1、How to write about graphs and tables,You should be able to Organize, present and possibly compare data Describe the stages of a process or procedure Describe an object or event or sequence of events Explain how something works,Goals you should achieve,Be accurate. Be selective. DO NOT interpret.,Rul
2、es to follow:,Questions to ask 1What is the graph about? What information is most important? Is it necessary to make comparison and contrast? If so, how?,How to,Know the right writing,Questions to answer What are the units of measurement used? What is the area involved? What is the time-scale involv
3、ed? What is the purpose of the graph or table,Know the graph and table types,Steps of writing about graphs and tables Identify the main idea behind the graph or table. (The focus of the first sentence.) Consider the details of what is being shown and decide how much you need to include. Consider the
4、 language to use.,Writing about graphs and tables,introductory expressions time expressions terms of measurement expressions of comparison and contrast expressions for trends correlations,The language of graphs and tables is divided to:,1. You are not asked to discuss the information, but generally
5、to write a report describing“ the information. 2. It is not necessary to write an introduction like in an essay for this writing task. You are writing a report, which means that you do not begin with a broad general statement about the topic. 3. You do not need to write a conclusion which gives any
6、kind of opinion about the significance of the information.,Writing the introduction,One is to refer to the visual directly (e.g. This graph shows the population of Alia in the 20th century.) The second way is to refer directly to the main message conveyed by the visual (e.g. There was a sharp increa
7、se in the population of Alia in the 20th century.) The third way combines the two (e.g. The graph shouts that there was a sharp increase in the population of Alia in the 20th century.),Introductory expressions to use,The graph/table shows/indicates/illustrates/reveals/represents It is clear from the
8、 graph/table It can be seen from the graph/table As the graph/table shows, As can be seen from the graph/table, As is shown by the graph/table, As is illustrated by the graph/table, From the graph/table it is clear,Avoid using personal pronouns (We can see from the graph.) Avoid using “according to”
9、 If you are going to use the word “present”, it requires a sophisticated summarising noun to follow. For example: The graph presents an overview of the population growth of Alia in the last 20 years.,Some donts,Example,The graph shows the changes in world meat production between 1950 and 1990. From
10、this graph we can see that most meat production is a lot higher in 1990 than in 1950. Between 1950 and 1990 meat production in the world rose significantly for all kinds of meat except sheep and goat meat. The graph shows that in 1950 production of poultry and sheep and goat meat was less than 5 mil
11、lion tons, while production of pork and beef and buffalo meat was around 20 million tons.,Which one is the best,in for between and during before from - to/until after For/in : for/in the first six months. around / about: Around / about 1980 (in) the period from - to (in) the period between and in th
12、e first/last three months of the year over the period - to over the next years/ decades/ quarter of a century etc. over a ten year period throughout the 19th century from that time on after that then in the 1980,Time expressions,Usually past simple tense is used Since/ recently: present perfect tens
13、e is used By: past or past perfect tense,Use the right tense,Expressions of measurement: quantity,Other measurements,Related verbs,Other verbs,High/large/great/considerable/major/ substantial/remarkable/significant/ steady/widespread/Over/under/around/slightly/ approximately/roughly/considerably/ ma
14、rginally/close to/significantly,Related adj./adv.,Implicit contrast Alia is a republic with a popularly elected president. Betastan is a military dictatorship. Explicit contrast more less fewer greater larger smaller higher lower,Compare and contrast,Compared with x, y is more efficient. Comparing x
15、 with y we find that x is more efficient. Comparing with x, y is more efficient.Comparing x with y we find that Comparing x with y, it can be seen that,Misuse of “compare”,To show similarity,Contrast,peak, drop, trough, fall, top, bottom, highest/lowest point/level steep, sharp, steady, gentle, low,
16、 high, dramatic,How to express trends,Modifiers,Amount: small slight limited marginal minor partial restricted large great substantial enormous extensive extreme major numerous vast widespread,Modifiers,Making prediction,Abbreviations A lot of And, but, so big,Avoid informality,Avoid narrative style
17、,Avoid redundancy,Twenty percent of car accidents happen after dark, while the other 80% happen during daylight hours. In contrast, the position of women was just the opposite to that of men. There are some differences between these two countries. /The trends are not the same/ From the graph we can
18、see the various rates of change. (Topic- sentence-like expressions),Use a compact style,Between 1860 and 1900 the temperature remained steady. During that time the temperature rose and fell by no more than 0.1 degree. Between 1860 and 1900 the temperature remained steady, rising and falling by no mo
19、re than 0.1 degree. The US had by far the greatest share of the information technology market, accounting for 44% of Internet connections. The developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America experienced the most dramatic growth, with Africa having around 5% per annum.,Using a compact style (p
20、rep & namely),Between 1920 and 1970 the business sector remained constant at around 10% of the workforce. By far the greatest proportion of electricity was generated by oil, at 59%. Less than half as much, namely 26%, was produced from brown coal. The region with the second highest consumption of ci
21、garettes was the Western Pacific, with nearly 2000 per head, and it also recorded the second highest number of tobacco related deaths, namely 1.185 million.,It is clear from the pie chart that in 1996/7 by far the greatest proportion of electricity was generated by oil, at 59%. Less than half as muc
22、h, namely 26%, was produced from brown coal. Black coal and gas together accounted for another 15% of generation, leaving hydropower at only 0.3%. In other words, virtually 100% of electricity generation in Australia at the time came from fossil fuels, and only the insignificant amount of 0.3% came
23、from a renewable energy source.,Nine of the ten top rice producing countries in the world in 1999 were in Asia. As one would expect, China was the greatest producer of rice, with nearly 193 million tons. It was followed by India, which produced over 122 million tons, while the third largest producer
24、, Indonesia, was responsible for one third of that amount, at just over 46 million tons. Bangladesh, Viet Nam and Thailand had similar levels of production, i.e. between 20 and 30 million tons each, which Malaysia, Japan and the Philippines ranged between 16 and 10 million tons. The only non-Asian p
25、roducer on the list, the USA, accounted for just over 8 million tons.,The bar graph shows the number of TV receivers per 1,000 inhabitants in the world in 1970 & 1997.,The bar chart illustrates the proportion of TV audience in different countries in 1970 and 1997 respectively. As can be seen clearly
26、, the number of TV receivers varied considerably across time and countries. Worldwide, there were nearly 3 times as many people watching TV in 1997 as in 1970, with the percentages at 8.1% and 24% respectively. The same trend is found in both developing countries and developed countries, but to diff
27、erent degrees. In developed countries, the number of TV audience doubled from 263 to 548 per thousand while in developing countries it surged from 9.9 to 157 per thousand.,Even in those least developed countries, the proportion reached 46 times that of the proportion (0.5 per thousand) in 1970. Howe
28、ver, there are also significant differences across countries. Overall, developed countries had a much larger TV-watching population in both years. But the differences were gradually narrowed in 1997 when the proportion (54.8%) in developed countries was just close to four times that (15.7%) of developing countries. It is also noteworthy that even in 1997 only 2.3 % of the people in the poorest countries had an access to TV.,
