Friday, January 18, 2019

Sample IELTS General Writing Task 1: Formal Letter


Write a letter to the editor of a prominent newspaper requesting his help to locate a person you read about in a newspaper article. In your letter mention:

a. Why do you need the information?
b. What information do you need?
c. In what other ways can the editor help you?

Write minimum 150 words.


Dear Sir/Madam

I wish to draw your attention to an article - published on October 25, 2018 - in your esteemed newspaper,  and request you to provide all the information at your disposal, so that I may be able to find a particular person whom I am searching for. 

The article in question made mention of a boy who went missing from his house in Delhi's posh Jor Bagh area after leaving for his tuition at 3 pm on that fateful day. He never returned. Well, that boy is my friend's nephew. While trying to help my buddy, I have been running from pillar to post for some leads which might help us to locate the child's whereabouts. His distraught family fervently hopes that your help will be able to show the light at the end of this dark tunnel

The family members are unable to provide any information which may help me in any constructive way. So, if you could set up a meeting between me and the reporter of that article concerned - in your presence, of course - then it would be of immense help to me. A face-to-face meeting with the journalist can provide me with more information about where he gathered all his information from. And it is quite possible that I might finally get to talk with the person or persons who saw or interacted with him last.

All this of course would be of immense help to me. However, you may assist us in several other ways too. You could help me set up a one-on-one meeting with the Minister of State for Law and Order. I am sure that after your intervention, he will take a concerned view of the incident and urge the police to do a thorough job of finding the child. Considerable awareness will be spread among Delhites about the matter if you front-page the article, and also tweet it using your personal handle. And this may help to bring about a closure to this matter.

On behalf of the grieving family, I look forward to a favourable response from you.

Yours faithfully
Samit Sengupta

www.english-academy.in

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Sample IELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Tabulated data




The given diagram comprises a couple of tables providing us information regarding sales of coffee and bananas, which are Fairtrade-labelled. The data pertains to two years namely, 1999 and 2004, shown in the middle and extreme right columns respectively. The study/survey was conducted in 5 developed European nations: Switzerland, the UK, Belgium, Sweden, and Denmark.

It is quite clear from the first table that coffee sales in Switzerland doubled 2004 when compared with 1999. Sales in Denmark, Belgium, and Sweden also increased over the period, though only marginally. The UK was simply unbelievable, leapfrogging from a mere 1.5 to a staggering 20 million euros  over the period.

In the sale of bananas, however, Switzerland and the UK have swapped places with the former showing a more than 300% jump to as much as 47 million euros in 2004. Sure, the percentage increase is more in the case of the UK, but its total sales figure in 2004 at 5.5 million euros is lesser than Switzerland's by over 9 times.

Thus, it becomes quite evident that in both the coffee as well as banana markets, Switzerland and the UK have shown significant increase in their toplines over the given period. Denmark, Belgium and Sweden are, it seems, content to slug it out for the third spot.