Maps: a harbour district then and now
You can compare two maps of one place, write an overview of the change, and describe each detail accurately.
One Academic Task 1 you may get is a pair of maps: the same place in two different years. There are no numbers to report. Your information is what was built, what went, and what stayed.
The band 7 descriptor still applies. It asks for a report that presents a clear overview in which the main trends or differences are identified. On a pair of maps, the overview is the big change in what the area is used for.
Warm-up
Read two labels
Here is one place on two maps. Choose the sentence that describes the change.
Read thisWest side, 1995: Railway goods yard. West side, 2025: Park.
Which sentence is correct?
How it works
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The maps below show the harbour area of Selmouth, a coastal town, in 1995 and 2025.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
From two maps to a report
- 1Read the titles and the years
What place, which years, and is anything the same on both maps? Two years in the past mean past simple verbs.
- 2Compare area by area
Take one part of the map at a time, the north, then the west, and so on. Note what happened there: gone, new, the same, or a new use.
- 3Find the big change
Look at your notes together. What was the area for then, and what is it for now? That is your overview.
- 4Group the details
Two paragraphs, by area or by kind of change. Put places that changed in the same way together.
- 5Say exactly what happened
Was replaced by when a place went, was converted into when a building stayed, remained when nothing changed.
How the report is laid out
The parts, in order
One sentence: which place, and which two years, in your own words.
The big change in what the area is for, and anything that stayed the same. No small details.
One group of changes, compared across the two years.
The rest of the changes, grouped and compared in the same way.
Watch me do one
I read the titles first: one harbour area, 1995 and 2025. Both years are in the past, so my verbs will be past simple, mostly passive.
Then I go round both maps one area at a time and sort each place: gone, new, the same, or the same building with a new use.
North: the warehouses have gone, there are apartment blocks, and the fish market is the same. West: goods yard to park. Centre: car park to public square. East: the label says Museum (old factory), so that is converted into. South: fishing harbour to marina, and the ferry terminal is the same.
Now the pattern. Everything industrial went or changed its use, and what arrived is for living and free time. That is my overview: the district changed from a working port into a place where people live and spend their free time.
That leaves two groups for the detail paragraphs: the north and west, then the centre, the east and the waterfront.
A model answer
The maps show how the harbour district of Selmouth, a town on the coast, changed between 1995 and 2025. Overall, the district changed from a working port into a place where people live and spend their free time. Almost every industrial site was either replaced or given a new use, while the fish market and the ferry terminal stayed where they were. Housing and green space took over the north and west of the area. The warehouses in the north were replaced by apartment blocks, although the fish market beside them was kept, so the market now has homes as its neighbours. On the west side, the railway goods yard was turned into a park, the only green space shown on either map. Elsewhere, most sites were given a new use. The car park in the middle of the area became a public square, and the factory on the east side was converted into a museum. On the waterfront, the fishing harbour was redeveloped as a marina for leisure boats, while the ferry terminal next to it remained unchanged.
- TaskThe overview: the big change in what the area is for, with no small details.
- TaskWhat did not change is part of the picture too.
- CoherenceThe topic sentence names the area the paragraph covers and what happened there.
- GrammarA passive verb. The place that went is the subject, and what stands there now follows by.
- CoherenceOne short sentence moves the reader to the second group of details.
- VocabularyThe label shows the same building with a new use, so converted into is exact.
- VocabularySays no change without repeating stayed.
Coloured text shows what the examiner is looking for.
Practice with Elita6 questions
Five questions on the Selmouth maps. After that, you write an overview for a village that changed.
The right tense
The maps show 1995 and 2025. Choose the correct sentence.
Which sentence is correct?
Same building, new use
Complete the sentence with two words.
The factory on the east side into a museum.
Write no more than 2 words.
One faulty sentence
A report on these maps has one sentence with a grammar mistake. Which is it?
Which sentence contains the error?
Where does it belong?
The model report sorts its details by area. Choose the paragraph for this one.
Ferry terminal: in the same place on both maps
The big picture
One of these could open the overview paragraph. Which?
Which sentence sums up the maps?
Your overview
Two new maps, this time described in words. Write the overview in two sentences: the main change, and anything that stayed. Leave the other details for the body paragraphs.
Two maps show the village of Wenmore in 1980 and 2020. In 1980: farmland in the north and east, a school and a post office in the centre, a railway station in the south. In 2020: houses on the farmland in the north, a supermarket and car park in the east, the school extended, the post office turned into a café, and the station replaced by a bus stop. Write the overview.
0 / 25 words
Set up your learning path at the top of this lesson to get band-specific feedback.
Words to keep
The part of a town next to the sea, a lake or a river. New cafés line the waterfront.
Be used for something different, often without being knocked down. The old factory was given a new use as a museum.
Rebuild an area or site for a new purpose. The fishing harbour was redeveloped as a marina.
Stay the same. The ferry terminal remained unchanged.
Connected with factories and making goods. Most of the industrial sites closed or moved away.
Free time, and the things people do in it. The marina is used by leisure boats.
Before you go
Read the years first. Two past years mean the past simple, mostly passive.
Compare the maps area by area, and sort each place: gone, new, the same, or a new use.
Put the big change in your overview, with no small details.
Match the verb to what happened: replaced by, converted into, remained.
Next: That is the end of Unit 6. Unit 7 is about travel, and it starts with the past simple and past continuous for telling stories.