peak of approximately 14 million visitors in 2012, regaining its position of 2007.ACTIVITY 2To achieve a band score of 6 or above in the ‘Coherence and Cohesion’ criteria, you need to be able to use linking devices effectively. A linking device means those words and phrases which you use to show relationships between different ideas. They can be used to join two or more clauses or sentences, so that you can add ideas together, contrast ideas, develop a new idea or show the reason for something. In this exercise, you will read a model answer relating to the pie graphs outlining the cultural and leisure activities that boys and girls participate in which you encountered in Question 1 in the activity above.Read the model answer, and highlight the linking devices that you come across. When you have completed this sort the linking devices you have highlighted into the appropriate categories in the table below. “The two pie charts draw the conclusion of a survey of boys' and girls' cultural and leisure activities.Overall, equal quantities of both sexes enjoyed listening to music, but a dramatically larger number of girls liked reading. There were also many differences in terms of the children's preferred sports.Turning to the first chart, we can observe that boys prefer playing computer games (34% participation rate) than taking other activities. Playing basketball comes as the second most popular leisure, practiced by almost a third of male children. Basketball is followed by soccer, which is exercised by 17%. Skateboarding and listening to music are less preferable activities, chosen by 11% and 10% of boys respectively. Reading, the least popular cultural activity among boys, represents only two percent.Taking a closer look at the second chart, we can see that girls' most preferred activity is dancing, being 27% of the total. In contrast to the boys' preferences, reading is chosen by more than a fifth of all girls. Although percentage of female children who play computer games is roughly twice less than that of boys (16%), this activity is third most popular on the girls' chart. With a slight difference between computer games and netball, the latter is practiced at 15% rate. Similarly to skateboarding popularity among boys, 11% of girls go in for gymnastics. Listening to music comes as the least popular leisure, with a proportion of 10%, equal to those on the first chart.”Outlining informationContrasting and comparing informationAnswers Outlining information – overall, turning to the, taking a closer look atContrasting and comparing information – in contrast, although, with a slight difference, similarly to ACTIVITY 3In order to achieve an excellent band score in relation the ‘lexical resource’ criteria, you will need to use an impressive range of vocabulary. However, crucially, you must use this vocabulary accurately or you stand to lose marks. This activity focuses on ensuring that you have a clear understanding of exactly what a wide range of key words and terms mean so that you will be able to deploy them with confidence when completing writing task 1. Look at the words below. They are all ways of describing types of change. However, they are scrambled together; please sort the words into the tables below, according to what you believe the type of change that they refer to. center0GradualHurriedlyConsiderableCeaselesslySlightProgressiveSwift Substantially DramaticMild Moderately SignificantSteadyUnchangingSlowlyPlateauedSharplyStabilisedLevelled offUniform00GradualHurriedlyConsiderableCeaselesslySlightProgressiveSwift Substantially DramaticMild Moderately SignificantSteadyUnchangingSlowlyPlateauedSharplyStabilisedLevelled offUniformRapid changeModerate changeSteady changeSlight changeNo changeIn the exam, you will also have to pick out specific data points from the graphs and charts and use varied language to describe these numbers. You should not always just refer to the data point by a percentage/fixed number. It is important that you have a clear understanding of how to use words to refer to data/numbers. The activity below shows many different percentage amounts. Match these percentages to the descriptions below. 