COMPILED

BY MS. VAN ANH_LVT GIFTED HIGHC SCHOOL

UNIT 4: DESCRIBING PIE CHART
PRACTICE 1
Fill in the blanks with suitable words

almost minority percent proportion quarter

shows significant significantly small
This pie chart (1) …………… how consumers in the United Kingdom accessed the internet in a variety
of different ways. (2) ……………, the highest (3) ……………… at 45% used cable to get their internet
connection. Next (4) …………………. a (5) …………………. of the population used mobile telephones
for the internet and nineteen (6) …………………. of the population used an old-fashioned dial-up
system. It should also be noted that a (7) …………………. but (8) …………………. (9) ……………. of
the population (12%) had no access to the Internet at all.
PRACTICE II
The following pie charts show the results of a survey into the most popular leisure activities in the
United States of America in 1999 and 2009. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting
the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Step 1: See the big picture

1. How many activities are there in each chart?
2. Are the activities the same in each chart?
3. Are there any changes in popularity between the two years?

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Step 2: Choose the details to include
Try looking for:
1. the biggest number
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. the smallest number
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3. what's gone up
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4. what’s gone down
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
5. what hasn’t changed
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
6. what’s new, what’s gone
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Step 3: Organize your report
Paragraph 1
It is clear that walking was the most popular activity in both 1999 and 2009, with around 30% of
Americans saying that they preferred it. Also, yoga was no longer among the preferred activities in
2009, but weightlifting was chosen by 10% of people.
Paragraph 2
The second most popular activity was soccer at just under 20% in both years, a figure that was matched
by swimming in 2009, having almost doubled in popularity over the previous decade. Most of the other
activities became less popular over the same period of time, with cycling, jogging and aerobics all
falling by at least a half to under 10%. The one exception to this trend was camping which stayed
almost unchanged at around 9%.
Step 4: Get the vocabulary right
Different ways to describe percentages
Proportion/Amount/Number/
Percentage Fraction
Majority/Minority
73% A vast/very large majority (75%-85%)/A Approximately three quarters
massive 73%
66% A significant/large proportion/A majority of Precisely two thirds
48% A good proportion Almost a half
35% A small minority Just over a third
25% A small number/One in 4 people Exactly a quarter
5% An insignificant/A very small amount/A mere A small fraction
5%

Think about other ways to describe these following numbers of students applying for English
major in LVT this year
Percentage Alternatives
18%
68%

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77%
85%
49%
97%
6%
27%
58%
32%
PRACTICE 3: Underline useful language for describing pie chart
Introduction
1.The graphs compare the population make-up of one European country every forty years from 1901 to
1981, and the estimated number in 2021.
2. The three pie charts show the age structure of electronic game players in Korea, their gender
distribution as well as the percentage of different types of games sold in the country in the year 2003.
3. The pie charts illustrate the working patterns of Australian employees and managers by indicating the
percentage of them who worked full-time, part-time, or overtime.
4. The three pie charts show a UK’s university’s annual expenditure by category in 1981, 1991, and
2000.
5.The pie charts compare the proportion of carbohydrates, protein and fat in three different diets,
namely an average diet, a healthy diet, and a healthy diet for sport.
6.The charts compare changes in the shares of five different categories that comprised the yearly
expenses of a kindergtarten in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2010.
Sample

The pie charts compare the proportion of carbohydrates, protein and fat in three different
diets, namely an average diet, a healthy diet, and a healthy diet for sport.
It is noticeable that sports people require a diet comprising a significantly higher
proportion of carbohydrates than an average diet or a healthy diet. The average diet contains

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the lowest percentage of carbohydrates but the highest proportion of protein.
Carbohydrates make up 60% of the healthy diet for sport. This is 10% higher than the
proportion of carbohydrates in a normal healthy diet, and 20% more than the proportion in an
average diet. On the other hand, people who eat an average diet consume a greater relative
amount of protein (40%) than those who eat a healthy diet (30%) and sportspeople (25%).
The third compound shown in the charts is fat. Fat constitutes exactly one fifth of both
the average diet and the healthy diet, but the figure was only 15% for the healthy sports diet.
USEFUL LANGUAGE:
N make up/take up/constitute/account for/represent/comprise/compose/contribute ?%
account for a bigger/smaller share/proportion
take up the remaining ?%
make up 29 percent of the total/the share
continue to be the major + N
overtake N to become …
responsible for the highest amount of + N
rank/become/come/be
evenly/equally
small difference/ discrepancy
Regarding/With respect to/Concerning + N
Be represented equally with each accounting for ?%
PRACTICE 4: The two graphs show the main sources of energy In the USA in the 1980s and the
1990s. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the changes which occurred.

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PRACTICE 5
The pie charts show the main reasons for migration to and from the UK in 2007.

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 COMPILED BY MS. VAN ANH_LVT GIFTED HIGHC SCHOOL

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PRCATICE 6
The charts show the distribution of money spent on music in three different years in Northern
Ireland

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