DESCRIBING GRAPHS

Today we are going to discuss change.

You will learn to describe graphs.

1. Mute exercises.

2. Pronunciation drill. Practice reading the words and

phrases below.
an upward trend fluctuations a decrease an increase
a downward trend fluctuated to decrease to increase

3. Study the line graphs and match them with the

descriptions (a-c). What other sentences from the list on the
left can be used to describe the graphs?

a) There was an upward trend.

b) There was a downward trend
c) There were fluctuations.

 It dropped.
 It fluctuated.
 It fell.
 It grew.
 There is a decrease.
 It undulated.
 It increased.
 It rose.
 We can see a rise.
 It decreased.
 It went up.
 It declined.
 There was an increase.

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 4. Look at the line graph showing the number of tourists
visiting a particular hotel and fill in the blanks with a word
or a phrase to complete the description.
From January there was … in the number of tourists and it
reached a peak in June. Then from June to September the number of
tourists … . From September to December … in the number of
tourists with a slight rise in November.

5. Study the line graphs (1-6) and match them with the
descriptions. What other sentences from the list below can be
used to describe the graphs?

 It plateaued.
 It peaked.
 It grew exponentially
 It plummeted.
 It remained constant.
 It soared.

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  It escalated.  It collapsed.
 It rocketed.  It tumbled.
 It levelled off.  It reached a peak.
 It reached a plateau.  There was an exponential growth.
I skyrocketed. It did not undergo any changes.

6. Study the line graphs paying special attention to the

prepositions used to describe change. Complete the sentences
using the right prepositions to fill in the gaps.

 It decreased … 10 … 2.
 It started … 2.
 It peaked … 10.
 It finished … 2.
 There was a drop … 8.
 It dropped … 8.

7. Study the graph on car production and fill in the blanks

with numbers and prepositions to complete the description.
Then find in the text words that can be used to express
approximation (approximation is necessary if the graph does
not show precise data).
For the first … months car production increased … about 10 cars
per month … just under 60 per month. This was an increase …
about 55 cars produced for the period. Over the next … months the
number of cars produced fluctuated … around 50 cars per month.
For a period of … months production remained … approximately
just over 50 cars per month. There was a slight upward trend for the
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next … months … a peak of nearly 90 cars produced per month
before production decreased rapidly … about 70 cars per month …
roughly 20 cars per month.

8. Fill in the blanks with the correct proposition.

 There was an increase … just over 50 thousand people.
 In the first decade the population remained steady …
approximately 5 million.
 Unemployment fell … just over 500 000 people.
 Violence in the city peaked … about 1500 deaths per 10 000
people.
 The crime rate increased rapidly … well over 500 incidents per
night.
 The population is expected to grow exponentially over the next
few years and then peak … 20 billion people.

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  For the next few months computer prices are expected to drop …
50% in spite of predicted price increase in basic electrical good
… 25 %.
 The production of goods is predicted to finish the year … 500
units per day.
 Production began … 50 units per day and rose … about 20
units per day to end the month … well over 600 units.

9. When describing change, it is important to be clear about

what is changing. For example, the topic is “cars”. We
cannot say “cars increased” but “the number of cars
increased” or “car numbers increased”. Complete the table
below:

Topic “the” + measurable Alternatives

quantity + “of” + topic
computers the sales of computers computer sales
the number of migrants migrant numbers
land land area
the production of timber timber production
crime the level(s) of crime
insurance cost
unemployment
the salaries of females female salaries

10. Read the sentences and write similar ones for the following
sentence (paraphrase the underlined part): From March to
July, there was a dramatic decrease in timber production.

 From January to February, there was a slight increase in

sales.
 For one month there was a slight increase in sales.
 For a period of one month there was a slight increase in
sales.
 Over the next month there was a slight increase in sales.

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  During the next month there was a slight increase in
sales.

11. Look at the graph showing the changes in the property

crime rate and the break and enter rate between 2012 and
2019. Remember that it is customary to use rates per 100 000
population. Fill in the gaps.

The graph illustrates the changes in the total property crime

rate and the break and enter rate between 2012 and 2019.

In 2o12, the property crime rate was 2500 offences per 100 000
population. Then the rate rose (sharp/sharply) and reached
3800 in 2013. After a (moderate/moderately) fall in 2014,
the rate started to (increase/decrease) again and reached a
(peak/top) in 2015. However after
(stabilizing/fluctuating) for some months, the total property crime
rate dropped (considerable/considerably) throughout 2016
and the beginning of 2017. The rate stayed at about 2400 offences
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from mid-2017 (to/until) mid-2018 before
(decreasing/decrease) again.

As for the break and enter rate, in 2012 it was about 1000
offences per 100 000 population. From 2012 to 2015, there was a
steady (upward/downward) trend in the break and enter
rate. The rate (reached/arrived) its highest point in 2015
and then (showed/fell) a significant downward trend until
mid-2017. After being stable for a few months, the rate continued
to fall (slight/slightly) to roughly below 1500 in 2019.

To conclude we can say that the total property crime rate

fluctuated from 2012 to 2015, whereas the break and enter rate
showed a general upward trend. Both rates peaked in 2015, fell
significantly until mid-2017, stabilized for some months and
(fell/grew) slightly during 2018 2019.

12. Describe the graph showing the percent of students

admitted to Harvard and Stanford in 2015-2020.

Your description of a graph should include the following parts:

 The introduction which paraphrases the task and is usually
one sentence long.
 The main body which includes two or three paragraphs in
which you describe the main trends the graph shows and
compare them.
 The conclusion, an overall statement which sums up what you
have written in the main body, highlighting the similarities
and the differences.

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 HOMEWORK

Describe the graph showing the percent of males

and females engaged in sport and physical activities on a
weekly basis. Make sure that your description is written in
semi-formal style and is plagiarism-free (the number of
consecutive duplicates should not exceed three). Due next class.

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