149542515176589%74%32%4%16%50%78%25%96%24%70%54%2%48%66%0089%74%32%4%16%50%78%25%96%24%70%54%2%48%66%A tiny proportion =An insignificant minority = A small portion = Almost a quarter = Exactly a quarter = Nearly one-third = Around half/just under a half =Exactly half = Just over a half =Exactly two thirds =A large proportion =Nearly three quarters =A significant majority =A very large proportion = Nearly all =Answers Rapid change – dramatic, sharply, hurriedly, significant, substantial, considerable, swiftModerate change – progressive, moderatelySteady change – gradual, steady, ceaselesslySlight change – slight, mild, slowlyNo change – unchanging, stabilised, levelled off, plateaued, uniform2%4%16%24%25%32%48%50%54%66%70%74%78%89%96%ACTIVITY 4A common problem for many students (which affects their score in the ‘grammatical range and accuracy’ part of the exam) is that they struggle with articles.What is an article? Basically, an article is an adjective. Like adjectives, articles change nouns.English has two articles:?the?and?a/an.? The?is used to refer to specific or particular nouns;?a/an?is used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. We call?the?the?definite?article and?a/an?the?indefinite?article.the = definite articlea/an = indefinite articleFor example, if you say, "Let's read?the?book," I mean a?specific?book. If I say, "Let's read?a book," I mean?any?book rather than a specific book.Here's another way to explain it:?The?is used to refer to a?specific?or?particular?member of a group. For example, "I just saw?the?most popular movie of the year." There are many movies, but only one particular movie is the most popular. Therefore, we use?the."A/an" is used to refer to a?non-specific?or?non-particular?member of the group. For example, "I would like to go see?a?movie." Here, we're not talking about a?specific?movie. We're talking about?any?movie. There are many movies, and I want to see?any?movie. I don't have a specific one in mind.Let's look at each kind of article a little more closely.Indefinite Articles:?a?and?an"A" and "an" signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to?any?member of a group. For example:"My daughter really wants?a?dog for Christmas." This refers to?any?dog. We don't know which dog because we haven't found the dog yet."Somebody call?a?policeman!" This refers to?any?policeman. We don't need a specific policeman; we need any policeman who is available."When I was at the zoo, I saw?an?elephant!" Here, we're talking about a single, non-specific thing, in this case an elephant. There are probably several elephants at the zoo, but there's only?one?we're talking about here.Remember, using?a?or?an?depends on the sound that begins the next word. So...a?+ singular noun beginning with a consonant:?a?boy;?a?car;?a?bike;?a?zoo;?a?dogan?+ singular noun beginning with a vowel:?an?elephant;?an?egg;?an?apple;?an?idiot;?an?orphana?+ singular noun beginning with a consonant sound:?a?user?(sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used);?a?university;?a?unicycleIf the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between?a?and?an?depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immediately follows the article:a?broken eggan?unusual problema?European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e. begins with consonant 'y' sound)Remember, too, that in English, the indefinite articles are used to indicate membership in a group:I am?a?teacher. (I am a member of a large group known as teachers.)Brian is?an?Irishman. (Brian is a member of the people known as Irish.)Seiko is?a?practicing Buddhist. (Seiko is a member of the group of people known as Buddhists.)Definite Article:?theThe definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular.?The?signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. For example:"The?dog that bit me ran away." Here, we're talking about a?specific?dog, the dog that bit me."I was happy to see?the?policeman who saved my cat!" Here, we're talking about a?particular?policeman. Even if we don't know the policeman's name, it's still a particular policeman because it is the one who saved the cat."I saw?the?elephant at the zoo." Here, we're talking about a?specific?noun. Probably there is only one elephant at the zoo.Fill in the correct articles in the sentences below.1. I live in _____ state of California. (a, an, the) 2. Can you tell me _____ story. (a, an, the) 3. We will go to _____ mall tomorrow. (a, an, the) 4. I saw _____ lion at the zoo. (a, an, the)5. Will you watch _____ movie with me? (a, an, the) 6. I am going to _____ restaurant after school. (a, an, the) 7. We saw _____ great play. (a, an, the) 8. Would you like to eat ____ orange? (a, an, the)9. I would love to tell you _____ story. (a, an, the) 10. Can you take me to _____ doctor. (a, an, the) 11. We will go to _____ movies today. (a, an, the) 12. I saw all of _____ elephants at the zoo. (a, an, the) 13. Will you watch _____ play with me? (a, an, the) 14. I am going to _____ after school event. (a, an, the) 15. We saw _____ exciting basketball game. (a, an, the) 16. I saw _____ cat in my backyard. (a, an, the)Answers1 THE 2 A 3 THE 4 A/THE 5 A 6 A 7 A 8 AN 9 A 10 A 11 THE 12 THE 13 A 14 A 15 AN 16 AIN THE NEXT LESSONWe will continue to look at the writing exam, focusing on Task 2 so that you are able to confidently compose essays responding to a variety of question types in the IELTS writing exam. ................
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