(IELTS) Academic Task 1 - Carbon Cycle Diagram Note: I'll definitely fail to achieve band score 7 if I have to face a similar writing assignment in the actual exam. The first draft I wrote was terrible. Below is the 3rd one (after a lot of dictionary check and reference to sample answer), and I still have an unsettled feeling reading it. With my current level of skill, diagrams are horrifying... This diagram describes the iterative loop of carbon on Earth. It is clear from the illustration that the cycle could be broken down into two opposing processes: the consumption and generation of carbon dioxide. For the consumption process, at first carbon dioxide in the air is absorbed and by plants and grasses. The stored carbon is then distributed to numerous animals mostly via ingestion. Vegetation is the food source of herbivore creatures, such as small insects. They are in turn consumed by secondary level consumers, such as fishes or little birds. At the end of the food chain, large predatory birds and mammals devour secondary consumers as a source of nutrients. The reverse process of releasing carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere involves all the living creatures mentioned above. This process can either happen through the breathing mechanism of living beings or as a decomposed product from their waste or corpses.

(IELTS) Academic Task 1 - Complaints about the Bank of America Topic: The graphs indicate the source of complaints about the bank of America and the amount of time it takes to have the complaints resolved. Summarise the information by selecting and report in the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. These two charts help illustrate different aspects about complaints related to the bank of America. The pie chart describes the source of complaints, while the bar graph shows how average complaint processing time changed during the five-year period from 2000 to 2004. It is immediately apparent that the most extensive criticism comes from the public, which comprises nearly two-thirds of the total cases of complaints. The next notable group consists of government agencies, out of state and insurance companies, all contribute roughly 10% each. Likewise, an identical number of complaints are also lodged by media and bank employees (3%). From the data in the bar graph, it is of note that while the average time needed to resolve a complaint fluctuated up and down in a repetitive pattern throughout the 5-year period, the overall trend was downward. It started out at nearly 6 months in 2000, reached its peak in 2001 (6.5 months) and then continued its up and down fluctuation until it finally settled at just over 4 months at the end of the period. In summary, a disproportionate majority of complaints was filed by the public. From 2000 to 2004, the trend of average processing time followed a regular rise and fall rhythm. It ended with an overall drop in 2004.

(IELTS) Academic Task 1 - Government Expenditure in UAE Note: I'm not sure if it's necessary to include the actual figure in billion AED as I did. Please advise. The graph illustrates the budget allocation details of the UAE government in 2000. According to the data, the primary focus of UAE expenditure 18 years ago was on social security, followed by health and education. It is immediately apparent that social security by far accounted for the highest proportion, at nearly a third (100 billion AED) of the total budget expense. The second highest, namely health and personal services, was only invested with half the amount spent on social security at roughly 15% (53 billion AED), followed closely by education at 12% (38 billion AED). The government planned to utilize 7% (23 billion AED) of its total expenditure to pay off debt interest, and a similar amount was also allocated to national defense. The amount of spending was slightly lower when it came to law and housing heritage, both comprised of around 5% of the whole budget (17 billion and 15 billion AED respectively). At the bottom, the remaining 15% was distributed to the last three categories: industry (13 billion AED), transport (9 billion AED) and other expenditure (23 billion).

