PIE CHART

Employment

Casual
25%

Full time
Part time 56%
19%

A. STRATEGIES
1. Identifying main information

- Full-time employment, which makes up 56.18%, is the most common type of employment.

- Full-time employment (56.18%) is considerably more common than part-time (19.24%) and
casual employment ( 24. 58%).

- About twice as many people are employed in full time work ( over 50%) than in casual work
(25%).

2. Organizing the essay

a. Introduction
- The graph compares…………………………………………………….
- The graph shows/illustrates/ provides information about…………..

- It is clear from the graph that / It can be seen from the graph…….

- As the graph shows, / As can be seen from the graph,………………

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 - As is shown by the graph, / From the graph it is clear……………..

b. Body

- Highlight the main features in the pie chart such as

+ The biggest proportion

+ The smallest proportion

+ The interesting features

- Make comparison between different items presented in the pie chart

c. Conclusion
- Summarize the main ideas
- Do not include any numbers in the conclusion (you could use words like “most”, “the majority”
“a minority”, “a small number”).
- Do not give an opinion. Don’t say that something is good, or interesting, or bad, or even
surprising. Just describe the data.

Note:
Make sure you have 150 words. Do not simply copy the words used on the graphic material.
Copied sentences will not be assessed by the examiner, so you waste your time including them.

B. LANGUAGE FOCUS

1. Verbs
a. The number of unemployed was 10% of the population.
b. Women made up/constituted a significant percentage of the workforce.
c. Food and garden material comprise nearly half of the waste.
d. Fossil fuel accounts for the majority of green house gases.
e. X was the largest producer, with 45% of the total production.

2. Quantifiers

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 3. Comparison
Twice as many/high/large as
Three times as high/large/many as
Double/treble (v)
E.g. Company A has twice as many employees as company B.
Company A has half as much space as company B.
The profit doubled/increased threefold from March to May.

C. WRITING PRACTICE

Task 1
Match the percentages on the left column with the expressions on the right
column.

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Task 2

1970
,
,
Hydro-
electric Nuclear, 1%
Power, 16% Oil, 12%

Natural gas,
23%

Coal, 46%

Fill in the blanks with suitable words

accounted for      came      comprised      less than      made up      one-eighth      proportion
supplied      three-quarters      was      was produced   

1. In 1970, coal production …………………………….46% of US electricity production.

2. Almost a quarter of US electricity in 1970 …………………………….using natural gas.
3. Hydro-electric power stations…………………………….. just over 16% of US power in 1970.
4. Nuclear power…………………………….. less than 2% of US electricity supplies in 1970.
5. The main fuel used to generate electricity in 1970 in the US ………………….coal.

6. Almost half of US electricity in 1970…………………….. from coal.

7. About……………………… of US electricity came from oil-fired power stations.
8. Gas and coal provided …………………………………………of US electricity in 1970.
9. Nuclear power contributed a tiny…………………………………… of US electricity in 1970.
10. Renewable sources of electricity, such as hydroelectric power, made up
……………………………17% of US electricity in 1970.
11. Gas and oil …………………………………….just over a third of US electric power.

Task 3
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Complete the description of the following pie chart.

Electricity generation in Australia by fuel type, 1996/1997

0.30%
10%
5%
Oil
Brown coal
Black coal
26% Gas
59%
Hydro

It is clear from the pie chart that in 1996/1997 by far the _____(1)__biggest______ proportion of
electricity was_____(2)_provided___by oil, at 59%. Less than half as much, namely 26%, was
______(3)_came_____ from brown coal. Black coal and gas together ____(4)_made up___another
15% of generation, leaving hydropower at only __0,3%____(5)______In other words, virtually
100% of electricity generation in Australia at the time ___(6)___by____fossil fuels, and only the
______(7)__smallest___amount of 0.3% came from a ______(8)_hydro______energy source.

Task 4

Write an essay (about 150 words) about the following topic

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 Note:

When giving results or other information in percentage form, we often add a phrase beginning
with WITH or AT to the end of the main statement:

…, with 30% of students involved in this activity

…, with a 30% participation rate

…, with 30% participation

…, at 30%

E.g. Soccer is the most popular team sport, with over 30% of students involved in this sport.

The third most popular activity is cycling with a 20% participation rate.

Task 5
Complete the description of the pie charts given.

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 The pie charts show how electricity was (1……………used………) in Australia in two years
(2……………1996 and 1997……..). It is clear that there were a number of changes in the supply of
energy.
In (……both………..) years, the (3…………biggest……………) proportion of electricity in
Australia was generated by oil although the supply (4…………decreased…………..) from 59% in
1996 to 40% in 1997. Coal (5………ccounted for………………) more than 30% of the generation
in 1996, but the (6…………percentage……………) decreased by 7% after one year.

