Vocabulary 1: The Language of Graphs

You need to know some special vocabulary for graphs. In the IELTS exam you have to write only !"# words so how much vocabulary you know. You don$t need to repeat the same word% &repositions 'etween !((" and )### *rom !((" to )### +ovement, -own *ell -eclined -ropped -ecreased Sank .ent down +ovement, /p 0ose .ent up Increased 1rew Strong .ords 2/se 3arefully%4 *ell Shot up 0ocketed Surged plummeted plunged 5d6ectives slightly a little a lot sharply suddenly steeply gradually

gently steadily

7o +ovement remained steady were unchanged did not change remained constant remained stable stabili8ed Tops and 'ottoms reached a peak peaked reached their highest level fell to a low sank to a trough reached a bottom

23lick here to see this graph with popup words4

Look at the graph above from the IELTS preparation text "Insight into IELTS" by 9anessa :akeman and 3lare +c-owell 3ambridge /niversity &ress. The graph shows the fluctuation in the number of people at a London underground

station over the course of a day. The busiest time of the day is in the morning. There is a sharp increase between #;,## and #<,## with =## people using the station at < o$clock. 5fter this the numbers drop >uickly to less than )## at !# o$clock. 'etween !! am and ? pm the number rises with a plateau of 6ust under ?## people using the station. In the afternoon numbers decline with less than !## using the station at = pm. There is then a rapid rise to a peak of ?<# at ;pm. 5fter @ pm numbers fall significantly with only a slight increase again at <pm tailing off after ( pm. Averall the graph shows that the station is most crowded in the early morning and early evening periods. Vocabulary Tips

-on$t repeat verbs 'efore you start to write make a list of synonyms 2words with the same meaning4 See how many ways you can rephrase the title of the graph. /se one in the introduction and another in the conclusion same meaning4 'e careful with prepositions. They can make a big difference in meaning. *or example "rose by" is very different from "rose to." Learn your verbs with the preposition that goes with them.

a peak of

fluctuated

leveled off

rising

rose by

sharp increase

was

In !(<# the price of 7ew Bealand$s wool years with the price of wool reaching price

C!.(< per kilo. It then

)# cents over the next two to C=.;# in

in !(<! before falling back to C!.?@ in !(<;. There was a between a high of C?.)# and a low of C).@" before

C".!? in !(<<. *rom !(<( to !((? the at C?."" in )###.

!((". 5fter falling again to C?.;# in !((< the price

Dubai Gold Sales

/se the words in the list to fill the gaps. a low point declined doubled drop from increased slightly recovered remained rising sharply sudden to were

The line graph shows estimated sales of gold in -ubai for !) months in )##) in millions of dirhams. In :anuary gold sales about )## million dirhams per month. In *ebruary they to a peak of ?"# million dirhams in steadily reaching rising of !)# -hs !)# in

to -hs ))# million +arch. Aver the next four months sales million dirhams in :uly. In 5ugust there was a

increase. Sales almost

million in :uly to -hs )!# million in 5ugust. This was followed by a September to -hs !)# million. *rom September to Actober sales Actober and 7ovember sales -ecember !(# million dirhams.

from -hs !)# million to -hs !<# million. In steady and there was a small increase in

Types of Graphs
You are likely to meet only two types of graphs in IELTS or other intermediate English tests D time and comparison graphs.

In time graphs you have to describe changes over time. In comparison graphs you have to compare different items D countries people products places etc.

Eere is a time graph.

You have to compare different methods of transport used in the /S over the last century D train bus and air. You could start with

train 2because it is the oldest method4 by air 2because it is the biggest method of public transport today.4 Eowever don t start with bus because it is very small and not the main idea

The main trend with rail transport is that it rose to a peak in the !()#s and !(?#s and then declined. The main trend with air is that it started late in the !(;#s but it has shot up to become by far the biggest carrier of passengers

You have to compare the amount of water used for domestic agricultural and industrial purposes. There are two ways to write about this graph,

by country 2make groups like Saudi 5rabia and Aman which have mainly agricultural use then 'ahrain and Fuwait which have mainly domestic use etc4 by use 25griculture then -omestic then Industrial.4

Start with 5griculture because it is the biggest user. 1roup together Saudi 5rabia and Aman as the top users and then group /5E and Gatar as the middle group of users using ;#H of water for agriculture. *inally mention 'ahrain and Fuwait. Your second paragraph should be about -omestic use the use of water in the home because it is the second biggest use. Start with Fuwait and 'ahrain 2grouped together4 2more than "#H4 and then write about Gatar and the /5E.

http:!!www"britishcouncil"org!professionals#e$ams#ielts#academic#%a"htm &ctivity 1 ' (nderstanding dynamic charts ' 1) minutes a4 The chart below is incomplete. In a moment youI re going to read a description of

the chart and complete it. 'efore you do this though take a good look at the chart and click here to answer the >uestions.

