Per-Capita Carbon Emissions Line Graph
A complete IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 question with a model answer of 198 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 20 minutes. Write at least 150 words.
The line graph below shows the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita, measured in metric tonnes, in six countries between 1990 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words. [Chart Data] Year | USA | Australia | Germany | China | UK | India 1990 | 19.5 | 16.0 | 12.3 | 2.2 | 9.7 | 0.7 2000 | 20.6 | 17.2 | 10.1 | 2.7 | 9.0 | 0.9 2010 | 17.5 | 16.8 | 9.3 | 6.6 | 7.6 | 1.4 2020 | 13.0 | 15.4 | 7.7 | 7.4 | 4.9 | 1.7
How to approach it
- 01Open with a paraphrase identifying the countries, the timeframe, and the unit of measurement
- 02Group countries by trend in your overview — falling vs rising — rather than listing each one
- 03Use precise change vocabulary: 'slipped marginally', 'fell steadily', 'more than tripled'
- 04Compare directly between countries (highest, lowest, overtook) rather than describing them in isolation
- 05Include specific data sparingly to support each trend, not every data point
- 06Use past tenses consistently — the data ends in 2020
Model answer
198 words in 4 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
The line graph illustrates trends in carbon dioxide emissions per person across six countries — the USA, Australia, Germany, China, the UK, and India — over a thirty-year period from 1990 to 2020, measured in metric tonnes.
Overall, while emissions in the four developed nations declined considerably over the period, China and India saw substantial increases. Despite these opposing trajectories, Australia and the USA remained the highest emitters per capita throughout, whereas India consistently produced the lowest figures.
The USA began the period as the largest per-capita emitter at 19.5 tonnes, rising marginally to 20.6 tonnes by 2000 before falling steadily to 13.0 tonnes in 2020. Australia followed a broadly similar but flatter pattern, slipping from 16.0 to 15.4 tonnes and overtaking the USA as the highest emitter by 2020. Germany and the UK posted the steepest reductions in absolute terms, with Germany's figure falling from 12.3 to 7.7 tonnes and the UK's nearly halving from 9.7 to 4.9 tonnes.
In contrast, China's per-capita emissions more than tripled from 2.2 to 7.4 tonnes, almost overtaking Germany by 2020. India's emissions rose from a very low base of 0.7 to 1.7 tonnes, remaining by far the lowest of the six countries.
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 38 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
9.5 fewer than the median answer for this task type
18 words at the shortest, 35 at the longest
the same as the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 24.8 words and vary by 5.4 words either side of that, running from 18 words to 35. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 2 of the 8 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
5 in total, spread across 2 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
in contrast, whereas, despite, while
overall
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 73 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 58 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 4 words. Examiners discount wording lifted from the question, so a short run here is the right outcome: the answer restates the topic in its own words rather than borrowing the question's.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Achievement
Identify all key trends, the overall pattern, and make accurate comparisons across the six countries
Coherence & Cohesion
Group information logically (e.g. falling vs rising emitters) with clear paragraphing and linking
Lexical Resource
Use varied vocabulary for trends, magnitude, and comparison
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Accurate past tenses, comparatives, and complex structures
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