IELTS Examiner / Practice Prompt Bank — GT & Academic / Academic Task 1
IELTS Academic Task 1: Table — Culture & reading
Original practice prompt written in exam style — not a real exam question, and not a prediction.
The table below shows the number of items borrowed from a public library in four categories in three different years. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. The data is as follows (items borrowed, in thousands). Fiction: 45 in 2015, 38 in 2020 and 29 in 2025. Non-fiction: 30 in 2015, 27 in 2020 and 24 in 2025. Children's books: 25 in 2015, 26 in 2020 and 27 in 2025. E-books: 5 in 2015, 14 in 2020 and 31 in 2025. Fiction was the most borrowed category in 2015 and 2020 but was overtaken by e-books by 2025; children's books were the only print category to grow over the period.
Examiner focus: Two opposite movements: every print category except children's books falling, e-books multiplying sixfold and taking first place.
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