📖 AVTC7_ Bar charts

BAR CHARTS
I. PRE-WRITING 1. dng bin i theo thgian
1. Definition and Characteristics
* Definition: A bar chart represents different values with rectangular bars.
* Characteristics:
- A bar chart usually includes a title, data, and a key (legend) that explains what each bar
represents.
- One axis represents some numerical value such as costs, income, birth rates, and
temperatures. The other axis can represent many different types of information such as
time, countries, means of travel, sources of energy, and types of people (male and
female; employed and unemployed; teenagers and adults, etc.).
- Bar charts are often used to compare things and many bar charts show trends.

An example of a dynamic bar chart:

Average monthly rainfall in one Asian city, 1950-2000

(Adapted from Rogers, B., & Kenny, N. (2016). The Complete Guide to Ielts: Students book: Band 5.5-7+.
National Geographic Learning, Cengage Learning.)

2. Structure of a bar chart

a. Introduction Explain in your own words what the chart shows
(Paraphrase the question)

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📖 AVTC7_ Bar charts

You should include: Type of the chart – What the graph shows –
Time period
b. Overview Describe general trend(s) or main features
- Answer the questions:
• What is the trend? (increasing/ decreasing/ fluctuating)

Or
• Which categories accounts for the highest and lowest
percentages?
• Which categories show the most significant difference?

- Group the special features of the bar chart (e.g., highest -

lowest percentages; increasing - decreasing trend; similarities –
differences, etc.)
c. Body 1 Describe (and compare) data, starting with the most
important parts
- Include more detailed information about the data in the chart
(e.g., the categories with the highest percentages or the
categories with an increasing trend)
d. Body 2 Describe remaining data – but not everything
- Do the same thing for the remaining features (e.g., the
categories with the lowest percentages or the categories with a
decreasing or remaining trend)

*Notes:

- Do not discuss specific data in the overview.

- If you do NOT give any overview, you will get below band 5 for the Task Achievement
criterion.
- You do not have to describe every single detail in the body paragraphs. Focus on the
biggest or most important proportions instead.

3. Useful language
a. Introduction

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📖 AVTC7_ Bar charts

Type of
Verb Noun phrase Time (optional)
chart
The bar illustrate(s) • the number of + countable • in 2010
chart(s) compare(s) noun/ noun phrase • between 2010 and
highlight(s) • the amount of + 2020
không m c
give(s) information about uncountable noun/ noun • from 2010 to 2020
phrase • over a 10-year
• how many/ how much + period
clause
• the various + noun/ noun
phrase

E.g.
- The bar chart illustrates the number of people who have visited different museums in
Thailand in 2010.
- The bar charts compare the amount of coffee consumed in a particular country between
2011 and 2022.
- The given bar chart highlights how much leisure time people in the UK spent alone and with
other people in 2020.
- The bar chart gives information about the various modes of transports in one European
country over a 5-year period.
1. i vi dynamics bart chart, ý xu hng
b. Overview 2. i vi static , coi so sanh các giá tr vi nhau, so sánh 2 hoc 3 phân loi vi nhau, gia tri cao nhat
a significant difference between A and B.
Overall, / Generally, there is
a wide disparity in + the number of/ the amount of + N.
- It is noticeable/ evident that
- As can be seen from the S + V + O.
graph,

*In some charts, you need to give contrasting information in the Overview. You can use the
language below:
However,/ In contrast,/ On the other hand,/ Meanwhile, S + V + O.
Although/ Whereas + S + V + O, S1 + V1 + O1.

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📖 AVTC7_ Bar charts

E.g.:
- As can be seen from the graph, the most common purpose of visits to London, Edinburgh
and Liverpool was for holidays. Meanwhile, the remaining two cities mainly attracted vistors for
business.
- Overall, there is a significant difference between the number of male and female students
enrolled in computer science courses at the university. Although there has been a slight
increase in female enrollment over the last five years, the gender gap remains substantial.
c. Body

* Language to describe:

APPROXIMATION
Data APPROXIMATION
970 people around The population grew by around a million people in
that decade.
44% about According to the chart, about 45% of all people
surveyed believe in UFOS.

