The document provides guidance on writing about processes and maps for IELTS Writing Task 1. It discusses different types of process questions, a 5-step plan for writing about processes, and examples of summarizing a process and checking one's work. It also covers types of map questions, how to structure a response, and ideas for describing specific and general changes to maps over time or between maps.

1. Writing
Process and Maps

2. Different Types of Process Question
• A natural process includes for example the life cycle of animals
like a butterfly or frog; the pregnancy cycle, the water cycle, or
how cows produce milk.
• A man-made process includes things like how
coffee/tea/beer/wine/cheese are made; how cement or bricks
are produced or how the internet works.

3. Writing Task 1 Process Questions: 5 Step Plan
1. Understand the process.
2. Paraphrase the question.
3. Describe what is happening generally in 2 sentences
4. Divide the process in two and write two separate paragraphs
detailing each stage of the process.
5. Check your work.

4. An Example

5. Paraphrase the Question: Practice
• Question 1: The diagram below shows the process of photosynthesis.
 Paraphrased: The illustration outlines how plants produce energy from
sunlight.
• Question 2: The diagram below shows how electricity is produced in a
nuclear power station.
 Paraphrased: The illustration shows the process of generating power in
nuclear power plants.

6. Understanding the process:
Important Questions
• Where does the process start and where does it end?
• How many stages are there?
• Is it a man-made process or natural process?
• Is it a cyclical (in a circle) or linear (one start point and one endpoint)
process?
• Are there any materials that need to be added to the process?
• What is produced?
• What does each stage of the process do?
• What are the relationships between each stage?

7. Understanding the Process: An Example
• Is it a man-made or natural process? Natural
• How many stages are there? Five
• What is produced? Sugar, oxygen and starch.
• Where does it start and where does it end? Starts with sun and
ends with the production of sugar, oxygen and starch.
• Is it cyclical or linear? Linear.
• Are any materials added? Sunlight, CO2 and water.

8. Overview Checklist (paragraph 2)
1. Natural or man-made?
2. Linear or cyclical?
3. The number of stages? (always)
4. how the process begins and ends (if there are more than 5
stages)
5. If there are 5 or fewer stages, name all of them
Photosynthesis is a natural linear process beginning with sunshine
and carbon dioxide being absorbed and finishing with the production
of sugar, oxygen and starch. There are five main stages in this
process, allowing plants to convert light energy to chemical energy
in the form of sugar.

9. In-depth Analysis
• Say what each stage does
• What does it produce
• Are there any materials added
• and/or discuss the relationship with the previous or subsequent
stages.

10. In-depth Analysis: An Example
• First of all, chlorophyll allows the plant to take in sunlight along
the green spectrum and carbon dioxide is absorbed through
openings in their surface. At the same time, water is sucked up
through the roots and this is combined with CO2 and the sun’s rays
to produce sugar that can be utilized by the plant for food.
• Next, the byproducts of this chemical reaction are oxygen and
water, which are extracted through transpiration. In this process
water evaporates from the leaves and O2 is released. Finally, any
extra sugar is deposited in the roots as starch.

11. Sequencing the Process
• Firstly
• First of all
• Secondly
• Third
• Thirdly
• After that
• Next
• Where
• Following that
• Subsequently
• Before that
• In turn
• Then

12. Using the Passive Tense
• Present simple passive is used to:
- show that the subject is not important
- show the stages of production.
Example:
 The cows are milked by a milking machine twice a day.
 The milk is put into refrigeration storage. (who does this????)
 The milk is delivered by tanker to dairy.
 Cream, cheese, and butter are produced from the milk. (who does
this????)

13. Using the Active Tense
• The present simple active is used to show natural processes.
Examples:
 Cows graze in the fields.
The sun shines.
 Cows eat grass every day.
 Flowers grow.

14. The Present Perfect Passive
• When/once/after + present passive: to join two processes
together
Examples:
 Once the milk is transferred to a tanker, it is (then) delivered to
the dairy.
 When the milk is delivered to the dairy, it is (then) put through a
pasteurization process.