The percentage of electricity generated from gas increased nearly (7……three times…………….)
to 28%. Hydro remained the (8……………least popular…….) source of energy (9……………
despite……) a slow increase to 2%. The most (10…………noticeable……….) change was the
introduction of nuclear energy (11……which………..) helped produce 7% of the total electricity
supply.

Task 6

The graphs show US household spending patterns in 1966 and 1996. Write a report
describing the information in the two graphs.

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 1966 1996
Computers,
1%
Computers,
Furniture, 10% Books, 1%
Books, 6% Food, 14%
10%
Furniture,
Restaurants
, 7% 8%

Petrol, 9% Restaurants
, 14%
Food, 44%

Petrol, 8%
Cars, 23% Cars, 45%

Key word: Expenditure

Expenditure = spending

Household expenditure = family spending

Households spent more in 2012/13.

Spending on petrol (£15.70) combined with diesel (£7.60) accounted for one third of transport costs.

£21.00 a week was spent on package holidays abroad, compared with £1.40 a week on package
holidays in the UK.

Average weekly expenditure on food and non-alcoholic drinks in 2013 was £58.80.

In 2012, housing, food and transport accounted for the largest shares of household expenditure for
all income groups. Collectively, they contributed to 65 per cent of monthly household expenditure
on average, up from 64 per cent in 2007and 61 per cent in 2002.

The share of spending in restaurants, cafes and pubs increased from 22 per cent in 2002 to 27 per
cent in 2007.

Expenditure on public transport rose marginally from $160 to $170 over this period. Over a 10-year
horizon, while expenditure on transport increased by around $200, public transport expenditure
rose by less than $20.
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Housing, fuel and power was the category with the highest average spending in 2013, at £74.40 per
week.

The second highest category was transport at £70.40, of which £21.10 was spent on the purchase of
vehicles, £15.30 on transport services (such as rail, tube and bus fares) and £34.00 on the operation of
personal transport (such as petrol, diesel, repairs and servicing).

MORE ABOUT THE LANGUAGE

I. Language of percentage

The number of unemployed was 10% of the population.

Fossil fuel makes up the majority of greenhouse gases.

Note: Make up = accounts for = constitute = comprise

Vietnam was the largest producer with 45% of the total production.

Vietnam was the largest producer contributing 45% of the total production.

Twenty percent of the students get the scholarship.

Food and garden materials comprise nearly half of the waste.

One in five students gets the scholarship.

Fossil fuel accounts for the majority of greenhouse gases.

Women made up a significant percentage of the workforce.

II. Common expressions

Biggest percentage The biggest proportion of visitors came from the United States with
60%.

The majority of respondents (over 60%) prefer to use smartphones and

laptops.

Mobile and portable devices are the most popular choices among
young people.

The most significant sources of energy were gas and coal.

Tourism is the leading/main/major source of income in country A.

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 China has ranked as the world's biggest/largest exporter of goods since
2009.

Leisure is the most common reason for travelling among those who
took part in the survey.

Florida had the highest percentage of its population age 65 and older

among states in 2014.

The United States spends more on health care than any other nation in
the world.

Halong Bay is the most chosen/ most favored/ most popular

destination among tourists.

Small/smallest Only a small minority (2%) prefer………

percentage
The least popular/least common/ least favored type of…..is…………..

Only 2% of the visitors who took part in the survey …………

Interesting features It is interesting to note that…

One interesting finding is…

It is surprising that….

The figure is surprisingly high/low………...

People who take part the surveyed visitors/ tourists

in the survey
the people surveyed (said)

the respondent

those who were asked

survey participants

Comparison B received a third fewer visitors than A.

The number of people who go to A is twice that to B.

Four times as many people go to A as go to B.

The visitor number to B is one fifth of that to A.

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 September in Tokyo is the rainiest month on the chart, with more than
200 mm on average.

While most people say they enjoy their vacation in Vietnam, only 20%
mention that they will come back to the country in the future.

Giving an idea in a Forty percent of tourists cited good food as a highpoint in their visit.
survey
Taxi was chosen by 20% of the respondents as the major means of
transportation to explore the city.

Cheap accommodation is mentioned as a plus for the city.

Twenty percent of the visitors consider the weather to be a disadvantage.

Half of the tourists find the high living cost to be the major drawback.

A third of the respondents indicated that the travelling cost was too
expensive in this city.

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