(IELTS) Essay - Digital Technology vs Public Libraries Topic: Maintaining public libraries is a waste of time since digital technology is now replacing their function. To what extent do you agree or disagree? There is a heated debate over whether the advance in technology will replace traditional facilities, such as public libraries. In my opinion, I am in favor of the notion that digital technology will become more and more dominant, while physical libraries will continue to co-exist albeit having a reduction in number. There are those who maintain that the existence of public libraries is undoubtedly essential. From my conjecture, the primary reason for this belief mostly came from their experience in childhood and adolescence. Conventional libraries indeed provided access to human knowledge at an affordable price for impoverished students with strong motivation to learn. Another reason for libraries' preservation could be that in many cities, libraries also function as attractive tourist spots owing to either distinctive architecture design or their fascinating history. This line of reasoning is especially prevalent in Europe, where numerous libraries stood as witnesses throughout the two devastating World Wars. On the other hand, it is difficult to deny the rising of digital technology as an alternative to local libraries. Together with the popularization of the internet, a massive amount of human wisdom now has become widely available to everybody at almost zero cost. It is also notable how the physical capacity of a library warehouse is no longer a limitation to the quest of seeking knowledge. With the current technology infrastructure, now a student in Vietnam can easily enjoy a publication written by a Japanese author by having it electronically delivered to his devices in under a minute upon request. In conclusion, my own analysis is that digital technology is a clear winner when it comes to cost and delivery speed, thus this will be the prevailing trend from now onwards. On another side, I reckon that since public libraries still have other functions such as attracting tourists, their existence will not completely diminish in the foreseeable future.

(IELTS) Academic Task 1 - Housing cost in UK Note: what I found challenging about the topic was that: the discussion was about the rate of change, rather than the actual figures of house prices and renting cost. These two use completely different sets of vocabulary, and it's not easy to distinguish between the two especially when you have to work under the time limit. The chart shows how the rate of change in house prices and renting accommodation rose in the UK over a period of 3 years, from January 2013 to January 2016. According to these figures, we can see that while both increased over time, in overall the growth rate of house prices was higher than renting, even though it started out lower. The rate of change in renting cost remained fairly consistent throughout the period, began from approximately +3.8% in January 2013 and finished just over +4.5% by January 2016. During the period, there were only two slight dips in the first quarter of 2013 and the second half of 2014. The rise in the cost of buying a house fluctuated much significantly in comparison. Its growth accelerated swiftly during the first one and a half years, started out at +3% and achieved its peak of over +5% in the first half of 2014. What immediately followed after was a dramatic drop back to +3.7% in a mere time span of fewer than nine months. From the beginning of 2015, the rate of change in house prices regained its momentum and soared back with a growth rate of +4.5% in January 2016. It is also notable that in the last year of the surveyed period, the housing prices and renting expense shared a roughly similar pattern of change.

(IELTS) Academic Task 1 - Energy production in UK Note: the bar chart describes the amount of energy produced in millions of tonnes in the UK by sector. The chart illustrates how the level of output across various energy sectors in the UK changed from 1995 to 2005. It is notable that the overall energy production level rose gradually over time, with the highest output found in the natural gas category. The total energy output started out at around 195 millions of tonnes in 1995 and climbed steadily throughout the next ten years. By 2005, the reported number reached approximately 225 millions of tonnes. Within all component energy sectors, the natural gas was by far the largest, consistently accounted for roughly 40% of all energy produced within the surveyed period. In stark contrast, the least power was generated by the hybrid energy sector, with a negligible figure at less than 2 tonnes in each year. In general, all energy sectors output either remained stable (coal, hybrid power) or increased (natural gas, oil) after the 10-year period. The only exception to this was the nuclear sector as it dropped slightly from 40 millions of tonnes in 1995 to about 33 millions of tonnes in 2005.

(IELTS) Letter - A friend's birthday A friend has invited you to a birthday party, but you will be unable to attend. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter - thank your friend for the invitation. - explain why you won’t be able to attend. - suggest another time to see your friend. Dear Linn, I just received the invitation to your birthday party. I'm very sorry that to say that I cannot attend this wonderful event. First I want to thank you for inviting me to your 25th birthday party. This is a turning point in one's life, and I truly wish that I could be there to celebrate the important day with you. However, yesterday I received an order from my boss to travel abroad since there had been a serious quality problem with our products in Malaysia. To prevent the crisis from escalating, I need to go there and provide support as soon as possible. I hope that we can hang out another time soon. Perhaps after the whole mess at my workplace is settled, I'll treat you a round of draft beer in your favorite pub, Vegas. I'll write again when I come back to Ho Chi Minh. Your friend, Quan