WRITING TASK 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The graph and bar chart below show the average monthly rainfall and temperature for one region of East Africa.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and making comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
WRITING TASK 2
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic.
Meat production requires relatively more land than crop production. Some people think that as land is becoming scarce, the world’s meat consumption should be reduced.
What measures could be taken to reduce the world’s meat consumption? What kinds of problem might such measures cause?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
WRITING TASK 1
The graph shows the average weather conditions in one region of East Africa. It shows that there are significant differences in the average monthly precipitation and some variation in temperature. The range of rainfall figures is very large across the year (from approximately five to 280 millimetres) whereas the temperature only fluctuates by three degrees, from 20.5-23.5°C.
Broadly speaking, in this region periods of high rainfall tend also to be periods of slightly hotter weather, with two noticeable peaks in the year. Temperatures are fairly high in March and April (just over 23°C), which coincides with a time of very heavy rainfall (with a top figure of 280mm in April). Both rainfall and temperature figures fall in the middle of the year (to a yearly low of 20.5°C, and just five mm of rain in July).
The exception to this pattern - of warmer weather being damper - is January/February and September where there are relatively high temperatures (22-23°C) but low rainfall (less than 20mm).
WRITING TASK 2
I strongly agree with the suggestion that humankind should consume less meat and instead have more vegetables in their diet, and I believe that a number of steps can be taken to persuade people to do this.
Firstly, I feel that education has a major role to play in bringing about this change of lifestyle. A well-informed minority of the world's population may be fully aware of the fact that it is much cheaper and more environmentally sound to eat vegetables, thereby cutting out one whole stage of production, rather than consuming the animals which graze on vegetation. However, I believe that the majority are not conscious of this. Figures should be made widely available showing the savings to be made from this option - both financial and ecological. From a young age, children should also be taught this as an essential part of the curriculum and to set an example, school meals should be redesigned to reflect a shift from meat to vegetables.
A second measure would be financial. Taxes can be put on meat to make it a luxury item to be eaten fairly rarely, at most three of four times a week, rather than two or three times a day as is the practice in many parts of the developed world. There is, however, a danger in too much interference in people's choice. It is often the case that resistance builds up against lecturing and fiscal penalties, meaning that people will react by ignoring all the advice. Perhaps a compromise position would be to encourage less wastage in food production and retail, particularly in the developed world. Huge amounts of perfectly usable food are thrown away by households and restaurants and supermarkets. Less wastage would mean less food production in the first place.