Sugar from Sugar Cane

The question

How to approach this process diagram question

A process diagram shows how something is made or how a cycle works. Describe the stages in order, using sequence language and the passive voice.

1. Say what process the diagram shows and how many stages it has.
2. Overview: the number of stages, where it starts and ends, and whether it is a cycle or a straight line.
3. Describe every stage in order (First, Next, After that, Finally) mostly in the passive: the grain is crushed.
4. Do not add opinions or explain why; describe what happens.

How to plan this answer

Structure

1. Overview: note that sugar is produced in eight stages, starting with harvest and ending with packing, over two rows.
2. Paragraph 2: cover the first four stages (harvest, transport, crushing and juice extraction) using passive verbs.
3. Paragraph 3: cover the remaining four stages (boiling, crystal formation, spinning and packing) and the transition from the first row to the second.
4. Optionally add a sentence noting that the juice is the key intermediate product before boiling.

Key features to spot

• Stage 1 is harvest, shown as bundles of tall cane stalks cut with a long knife, so the process begins in the field.
• Stage 2 is transport, where a tractor pulls a trailer loaded with cut cane to the processing site.
• Stage 3 is crushing, where the cane passes between heavy rollers that squeeze out a green liquid.
• Stage 4 is juice, collected in a large open vat, and stage 5 is boiling, where the juice is heated over a fire until it thickens.
• Stage 6 is crystals, a tray of white sugar cubes, and stage 7 is spinning in a perforated drum that separates the sugar from the liquid.
• Stage 8 is packing, where the sugar is placed into a bag, with a small bowl of sugar cubes shown beside it.

Useful vocabulary

• is harvested: The sugar cane is harvested by hand before it is transported.
• is transported to: The cut cane is transported to the processing plant on a trailer.
• is crushed between: The stalks are crushed between heavy rollers.
• is extracted from: The juice is extracted from the cane during the crushing stage.
• is boiled until: The juice is boiled until it thickens into a syrup.
• form: Crystals form as the syrup cools and hardens in the tray.
• is spun in: The crystals are spun in a drum to separate the sugar from the liquid.
• is packed into: The refined sugar is packed into bags for sale.
• is followed by: Harvesting is followed by transport to the mill.
• once ... has been: Once the juice has been boiled, the crystals begin to form.

Common mistakes

• Writing that the cane is 'grown' in the diagram; the picture starts at the harvest stage, so growing is outside the scope of the process shown.
• Confusing the crystals stage with the packing stage, or describing the sugar cubes in the bowl as a separate product rather than an example of the packed sugar.
• Describing the spinning drum as a mixing machine, when it is shown separating the sugar crystals from the syrup.
• Misplacing the juice stage as the first stage in the row, rather than the fourth stage in the process.
• Using the active voice where the diagram is about what is done to the cane (for example, the mill crushes the cane).

Examiner tip: Keep the eight stages in order and use the passive for each action; a brief reference to the two rows helps the reader follow the transition from juice to boiling.