MAN-MADE PROCESS
1. You will be using passive present tense (is/are + V3). This is different
from what we have with MAPS. Maps we use with passive tense. Remember
we use passive tense because we don’t want to focus on the actor or the
subject of the sentence, we want to focus on the action or verb of the
sentence. We don’t care that the investors built the house, we only care about
how the house was built. Likewise. For man-made process, you may use
passive tense, but present tense (is/are, NOT was/were) because we don’t
care about who made the chocolate, we only care about how the chocolate is
made. You will be using passive present tense for your verbs to talk about
what happens.
2. You will be using sequencers. Sequencers are words telling us about
“when” or “how long” or “how often”. For example, these kinds of words are
sequencers:
First, you do something; then, you do something else; next, you do
something; before you do something else, you do something (before I boil the
water, I open the tea bag/ I boil the water until the chicken is ready…)
What about the words like “repeatedly”, or “twice”, or “several time”? These
words tell us that we are doing something more than once. So you might have
sequencers that tell you “when” like first, next, then, finally…or sequencers
tell you about “how long” such as “until/before” or words that tell you “how
often” like repeatedly, several times, twice. This is used to tell you several
things about time.
3. Finish the purpose by using non-defining relative clauses. These are used
to add extra information about whatever you want to tell. In this case, the
extra information will be the purpose, tell us about “why” for example, why
are we melting the chocolate?, why are we crushing the rocks?. …which kills
the bacteria, or….which prepares the tea.
Try to use more academic words to talk about a reason for something like “in
order to kill the bacteria”, or “so as to kill the bacteria”, or “to make sure/
to ensure the bacteria is killed”.
We can use non-defining relative clauses to show where something is. For
example “next, the milk is sent to the factory, where it will be turned into the
cheese and ice cream”
These are very useful, I want you to know that the process report contains
something similar to the main point. Give the summary of what other steps
are. That only can work if you give a brief list of steps. Don’t give a big list
of steps.
The grammar is easy: your sentences in man-made process should contain
sequencers, passive present tense, non-defining relative clauses and indefinite
purpose, so that’s easy.
The tough part is the verb, you don’t know how to do these things. IELTS
knows that you don’t know how to make chocolate...so they are going to give
you all the information you need in the form of these diagrams, they are
going to give you the illustration and the verbs and the words, nouns and all
that information. You need to look carefully at each step and think exactly
what is happening. Take the verb that they give you and put it into your own
word. Think about exactly what they are showing you. Think about some
logic, use logic “why do we heat things? – to melt, to cook, to warm”
Look at all these steps, make sure that you take notes on each step and give
your own ideas about what is happening, the verbs and why it is happening.
PARAPHRASING:
Paraphrase the main things in the process:
Ice cream = frozen yogurt
Fruit is picked by hand = fruit is manually collected
Manually collected = collected by hand
Fruit quality checking = the fruit is checked for quality = the fruit is checked
to ensure it’s free of bruises and not rotten.
PROCESS SAMPLE
The diagram illustrates the process that is used to manufacture bricks for the
building industry.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and
make comparisons where relevant.
The flow chart shows the way in which bricks are made for the building
industry.
Overall, there are 7 stages in the whole brick producing process, beginning
with the digging up of clay and ending with the delivery of the bricks to the
customers.
To begin, the clay used to make the bricks is dug up from the ground by a
large digger. This clay is then placed onto a metal grid, which is used to
break up the clay into smaller pieces. A roller assists in this process.
Following this, sand and water are added to the clay, and this mixture is
turned into bricks by either placing it into a mould or using a wire cut. Next,
these bricks are placed in a drying oven to dry for 24 – 48 hours.
In the subsequent stage, the bricks go through a heating and cooling process.
They are heated in a kiln at a moderate and then a high temperature (ranging
from 200c to 1300c), followed by a cooling process in a cooling chamber for
48 – 72 hours. Finally, the bricks are packed and delivered to their
destinations.
(188 words).
