In this unit you will review the following points:
- Describing change
- Describing position
- Collocations of increase and decrease
- Describing when something happened
- Referring back
- Useful vocabulary: Urban environments
1. Describing change.
Read the Task 1 question.
Writing Task 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
Walham is a village whose population has increased steadily since the beginning of the 20th century. The map below shows the development of the village.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and making comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Now read the sample answer and choose the correct map for the question.
Sample answer:
The map illustrates changes in a village called Walham over a hundred-year period, up until the year 2000.
Before the turn of the 20th century, Walham was a small village situated at the crossroads of two important roads. The railway reached Walham in 1912, with the station being built to the northwest of the village. This development was accompanied by an increase in population in the area between the existing village and the train station during the period between 1900 and 1927.
The following 41 years saw a further increase in population, which approximately doubled the size of the village. This expansion was concentrated in the northwest of the village, on the other side of the railway line from the existing village.
Further expansion occurred between 1968 and 2000, which saw the construction of a motorway to the south of the village, followed by building on the south side of the village, between the motorway and the older part of the village, on both sides of the north-south road.
Overall, the construction on the west side of the north-south road is approximately twice that of the east side, which is limited by the river.
2. Describing change.
Choose the correct option to complete sentences describing change.
Look at more examples of sentences describing change.
A new platform was added to the station.
The golf course was extended.
The road system has been redesigned.
The car park is nearly three times its original size.
The population fell briefly by 5%.
3. Describing change.
Complete the text with the words. Before you begin the exercise, check that you understand the following phrases: cope with something undergo change
5. Collocations with increase and decrease.
Select the incorrect word in each sentence to delete it.
8. Describing when something happened.
Match the underlined phrases to phrases with the same meanings.
10. Referring back.
TIP:
In descriptions like the ones in this unit, new information often goes at the end of the sentence. Then, the beginning of one sentence refers back to the previous sentence. This is called "referring back". Doing this makes a text more concise and easier to read and understand.Put the sentences in order to complete the description.
12. Practice question.
Read the instructions and write your answer. Remember to:
- use a variety of expressions to describe change.
- use a variety of expressions to describe position.
- use a variety of collocations of increase and decrease.
- use a variety of expressions to describe when something happened.
- use reference to make your article cohesive.
Writing Task 1
You should spend a maximum of 20 minutes on this task.
The pictures below show how a house has changed over the last two centuries.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and making comparisons where relevant.
You should write at least 150 words.
When you have completed the writing task, you can look at a sample answer. Compare the sample answer with your own.
The four pictures illustrate the changes carried out on a house over a period of two hundred years.
At the turn of the 19th century the house was a simple single-storey building, with an old-fashioned thatched roof, but it has changed significantly since then. By 1880 a second floor had been added, significantly increasing the size of the house, and the new roof was tiled rather than thatched. As seen in the façade, three windows were added on this new floor.
The house was extended once again between 1880 and 1920, increasing its size by a further 50%. As can be seen in the third illustration, this was achieved by extending the right side of the house, moving the front door to the centre of the façade and then redistributing the windows equidistantly on the top and bottom floors.
Since 1920 the building has remained the same size; however, more renovations have been carried out. The original windows have been removed and replaced with more modern, sliding ones. The door has also been replaced and the awning over the door removed. The front of the house has been rendered with cement and painted, and signs of its piecemeal construction are no longer visible.