Describing graphs

Match the phrases to the timelines. Do you use them with the past simple or the present perfect?

1. between 2004 and 2005

Tense: ______________

a.

2. from 2004 to 2005

Tense: ______________

b.

3. since last year

Tense: ______________

c.

4. in 2006

Tense: ______________

d.

5. over the last few years

Tense: ______________

e.

6. (so far) this year

Tense: ______________

f.

7. last year

Tense: ______________

g.

Created by Sandy Millin

Describing graphs

Complete the descriptions of the graphs with the correct time phrases.

Decem

ber

Janu

ary

Febru

ary

Mar

chApr

ilM

ayJu

ne July

Augus

t

Septe

mbe

r

Octob

er

Novem

ber

Decem

ber

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

2008 Sales (£m)

_______________1 our sales figures fluctuated considerably. Sales fell

_______________2 December and January after the Christmas rush. They

continued to go down _______________3 February, before levelling off

_______________4 March and April. _______________5 May they started to

rise again, and continued to grow _______________6 June.

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20098

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

Exports (£m)

Our exports grew consistently _______________7 2002 _______________8

2004, then remained constant _______________9 2004 _______________10

2006. They increased steadily _______________11 two years, but

_______________12 year they have shrunk slightly. Overall, they have been

going up _______________13 we started exporting in 2002.

Created by Sandy Millin

Describing graphs

Look at these verbs. Decide what type of graph they describe.

bottom out climb come down decrease

deteriorate double drop even out fall

fluctuate go down go up grow halve

hit a low hold firm improve increase jump

level off peak pick up plunge reach a peak recover

remain stable remain steady rocket shoot up shrink

slump stabilise stagnate slip back take off

an upward trend the highest point stability

a downward trend the lowest point fluctuation

Created by Sandy Millin

Describing graphs

Complete the texts with a verb in the correct form. Use the letters to help you.

A. To our surprise, it was the sales of Product A that t________ o_______1

over the Christmas period with sales 51% above target and Product B that

s_______________2 with sales 34% below target. As a result, we are

redesigning the packaging for Product B and are forecasting that sales will

r_______________3 by Easter. If this does not happen and sales do not

i_______________4, we will seriously have to consider taking Product B

off the market.

B. In this period, Brand A’s market share s__________ b_______5 from 9%

to 8% and Brand B’s share p_______________6 from 6% to just 1%. Our

Brand Z r_______________7 from 10% to 25%. If we look at the budget for

TV advertising during this period, we can see clearly that Brand Z

d_______________8 its budget from €250,000 to €500,000. The print

advertising budget r_______________ s_______________9 during the

same period but was concentrated on the target market.

C. I’d now like to focus on the carbon dioxide content. Have a look at this

graph. It has f_______________10 between 0.33% and 4% as we have

experienced multiple failures. The units are now working efficiently and

carbon dioxide content is h___________ f_______11 at 0.33% and we

expect this to s_______________12 at 0.2% by the end of the year.

D. Let’s move onto the statistics. In 1900, 15% of the workforce was aged

over 55 and by 2000 this had g_________ u______13 to 33%. We expect

this to j_______________14 to roughly 40% by 2030. Life expectancy was

approximately 46 years in 1900 but this has s_________ u______15 to

round about 80 today.Taken from Presentations in English, p42

Created by Sandy Millin

Describing graphs

Look at the adverbs on the left. Number them according to the graph.

a littleconsiderablydramaticallyenormouslyhugelymoderatelysignificantlyslightlysubstantiallyvastly

Describing the amount of change

consistentlygraduallyquicklyrapidlysharplyslowlysteadilyswiftly

Describing the speed of change

Listen to the description and draw the graph.

Janu

ary

Febru

ary

Mar

chApr

ilM

ayJu

ne July

Augus

t

Septe

mbe

r

Octobe

r

2008 Sales (£m)

Created by Sandy Millin

1

2

3

1

2

3

4

5