The diagrams below show an island before and after the addition of tourist facilities.
Summarise the information in the maps and make comparisons where appropriate.

Answer

The diagram shows an island that is approximately 900 meters wide and 300 meters across before and after its development into a tourist resort.

Before being developed the island was unpopulated apart from a few palm trees and had a beach on the northwest side of the island.

After development, the island has a pier and reception centre built on its southern shore. In addition, a number of small sailing boats are available for transport or leisure. On the western side of the pier and reception centre is a small park that also overlooks the sea. On the opposite (north) side of the island is a combined restaurant and leisure centre.

On the western end of the island are 8 huts that are close to the beach and surrounded by trees. The eastern end of the island is protected by trees and contains a group of six huts and a children’s playground. This area allows family groups and couples to have separate areas so they do not disturb each other

Essay Notes

The aim of a strong Task 1 response is to allow a reader who has not seen the diagram to reproduce the diagram from the text. In this case it is important that the reader understands the basic shape of the island and has a reference point. The most logical reference point is the pier and reception complex because it is a major feature, centrally located and is the place where visitors
enter and leave the island.

The introduction describes the basic shape of the island, tells the reader that there are two maps and the basic information that they are intended to provide.

The body of the essay is broken up into two logical parts, the island before and after development, and these form the three body paragraphs.

The first body paragraph is very simple and has only one sentence because there is very little information to convey. The second and third body paragraphs are much longer and describe each of the key features of the island. The second body paragraph describes the shared areas including the pier and reception complex and the restaurant and leisure complex. The third body paragraph describes the private areas and includes a description of the accommodation.