Diagram labels — follow the arrows and the word rule
A diagram is another way to organise a passage
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.
The water meets the screen first, then gravel, then sand, and finally enters the tank. Follow the arrows rather than guessing from position alone.
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 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, below and at the base.
Label A. NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS FROM THE PASSAGE.
The mesh screen catches leaves before the water reaches gravel; A is just before gravel.
Check the word rule literally
- Mesh screen, fine sand and 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.
The passage puts fine sand below gravel, exactly where B sits. Both words are needed to copy its noun phrase.
Which response for label C follows NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS FROM THE PASSAGE?
Storage tank is the passage's two-word noun phrase. The first option is too long; the last is invented wording.
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.
The final sentence explicitly says the filter does not make the water safe to drink.
Practise without peeking at the labels above
Cover the worked answers. Say aloud what sits before gravel, below gravel and 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.