Graph Interpretation

Handout 4
Your answer should cover:

a. Correct format
Paragraph 01 – Introduction
Paraphrase
Axes (If available)
Legends
Sources

Paragraph 02 & 03
Comparison of main features

Body paragraph 04 - Inferences

b. Correct vocabulary

c. Good flow in the sentences

d. Grammatical accuracy and range

Figure 1 Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention : National Center for Health Statistics and Health
Activity 1: Study the model answer.

The given bar graph shows the percentage of school and university students who use different
types of beverages in Sri Lanka in 2010. The vertical axis represent/denotes the percentage of
students, while the horizontal axis represents the different types of beverages. The black bars
indicate school students and/while the clear bars indicate the university students. The
information is taken/extracted from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of National
Centre for Health Statistics and Health.

According to the graph the most popular beverage among both school and university students
is tea. Tea as a beverage is consumed by 35% of university students and 25% of school students
which are the highest percentages for both student categories. The least preferred drink among
the university students is Nescafe which is consumed by only about 3% while the least
preferences of school students is shown for 3 beverages namely; coffee, Nescafe and Milo. Each
of these three types of beverages are consumed by only 2.5 % of school students. The second
most popular drink is coke which is consumed by approximately 27% of university students and
about 8% of school students, and fruit juice comes third in the popularity.

It can also be seen that the consumption of coke is much greater among university students
than school students. The difference is about 20% which is the highest difference shown by two
categories of students for one type of beverage. The percentage of students in universities and
schools who consume Nescafe show the minimum difference which is less than 2%. Generally,
the consumption of all the given beverages is more among university students than school
students.

On the basis of the given information, it can be seen that the popularity of tea among both
student categories is high. This may be due to the availability of it in almost all the canteens in
schools and universities at a low cost. In contrast, Nescafe is less popular among both student
categories and the reason for this could be the unavailability of Nescafe making machines in
many places. The lower beverage consumption among school students may be due to the fact
that school students are usually guided by their parents and teachers to consume more water
than soft drinks and other beverages.
Activity 2: The charts below give information about travel to and from the UK, and about the
most popular countries for UK residents to visit.
Fill in the blanks with appropriate words/phrases from the box given below.

Source: Office for National Statistics

based on the information given in the line graph /information is taken from / respectively
under / steadily / least / most / significantly /regarding the bar chart /on the other hand

The line graph illustrates the number of United Kingdom residents going abroad from the UK
and overseas residents vising the United Kingdom between 1979 and 1999. The bar chart gives
information about how many United Kingdom residents travelled to five of the most popular
countries in 1999. The y-axis of the line graph denotes number of people in millions, whereas
the x-axis indicates the given duration in years. The blue line indicates visits abroad by UK
residents while the red line indicates visits to the overseas residents. On the other hand, the x-
axis of the bar graph indicates number of UK visitors in millions while the y-axis indicates the
countries visited by UK residents. The …………………………. Office for National Statistics at
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism

According to the line graph, the number of UK residents vising overseas began at just
………………………… 15 million in 1979 and rose ……………………….. to reach over 50 million in 1999.
……………………….., around 10 million overseas residents visited the UK in the first year before
climbing ……………………. to just under 30 million by the final year.

………………………., in 1999, the two …………………….. popular countries were France and Spain
(visited by 10 million UK residents and approximately 9 million ……….…………….). The USA and
Greece had about 4 million and 3 million visitors. The …………………… popular country visited was
Turkey, which had only about 2 million UK residents going there.

………………………. it can be seen that from 1984 the number of both type of visitors increased.
This could be due to the fact that the prices of air fare may have decreased. Further, according
to the bar graph, it can be seen that Spain and France were more popular among UK tourist.
The reason for this could be the possibility of travelling to these two countries on ground.
Activity 3: The given graphs show the main sources of energy in the USA in 1980 and 1990.
Write a report interpreting the information in the charts including your inferences for the given
interpretation.

Source: US National Research Centre, Annual Report, Year 2000

Tips:
1. Introduction: Paraphrase the question/title, introduce the information presented and
mention the source of information.
 Paraphrasing: graphs → pie charts
show → illustrate
main sources of energy → energy production from different
sources
in 1980 and 1990 → in two different years (1980 and 1990)
 What each segment (wedge) represents
 Source

2. Interpretation:
 Identify the main points of each chart.
 Select and report the most important details (maximum and minimum values and
changes between the two charts (trends)
 Support your answer with percentages/fractions
Main points:
Main source of energy in 1980 & 1990
Source that produced the least energy in 1980 & 1990
How amount of energy produced by each source changed between the years
Whether all types of energy increased by 1990
Sources that increased
Sources decreased

3. Inferences: