MULTIPLE CH RTS

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

 understand the structure of a Task 1 question with two different graphs/ charts.
 understand what information should be included in each paragraph of the report.
 practice using advanced comparison structures.

IN CL SS PR CTICE

N LYSIS

Work in pairs. Look at the diagrams below and discuss the following questions with your partner:

Bar graph
1. In general, were there more women or men attending evening classes at the education centre?
2. Which course had the highest number of participants?
3. Which course had the lowest number of participants?
4. Which course (s) had more female participants than male ones?
5. Which course(s) had more male participants than female ones?
6. Which courses (s) were quite popular among both genders?

Pie chart
1. Which age group had the highest percentage of course participants (the max category)?
2. Which age group had the lowest percentage of course participants (the min category)?
3. Which of the other age groups (the ones with ‘middle’ numbers) can be described together
with the max category?
nd which ones can be described together with the min category?

(Hint: think about what characteristic the age groups have in common – and how many
percentages they would occupy if described together)

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 The bar chart below shows the numbers of men and women attending various evening courses at an adult
education centre in the year 2009. The pie chart gives information about the ages of these course participants.

45 ged under 20 20-29

40
30-39 40-49
Number of people

35
30 50 or over
25
5%
20 11%
15
10
5 42% 16%
0
Drama Painting Sculpture Language

Men Women 26%

TIPS FOR MULTIPLE CH RTS

If you are asked to describe a pair of visuals on TWO different topics (i.e. no detailed comparison can
be made across the categories of the visuals), you should use the following structure for your response

Introduction: Visual 1 describes/shows/compares TOPIC 1, while/and Visual 2

shows/describes/compares TOPIC 2

Overview: It is clear from that … (general trends or comparison/max-min categories/ of Visual 1) ….

Moreover, …. (general trends or comparison/max-min categories of Visual 2) …

Detail paragraph 1: Description of Visual 1

Detail paragraph 1: Description of Visual 2

B.

When you are asked to describe charts with many demographic categories (age groups, income levels,
education levels, interest etc.), it’s a good idea to group the categories into more general category and
check if they have similar data patterns. For example:

 ge groups: young (under 20, 20-29) – middle age (30-39, 40-49) – elderly (50-59, above 60)
 Income level: working class – middle class – upper class
 Education level: primary, secondary, university
 Interest: Outdoor vs Indoor

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Write an outline of the report. Think about what to include in the following sections of the outline
 The introduction: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
 The overview…………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….……………
 Detail paragraph 1………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….
 Detail paragraph 2……………………………………………………………………………………………….……….…………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….…………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….……….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….……

THE INTRODUCTION

. Match the words and phrases with their synonyms. There may be more than one possible answer.
Words/ Phrases Synonyms

1. ……shows . male

2. …… the numbers of B. classes

3. ……men C. age demographics/ profile

4. ……women D. attendees

5. ……attended E. compares

6. ……various F. how many

7. ……courses G. female

8. …… gives information about H. illustrates

9. …… ages I. took

10. …… participants J. different

B. Paraphrase the introduction below with words from Exercise

The bar chart below shows the numbers of men and women attending various evening courses at an adult
education centre in the year 2009. The pie chart gives information about the ages of these course
participants.
......................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................

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 ......................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................

THE OVERVIEW
Unscramble the words to complete these overview sentences, capitalising and adding punctuation as
necessary.
1. more/education /as/ than/ be/ seen/ significantly/ men/ centre / can/ evening/ women/ classes /at/
attended /the
.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................

2. courses/ were/ more/ evening/ among/much/ older/ moreover/ popular/ adults

.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................