NATURAL PROCESS
This type of process relates to nature. This may come up in the exam, life
cycle, water cycle, an animal, a plant. You might have to describe something
related to the climate, weather pattern…
Natural process: one of the things about natural process that makes it
challenging is they do expect you to have some basic science knowledge
about these natural processes, they do expect that a natural process that you
understand.
In the man-made process you can talk about the beginning and the end (the
1st step, the 2nd step, the final step). However, most natural processes are
typically a cycle. So, if you are describing a natural process, you will not say
the 1st step…2nd step… you should figure out which place to start. Natural
processes usually use active voice, not passive voice because people are not
usually involved in the natural process, so actions are not being done by
somebody. It could be used passive tense sometimes for example “clouds are
flown by the winds”, but most of the time we use active tense for natural
processes.
We use the non-defining relative clauses, sequencers (instead of using the
first step, the second step, next and then,…we might use structures like
gradually, overtime, eventually, other things related to process time such as,
overtime, the plants grow…eventually, it produces…)
In terms of the purpose, we might use indefinite purpose “in order to, so as
to…” but not often because in nature, it’s difficult to say why something
happens.
An introduction contains two pieces of information: a paraphrase of the
summary and the main point.
The summary is what they give you in the diagram. The summary tells you
what you are looking at. You paraphrase the question and you are changing
the words.
What is the purpose of the main point?
It tells you something specific about the diagram, but it does not tell you
about something so specific like “snow moves down the mountain sides..”
If you don’t know anything about the water cycle, it’s quite difficult for you
to do the reports natural process.
What is the purpose of the introduction?
It tells the readers this is what we are talking about, and this is something we
can expect to give details in the coming paragraphs.
Task 1 writing whether that is a map, a pie chart, a man-made process, a
natural process, it doesn’t matter. In task 1 writing, you need to write “the
main points”. If you don’t give the main points in your report, you will not
get a band score higher than 5.0 even your vocabulary and grammar are
perfect in task achievement; and really, it’s quite easy for you to get a 6.0 or
even 7.0 if you give the main points in your report.
Two body paragraphs
Writing 2 separate body paragraphs detailing each stage of the natural
process.
NATURAL PROCESS LANGUAGE
SEQUENCERS
· Gradually,
· In order to,
· As a result of this,
· Having completed all of these steps,
· The step after this,
· The final stage of the cycle is when,
· At this point in the cycle,
· Overtime,
ORDERING
· The first stage is when + noun + verb
· To begin with
· The process commences with
MIDDLE STAGES
· Eventually,
· This step involves verb-ing
· After this stage is complete,
· The next step is when + noun + verb
· By this stage,
· The step after this + verb
· At the same time,
· While/as
· Once A has finished, B is able to start
LAST STAGE
· Once the final stage has been completed,
EXPRESSING PURPOSE
· A is done (so as) to produce B
· A is done so that/in order that B can be produced
EXPRESSING CAUSE AND RESULT
· As a result,
· This results in + noun
· A results from B/in B
· A happens, which results in B
· A happens, which leads to B
· A happens, which causes B
· A happens, with the result that B happens
NATURAL PROCESS SAMPLE
Life Cycle of a Frog
The flow chart illustrates the development of a frog from egg during its life
cycle.
Overall, it is clear that there are six distinct stages illustrated in the process,
commencing with producing eggs in the water and ending with the
development of a mature frog.
The first stage is when the eggs, shown as frogspawn, float on the surface of
the lake. The next step after this is the emergence of the small tadpole after
the frogspawn hatches. At this point in the cycle, the small tadpole has a
small body with a long tail. Over time, the tadpole grows and its body
becomes bigger while the tail becomes longer. At the same time, the legs
begin to form so as to prepare the tadpole’s future life on land. Eventually,
the tadpole starts to grow into a young frog with a wider mouth, a shorter tail
and larger legs although it continues to live in the water. Gradually, the frog
becomes mature, ready to leave the water and moves onto the land. When
being on land, it starts to breathe air and loses the tail. The final stage of the
cycle is when the adult frog finds a mate in order to lay eggs. Having
completed all these steps, the lifecycle will then begin again.
(215 words)
