Writing Task 1 (Academic Test)
WRITING
Model Answer:
The table contains data on the percentages of spending on various types of consumption in four European countries. Overall, we can see that in most of the countries the biggest proportion of spending is on Housing and Utilities, while the smallest part of the household budget is spent on Recreation and Culture.
A lot more money is spent on Housing & Utilities than on the other areas of consumption in three out of the four countries. Finland spends the most on Housing & Utilities, where household expenditure is more than double that of any other area, at 28.8%. Romania is the exception, where a greater proportion of the household budget goes towards Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages. In the other three countries spending in this area is significantly lower.
The proportion of spending on Transport is very similar in Finland, Italy and Romania, at around 12 percent of spending. However, in Slovakia, the expenditure on Transport is much lower, at only 6.5%. Households in Slovakia and Finland spend much more than Italian and Romanian households on Recreation & Culture, at around 10% of spending for the former pair, compared to 6.7% for the latter pair.
Useful Vocabulary:
budget (noun [c]): the amount of money that is available to be spent by a person or organisation
consumption (noun [u]): the use of a resource, product or service, or eating or drinking
exception (noun [c]): different to the rest
expenditure (noun [c/u]): spending
former (noun [s]): the first of two people, things or groups mentioned before
household (noun [c]): a group of people living together in a house, usually a family
latter (noun [s]): the second of two people, things or groups mentioned before
recreation (noun [u]): spending time on things that are fun or help you to relax
utility (noun [c]): a service such as gas, electricity or water provided to homes
7. Table
The table below shows the percentages of household expenditure for four areas of consumption in various European countries.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and making comparisons where relevant.