Describing graphs

1. Language for portions

Match the following figures and their language expressions:

60% around three quarters of sales

52% roughly a quarter of respondents
2% over (a) half of respondents
24% a small fraction
73% nearly 2 thirds

2. Suggest the percentages for the following expressions:

about half of –
precisely a third of –
almost a quarter of –
a small fraction of –
a large sector of –

3. Comparisons: Complete the descriptions with the information from the chart

twice as many people prefer…

nearly four times as many people prefer…
whereas the popularity of _______________ is just 20%...

4. Summarising
Overall amongst the six regions, ________________ make up the largest expenses, followed by
______________________ representing the lowest.
To summarize, the most marked change is …
Overall it is clear the amount of…
Overall the majority of the countries experienced…

5. Paragraph 1 = 1 sentence: Explain what the graph shows – paraphrase the title
Chart title: Holiday destinations chosen by Welsh people 1955-2005
1st sentence: The pie chart shows the vacation preferences of Welsh people over a fifty-
year period starting in 1955 and finishing in 2005.
6. Read the following model answer. Complete the answer by filling the gaps with a word
from the box below.
periodic period temporarily remained and steady steadily by
from trend
Model answer: The graph shows changes in the price of fresh fruits and vegetables, sugar and
sweets, and carbonated drinks over a thirty-year .......... in the US between 1979 .......... 2009. The
graph also shows the general .......... in the consumer price index during this time.
While the consumer price index showed a slow and .......... increase from 1979 to 2009, the same
cannot be said for the price of carbonated, or soft
drinks. After rising briefly between 1979 and 1981,
they .......... fairly constant until 1999, when the price
did begin to increase slowly.
In contrast, there was a marked difference in the price
of fresh fruits and vegetables, which,
despite.......... fluctuations, rose .......... throughout this
period. In fact, fresh food prices only levelled
out.......... between 1990 and 1992 and
again .......... 2000 to 2001. However, .......... 2008 the
price had increased by more than 300%.
7. Look at the graph and complete the following
model answer by writing NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS in each space.
Model answer
The graph shows the percentages of boys and girls who
were successful in their high school competency exams
in the period from 2010 to 2011, by subject.
Overall, students of both sexes .......... best in Computer
Science, Mathematics, and Foreign
Languages, .......... French, German and Spanish. Results
for boys and girls were roughly .......... in Computer
Science and Mathematics. In other subjects, ..........,
there were some significant ...........
Girls achieved by far their .......... in Computer Science,
with a pass rate of .........., which was ..........than the
boys. The difference was even .......... in Chemistry,
where .......... more girls passed. ..........subject where
boys’ results were better than girls was .......... where
they achieved a pass rate of.........., which was 10%
higher than .......... for girls.
In general, .......... that during the period in question girls performed better in most subjects in the
competency exams than boys.
8. Read the following sample answer. Complete the answer by filling the gaps with the
words in the box.
sharp least dramatically less more three times biggest
much
The line graph compares the amount of money
spent on buying books in Germany, France, Italy
and Austria over a period of ten years between
1995 and 2005.
In 1995 Austria spent the ........... amount of
money on books, while Italy and France spent
about as ........... as each other. However, by
2001, the gap in spending between these two
countries had widened and
considerably ........... money was spent in France
than In Italy.
As can be seen from the graph, the amount of
money spent increased in all four countries but
rose the most ........... in Austria. The period
between 2000 and 2005 saw a ........... growth
and in 2005 the Austrians spent ........... as much money as they did in 1995. However, during this
ten-year period, Germany remained the ........... spenders on books, with all three other countries
spending much ........... on them.