Graph Showing How Elderly People In The United States Spent Their Free Time Between 1980 and 2010 IELTS Writing Task 1

Sep 8, 2022

Graph showing how elderly people in the United States spent their free time between 1980 and 2010 IELTS Writing Task 1 sample Answer is given below. The candidates are required to present a tentative answer for the same. IELTS writing task 1 requires candidates to write a summary or overview based on a diagram, a table, a line graph, or a bar graph in at least 150 words. IELTS academic writing task 1 is a writing task for 150 words. Candidates are given 20 minutes and are required to write a summary for IELTS Academic writing task 1. IELTS writing score is marked based on band scores. The band scores range from 0 to 9. Meanwhile, candidates might consider practising from IELTS writing practice papers to help excel your writing skills.

Check: Get 10 Free IELTS Sample Papers
Check: Register for IELTS Coaching - Join for Free Trial Class Now

Topic: The graph below shows how elderly people in the United States spent their free time between 1980 and 2010.

Band 7 Answer

The above line graph provides clear demarcations regarding the various activities in which the elderly people in the United States have been involved in. This has been provided in terms of the changing leisure activities of the elderly over a period of time, between 1980s to 2010s. The most common activities included reading, hiking, theatre, watching TV and surfing the internet. It is clear that in the 1980s 30% of the elderly people were involved in reading, the proportion of which increased to 40% in the 1990s.

During the same time period hiking was preferred by only 20% of the population of elderly, while surfing the internet was not very common and was used by only 5%. However, in comparison the most preferred leisure activity that elderly people spent their free time doing was watching TV followed by theatre.

It can be seen that while Television was the leisure time for the elderly in the 1980s for 60% of them which peaked to 70% in 2000 but dropped by 10% in 2010. Theatre being the second most preferred activity was preferred by 50% of the population. In the 1980s which dropped to 30% in the 1990s increased to 40% in 2000and 45% in 2010. The growth of hiking as an activity for free time saw an unprecedented growth. It surpassed even the internet with 80% of the population spending their time compared to only 50% of them using the internet.

Band 7.5 Answer

The graph portrayed above highlights the several kinds of activities that are performed by old people in their spare time. This graph portrays the time period from the 1980s to the current existing year in the United States. It can be effectively concluded from the graph that these are the general activities that have been listed. And are being increasingly performed by the elderly groups. These activities include hiking that has been at rise steadily throughout the years. Further watching TV has come out to be one of the most popular activities being performed till the existing date.

During the 1980s, most of the activities as mentioned above in the line graph were popular and rising. However it can be concluded from the graph that the only activity that was least of the concern of the elderly people. And has not been growing over these years was visiting the theatres. It is evident from the above mentioned grab that going to the theatre has resulted in a decline steeply from 50% to 30%.

However this underwent a big change during the era in 1990s, in which visiting the theatre and watching movies started gaining popularity. Moreover activities like reading saw a major increase in popularity. However the number of people that performed all other activities seemingly increased.

The popularity of activities like reading, seeing plays, going on hikes, and using the internet has all grown in this century. The popularity of viewing TV has, however, been declining. Despite this, watching TV continues to rank as the second most popular pastime among this demographic today. Nowadays, the majority of retirees like going on hikes.

Band 8 Answer

The line graph, which spans the years 1980 to 2010, shows the many sorts of hobbies that people with grey here have pursued in their free time. To be precise, it is evident from the above graph that older individuals prefer hiking over theatres and it has grown as the most favourite activity for them with time.

Let’s begin with internet browsing, which in the first 20 years only accounted for 5% to 15% of all usage. Over the past 10 years the ratio has abruptly risen, reaching a peak that is now recorded at 50%. The theatre was the location of the following event. In 1980, going to the movies took up 50% of older people's leisure time. However, this number dropped by 20% after ten years and then increased to roughly 45% in 2013.

Additionally, compared to the other activities, older adults in 1980 preferred reading over hiking. It was by a margin of 30% to 20%, while the same number of persons were found in the 1990s. After a decade, the percentage of individuals who were interested in hiking increased while the percentage of people who were interested in reading declined by 20%. 60% of older persons read for leisure, whereas the ratio of hikers peaked in the previous year. 60% of people reported watching TV at the beginning, and that number rose to 70 percent in 2000 but fell by 5 percent in the previous year.

Check- IELTS Writing Samples