The chart shows the average number of hours each day that Chinese, American, Turkish and Brazilian tourists spent doing leisure activities while on holiday in Greece in August 2019.

Model answer by Lifestyle Training Centre

The bar chart illustrates how tourists from China, the USA, Turkey, and Brazil spent their time on various recreational activities during their holidays in Greece in August 2019, showing the average number of hours spent on each activity per day.

Overall, visiting places was the least preferred activity among all four nationalities. In contrast, Chinese tourists dedicated a significant amount of time to reading books, more than any other group.

Delving into the details, both Chinese and American tourists prioritised reading books over other activities during their holidays in Greece. Chinese tourists spent an average of 8 hours per day reading, while Americans devoted 5 hours. In terms of sightseeing, both nationalities spent relatively little time—Chinese tourists averaged just 1 hour per day, and Americans 3 hours. In addition, the Chinese dedicated 3 hours per day to spend at beach, while Americans extended it to 4.

Turkish and Brazilian tourists displayed a similar pattern in how they spent their leisure time. Turkish visitors spent an average of 5 hours per day at the beach, while Brazilians spent slightly more, at 6 hours. Both groups allocated 4 hours daily to reading books. As for visiting places, Turkish tourists spent an average of 3 hours per day, while Brazilians spent slightly less, at 2 hours.

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Vocabulary & Sentence Structure Analysis for IELTS Writing Task 1

📊 Task Overview

Topic: Time spent by tourists from China, USA, Turkey, and Brazil on recreational activities in Greece (August 2019).
Format: Bar chart.
Focus: Daily average hours on each activity.

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📘 High-Level Vocabulary with Meanings

Word/Phrase	Part of Speech	Meaning	Techniques Used
Illustrates	Verb	Clearly shows or explains something using visuals	Formal academic verb used to introduce visual data
Tourists	Noun	People who travel for pleasure	Context-specific noun (travel theme)
Recreational activities	Noun phrase	Leisure or fun activities done during free time	Formal, task-appropriate phrase
Overall	Linking adverb	Used to summarise main findings	Cohesive device for general trends
Least preferred	Adjective phrase	Chosen or liked the least	Comparative, evaluative vocabulary
In contrast	Linking phrase	Used to show a strong difference	Contrastive connector for clarity
Dedicated	Verb	Devoted time or effort to a particular activity	Strong verb to replace “spent”
Significant	Adjective	Noticeably large or important	Formal descriptor for highlighting data differences
Delving into the details	Phrase	Exploring data more deeply	Idiomatic phrase to transition into specifics
Prioritised	Verb	Chose something as more important	High-level verb showing focus
Averaged	Verb	Had an average of	Concise statistical expression
Relatively	Adverb	In comparison with others	Shows proportional analysis
Displayed a similar pattern	Phrase	Followed a comparable trend	Useful phrase for grouping data
Allocated	Verb	Set aside time or resources	Academic verb for data division
Sightseeing	Noun	Visiting places of interest	Topic-specific vocabulary
Slightly more/less	Adverbial phrase	A small degree of increase/decrease	Soft quantifiers for subtle differences

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✨ Sentence Structure & Writing Techniques

1. Introductory Sentence

The bar chart illustrates how tourists from China, the USA, Turkey, and Brazil spent their time on various recreational activities during their holidays in Greece in August 2019, showing the average number of hours spent on each activity per day.

✅ Techniques:

• Paraphrasing: “shows” → “illustrates”, “spent time” → “spent their time on various recreational activities”
• Complex sentence: Joined with a non-defining relative clause (“showing…”)

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2. Overview Sentence

Overall, visiting places was the least preferred activity among all four nationalities. In contrast, Chinese tourists dedicated a significant amount of time to reading books, more than any other group.

✅ Techniques:

• Cohesive devices: “Overall”, “In contrast”
• Superlative structure: “least preferred”
• Comparative emphasis: “more than any other group”

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3. Detailed Comparison

Delving into the details, both Chinese and American tourists prioritised reading books over other activities during their holidays in Greece.

✅ Techniques:

• Transition to body: “Delving into the details”
• Parallel structure: “Chinese and American tourists”
• Verb choice: “prioritised” instead of “liked more”

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4. Quantitative Support

Chinese tourists spent an average of 8 hours per day reading, while Americans devoted 5 hours.

✅ Techniques:

• Precise data: “8 hours”, “5 hours”
• Contrast connector: “while”
• Strong verbs: “devoted” enhances academic tone

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5. Balanced Data Reporting

Turkish and Brazilian tourists displayed a similar pattern in how they spent their leisure time.

✅ Techniques:

• Grouping: Makes the report concise
• Synonym use: “leisure time” for “holidays”

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6. Subtle Differences

Brazilians spent slightly more, at 6 hours.

✅ Techniques:

• Adverb qualifier: “slightly” to show nuance
• Elliptical phrasing: Implied comparison avoids repetition

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7. Clear Topic Sentence

As for visiting places, Turkish tourists spent an average of 3 hours per day, while Brazilians spent slightly less, at 2 hours.

✅ Techniques:

• Topic-specific focus: “As for visiting places”
• Comparison structure: “while… slightly less”

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🧠 Techniques Summary for IELTS Success

• ✔ Paraphrase the question using formal verbs (e.g., illustrate, compare, present).
• ✔ Use topic-specific vocabulary (e.g., sightseeing, leisure, recreational).
• ✔ Include data with precise figures.
• ✔ Use connectors to link ideas (e.g., however, in contrast, overall, while).
• ✔ Group similar data to avoid repetition.
• ✔ Use academic tone with verbs like dedicate, prioritise, allocate.
• ✔ Introduce variation in comparative language (e.g., slightly more, relatively little, significantly).

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