Writing - Lesson 2

Pie & Mixed

charts
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Table of contents
01
Materials
Language for describing statistics

02
Strategy
Overview - Body
03
Practice
Practice tasks

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MATERIALS
Lesson Preparation In-class

1. Language for describing statistics Lesson Preparation checking

2. Brainstorming
- Static pie charts
- Dynamic pie charts
- Mixed charts
01
Materials
Language for describing statistics

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Lesson
Preparation
 Pie vs Mixed charts
At home

Pie chart Mixed charts

Lesson Preparation

- There are two types of pie chart: 2

- Mixed charts: consist of _______
+ ________
Static pie chart: pie chart different types of graphs,
without timeline representing the different types
Dynamic pie chart: Pie chart
+ _________ information
of _____________.
with timeline

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 Language for describing statistics
Who’s the quickest?
Lesson Preparation

E.g.
75% → three-quarters

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 Language for describing statistics
Check-up 1. Look at the dynamic pie charts below and complete the body paragraphs with the
correct words in the box. At home

half portion taking up around a quarter took up

Lesson Preparation

portion of their spending on food, at 32%. The two other categories

In 1958, people spent the largest (1) ……………….
took up
that (2) ………………. the majority of people’s money were housing, at 22%, and clothing at 18%.
around a quarter of all spending at
Entertainment, travel/transport and luxury goods only comprised (3) …………………………..
18%, 8% and &% respectively.
50 years later, spending changed quite significantly, with housing now becoming the biggest expense and
taking up
(4) ………………… almost one third of total spending, at 32%. The expenditure on clothing, transport/travel
and luxury goods all increased and all took up around 16-17% of the total spending. The expenditure on food
half
dropped significantly to 12%, while entertainment costs were only (5) …………… of that.

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 Language for describing statistics
Check-up 2. Find and correct a mistake in each sentence.
At home

1. The percentage of the Japanese market accounts for 35% of the company's revenue.
The Japanese market accounts for 35% of the company's revenue.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Lesson Preparation

2. The number of students reading books in Vietnam in 2010 was 1500, while the figure for the number of
students in Thailand was 2000.
The number of students reading books in Vietnam in 2010 was 1500, while the figure for Thailand was 2000.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. The regular smokers is highest, which comprises 35% of all types of smokers.
The proportion of regular smokers is highest, which comprises 35% of all types of smokers.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
4. There were no changes in the amount of people aged 0-14, which remained at 15%.
There were no changes in the percentage of people aged 0-14, which remained at 15%.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

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02
Strategy
Overview - Body

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Pie charts
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Static pie
charts
 Pie charts Static pie charts Introduction

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

Sample:
Strategy

The charts illustrate the proportion of

spending on different goods and
services of households in two
different countries in 2010.

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 Pie charts Static pie charts Overview

Activity 1. Fill in the blanks with the correct information.

1. People in both countries spent the

largest proportion of their income on
housing
Strategy

_______________ and
Order
food
___________________.
Healthcare
2. ______________________ was the
service receiving the lowest share of
expenditure. Order

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 Static pie charts _Overview

Needed information:
Order (highest/lowest)
Strategy

Note:
• Use the language for comparison

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 Pie charts Static pie charts Overview

Activity 2. Based on the previous information, write the overview.

Overview (sample)
Overall, it is clear that families in both
Strategy

countries spent the largest proportion of

their income on Housing and Food, while
Healthcare was the service receiving the
lowest share of expenditure.

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 At home
Brainstorming
How can you divide the body paragraphs? What will you include
in each body paragraph?
Lesson Preparation

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 Lesson Preparation

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 Pie charts Static pie charts Body

There are 2 ways to divide the body paragraphs:

∙ 1st approach: Describe each pie in each paragraph
Strategy

+ 1st Pie: Report + Compare data among categories

By each pie
e.g. The proportion of spending on Housing was highest in
Malaysia, at 34%.
+ 2nd Pie: Report data + Compare data among categories
e.g. Food registered the highest data in Japan, at 24%.

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 Pie charts Static pie charts Body

There are 2 ways to divide the body paragraphs:

∙ 2nd approach: Compare categories between two pie
charts
By
Strategy

e.g. The proportion of spending on Housing was highest in

category Malaysia, at 34% while Japanese families allocated just 21%

of their budget for this category.
NOTE: Only use the language for comparison

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 Pie charts Static pie charts Body

Activity 3. Use the given information to write the correct sentences.

Body 1: Food + Housing

- Housing: highest in Malaysia – while –
Japanese families – allocated just
Strategy

21%.
- Food: the figures – both nations –
similar – at 24% and 27% -
respectively

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 Pie charts Static pie charts Body

Activity 3. Use the given information to write the correct sentences.

Body 2: Transport + Healthcare + Others

- Transport: accounted for – a fifth – in
Japan – twice as much as – the figure –
Strategy

Malaysia.
- Healthcare: received – the least amount
of money
- Other goods and services: over a
quarter.

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 Pie charts Static pie charts Body

Activity 3. Use the given information to write the correct sentences.