15. Tips
• Don’t forget to:
 say WHY something is done (in order to.., so that…) (to soften
the leather, to remove impurities)
 give extra details (transported by road, which is a substance, a
mixture of)
 give more examples (like footwear and sports items)
 add adjectives (air-dried, everyday products, a nearby factory)

16. Check Your Essay
 Are there any spelling or punctuation mistakes?
 Are the verbs the correct tense?
 Does the process I describe make sense? Does it match the diagram?
 Is there any vocabulary repetition we could remove with synonyms?
 Do I have 4 clear paragraphs?
 Did I write over 150 words?
 Have I included things only obvious from the diagram?
 Have I included the main features in the overview?

17. Maps
 There are four main types of map question:
• Describe one map in the present day.
• Describe two maps- one in the present and one in the future.
• Describe two maps- one in the past and one in the present.
• Two maps in the past

18. Structure
Paragraph 1- Paraphrase Sentence
 Paragraph 2- Overview
 Paragraph 3- Main Body 1
 Paragraph 3- Main Body 2

19. Ideas for Writing an Overview
Is the map more or less residential?
Is there more or less countryside?
 Are there more or less trees?
Were the changes dramatic or negligible?
Were there any major improvements in infrastructure?
How have the buildings and leisure facilities changed?

20. Describing Specific Changes
Buildings– knocked down, demolished, flattened, bulldozed
replaced, renovated, built, constructed, reconstructed, developed,
extended, expanded, relocated, converted and modernized.
• The industrial estate was demolished and a sports ground was
developed.
• The shops were removed and replaced with a skyscraper.
• A port was constructed at the edge of the river.
• The factory in the city center was knocked down and relocated to the
north of the city.
• The old warehouses were replaced with new hotels.
• The factory was converted into apartments.

21. Describing Specific Changes
Trees and Forests: chopped down, cut down, cleared, removed,
planted.
• Examples:
• The forest was cut down and replaced with a shopping center.
• The trees were cleared to make way for houses.

22. Describing Specific Changes
Roads, bridges and railways lines- constructed, built, extended,
expanded and removed.
• The main road was extended and a new bridge was built over the
river. / across the river

23. Describing Specific Changes
Leisure and public facilities - opened, set up, developed.
• Examples:
• A skate park was set up next to the swimming pool.
• A park was developed beside the forest.

24. Describing General Changes
• Over the period, the area witnessed dramatic changes. (a very general
statement)
• From 1995 to 2005, the city center saw spectacular developments.
• The village changed considerably over the time period.
• During the 10-year period, the industrial area was totally transformed.
• Over the past 20 years, the residential area/estate has been totally
reconstructed.
• Over the time period, the old docks were totally redeveloped.
• Between 1995 and 2005, the old houses were rebuilt.
• The central business district was completely modernized during the time
period.

25. Describing General Changes
• Over the 20 years, the area has witnessed great changes,
especially to the farmland areas which were redeveloped.
• from 1990 to 2000, a new housing estate was constructed where a
school once stood.
• The forest and the green spaces were profoundly affected over
the two decades and were replaced by housing.
• In the period from 1990 onward, the leisure facilities were
completely renovated.
• The city center has seen dramatic changes over the years.

26. Describing Locations
• We use in to state the location of something.
For example: My house is in the south of the city.
in the northeast in the west in the northwest in the southwest
in the southeast
• to + direction noun + of + noun
• We can use the preposition to + direction noun + of + noun in
order to show the relationship between two locations.
For example: My house is to the south of the main shopping area.

27. • from… to
We use from and to in order to describe the location of long features on
the landscape such as rivers, roads and train lines.
The road runs/stretches from the river to the north of the town.
• Adjectives and Nouns
north – northern
I live in the north of England. / I live in the northern part of England.
centre – central
I live in the centre of England. / I live in the central part of England.