Line Graphs

INTRODUCTION
The line graph illustrates WHAT WHERE WHEN

Paraphrase from the description in the task + you can add some information from the diagram
legend:

1. See the unit of measurement

2. Read the legend title
3. See the categories given in the legend

OVERVIEW
1. Make comparison: report the highest and the lowest categories
2. Report the general trends
3. Highlight the key trends and\or the most striking changes

DETAILS
1. Select key details
2. Group the categories according to similar or contrasting patterns
3. Organize into paragraphs (usually following the grouping logic).
Sometimes chronologically

*Compare and Contrast.

Use connectives such as while\whereas, compared to, unlike, although, albeit, but

Use linking words such as by contrast, meanwhile, in contrast to

Use superlative adjectives and ranking: the highest, the most, the lowest, the least, the greatest,
the smallest, the second most, the third highest etc.

Use comparative structure: more\less\fewer, (not) as much as, half the figure for X, double the
figure for X, three times bigger\smaller
INTRODUCTION.
The line graph illustrates how many people participated in five different activities at a particular
social center in Melbourne, Australia between 2000 and 2020.

OVERVIEW.
The highest number → film club. The lowest → there wasn't one category that was clearly the
lowest. So we only include the highest category.
The key changes: table tennis—the most dramatic rise; amateur dramatics—plummeted

Overall, of all activities, the film club was consistently the most popular activity throughout
the entire period. Additionally, there was a dramatic increase in the participation rate in table
tennis, whereas amateur dramatics experienced a substantial fall.
Details.

Selecting the key details. When the graph has many numbers, some of them will typically be
ignored*.

Film club → was around 65 whole period (ignore that small decline)
Martial arts → hovered around 35 (slight fluctuations)

Amateur dramatics → a moderate growth (2005) before a steep decrease (2020)

Table tennis → a small rise by 2010; a rapid increase (2020)

Musical performance → appeared in 2005, climbed gradually (2020)

Group the info and organize into paragraphs. There are many categories, so they will be
divided into paragraphs according to how they were grouped.

● Film club & Martial arts = body 1 (similar trends)

● Amateur dramatics & Table tennis = body 2 (contrasting trends)
● Musical performances = body 3 (stands out from others)

Looking at the details, in 2000, the film club had the highest number of participants at 65
people, followed by martial arts at roughly 35 people. The number of film club participants
remained relatively the same throughout the period, whereas martial arts hovered around 35
members.
Amateur dramatics was the third most popular activity in 2000 with about 25 members, which
was 10 more than in table tennis. However, after a moderate growth by approximately 3
people in 2005, amateur dramatics witnessed a steep fall to around 5 participants in 2020.
Table tennis, by contrast, rose slowly to 20 people in 2010, before rocketing to around 55
members and becoming the second most popular activity at the end of the period.

Musical instruments appeared only in 2005, but it increased consistently over the following 15
years, reaching nearly 20 participants in 2020.

***by approximately 3 people in 2005 → I think omitting this info wouldn't really hurt your score.
So I'm in two minds about it tbf.

INTRODUCTION.
The line graph illustrates how many incidents of three different crimes there
were in England and Wales over the period of 35 years between 1970 and 2005.

OVERVIEW:

1. Car theft was the most common crime; street robbery was the least
2. The level of crime increased in all three areas of crime.

Overall, it is clear that the rate of all three types of crime increased. Of all three, car
theft was consistently the most committed crime over the period, whereas street
robbery was the least.
DETAILS.

● Car theft = 1970, 1990 (substantial increase), 1995 (jumped, reaching its
highest point), 2005 (sharp drop)

● House burglary = 1970, 1990 (notable rise), 2005 (steady decline)

● Street robbery = 1970, 1990 (first incidents after this year), 2000-2005 (went up
and stood constant)

Only three categories, so we divide the information into paragraphs chronologically.

Paragraph 1: 1970–1990
Paragraph 2: 1990–2005

In 1970, car theft was the most prevalent crime, with 0.4 million incidents—twice the
frequency of house burglary, which stood at 0.2 million. Notably, there were no recorded
street robbery incidents that year. Over the following 20 years, both car theft and house
burglary increased significantly, reaching 1 million and 0.7 million incidents, respectively,
though street robbery remained undocumented.

Car theft peaked at 1.6 million incidents in 1990 but then dropped sharply to 1 million in the
last five years of the period. House burglary, after leveling off at 0.7 million from 1990 to 1995,
declined gradually to 0.5 million by 2005. Street robbery, meanwhile, was first recorded in
1990, with cases rising to 0.2 million by 2000 and stabilizing at that level through 2005.
INTRODUCTION.
The line graph illustrates how many shops were opened and closed in a country from 2011 to
2018.

OVERVIEW.
Overall, albeit both openings and closures varied greatly over the period, the number of
opened stores declined more substantially than that of closed ones.

DETAILS.
Since there are only two categories, we will need to report more details. So it's more about
choosing which details to omit rather than select.

Details to omit: 2013, 2016 (openings); 2012, 2017 (closures)

2014 — the year when they equalized. So we can paragraph the text as follows:

Paragraph 1: 2011-2014
Paragraph 2: 2015-2018
At the beginning of the timeline, openings accounted for around 8500 shops, which was
dramatically higher than closures, at less than 6500 shops. Over the next several years,
openings dropped to a low of 4000 and then partially recovered to around 6000 in 2014.
Closures were more stable and rose to a peak of 7,100 in 2013 before reaching nearly the same
level as openings in 2014.

