In IELTS Writing Task 1 Map, There will be either two or three maps belonging to different time periods. You have to figure out and report on the changes between the maps.
Let’s find out how we can do that…
IELTS Writing Task 1 MAP Language
MAPS are becoming a lot more common. The language that we use to describe graphs like bar charts, tables, line graphs, would not be used to describe maps. We should need to use new language to describe maps.
Direction:
In the north: within an area. (California is in the west of the United States/ Phu My Hung is in the south of HCM city.)
To the north: to be used for comparison/ outside an area (China is to the north of Vietnam/ Cambodia is to the west of Vietnam.)
In the southwest: Florida is in the southeast of the United States.
To the southwest: The entrance was moved to the southwest of the building.
Location:
Be located/situated in: The shopping mall was located/situated in the center of the city was knocked down to make way for a new university.
Opposite: A restaurant has been built on the opposite side of the road where the shop used to be.
Next to: A new car park has been constructed next to the hotel.
Along: there was a new sidewalk along the river.
Across from: The park is across from the school.
Grammar used:
The grammar for Map is quite simple that you should use passive voice in paste tense.
Verbs to describe map:
Buildings: Demolished, knocked down, constructed, built, erected.
- The apartment was demolished.
- The school located in the south of the city was knocked down/ demolished to make way for a car park.
- The building was erected on the bank of the river.
Areas:
- A new residential area was built in place of the park.
- A golf course was constructed to the west of the airport.
- The park disappeared.
- An airport appeared.
Trees: cut down/chopped down, removed, uprooted
In the north of the river, all trees were cut down/chopped down.
All the trees were removed/uprooted and replaced by a factory.
Factories/facilities: established, installed, placed, put in
An airport was established/installed.
Don’t say: a house was installed/ established.
Areas and zones:
- An urban area = a city
- A rural area = a countryside
- An industrial area = factory, manufacturing, processing
- Residential area = houses
Recreational area & Entertainment area
We use recreational areas to usually talk about things like parks or other green areas that people do activities.
Entertainment area is actually part of a commercial area. When you go to sing karaoke, or when you go and watch a film at the theater, you are in the area that the focus is money.
General main points: More urban, less rural, more developed, more modern.
Method for IELTS Writing Task 1 Map
Pick a side of the town. Divide the town into two parts, the north and the south or the east and the west. Find the way to divide the town.
On the west side of the river, in the north, trees were cut down/chopped down and replaced by a stadium by 2010. In the south, an apartment building/complex was constructed between some private homes and the river.
Looking at/To the east, a hotel was built/erected in the north, along the river. (To the) east of this, an industrial area/zone was demolished and replaced by / made way for / made way for the development of / transformed into / converted into a golf course. In the center/central area, an airport was established. Just to the west of the lake, by 2010, a residential area was developed after trees were removed.
“To the north of this/next to the railway station, the residential area was transformed into an industrial area.”
Noted: transformed into and converted into: this means to change something.
We cannot say “the apartment was transformed into the factory”
We cannot say “the trees were transformed into the airport”, we cannot change a tree into an airport. Instead, we can say “the trees were chopped down and replaced with the airport.”
We only can use transformed into and converted into when we are talking about an area.
Ex: the park was transformed into the airport (because a park is an area of land)
We can transform a rural area into an urban area.
The neighborhood was transformed completely.
The old houses were rebuilt.
Very few trees remained.
Trees were chopped down/ uprooted/ cleared/ cleared away.
The area was removed, but remained vacant/ remained undeveloped.
ARTICLE:
We use “a” for new, and “the” for old
Ex: in the south, the residential area was replaced by a warehouse (it’s new).
In the north, the residential area was removed to make way for the development of a stadium (it’s new).
Don’t say “the left/right side of town”. But it’s ok for you to say “on the left/right side of the map”
Apartment building = apartment complex
IELTS Writing Task 1 Map Sample
The maps show changes that took place in Youngsville in New Zealand over a 25 year period from 1980 to 2005.
ANSWER:
The maps illustrate the developments which took place in the coastal town of Youngsville between 1980 and 2005.
Overall, a comparison of the two maps reveals a complete transformation from a largely rural to a mainly urban area.
In the year 1980, the town was a much greener residential area with a large number of trees and individual houses, but during the next 25 years, the town saw a number of significant changes. The most noticeable is that all of the trees in the south of the River Alanah were chopped down, with all the houses along the railway line being demolished to make way for skyscrapers. Moreover, a new industrial zone with warehouses and factories sprang up around the school and airport.
In contrast, only a few trees in the north of the river remained. The woodland was cleared and converted into a golf course, a park, and car parting facilities. Further developments were the construction of a stadium next to the northeast corner of the lake and the extension of the railway line from the river running directly to the north. A Marina was also constructed at the mouth of the river.
194 words.