Task
The graph below shows the quantities of goods transported in the UK between 1974 and 2002 by four different modes of transport.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Candidate’s Answer
This is written by a candidate who achieved a Band 8.0 score.
The graph illustrates the quantities of goods transported in the United Kingdom by four different modes of transport between the time period of 1974 and 2002. Over this span of 28 years, the quantities of goods transported by road, water, and pipeline have all increased while the quantity transported by rail has remained almost constant at about 40 million tonnes.
The largest quantity of goods transported both in 1974 and 2002 was by road (70 million tonnes and 98 million tonnes respectively) while the lowest both in 1974 and 2002 was by pipeline (about 5 million tonnes and 22 million tonnes respectively). The amount of goods transported by water was constant from 1974 to 1978, where it showed an exponential growth, rising to almost 60 million tonnes after which it plateaued for about 20 years before starting to rise gradually again.
The amount of goods transported by rail is almost constant at 40 million tonnes in 1974 and 2002, with decreases in quantity in between the years. It is also interesting to note that almost all showed a decrease in 1994 in the amount of goods transported except for the pipeline, which actually peaked in that year.
In conclusion, the road remains the most popular method of transporting goods in the UK while water and pipelines are becoming increasingly used, have not become more popular as a method of transport.
Examiner’s Comment
This answer covers all the relevant information in the task, and clearly highlights the main trends and comparisons. The only thing that would improve this answer is an introduction to the topic that is not so closely copied from the prompt.
The message is easy to follow because paragraphing is logical and information clearly linked across the whole answer. A wide range of vocabulary is used accurately and effectively, although there are some rare imprecise choices and some repetitions.
Similarly, a wide range of grammatical structures and sentence forms is used accurately and effectively, with only one significant error where punctuation is omitted in the final paragraph. Overall, most sentences are accurate.
