APIEIELTS Academic Writing Task 1: Plastic Pollution
Plastic pollution and the oceans
Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.
How to use this lesson
👩🏫 For the teacher:
Guide learners through these four warm-up exercises in about 10–12 minutes before moving to the main writing task.
Check answers together using the short notes to reinforce word patterns and sequencing words.
🧑🎓 For the learner:
First, practice the key building blocks below by choosing the right forms, order words, and passive verbs.
Next, use these same patterns in Module 2 when you write your full report on a process diagram.
Module 1: Build-up
Learn and practice the language you need to describe how things are made in a workshop.
Word forms: Building a bicycle
Choose the correct form of each word to complete the workshop descriptions.
1. The workshop specializes in the ______ of custom steel road bikes.
2. Before painting, the mechanic must carefully ______ every frame for defects.
3. The complete ______ of all bicycle components takes roughly four hours.
4. A strong metal bracket allows the firm ______ of the rear luggage rack.
5. Each finished bicycle undergoes brake and gear ______ on a test track.
Connecting steps: Order words
Pick the single linking word that best fits the position and meaning of each sentence.
1. ______, steel tubes are measured and cut to the exact lengths required for the frame.
2. Once the tubes are aligned, they are welded together; ______, the joints are smoothed down with a grinder.
3. The bare frame is cleaned thoroughly. ______, two protective coats of paint are sprayed over the metal.
4. While the paint dries, the wheels are spoked; ______, both wheels are fitted onto the frame.
5. ______, the complete bicycle is wrapped in cardboard and loaded into a delivery van.
The passive voice: Actions done to parts
In a process report, we focus on the object and action (e.g. The wheel is checked). Choose the correct passive verb from the bank for each sentence.
Word Bank:
1. In the first workstation, each steel joint ______ by hand with a torch.
2. After sanding, the entire bicycle frame ______ with bright enamel.
3. Next, the handlebars and saddle ______ to the central frame.
4. Before the bicycle leaves the shop, the gears and cables ______ for safety.
5. At the final stage, each finished bike ______ in a thick cardboard box for transport.
Saying it another way: Paraphrasing
Read the sentence from a workshop guide. Choose the sentence (a, b, or c) that expresses the exact same meaning using different words.
Which sentence says the same thing?
Which sentence says the same thing?
Which sentence says the same thing?
Ready for Module 2!
You now have the core patterns: word transformation, sequencing order words, and passive verb constructions. You will apply these exact tools in the next module to summarize an environmental diagram.
Module 2: The Task
Read the prompt and the seven steps below, then write your own complete report.
The diagram shows how a plastic bottle dropped in the street can end up as small pieces in the sea. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features.
Write at least 150 words.
The Process: 7 Sequential Stages
Follow each step in order from the street to the ocean and coastline.
A person drops a plastic bottle in the street.
Rain washes the bottle into a drain.
The drain carries the bottle into a river.
The river carries the bottle to the sea.
Waves and sunlight break the bottle into small pieces.
Sea animals swallow some of the pieces.
The tide carries other pieces back to the shore.
What Every Process Report Needs
Before you start writing and after you finish, check your response against these five essential standards:
An overview
A clear statement summarizing the start, overall direction, and end point.
Right order
Every stage presented in its true chronological progression without gaps.
Sequence words
Logical order markers linking each step smoothly to the next one.
Accurate details
Precise reporting of every action and agent without adding outside facts.
150+ words
A fully developed report meeting the minimum task length requirement.
Write Your Full Report
Type your answer below (at least 150 words). When submitted, your response will be graded across the four official IELTS criteria.
Module 3: Model Answer
Read this sample report to see how all seven steps connect into a smooth, 152-word text.
Full Process Report
The provided diagram illustrates how a discarded plastic bottle travels from an urban street into the marine environment and breaks down into fragments. Overall, the process consists of seven clear stages, beginning when litter is dropped and ending when plastic pieces are either consumed by marine life or returned to dry land.
Initially, a plastic bottle is dropped in the busy street by a passing person. Following rainfall, the item is washed into a drain, which then carries it directly into a nearby river. The river then transports the floating bottle downstream until it reaches the open sea.
Once in the sea, the plastic bottle is broken down into small pieces through the combined action of waves and sunlight. In the final stage, these tiny fragments split into two groups: some pieces are swallowed by various sea animals, while the remaining fragments are carried back to the shore by the incoming tide.
Why These 8 Phrases Work
Here is why each highlighted phrase in the model answer helps your score:
Why it works: It clearly tells the reader what the picture shows right away without repeating the exact words of the exam question.
Why it works: It gives the reader an immediate big-picture summary of the start, total length, and finish before getting into individual details.
Why it works: Saying what happened to the bottle keeps the focus on the object rather than talking about the rain.
Why it works: It glues two separate steps into one easy sentence and clearly shows what happens next in time.
Why it works: It describes continuous travel down the water that stops only when the bottle arrives at its new destination.
Why it works: It joins the physical breakdown to both natural causes—waves and sunlight—in one neat, flowing phrase.
Why it works: It highlights what happens to the tiny plastic fragments as they get eaten by sea creatures.
Why it works: It splits the final stage into two clear results and balances what happens to one group against the other.
Lesson Complete: What to Remember
To write a top-scoring report on any process, always include an overview of the full journey, keep the stages in their exact order, link steps with natural order words, and describe actions using words like is washed, is broken, and are carried.
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