Diagram labels — follow the arrows and the word rule · Etiquetas del diagrama — sigue las flechas y la regla de palabras
A misplaced filter label breaks the route
- The same three labels can describe a different process if you swap their positions. Follow the arrows and the passage’s relationships together.
The following passage and diagram are original practice material, not an official test item.
Water collected from a roof enters a filter at the top. A mesh screen catches leaves before the water reaches a layer of gravel, which holds back larger particles. Below the gravel, fine sand removes smaller particles. At the base, filtered water flows into a covered storage tank. A pump sends water from the tank to a garden when it is needed. The filter does not make the water safe to drink.
Read the diagram in the direction of the arrows before searching for any answer. This fixes the position of each missing label.
The diagram cannot hand you the answer just because it looks friendly.
Put the filter layers and destination in passage order. · Coloca las capas del filtro y el destino en orden de paso.
The water meets the screen first, then gravel, then sand, and finally enters the tank. Follow the arrows rather than guessing from position alone. · El agua encuentra primero la malla, luego la grava, después la arena y finalmente entra al tanque. Sigue las flechas en lugar de adivinar solo por la posición.
Follow relationships, not repeated words
Suppose the instruction is NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS FROM THE PASSAGE. Label A is before gravel. The passage says a mesh screen catches leaves before · antes the gravel. Therefore A = mesh screen.
Label B is below gravel. The passage says fine sand is below the gravel. Therefore B = fine sand. Label C is the container at the base, so C = storage tank.
Notice that you did not need to understand every word. You needed the relationships before · antes, below and · y at the base.
Label A. NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS FROM THE PASSAGE. · Etiqueta A. NO MÁS DE DOS PALABRAS DEL TEXTO.
Mesh screen is the full two-word label; screen also identifies the only screen in this authored passage and fits the limit.
Check the word rule literally
- Mesh screen, fine sand and · y storage tank each have two words, so each fits this instruction. Writing the covered storage tank would give four words and lose the mark, even though the object is right.
- Copy the passage's form and spelling. Do not write your own replacement such as water box. A different question may permit a number, give a word list, or set a one-word limit. Read that question's instruction rather than carrying this one's rule across the page.
Label B. NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS FROM THE PASSAGE. · Etiqueta B. NO MÁS DE DOS PALABRAS DEL TEXTO.
Fine sand is the full passage label; sand also identifies the only sand layer in this authored example. Both forms fit the limit.
Which response for label C follows NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS FROM THE PASSAGE? · ¿Cuál respuesta para la etiqueta C cumple con NO MÁS DE DOS PALABRAS DEL TEXTO?
Storage tank is the passage's two-word noun phrase. The first option is too long; the last is invented wording. · Tanque de almacenamiento es la frase nominal de dos palabras del texto. La primera opción es demasiado larga; la última es una redacción inventada.
A labelled object is not an extra claim
The diagram shows a pump going to a garden. The passage says the water is used there, but it also says the filter does not make it safe to drink. Do not turn “filtered” into “drinkable.” A diagram helps locate answers; it cannot justify a claim the passage denies.
For an unfamiliar machine or process, use the same routine: find the start, follow the arrows, match each nearby noun phrase, then test the word limit.
Because the filter removes particles, the stored water is safe to drink. · Debido a que el filtro elimina partículas, el agua almacenada es segura para beber.
The final sentence explicitly says the filter does not make the water safe to drink. · La oración final dice explícitamente que el filtro no hace que el agua sea segura para beber.
Practise without peeking at the labels above
Cover the worked answers. Say aloud what sits before gravel, below gravel and · y at the base. Then write each answer under the two-word limit. If you swap the sand and screen, trace the arrows again; the order of the process, not the shape of the drawing, decides.
Source checked on 23 September 2026: official IELTS Academic Reading guide, diagram label completion.
A useful diagram must preserve the passage’s order
- The roof-water passage places a mesh screen before gravel and fine sand below gravel. The tank comes after filtration; the pump sends stored water to the garden.
- Read direction and position together. Swapping screen and sand would break the passage’s order even if both labels were copied accurately.
- Filtered does not mean drinkable: the passage explicitly limits that claim. The drawing cannot silently extend the water’s use.
- Trace the arrows, locate the noun phrase and keep both its word limit and meaning.
- Apply the distinction to the transfer check below. These are original teaching cases, not official items or band predictions.
Match the distinctions in this worked case.
Read direction and position together. Swapping screen and sand would break the passage’s order even if both labels were copied accurately.
Which label belongs below gravel?
The roof-water passage places a mesh screen before gravel and fine sand below gravel. The tank comes after filtration; the pump sends stored water to the garden. Read direction and position together. Swapping screen and sand would break the passage’s order even if both labels were copied accurately.