Body 1: Food + Housing

The proportion of spending on Housing
was highest in Malaysia, at 34% while
Strategy

Japanese families allocated just 21% of

their budget for this category. In terms of
food, the figures for both nations were
similar, at 24% and 27% for Malaysia and
Japan respectively.

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 Pie charts Static pie charts Body

Activity 3. Use the given information to write the correct sentences.

Body 2: Transport + Healthcare + Others

Regarding the remaining categories, Transport
accounted for exactly a fifth of total
Strategy

expenditure in Japan, twice as much as the

figure for Malaysia. Healthcare received the
least amount of money in two countries while
the percentage of money spent on Other
goods and services were quite significant, at
over a quarter in each country.

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Dynamic pie
charts
 Pie charts Dynamic pie charts Introduction

The three pie charts below show the changes in annual spending by local authorities in
Someland in 1980, 1990 and 2000.

Sample:
The given pie charts give information
Strategy

on how the policy makers in

Someland allocated their budget to
various expenses on a yearly basis
over the period of two decades
starting from 1980.

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 Pie charts Dynamic pie charts Overview

Activity 4. Answer the following questions.

1. Which category was highest
Higher
throughout the period? education

2. Which category was lowest

Strategy

throughout the period? Other

3. Which categories saw an upward

Higher education,
trend? Transportation,
Environmental services
4. Which categories saw a

K-12 education, health downward trend?

& resources, other ielts-fighter.com
 Dynamic pie charts _Overview

Needed information:
Order (highest/lowest)
Strategy

• Trend (increase, decrease)

Note:
• Use the language for trend & comparison

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 Pie charts Dynamic pie charts Overview

Activity 5. Based on the previous information, write the overview.

1. Which category was highest
throughout the period: higher
education
2. Which category was lowest throughout
Strategy

the period: Other

3. Which categories saw an upward trend:
Higher education, Transportation,
Environmental services
4. Which categories saw a downward
trend: K-12 education, health &
resources, other
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 Pie charts Dynamic pie charts Overview

Activity 5. Based on the previous information, write the overview.

Overall, it can be easily seen that the proportion of public fundings spent on three
sectors namely tertiary education, transport infrastructure and services serving the
environmental purposes witnessed an upward trend over the period shown while
Strategy

the opposite was true for the other three remaining sectors. Besides, in all three
years, the highest level of public spending belonged to development of the
teaching and learning at universities, in contrast to the negligible expenditure for
unspecified costs, labeled “other”.

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 At home
Brainstorming
How can you divide the body paragraphs? What will you include
in each body paragraph?
Lesson Preparation

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 Lesson Preparation

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 Pie charts Dynamic pie charts Body

There are 2 ways to divide the body paragraphs:

∙ 1st approach: By time: Each body paragraph describes each year
+ 1st Pie: Report + Compare data among categories
By
Strategy

e.g. In 1980, the percentage of public spendings in Higher

education was over 8 times higher than the data for
each year
environmental services, at 35% and 4%, respectively.
+ 2nd Pie: Report data + Describe trend
e.g. In 1990, there was a dramatic growth of 10% to reach 45%
in university education’s fundings.

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 Pie charts Dynamic pie charts Body

There are 2 ways to divide the body paragraphs:

∙ 2nd approach: By category: Upward/ Downward trend
+ Paragraph 1: Report data + Trend/ Comparison
By
Strategy

+ Paragraph 2: Report data + Trend/ Comparison

category e.g. Regarding the areas that experienced a growth in
importance, university education constituted more than one
third of the total governmental outgoings in 1980 and the
following two decades saw a five-percent increase, with a peak
of 45 percent in 1990.

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Mixed charts
Mixed charts Introduction

The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table
shows how these causes affected three regions of the world.
Activity 6. Choose the best introduction.
a. The pie chart illustrates the major causes of global
Strategy

land degradation.
b. The charts describe the reasons why agricultural
land becomes less productive and how the causes
affected three regions of the world.
c. The pie chart displays the major causes of global
land degradation, while the table illustrates how
three regions of the world were affected by these
causes during the 1990s. ielts-fighter.com
Mixed charts Introduction

Needed information:
• Paraphrase the question
Useful structure:
Strategy

• The bar/ line chart + illustrates/ gives information

about/ shows/ depicts + (graph 1) + while/and +
the table/picture provides information
about/describes/compares + (graph 2).

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Mixed charts Overview

Activity 7. Fill in the blanks with the correct information.

livestock industry accounts for

1. The __________________
the largest proportion of land erosion.
Europe is
Strategy

2. The land degradation in ___________

far higher than that in in other two
areas.

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Mixed charts Overview

Needed information:
• Main features of each graph:
+ Static graph: Order (Highest/ Lowest)
Strategy

+ Dynamic graph: Trend (Upward, downward) + Order

(Highest/ Lowest)

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Mixed charts Overview

Activity 8. Analyze the mixed charts below & write the overview.
The graph and bar chart below show the average monthly rainfall and temperature for one region of East Africa.

