The Economist - Feb 25th/March 3rd, 2023

The Economist is a global weekly magazine written for those who share an uncommon interest in being well and broadly informed.

Each issue explores the close links between domestic and international issues, business, politics, finance, current affairs, science, technology and the arts. #economist

​​📈 IELTS Writing Task 1: what things can increase? 📉

Can chicken increase? Obviously, not. Yet, this is a mistake I see often. Bear with me. 

IELTS charts can have different nouns in them: meat, shops, energy production, people of different ages, you name it. 

Some of these things can increase, while others cannot. Meat cannot increase, but meat consumption or the amount of meat that is consumed can. Fuel can't increase, but fuel production or the amount of fuel that is produced can. People aged 15-65 can't increase, but population or the number of people can. See the logic?

But the mistake is usually more subtle than this.  More often than not, it looks like this: "Chicken was the most popular type of meat throughout the period. Starting at 100 grams, it increased dramatically to reach 250 by the end of the period."

See? The sentence doesn't directly say, "chicken increased." But if we track what "it" refers to, we get "chicken increased." 

For a higher score, you need to keep in mind a longer span of text than just one sentence. Do that. And make you write about things that can actually increase. 📈

​​#grammar

🌐 PASSIVE VOICE

For a livelier and more persuasive sentence, consider writing your sentence using an active verb (the subject performs and the action, as in "The ball hit Catherine) rather than a passive verb (the subject receives the action, as in "Catherine was hit by the ball) . If you rewrite with an active verb, consider what the appropriate subject is - "they", "we", or a more specific noun or pronoun.

• Instead of: Juanita was delighted by Michelle
• Consider: Michelle delighted Juanita

• Instead of: Eric was given more work.
• Consider: The boss gave Eric more work

• Instead of: The garbage needs to be taken out.
• Consider: You need to take the garage out.