Understanding the Topic
Smart home devices have become increasingly prevalent in IELTS Writing Task 1 questions, particularly in line graphs and bar charts showing market trends. Let’s examine a sample question based on real sales data.
Line graph showing sales trends of different smart home devices from 2000 to 2023
Sample Question
The line graph shows the sales of different types of smart home devices between 2000 and 2023.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Model Answer
The line graph illustrates the sales trends of four categories of smart home devices over a 23-year period from 2000 to 2023.
Overall, all smart home devices experienced significant growth in sales, with smart speakers showing the most dramatic increase, particularly after 2015. Security cameras maintained steady growth throughout the period, while smart thermostats and lighting systems demonstrated more modest but consistent increases.
Smart speakers, which were non-existent until 2015, witnessed explosive growth from their introduction, rising sharply from zero to 120 million units sold by 2023, making them the bestselling smart home device category. Security cameras showed steady growth from 5 million units in 2000 to 80 million units in 2023, maintaining second position in terms of sales volume.
Smart thermostats and lighting systems followed similar growth patterns, starting from approximately 2 million units each in 2000. However, smart thermostats reached 45 million units by 2023, slightly outperforming smart lighting systems, which achieved sales of 40 million units in the same year.
(Word count: 157)
Key Writing Tips
Grammar Points
- Use of present perfect for overall trends: “have experienced”
- Past simple for specific points: “witnessed,” “reached”
- Passive voice for formal tone: “were introduced”
- Time expressions: “over a 23-year period,” “by 2023”
Vocabulary Focus
- explosive growth (n) /ɪkˈspləʊsɪv ɡrəʊθ/
- Definition: Rapid and significant increase
- Example: “Smart speakers witnessed explosive growth”
- dramatic increase (n) /drəˈmætɪk ɪnˈkriːs/
- Definition: Substantial and sudden rise
- Example: “showing the most dramatic increase”
- modest (adj) /ˈmɒdɪst/
- Definition: Relatively moderate or limited
- Example: “demonstrated more modest but consistent increases”
- outperform (v) /ˌaʊtpəˈfɔːm/
- Definition: To perform better than something else
- Example: “slightly outperforming smart lighting systems”
- steady growth (n) /ˈstedi ɡrəʊθ/
- Definition: Consistent increase over time
- Example: “maintained steady growth throughout the period”
Conclusion
When describing smart home device sales trends, focus on:
- Identifying overall patterns
- Highlighting significant changes
- Making clear comparisons between different devices
- Using appropriate time references
- Maintaining formal academic language
Remember to include both general trends and specific details to achieve a high band score.