TIP BOX:

For charts with no trends, the overview should include the following information

 how the categories generally compare to one another ND /OR

 the max or min categories

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COMP RISON L NGU GE

M KING COMP RISON S ND QUOTING D T

TIP BOX: DV NCED L NGU GE FOR COMP RISON ND QUOTING D T

. COMP RISONS
One way to vary your comparative sentences is to use equal comparison (as… as) rather than
comparative and superlative structures

Category + Verb + as many/much noun as + Category B

Category + Verb + as adj/adv as + Category B
Ex 1: Disnerds PLC did not sell as many CDs as Monster Hits in 1990
Ex 2: Coffee in France does not cost as much as in the UK
Ex 3: Coffee in France isn’t as expensive as in the UK

B. QUOTING D T
To quote data, you can use preposition phrases, relative clauses or participle phrases’’
*Preposition phrases (at …data… OR with …data…. /with …data + noun phrases…...)
- Category -equal comparison/comparative structures - Category B, with data for compared to data
for B
- Category -equal comparison/comparative structures - Category B, at data for and data for B
respectively
- Main clause (comparative/superlative/ equal comparison structures), with … data + noun phrase……
Ex 1: Disnerds PLC did not sell as many CDs as Monster Hits in 1990, with 225,000 compared to 230,000.
Ex 2: Coffee in France does not cost as much as in the UK, at 2 and 2.90 respectively.
Ex 3: Philosophy was clearly the least popular among the majors, with only 100 students taking it in the
last 3 years.

* Relative clauses
Main clause (comparative/superlative/ equal comparison structures), Relative clause (data)
Ex: Philosophy, which was taken by only 100 students in the last 3 years, was clearly the least popular
major

* Participle phrases
Main clause (comparative/superlative/ equal comparison structures), V-ing … data……
Ex: Coffee in France isn’t as expensive as in the UK, costing 2 and 2.90 respectively

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 Use the cues given to construct sentences for detail paragraph 1 for the visuals above.
Ex: Language classes/ have/ highest number/ participants overall/ 40 female / 20 male students
 Language classes had the highest number of participants overall, with 40 female and 20 male students.

1. Drama /be/ not / popular / painting / course participants / both genders.

......................................................................................................................................................................

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2. Sculpture / not/ attract/ attendees /other courses.

......................................................................................................................................................................

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

3. Paining courses /not/ take/ people /language courses/ 55 / compared/ 60.

......................................................................................................................................................................
……..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Painting /be/ popular choice / both genders/ attract/ 30 female / 25 male attendees.
......................................................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................................

5. The only course / higher number / males / be/ sculpture/ take / mere 15 people / total.
......................................................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................................

6. Younger adults / be/ minority/ 11% / students aged 20 to 29/ 5% aged / 20.
......................................................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................................

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EXPRESSING PERCENT GES

TECHNIQUES BOX:
When writing about pie charts, you may also refer to fractions as well as percentages.

three quarters/ 75 per cent/ three out of four

a half/ one half/ 50 per cent/ one out of two/ one in two

a third/ one third/ one out of three/ one in three

a quarter/ 25 per cent/ one out of four/ one in four

a tenth/ one tenth/ 10 per cent/ one out of ten/ one in ten

You can combine these words with words such as about, around, approximately, just over, just under,
nearly etc.

Replace the underlined parts using the descriptions of the percentages from the box.

about one in ten Nearly a fifth over two fifths more than a quarter

Regarding the pie chart, it is clear that the majority of people attending evening lessons were over 40

years of age. Specifically, 42% ………………………… of them were aged 50 or more, and 26%

…………………….....were aged between 40 and 49. Meanwhile, younger adults were in the minority, with

only 11% ………………………of students aged 20 to 29, and only 5% aged under 20. The 30 to 39 age group

accounted for 16% ………………………….. of the course attendees.

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 M IN PR CTICE

Work with your partner to analyse the charts below and write the outline for your response

The bar chart below shows the proportions of English men and women of different ages who were living
alone in 2011. The pie chart compares the numbers of bedrooms in these one-person households.

...Living alone in England by age and gender, 2011

Number of bedrooms in one-person households (England, 2011)

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OUTLINE
The introduction:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………..

The overview………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..………………

Detail paragraph 1……………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………….…………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....................

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………..……………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………..……………..

Detail paragraph 2………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……..

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………..…..

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………….

WRITING HOMEWORK
Write your full response to the charts in main practice.

GR MM R: MORE COMP RISON STRUCTURES

DVERBS OF DEGREE
. Below are some words you can use to add emphasis to comparative words. Put them in their correct
category.
much, slightly, a bit, significantly, a little, a lot, considerably, far

Big differences

Small differences

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