Grouped, Not Listed
Same four facts. The second version also shows how they relate.
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Same four facts. The version on the right also shows how they relate.
Academic test only. Describe proportions and compare several figures accurately, including sentences with respectively.
Preview · progress not saved — Chapter 1 is free
Band 7 groups figures instead of listing them. Here is how — and where compression breaks.
A Band 6 response lists:
In 2010, France produced 30%. In 2010, Germany produced 45%. In 2020, France produced 38%. In 2020, Germany produced 52%.
Four sentences. Four facts. Nothing connected to anything.
A Band 7 response groups:
Between 2010 and 2020, output rose in both countries, from 30% to 38% in France and from 45% to 52% in Germany — Germany leading throughout.
One sentence. Same four facts, plus two relationships the first version never mentioned: that both rose, and that one led.
That is what Task 1 rewards. Not more words — fewer sentences carrying more relationships.
respectively pairs two lists in order:
France and Germany produced 38% and 52% respectively.
The reader maps France→38%, Germany→52%. Four facts in nine words.
Same four facts. The second version also shows how they relate.
Same four facts. The version on the right also shows how they relate.
Match each structure to the relationship it expresses.
Terms
Definitions
Three decisions about when compression pays and when it breaks the data.
Chain 1
You must report: France 38%, Germany 52%. Two categories, two figures.
Candidates: two separate sentences / one sentence with respectively
The expert chooses:
Because:
Chain 2
You must report: France 38%, Germany 52%, Italy 21%. Three categories — but you only have two figures confirmed, because the Italy figure is unreadable on the chart.
Candidates: use respectively anyway / reject respectively
The expert chooses:
Because:
Chain 3
Sentence to complete: Sales rose in France, ___ they fell in Italy. The contrast sits inside one sentence.
Candidates: by contrast / whereas
The expert chooses:
Because:
Six gaps across a Task 1 paragraph. One of them cannot be filled — work out why.
Modes of transport used for commuting in four cities
In Amsterdam and Copenhagen, cycling accounted for 43% and 39% of journeys , far higher than in the other two cities surveyed.
of commuters in both cities travelled by bicycle at least three days a week — a figure well above half.
Car use told the opposite story. Private vehicles were used for journeys in Los Angeles as in Amsterdam, reflecting the very different infrastructure of the two cities.
Cycling was dominant in the two European cities, in Los Angeles it barely registered.
In Tokyo, Los Angeles and Amsterdam, rail use stood at 48% and 12% — a construction that cannot be completed, because the sentence names three cities and only two figures.
Across the survey as a whole, cyclists car users in only two of the four cities.
Fit four figures into exactly two sentences without losing any of them.
Renewable energy as a share of total output
| Country | 2010 | 2020 | | --- | --- | --- | | Norway | 58% | 71% | | Poland | 9% | 17% |
Express all four figures in exactly two sentences.
The constraint is the lesson. Two sentences forces you to group rather than list — but the reader must still be able to tell which figure belongs to which country and year.
Exactly two sentences containing all four figures.
Name it, or write 'none' if you grouped without one.