298,000 units roughly Roughly 300,000 units were manufactured in factory

A in 2005.
4030 people approximately Approximately 4,000 more people attended this
year's parade.

0.002 almost The vacancy rate for hotel rooms is almost zero in
August.
86% nearly Nearly 90% of people in the country agreed with this
decision.
2.545 billion people just over Just over 2.5 billion people worldwide own digital
cameras.

298 days just under This state has just under 300 days of sunshine a
year.

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NUMBERS AND AMOUNTS

NUMBERS AND AMOUNTS
the number of
The number of serious storms affecting New England rose to 21 this year.
the amount of
The amount of natural gas produced this year increased sharply.
more than
There was more rainfall in April than in May.
fewer than
The chart indicates that fewer people visited this website in 2012 than in 2011.
less than
The factory produced less pollution during 2010 than in the previous year.
(about) the same as
The amount of time it takes to complete task A is (about) the same as the amount of time it
takes to complete task B.
- To make these expressions stronger, you can use many, much, far: many more than, much
more than, far less than far fewer than, far more than
- To make these expressions weaker, you can use slightly or a little: slightly more than, a
little less than
twice as many as dem duoc
There were nearly twice as many accidents at the factory this year as last year.
twice as much as khong dem duoc
According to the chart, there was about twice as much coal mined in this country in the
1940s as in the 1990s.
(nearly/almost) doubled
The amount of milk produced at this dairy farm nearly doubled over the five-year period.
The number of runners in the race almost doubled between 2000 and 2015.
half as many as
There were only about half as many applications for jobs received in January as there had
been in July.
half as much as
A dollar in 1980 was worth around half as much as it had been in 1967.
amount + times + as many as

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There were, on average, about three times as many pages in newspapers in country A as in
country B.
amount + times + as much as
There was around four times as much traffic in city X as in city Y.

Complex sentences for comparison

Reduced relative clauses
E.g.: The actual expenses of Thai people was 100 billion US$ , followed by
con so hang nhì
Vietnamese citizens with around 88 billion US$.
We can use “followed by” to describe the number of B which comes after the number
of A.
Using “that” to replace for “the number of” / “the percentage of”
E.g.: The number of visitors to America for travelling purpose was 90%, which was twice
as much the number of visitors to America for other purposes.
=> The number of visitors to America for travelling purpose was 90%, which was twice as
much that of other purposes.

4. Analyzing a sample task

Task 1. Look at the chart below (SB, p.199). Use information from the chart to
answer the questions.
The chart below gives information about the initial estimate of costs and the actual costs
for the Summer Olympics from 1976 to 2012.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
The chart shows the initial estimate of costs and the actual costs for the
Summer Olympics from 1976 to 2012.

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📖 AVTC7_ Bar charts

(Adapted from Rogers, B., & Kenny, N. (2016). The Complete Guide to Ielts: Students book: Band 5.5-7+. National
Geographic Learning, Cengage Learning.)

1. What does the bar chart show?

dynamics
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
2. What do the different shades of the bars represent?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
3. When was the data collected?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. What do the vertical and horizontal axes show in the graph?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
5. In general, which cost was higher: the initial estimate or actual spending cost?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Which Summer Olympics had the greatest difference between initial estimate and actual
spending cost?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

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📖 AVTC7_ Bar charts

7. Which Summer Olympics saw the approximately same share?

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Task 2. Use the language in I. PRE-WRITING, 3. USEFUL LANGUAGE to complete
the description about the bar chart above.
higher 3 higher than 8 just under 7 disparity 4

about6 illustrates 1 the highest 5 obvious 2

less 12 approximately much lower than 9 twice as much

The bar chart (1) __________ the estimated budget and actual expenses for the Summer
Olympics during a 36 year-period.

