Please Review my IELTS Writing Task 1

Question

The line graph shows the percentage of owning how many cars in the UK between 1975 and 2005.

Overall, the relative proportion of having 3 cars, 2 cars and 1 car has an upward trend, whereas that of no car has a downward trend. The demand for 1 car ownership was the highest over the period shown.

In detail, in 1975, the total percentage of having cars in the UK accounted for about 57%, and it increased to 78% in 2005. Most of the rise can be attributed to the climb of the British’s demand for owning 2 cars and 3 cars. In 1975, the proportion of 2 cars and 3 cars ownership was about 7% and 5% respectively. The former went up to 18% and the latter grew to 10% in 2005. In 1985, having one car declined from 45% to 38%, but it still was the leader in car ownership in the UK. In 1975, the percentage of owning no car was about 43%, but it decreased substantially to 25% in 1985, then continued to fall steadily to 22% in 2005.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

hellen1605he line graph shows the percentage of owning how many cars in the UK between 1975 and 2005.

That is incorrect.

Also, you did not have the correct task instructions, and that confused you. The instructions did not tell you what the total basis is.

The graph below gives information about car ownership per household in the UK from 1975 to 2005.

When you write "percentage of X", X must be the basis, or what counts as the entire population.

For example,

In university G, 70% of the students wear a face mask in class. <= percentage of students in University G.
Only 25% of Apple employees own an iPhone. <= percentage of Apple employees
In my city, 80% of the houses have a large flat-screen TV in their living room. <= percentage of houses in my city
In London, 80% of the commuters travel more than 10 km to work each day. <= percentage of commuters in London
Experts predict that in 2030, 80% of all new cars sold will be electric cars. <= Percentage of new cars sold in 2030

You can count students, houses, commuters, and cars. They represent the population.

Here is another example: A jar full of jelly beans (candy). That is a population of jellybeans.

What percent of the jelly beans are blue?
What percent are yellow or pink?
What percent are neither orange nor red?

In your sentence "owning how many cars" is not a population. You cannot count them.

Since the instructions were inadequate, you have to make some assumption, or guess as to what the population is.

1. All adults in the UK
2. All families or households in the UK

The best choice is #2.

Another student posted a similar task recently.

https://www.englishforums.com/English/CouldReviewIeltsWritingTask-Essay/bpxbgm/post.htm

Here is an older posting:

Please Review my IELTS Writing Task 1

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