English Grammar and Composition chapter 21: Describing Graphs and Charts

21 Describing Graphs and Charts

How to describe graphs and charts?

Do not copy information from the question paper, use your own words. Make sure that you describe the most important information and that your figures are accurate. Paraphrase the information in the question. Avoid repeating the same words and phrases and try to vary the sentence structures you use. Give an overview of the most important trends or patterns.

When describing trends of graphs and charts, it is best to use:

• the simple past to talk about 'finished' time, e.g. in 1950, last year.

• the present perfect to talk about 'unfinished' time, e.g. since 1950, ever, this year

• a future tense to talk about future time, e.g. in 2030, next year

We often use the following expression when talking about future or predicted data, because the simple future is a little too certain:

For example: Between 1950 and 2030, the proportion of the world's population is expected to double.

OR we use a verb such as predict and a future tense.

For example: It is predicted that the proportion of the world's population will double by 2030.

To emphasise a difference, you can use: many, much, far, and significantly.

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The amount of waste material being recycled in 2011 was much more than in 1985. For small differences you can use: slightly or nearly as ... as.

The percentage of garbage being recycled in 1970 was slightly higher than in 1960.

How to describe bar diagrams:

When you first see a bar chart, ask yourself the following questions: 1) What do the numbers on the vertical/horizontal axis measures? 2) How is the information grouped on the other axis? 3) What do the different shades of the bars show? 4) When was the data collected?

The answers will give you the essential information for understanding it. Make sure you know which units are being used to measure quantities.

Example 1

The chart below gives information about science qualifications held by people in two countries. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Figure: Science qualification in two countries

Labels: Science qualification in two countries; Malaysia; Singapore; Master's degree; Bachelor's degree; School leaving exams; No qualification in science; 0%–70% (axis)

Qualification	Malaysia (%)	Singapore (%)
Master's degree	≈3	≈3
Bachelor's degree	≈10	≈20
School leaving exams	≈35	≈30
No qualification in science	≈65	≈60

Description: horizontal bar chart; for each of four categories there are two bars, one for Malaysia and one for Singapore, shown in the same black shade. The horizontal axis runs from 0% to 70% in 10% steps.

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Model answer

The bar chart illustrates the percentage of people who has a science qualification in Singapore and Malaysia. A prominent feature about both the countries is that a significantly low percentage of people have science qualifications at the Master's and Bachelor's level. Less than 5% of people hold a qualification in science at Master's degree level in both Singapore and Malaysia.

There is a significant difference in the percentage of people with science qualifications at Bachelor level. While this number is 20% in Singapore, it is a only 10% in Malaysia. The percentage of people doing science at school leaving exams is slightly higher in Malaysia than in Singapore. 35% of people in Malaysia have a science qualification at this level, whereas in Singapore it is 30%. Finally, more than half of the people in both countries have no science qualification at all.

Activity 1

The bar chart below gives information about the percentage of the population living in urban areas in the world and in different continents. Read the following model answer and fill in the gaps to report the main features, and make comparisons.

Figure: Percentage of population in urban areas

Labels: Percentage of population in urban areas; World; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America Caribbean; North America; 1950; 2007; 2030

Region	1950	2007	2030
World	29	49	60
Africa	15	37	51
Asia	17	41	54
Europe	51	72	78
Latin America Caribbean	42	76	84
North America	64	79	87

Description: vertical bar chart of urban population percentages for six regions; each region has three bars, in dark grey (1950), black (2007) and light grey (2030), with the value printed above each bar. The legend is at the bottom.

Source: UN, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision (2006) and Carl Haub, 2007 World Population Data Sheet.

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by contrast · in spite of · compares · smaller highest · double · marked · shows

The bar chart _________________ the urbanization percentage of the world in 1950 and _______________ this with the percentage in 2007 and the projected percentage for 2030.

Between 1950 and 2030, the proportion of the world's population residing in cities is expected to _______________ growing from 29% to 60%. However, this rate is less _________________ in some continents than others.

For example, 64% of the population of North America was urban in 1950, increasing to 79% by 2007. _________________ just 15% of the African population was urban in 1950, but this rose to 37% by 2007. This represents one of the _________________ urbanization rates in the world, even though the percentage of Africans in urban areas is still _________________ than the world average.

It is also clear from the graph that, urbanization in Latin America is projected to be higher than Europe in 2030, _________________ being lower in 1950.

Activity 2

This is a graph on GDP growth in Bangladesh over a period of ten years. The first few sentences are written in the model answer but the description is not complete. Complete the description in your own language.

Figure: BANGLADESH GDP GROWTH RATE

Labels: BANGLADESH GDP GROWTH RATE; 2006; 2008; 2010; 2012; 2014; [unclear] (right axis ticks and value labels); [unclear] (source line)

Bar (year label as printed)	Value (%)
2006	[unclear]
(no label)	[unclear]
2008	[unclear]
(no label)	[unclear]
2010	[unclear]
(no label)	[unclear]
2012	[unclear]
(no label)	[unclear]
2014	[unclear]
(no label)	[unclear]

Description: vertical bar chart with ten bars of a dark grey-to-white gradient, on a faint grid with a value label above each bar; years are printed under alternate bars, starting with 2006. The values are too low-resolution to read.

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This graph presents the GDP growth rate of Bangladesh from 2006 to 2015. The data presented in the graph shows that there has been ups and downs in the GDP growth rate. In 2006, it was 5.95, but it rose to the highest ever growth in 2007 which was 6.63, but

Activity 3 Now describe the following graphs in 150 words.

Figure

Labels: National Income per capita; US $ in 2010; Vietnam; India; Sri Lanka; Bangladesh; axis: 0, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500

Country	National Income per capita (US $, 2010)
Vietnam	1110
India	1340
Sri Lanka	2240
Bangladesh	700

Description: 3-D column chart of national income per capita in US $ for 2010 for four countries; the value is printed above each column.

