Sample answers by Simon Corcoran

consumption in two different countries. 
The charts compare the amount of water used for agriculture, industry and homes 
around the world, and water use in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
It is clear that global water needs rose significantly between 1900 and 2000, and that 
agriculture accounted for the largest proportion of water used. We can also see that 
water consumption was considerably higher in Brazil than in the Congo. 
In 1900, around 500km³ of water was used by the agriculture sector worldwide. The 
figures for industrial and domestic water consumption stood at around one fifth of that 
amount. By 2000, global water use for agriculture had increased to around 3000km³, 
industrial water use had risen to just under half that amount, and domestic 
consumption had reached approximately 500km³. 
In the year 2000, the populations of Brazil and the Congo were 176 million and 5.2 
million respectively. Water consumption per person in Brazil, at 359m³, was much 
higher than that in the Congo, at only 8m³, and this could be explained by the fact that 
Brazil had 265 times more irrigated land. 
(184 words, band 9) 
 
 

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40 
House prices (bar chart) 
The chart below shows information about changes in average house prices in five different 
cities between 1990 and 2002 compared with the average house prices in 1989. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The bar chart compares the cost of an average house in five major cities over a period of 13 
years from 1989. 
We can see that house prices fell overall between 1990 and 1995, but most of the cities 
saw rising prices between 1996 and 2002. London experienced by far the greatest 
changes in house prices over the 13-year period. 
Over the 5 years after 1989, the cost of average homes in Tokyo and London dropped by 
around 7%, while New York house prices went down by 5%. By contrast, prices rose by 
approximately 2% in both Madrid and Frankfurt. 
Between 1996 and 2002, London house prices jumped to around 12% above the 1989 
average. Homebuyers in New York also had to pay significantly more, with prices rising 
to 5% above the 1989 average, but homes in Tokyo remained cheaper than they were in 
1989. The cost of an average home in Madrid rose by a further 2%, while prices in 
Frankfurt remained stable.