IELTS Writing Task 1: introduction paraphrasing

When writing your task 1 introduction, there are two types of paraphrasing that you can use:

1. "Word by word" paraphrasing: Use the task statement (from the question paper) as your template. Change the main words but keep the same sentence structure.
2. "Loose" paraphrasing: Rewrite the task statement in a completely different way, making sure that the overall message is still correct.

Let's have a look at how we might paraphrase the task statement below using these two methods.

..........................

Task statement
The chart below shows how frequently people in the USA ate in fast food restaurants between 2003 and 2013.

1. Word by word paraphrasing
The bar chart illustrates the frequency with which Americans ate in fast food establishments from 2003 to 2013.

2. Loose paraphrasing
The bar chart gives information about fast food eating habits in the US over a 10-year period.

..........................

The first method ensures that we include all of the information, but the resulting sentence might seem a little 'forced'.

The second method is less precise (we haven't mentioned frequency or restaurants). However, we have shown that we don't need to copy the task statement, and the sentence might seem a bit more 'natural'.

Both methods are equally acceptable. Which one would you use? Or is there a way to blend the two methods?

Comments

[Murad]

Dear Simon,
I agree with you that word by word paraphrasing is more forced and unnatural . However the second method lacks information about place. I would prefer the mix of them.

[Tae]

I would like to use the 1) method. Because it is easy to paraphrase the sentence, and I do not misunderstand the whole meaning of the question. However, If I could, I would like to use both methods. As you mentioned that the 2) method seems much natural, and Using both ways is that a writer understands the topic fully.

[Sandeep kaur]

Hello Simon
I want to use a blend of these. Two ways can you give me some information about that

[Oley]

I feel comfortable with the second one ,but I prefer to mix both of them in my writing:The bar chart illustrates the frequency of fast food eating habits in the US over a 10-year period.

[harjit]

The bar chart depicts the percentage of US residents who ate in fast food restaurants
over 10 years of period.

[Jubino]

For the beginners or those who don't have good contro over English writing, obviously the first one is better,but for others whose English is advanced or upper intermediate students ,second approach is far better as it is natural.
I would prefer the blend of both.
The column graph copmares the dining out habits of American citizens in fast food restaurant over the period of one decade.

[Hannah]

The bar chart given compare how often people living in the United States of America ate in restaurants over a period of 10 years.

What is this method called and does it make sense?

[lolita]

@Hannah

The bar chart ... compares how ...

'The bar chart given' is usually followed by the location, such as: below, in figure 9.1 etc.

https://www.google.com/search?lr=lang_en&tbs=lr%3Alang_1en&tbm=bks&ei=tGyMW7e0Kceo8QWo8Yow&q=%22the+bar+chart+given%22&oq=%22the+bar+chart+given%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3...20300.22873.0.23234.13.13.0.0.0.0.337.2466.0j4j4j2.10.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..9.0.0....0._4c4R-qnjgw

My impression is that , for exam purposes, we are writing a report where the bar chart itself is not attached, so we can simply start: The bar chart compares....

Simon implies the term "blended" approach.

In my view, a looser approach often sounds more natural.

[sanjay malik]

nyc blog

[Frank]

Give some advises on my writing:
"The bar chart illustrates the frequency of eating habit in American restaurants over ten years from 2003 to 2013.
It is obvious that the USA citizens having fast food once a week and once or twice a month take the bulk of this country’s population. In a contrary, Americans who never eat or consume this this type of food daily contribute less than ten percent of the total. These findings are consistent over the three years where surveys were conducted including 2003, 2006 and 2013.
The frequency variation over the 10-year period in six categories as presented in the figure is different. In detail, while the “every day” and “never” groups demonstrate insignificant changes in their frequency, the other two cohorts including “once a week” and “once or twice a month” are dissimilar. From about 32% in 2003, the proportion of American eating fast food once a week increases to 34% in 2006 before declining to 27% in 2013. Furthermore, the percentage of Americans those have fast food maximum two times a month decreases from 30% in 2003 to 25% in 2006 and then jump to 33% in 2013."

[JANICE]

I prefer to mix them up.
the bar chart illustrates changes of fast food habits in the USA over a 10-year period.

[Csaj]

Frank

-> Could someone please give some advice on my writing:

Omitting 'please' is considered very bad manners in some quarters.

[zaman khan]

i have preferred to used both of them because we need to write all aspects of the bar chat

[Saro]

I prefer to write as the first method.
I paraphrase this sentence
The chart illustrates how the people of the United States frequently eating fast food in restaurants from 2003 to 2013.

Is it good?

[Kata]

Saro

The chart illustrates how frequently the people of the United States ate out at fast food restaurants for three separate years between 2003 and 2013 OR in 2003,2006, and 2013.

'from 2003 to 2013' gives the impression that we have data for each and every year over the entire decade.

[phan]

Could you help me explain " with which"?
I am a beginer. I can remove the word " with", can't I?

[VP]

Is it dependent on the examiners whether which method is chosen? 'Loose paraphrasing' is certainly more natural, however, it might not the exact statement. 'Eating habits' can be eating at home, at restaurants or else where.

The most safety way is to choose method 1, although it is 'forced' and 'not creative'. The best way is to use mixing of both methods, but it will be difficult to think of. And again, it depends on examiners' perspective.

I would blend on method 1, 'cause I am not a creative student in a limited time.