This is the fifth sample article candidates of the ECPE examination (Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English of the University of Michigan) My first post to deal with articles , explains what needs to be present in this type of piece of writing. As stated, examiners are looking for articles that elaborate on ideas and have solid arguments; are well organized; make use of a wide lexical and grammatical range; have an original ring to them (in other words, readers are able to distinguish the author's unique "voice"). Before reading, take a look at the following post if you haven't already done so. It will help you focus on the vital aspects you need to be aware of while reading the article and what you should make sure to use when you write your own. The question appeared in Practice Tests for the ECPE Book 1 (revised 2021 version) and is accompanied by the following three writing prompts:
This, I hope, is the first of several sample reports to come. They follow the guidelines for the IELTS Task 1 writing section which asks candidates to write a summary of data presented in a graph or diagram.
Task 1 can therefore be seen as consisting of two subcategories of tasks:
In this series of reports, I'll focus on the first type which deals with graphs so that candidates can see how facts can be grouped together and presented in an orderly manner.
You can begin by reading my post
especially taking note of point number 3 towards the end.
Let's turn to the table at hand. It's a rather longish 280-word report, the point being to give more variety for candidates so they can underline and add to their list of phrases to use.
Task 1 can therefore be seen as consisting of two subcategories of tasks:
- a graph, chart, table or
- a diagram, map, image showing a process or object
In this series of reports, I'll focus on the first type which deals with graphs so that candidates can see how facts can be grouped together and presented in an orderly manner.
You can begin by reading my post
especially taking note of point number 3 towards the end.
Let's turn to the table at hand. It's a rather longish 280-word report, the point being to give more variety for candidates so they can underline and add to their list of phrases to use.
The
table shows the number of men and women enrolled in five different fields as
full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Reading
for the 1992-1993 academic year. What is evident from this table is that
numbers vary according to gender and type of studies to such an extent that a
uniform trend cannot be noted.
One area where student registration
differs is in the number of male and female students. Though more women undertake
undergraduate studies, the opposite can be said of postgraduate students. The
difference between undergraduate men and women is in fact twice that of
postgraduate students in that slightly over 400 more women attend undergraduate
courses while only 205 more men do so at a postgraduate level. In total, 3654
women are undergraduate students in contrast to 3229 men, while at postgraduate
level 1064 men outnumber the 869 women who decided to continue studies.
Another gap between under and postgraduate students concerns the studies
they choose to undertake. The most popular courses at undergraduate level are
those in Letters and Social Sciences with well over 3200 students. However, at
postgraduate level, this field ranks third after Education and Community Studies
with 545 students and Science with 472. Science in fact is the only discipline
that steadily ranks second at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Finally,
the least popular courses with under 1000 students overall across the board are
Agriculture and Food as well as Urban and Regional Studies, something which
marks a striking contrast when total student enrollment on the three other
disciplines ranges from 1357 in Education and Community Studies, 1835 in
Science and 3723 in Letters and Social Sciences.
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