b4 7ow read the description of the chart and draw the missing section of the line graph. Ideally to do this you will need to print the graph. &ut your mouse on the graph and choose the $print$ icon. The line graph shows figures for unemployment in the /F workforce between +ay )##? and :uly )##;. It is clear from the chart that the rate of unemployment fluctuated a great deal during this time. 5t the beginning of the period unemployment stood at ".! per cent. 5 few months later the figure had risen slightly to ".) per cent. /nemployment then remained stable until September )##?. *rom this point on there was a steady downward trend and by :anuary )##= the rate had fallen to =.( per cent. It stayed at this level until +ay the same year but from +ay to :uly there was another small drop of ! per cent. There were no further changes in the level of unemployment until +arch the following year. *rom +arch to +ay )##" there was a small increase of ! per cent but this did not last long and the figure had fallen back to =.< per cent by :uly. *rom September )##" onwards however there was a marked

upward trend in the rate of unemployment in the /F. *rom September )##" to 7ovember the same year the figure shot up from =.< to ".) per cent. The rate remained stable for a few months but then rose sharply again and had reached a peak of ".@ per cent by :uly )##;.

*ntroduction In lesson ) we looked more at how to describe tables for task ! of the IELTS writing test. You also learned some tips on how to organise an Jadvantages and disadvantagesI type discursive composition. In this lesson weIll take a first look at another common kind of task !, describing charts. Then weIll examine more ways of developing an argument for task ) compositions. In this lesson you willK learn about different types of chart. practise getting information from charts. learn to recognise static and dynamic charts. review simple verb tenses for describing charts. learn how to organise a balanced discussion. become more aware of formal language for compositions. *+LTS ,-*T*.G T&S/ 1: 01&-TS &ctivity 1 ' Types of chart ' 2 minutes 7umbers and statistics can be shown in many different types of chart. -onIt worry too much if you are not used to reading charts. The charts in the test will not be complicated. Eowever you do need to know how to read and understand these basic chart types, !. ). ?. =. 'ar chart &roportional bar chart &ie chart Line graph

Eere are some examples,

a4 3lick to match the four types of chart with the charts shown here. b4 3lick for an activity. .hich of the charts show2s4 the type of information mentioned hereL &ctivity 3 ' (nderstanding charts ' 1) minutes The first things you should do when you attempt IELTS task ! are,

read the >uestion twice very carefully. look at the table or chart very carefully until you are sure what it shows D and what it doesnIt show.

There are three important things to look at in a chart before you write,

the title of the chart D this will tell you what is being shown overall and it usually gives the time period that it represents 2e.g. !(<#D)###4 the titles of the vertical and hori8ontal axes D these will tell you what the units of measurement are 2e.g. centimetres kilos euros4 and what groups are being compared the key or legend 2if there is one4 D this will tell you what groups or time periods are shown.

MTip, The titles and labels on the chart also give you useful vocabulary to use in your descriptionN Look at the chart below and decide if the statements are true 2T4 or false 2*4 according to the information shown or if it is impossible to tell 2I4. 3lick to see the statements and do the activity.

&ctivity 4 ' (nderstanding charts ' 1) minutes -escribing a chart is similar in lots of ways to describing a table of figures. 0emember that you have to do the following when you first look at a table, check dates to see what the time period is check what the units of measurement are decide what the most important information is decide what details are not so important make comparisons between important figures round figures up or down when possible You should do the same things when you study a chart. a4 Look at the pie chart below and look for all the things in the list above.

3heck you understand the chart by clicking here to complete the text with phrases words and numbers from the box. &ctivity % ' Static and dynamic charts ' 1) minutes The pie chart in activity ? showed the situation at one point in time. This kind of chart is called a static chart. .hen you describe a static chart you only need to use simple tenses 2present simple or past simple for example4. a4 Look again at the description you completed in 5ctivity ? and find all the verbs in the past simple. 7ow look at the chart below. It compares the si8e of the immigrant workforce in 5ustralia !((! with that of )##!. In other words it shows change over time. This kind of chart is sometimes called a dynamic chart. To describe dynamic charts you need to use a variety of tenses such as,

simple past D 'etween !((! and )##! the population increased. past perfect D 'y )##! the population had increased

b4 7ow click here to complete the description of the chart by putting the verbs in the correct tense. &ctivity 5 ' 6ore about dynamic charts and verb tenses ' 1) minutes" Some dynamic charts like the one in 5ctivity = show a change in values from one time in the past to another time in the past. Ather charts however may compare the past with the present. Accasionally charts even show predictions about the future. In each case you need to make sure that you are using the correct verb tenses to describe the chart. *or example you could useK

&resent perfect, The price of oil has risen by O#.!# every month since :anuary. &resent perfect continuous, 5verage temperatures have been increasing since the beginning of the century. *uture perfect, The population will have reached sixty million by )#?#.

a4 3lick here to choose the phrases which can go in the gaps. b4 7ow look at the chart below and complete the description with the correct verb tense.