Writing task 1
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Lesson 3: Language used in report
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Comparing and
contrasting
Words Comparative Superlative
Small Smaller The smallest
High Higher The highest
Expensive More expensive The most expensive
Common More common The most common
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Exercise 1
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Answer
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Adjective and adverbs according to
Strong the degree of change
Adjectives Adverbs
Exponential Exponentially
Enormous Enormously
Substantial Substantially
Considerable Considerably
Significant Significantly
Relative Relatively
Noticeable Noticeably
Moderate Moderately
Slight Slightly
Minimal Minimally
Marginal Marginally
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Unit language
● Carefully decide whether the data is given in countable nouns (i.e: the books),
uncountable noun (i.e: water) or percentage (i.e: 15%)
● Countable nouns
○ The number of books which was bought was 10.
○ The quantity of books which was bought was 10.
○ The level of books which was bought was 10.
○ The figure for books which was bought was 10.
● Uncountable nouns
○ The amount of water which was used was 10 litres.
○ The level of water which was used was 10 litres.
○ The figure for water which was used was 10 litres.
● Percentage
○ The percentage of water which was used was 10%.
○ The rate of water which was used was 10%.
○ The proportion of water which was used was 10%.
○ The level of water which was used was 10%.
○ The share of water which was used was 10%.
○ The figure for water which was used was 10%.
Exercise 2
Choose the correct words
1. The number/ amount of cars was over 1,000.
2. The rate/ number of electricity usage was 15 per cent.
3. The amount/ percentage of power was 15%.
4. The number/ amount of beer sold was 100 litres.
5. The figure for/ number of oil produced was 100,000 litres.
6. The number/ amount of lamb consumed was 5 ton.
7. The proportion/ number of chicken and beef eaten were about the same, at
5%.
8. The number/ rate of water usage and power usage were 15% and 16%,
respectively.
9. The amount/ number of boy players was 60 people.
10. The number/ level of Australian born overseas was 32%.
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Tense
used
1. Present tense
When the chart has no time period mentioned, so you should write using the present simple
tense. (or present perfect in some cases of a map exercise)
Example:
The pie charts below show the coffee production, coffee consumption and the profit
distribution around the world.
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Tense
used
2. Past tense
When the chart has a time period in the past, so you should write using the past simple tense.
(or past perfect in some cases of a map exercise)
Example:
The bar chart below shows changes in the percentage of households with cars in one
European country between 1971 and 2001.
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Tense
used
3. Future
When the chart has a time period in the past, so you should write using the future simple tense.
Example:
The graph below shows information about the total oil consumption of four major
consumers from 2009 to 2030.
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