- Order:
+ April: highest amount of rain + pretty high
Strategy

temperature
+ July: Lowest in both rainfall and
temperature
- Trend: The figures for rainfall and
temperature - fluctuate

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Mixed charts Overview

Activity 8. Analyze the mixed charts below & write the overview..
The graph and bar chart below show the average monthly rainfall and temperature for one region of East Africa.
Overall, it can be easily seen that April is
recorded to be the month with the highest
amount of rain and a pretty high temperature
Strategy

while the opposite is true for July as at this time

of the year, the levels of rain and temperature
reach the lowest point throughout the year.
Another observation worth mentioning is that
both rainfall and temperature figures
experience wild fluctuations during the course
of the year.
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Mixed charts Body Without correlation

How can you divide the body paragraphs? What will you include in each At home

body paragraph?
Strategy

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Mixed charts Body Without correlation
At home

∙ Each body paragraph describes each

graph
Strategy

+ Static graph: make comparison

+ Dynamic graph: describe trend + make
comparison
e.g.
+ Body 1: Describe the pie chart
+ Body 2: Describe the table

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Mixed charts Body
The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table shows how
these causes affected three regions of the world.

Activity 9. What are the main features in each chart?

- Body paragraph 1:
___________________________________________
Strategy

___________________________________________
___________________________________________
- Body paragraph 2:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
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Mixed charts Body
The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table shows how
these causes affected three regions of the world.

Activity 9. What are the main features in each chart?

- Body paragraph 1:
+ Over a third – 35% of the land worldwide –
Strategy

degraded by having too many animals feeding on it

→ higher than – deforestation & crop production –
30% & 28%
+ Other causes – make up only 7% - a tiny minority

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Mixed charts Body

Activity 9. What are the main features in each chart?

- Body paragraph 2:
+ Europe – where land degradation – the most
alarming – nearly a quarter → 10% higher than –
Strategy

Oceanian islands & nearly 5 times higher than –

North American regions
+ Deforestation: Europe tops – almost one tenth
+ Over-grazing: damages just under 12% - Oceania –
higher than other figures in the same column
+ North America – 3.3% of land degraded by over
cultivation – more than double - overgrazing
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Mixed charts Body With correlation

How can you divide the body paragraphs? What will you include in each At home

body paragraph?

What is the relationship

between 2 graphs?
Strategy

The more it rains, the

hotter it is.

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Mixed charts Body With correlation
At home

∙ Group data with the same trends/

features
Strategy

e.g.
+ Body 1: Rainfall + temperature during the
first half of the year: increase – decrease
+ Body 2: Rainfall + temperature during the
rest of the year: increase - decrease

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Mixed charts Body

Important notes:
- Understand the unit of each graph
Strategy

- Useful transitional phrases: With regard

to the table, concerning the pie chart,
Regarding the pie chart, as can be seen
from the line graph,…

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03
Practice
Practice Tasks

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 The three pie charts below show the changes in annual spending by local
authorities in Someland in 1980, 1990 and 2000.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and
make comparisons where relevant.
Practice

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 Work in team. Complete the table below.

Body 1: Upward trend: Environmental

Body 2: Downward trend: K-12
services, transportation, higher
education, Health and resources, Other
education
Practice

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 Body 1: Upward trend: Environmental Body 2: Downward trend: K-12 education,
services, transportation, higher education Health and resources, Other

- Higher education: 1980: > one third of → - Healthcare and resources: accounted for
2000: a five-percent increase → peaked 14 percent in 1980 → jumped to one fifth
Practice

at 45 percent ten years later → only 10% in 2000

- Transportation: 16% in the first year → - K-12 education: declined – a quarter to
plummeted 6% in the middle year → 16&
reached 22% - 2000 - Other: declined – 6% to only a marginal
- Environmental services: the percentage one percent
in 2000 - double

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 Writing time
Practice

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 Sample answer
Regarding the areas that experienced a growth in importance, university education constituted more
than one third of the total governmental outgoings in 1980 and the following two decades saw a five-
percent increase, with a peak of 45 percent in 1990. The same pattern, however, was not seen in the
data for transportation, which stood at just 16% in the first year but reached 22 percent in the final year
after plummeting to a mere six percent in the middle year. Considering the fees paid for environmental
Practice

protection, the percentage in 2000 was double that in both previous years shown.

With regard to the other three categories, healthcare and workforce-related costs accounted for 14
percent in 1980 before jumping to exactly one fifth ten years later. Meanwhile, by 2000, the government
had reduced its allocation of money to this section to only 10 percent. There were gradual decreases in
the figures for educating school children and other unnamed services with the former declining from
one quarter to 16 percent and the latter from 6% to only a marginal one percent.

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 01
Materials
Language for describing statistics

Lesson 02
Summary Strategy
Overview - Body

03
Practice
Practice tasks

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HOMEWORK

01 Homework (Workbook)

02 Lesson Preparation (Workbook)

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Thanks!
Do you have any
questions?

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