Activity 4 Describe the following graph in 150 words.

Figure

Labels: Annual per capita income change 1990-2010 (%); Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh; axis: 0.00, 1.00, 2.00, 3.00, 4.00, 5.00, 6.00

Country	Annual per capita income change 1990-2010 (%)
Vietnam	5.95
India	4.90
Sri Lanka	4.22
Bangladesh	3.49

Description: Bar chart (3-D); annual per capita income change (%) for four countries over 1990–2010, shown by columns with values printed above each column.

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Example 2

The diagrams below give information on transport and car use in Edmonton. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Tips for comparing information in graphs or charts

When you describe two figures, ask yourself the following:

1. What do both figures relate to?

2. What kind of relationship is evident? (a similarity, a difference, a cause and effect relationship or some other type of relationship)

3. Which aspects of each figure should be highlighted?

4. Should I describe the figures in separate paragraphs, or should I compare different aspects of the figures within a series of paragraph?

Figure

Labels: Car, LRT (Light Rail Transit), Bus, Taxi; 45%, 35%, 10%, 10%

Mode (legend order)	Share
Car	45%
LRT (Light Rail Transit)	35%
Bus	10%
Taxi	10%

Description: Pie chart divided into four slices, each labelled with its percentage; the legend lists Car, LRT (Light Rail Transit), Bus and Taxi.

Figure

Labels: People's reasons for using the car in city; Commute to work 55%; Shopping 15%; Leisure activities 15%; Taking children to school 40%; Business 45%

Reason	Share
Commute to work	55%
Shopping	15%
Leisure activities	15%
Taking children to school	40%
Business	45%

Description: Two-column table with reasons for car use in the city, each with its percentage; the reason column has red vertical border lines.

People’s reasons for using the car in city

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Model answer

The table shows the reason why people in Edmonton use their cars in the city and the pie chart explains what type of transport people prefer to use most of the time.

Looking at the pie chart first, it is clear that the car is the most popular means of transport in this city. 45% of the people say that they prefer to commute by car. The second most popular form of transport is the LRT, while buses and taxis are the main means of transport for the rest of the people.

The table gives more detailed information about why people use their cars. Surprisingly, 55% of the people need to commute to work by car. Cars are also used a lot for taking children to school or business purposes. Only 15% of drivers are doing their shopping and, similarly, 15% need to travel by car for leisure.

Overall, people in Edmonton make good use of alternative methods of transport but there is a heavy dependence on cars for work.

Note: There are sometimes two or three pie charts that you must compare. The pie charts may represent different years and show trends over time. You need to describe the changes and similarities / differences between the pie charts.

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Activity 5

The pie charts below show the average household expenditures in Japan and Malaysia in the year 2010. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Figure: Average Household Expenditures by Major Category

Labels: Average Household Expenditures by Major Category; Japan; Malaysia; Housing, Transport, Food, Health care, Other goods and services

Category	Japan	Malaysia
Housing	21%	34%
Transport	20%	10%
Food	24%	27%
Health care	6%	3%
Other goods and services	29%	26%

Description: Two pie charts side by side, Japan (left) and Malaysia (right), showing average household expenditure by major category in 2010; the legend below lists Housing, Transport, Food, Health care and Other goods and services.

Read the textual description. Complete the text by filling the gaps with a word from the box below.

The pie charts show the proportion of money spent on various household expenses in Malaysia and Japan in 2010.

We can see that in Malaysia the greatest proportion of expenditure (34%) was on housing, .......... in Japan housing accounted for just 21% of the total. .........., in Japan the greatest single expense was other goods and services at 29%, .......... 26% in Malaysia. Food came in second place in Japan, at 24%, while in

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Malaysia the actual proportion was .......... (27%). In Japan another major expense was transport, at 20%, but this was much .......... In Malaysia (10%). In both countries the ..........percentage of expenditure was on health care.

.........., the data .......... that in both cases food, housing and other goods and services were the ..........expenses, .......... that in Japan, transport and other goods and services took up a .......... proportion of total expenditure .......... in Malaysia.

Example 3

The graph below shows the number of books read by men and women at Burnaby Public Library from 2011 to 2014. Describe the graph in your own language.

Figure

Labels: Burnaby Public Library; NUMBER OF BOOKS READ (y-axis: 0, 2000, 4000, 6000, 8000, 10000, 12000, 14000, 16000); 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 (x-axis); Men, Women (legend)

Year	Men (≈)	Women (≈)
2011	3000	5000
2012	4000	8000
2013	10000	10000
2014	8000	14000

Description: Line graph with two lines plotted over 2011–2014. One line starts at about 3000 in 2011, rises to about 4000 in 2012, then sharply to about 10000 in 2013 and falls to about 8000 in 2014. The other starts at about 5000 in 2011, rises to about 8000 in 2012 and 10000 in 2013, and reaches about 14000 in 2014. The two lines cross at 2013.

Model answer

The graph gives information about the number of books people read in Burnaby Public Library between 2011 and 2014.

As can be seen from the graph, there were different trends for men and women. The number of books read by men increased steadily between 2011 and 2012, from about 3000 to 4000. After that, the number rose dramatically to 14000 in 2014. This was the highest figure in the given period.

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Women started off reading more books than men, but their numbers followed a different pattern. Between 2011 and 2012, there was an increase from 3000 to 3500 in 2012, and 8000 in 2015. Then there was a gradual rise to 10000 books in 2013. However, in 2014, the numbers fell back to 8000 again.

Overall, there was a strong upward trend in the number of books read by men. Although women read more books than men from 2011 to 2013, their reading fell to below the level of men in 2014.