After this point, there was a significant plunge to a trough of approximately 500 in the number
of closed shops, while openings only dropped moderately to 4,000 in 2015. Closures then
recovered to over 5,000 prior to plateauing until the end of the period, whereas openings
remained relatively flat at 4,000 until 2017, where there was a decline to 3,000 in 2018.
INTRODUCTION
The line graph illustrates the average amount of CO2 emissions per capita in four different
countries from 1967 to 2007.

OVERVIEW.
1. Comparison: UK had the highest level of CO2; Portugal had the lowest
2. General trends: The level of carbon footprint increased notably in Italy and Portugal; UK
and Sweden experienced a decline

Overall, it is clear that the UK had the highest level of CO2 throughout the period, whereas
Portugal had the lowest. Additionally, the carbon footprint level declined in the UK and Sweden,
unlike in Italy and Portugal, where it increased notably.
DETAILS.

See the marked points (key years and figures).

If you write fast, you can include 1997 for Italy and Portugal. However, if you are not managing
your time effectively, you can skip it—it won't hurt your score too much.

The UK and Sweden had similar patterns (paragraph1)

Italy and Portugal had similar patterns (paragraph2)

In 1967, the UK stood at roughly 11 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions, while the figure for
Sweden was over 8 metric tonnes. The UK then fell gradually until the end of the period to reach
around 9 tonnes in 2007. Similarly, despite a small spike between 1967 and 1977, when the
volume of CO2 in Sweden peaked at slightly over 10 tonnes, it halved in the next 30 years,
finishing the period at just under 6 tonnes.

Italy and Portugal started the period as the third and fourth most polluted countries with around
4 and 1 tonnes of CO2 emissions. They experienced generally the same trends throughout the
entire period: Italy nearly doubled to 8 tonnes, while Portugal went up to roughly 5 tonnes,
reaching the same level as Sweden in 2007.
Sometimes you will need to report charts with predictions for the future.
Use these phrases:
with a projection for…
with a prediction until…
how ____ will\is likely to change by…

INTRODUCTION.
The line graph illustrates how the proportion of urban population in four different Asian countries
has changed since 1970, with a prediction until 2040.

OVERVIEW
1. The percentage of city residents has increased in all four countries and it's likely
to continue in the future.
2. Malaysia and Indonesia increase at significantly higher rates than other two
countries, with Malaysia experiencing the most dramatic rise.

Overall, the percentage of city residents has increased in all four countries and it's likely to
continue in the future. Additionally, Malaysia and Indonesia increase at significantly higher rates
than other two countries, with Malaysia experiencing the most dramatic rise.
Graphs with projections for the future can be divided into three details-paragraphs:

Paragraph1: starting numbers (past)

Paragraph2: changes by today (present)
Paragraph3: changes by the final year (future)

This is not the only way to paragraph the text! You could as well:
Paragraph 1: from past to present
Paragraph 2: from present to future

In 1970, at nearly one-third, Malaysia and the Philippines had the largest proportion of
residents living in cities. Meanwhile, only one-fifth of the population in Indonesia lived in cities,
which was about 5% more than in Thailand, a country that accounted for the smallest
proportion of city residents.

Since that year, Malaysia has witnessed the most dramatic rise, reaching about 75% by today,
whereas the Philippines has grown slightly by roughly 10%. Having grown rapidly, Indonesia
now has the second largest urban population at 50%, about double that of Thailand.

According to predictions, a vast majority of Malaysians (over 80%) will be living in cities in 2040,
leaving the other three countries far behind. Slightly over a half of Indonesians (60%),
approximately a half of Filipinos, and just less than a half of Thais (45%) are likely to reside in
cities in 2040.
INTRODUCTION

1. The line graph illustrates how many cars the citizens of the UK had between
1975 and 2005.

2. The line graph compares the proportions of British car owners between
1975 and 2005.
OVERVIEW

1. Compare: one-car ownership level was the highest; citizens without cars made up the
lowest proportion
2. Key changes: two-car ownership experienced the most dramatic change

The proportion of citizens owning one car was the highest, while those without a car
were the fewest. Additionally, two-car ownership saw the most significant decline over
time.

DETAILS.

Selecting key details:

1 car = 1975, 1985(sharp decline), 2005 (recovery to original level)
2 cars = 1975, 1985 (sharp decline), 2005 (steady decrease)

3 cars = 1975, 2005 (consistently increased)

no car = 1975, 2005 (rose by 2% each decade)

Paragraph 1 = one car & two car owners

Paragraph 2 = three cars & no car

In 1975, nearly half of all people in the UK owned one car, while slightly over 40%
owned two cars. After falling to just under 40% in 1985, the proportion of one-car
owners recovered to 45% in 2005. By contrast, two-car ownership dropped sharply
by 20% by 1985, followed by a steady decline to roughly one-fifth of the population.

Turning to the remaining categories, around 7% of Britons owned three cars in 1975,
compared to a modest 3% without a car. The percentage of three-car owners
consistently increased to nearly 20% by 2005. Meanwhile, the proportion of citizens
without cars rose by 2% each decade, tripling to almost 10% in 2005.

For your practice.

I will give one task with cues and one task for you to complete all by yourself.

The graph below shows the percentage of Australian exports to 4 countries from
1990 to 2012.

Intro.
Rephrase the description and use the info from the legend for a more elaborate
introduction.

Overview:

1. To which country did Australia export the most\the least?

2. What were the general trends?
3. Is there any particular change that stands out?

Details:
Japan → 1990, 2003, 2012
The US → 1990, 1995, 1999, 2012
China → 1990, 2007, 2012
India → 1990, 2007, 2012

Grouping
Japan & The US → Body 1 (decreasing trend)
China & India → Body 2 (increasing trend)

#2.

The graph below shows the average time spent by four car manufacturers to produce
vehicles at their US factories.