Overall, it is (2) __________ that the actual spending was (3) __________ than the initial
estimate in all Olympics events. Beijing 2008 and London 2012 showed a wide (4) __________
between the planned budget and the actual spending cost.

As can be seen from the graph, the actual expenses of Beijing 2008 was (5) __________, at (6)
__________ 220 billionUS$ , followed by London 2012, which was just (7) __________ 20
billion US$ less than the former event. Although the initial budgets of these two events were (8)
__________ the actual spending costs, they were still (9) __________ those of several other
Olympics events.

It is noticeable that the earlier Summer Olympics were much (10) __________ costly than the
more recent Olympics, except for Barcelona in 1992, where the actual expenditure was (11)
__________ as the initial plan. There was also a smaller gap between the estimated budget and
actual expenses which was (12) __________ 20 billion US$ in previous events.

Task 3. Look at the chart above and the useful language about number and
amount, use information from the chart to write sentences with these words and
phrases.
1. the most expensive
The Beijing Olympics in 2008 were the most expensive.
2. the second most expensive
____________________________________________________________________________
3. the least expensive
____________________________________________________________________________

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📖 AVTC7_ Bar charts

4. slightly higher than

____________________________________________________________________________
5. much less costly than
____________________________________________________________________________
6. far more expensive
____________________________________________________________________________

5. Brainstorm ideas
Look at the bar chart below (SB, p.201) and do the following tasks.
The chart below gives information about the purpose of visits to five cities in the UK in
2013.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main feature, and make
comparions where relevant.

The purpose of visits to five cities in the UK in 2013

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Task 4. Analyze the charts by answering the following questions. Answers in your
own words.
1. What does the bar chart show?
____________________________________________________________________________
2. What do the different shades of the bars represent?
____________________________________________________________________________
3. When was the data collected?
____________________________________________________________________________
4. What do the vertical and horizontal axes show in the graph?
____________________________________________________________________________
5. What are the most remarkable features of the graph?
____________________________________________________________________________
6. Which city attracted most visitors for...?
a. holidays
b. business
c. visiting friends or relatives
d. miscellaneous
7. Which city saw the approximately same share among these 4 sectors?
____________________________________________________________________________
8. Which city showed extreme differences among these 4 sectors?
____________________________________________________________________________
9. Can you make any other points of comparison between the visitors’ purposes to the cities?
____________________________________________________________________________
Task 5. Look at the chart above (5. Brainstorm ideas, (SB, p.201) and the useful
language about number and amount. Write sentences with the given words and
phrases. You can make necessary changes to make the sentences correct.
1. Holiday/ most popular purpose/ visiotrs /Edinburgh/ approximately 70%/ respondents /
choose this option.
Holiday was the most popular purpose among visitors to Edinburgh, with approximately 70
percent of respondents choosing this option.
2. In terms of visits for miscellaneous purposes/ Edinburgh ~2%/ while / other places/ <20%,/
making visits to Endinburgh/ for this purpose/ the lowest
__________________________________________________________________________

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📖 AVTC7_ Bar charts

3. London and Liverpool/ have / largest percentage/ visitors/ holiday / 20% and 32%,/
respectively.
__________________________________________________________________________
4. number/ visitors/ Birmingham/ for business purposes/ 50%,/ which/ more than twice/ that /
other purposes.
__________________________________________________________________________
5. Business/ the most common reason/ visiting Manchester/ over 30%,/ followed by visiting
friends and family and holidays,/ ~ 26% and 21%,/ respectively.
__________________________________________________________________________
Task 6. Complete the outline for the charts based on the ideas in Task 4 and the
useful language in Pre-writing.

Paragraph 1: _____________________________________________________
Introduction _____________________________________________________

Paragraph 2: _____________________________________________________
Overview _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________
Paragraph 3: Body 1
_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________
Paragraph 4: Body 2
_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

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