Ho Ngoc Minh Thu - Ho Chi Minh City University of Education

● BAR CHART

1. Complex charts

1.1. Study the bar chart below. Notice that you have to estimate some of the
numbers. Answer the questions by choosing the best answer, A, B or C.
One hundred adults, boys and girls in Manchester, England were asked to name the
sports they participated in. The results were recorded in the following stacked bar
chart.

1. Approximately how many adults play basketball?

A. 80
B. 25
C. 10

2. How many boys enjoy swimming?

A. about 40
B. about 60
C. about 170

3. Which sport is enjoyed by the same number of adults as girls?

A. basketball
B. tennis
Ho Ngoc Minh Thu - Ho Chi Minh City University of Education

C. football

4. Which group seems to participate in the most sport overall?

A. adults
B. boys
C. girls

2. Improving your Task Achievement score

2.1. The bar chart below shows the reduction in traffic accidents in
Bridgewater following the introduction of extra lanes on busy roads. Look
at the chart and try to identify the main trend(s).

2.2. Which of the following sentences is an accurate overview sentence of

the bar chart? (You must summarise the main trend(s).)
A. There were mixed results following the introduction of the new traffic system
in Bridgewater.
B. On some roads the extra lanes were more popular than on others.
C. The roads with the largest amount of traffic are the M1 and M5.
D. In every case, adding an extra lane on main roads had a positive effect on
traffic incidents.
E. All cities should incorporate this system on their main roads.
Ho Ngoc Minh Thu - Ho Chi Minh City University of Education

2.3. Look again at the bar chart in 1.1 and read the model answer below.
Check the Task Achievement of the model answer.
1. Find a sentence that gives an overview of the main information.
2. Find four examples of the main features of the data that have been selected and
reported.
3. Check the word count.

The chart shows the responses of a group consisting of 100 boys, 100 girls and 100
adults in Manchester, England, when asked whether they participated in four sports:
basketball, swimming, tennis and football. From their responses, it is clear that
swimming is the most popular sport among all groups, and that from these three
groups, boys participated in the most sports. In fact, for three out of the four sports,
boys were the major participants. The only sport not enjoyed by the boys surveyed
was hockey, a sport that the vast majority of the girls who were interviewed
participated in. Other sports enjoyed by girls were tennis and basketball. However,
only a very small number, approximately 10 of the 100, participated in football. We
can conclude from this that girls in Manchester enjoy hockey a lot and they don’t
particularly like football.

2.4. Improve the Task Achievement score of the model answer.

1. Find one piece of information that should be deleted.
2. Decide what details are missing.
3. Complete the answer so that there are 150 words.

3. Avoiding repetition

3.1. A good way to avoid repetition is to use synonyms. Which words A-F
could be used to replace the underlined words in sentences 1-6?
1. There was a sharp decrease in sales between 2007 and 2010.
2. The figures fell steadily over the next 10 years.
3. It is predicted that the numbers will begin to increase from 2025.
4. It is predicted that the numbers will remain the same for the next ten years.
5. The charts show how many people travelled by train in 1950 and 2000.
6. According to the data in the table, 2005 was the most successful year.

A. stay
B. indicate
C. information
D. dropped
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E. rise
F. reduction

3.2. Look at these extracts from Writing Task 1 questions, and candidates’
introductory statements. Replace the underlined words in the candidates’
answers with a suitable phrase from the box to improve the range of
vocabulary.

A. how many
B. a group of people of a range of ages
C. the countries they come from
D. the number of vehicles on the road
E. have taken courses at
F. different sports preferred by
G. how much people spent

1. The graph shows traffic growth in the Netherlands between 1960 and 2010.
The graph indicates the changes in traffic in the Netherlands from 1960 to
2010.

2. The bar chart shows the sporting preferences of 100 adults, boys and girls in
Manchester.
The bar chart tells us the sporting preferences of 100 adults, boys and girls in
Manchester.

3. The graphs show the number of students that have attended the college since
1980 and their different nationalities.
From the graphs, we can see the number of students that have attended the
college since 1980 as well as their different nationalities.

4. The two pie charts show the average household expenditure in the US in 1900
and in 2000.
The pie charts reveal the average household expenditure in the US in 1900 and
2000.

4. Comparing and contrasting data

Ho Ngoc Minh Thu - Ho Chi Minh City University of Education

4.1. Look at this Writing Task and then answer the questions.

1. What do the figures on the left measure?

2. Why does the number 1000 appear twice?
3. Which set of figures shows what is happening in the country as a whole?

4.2. Look at the patterns in the data and answer these questions.
1. Over which span of time did the UK government’s wealth remain steady? Over
which period did its wealth decline?
2. In which three separate years did business wealth show a marked
improvement?
3. In which two years was the total wealth of the UK worth more than household
wealth?
4. Which three sets of data generally followed the same pattern?
5. Which sector fluctuated the most between 2000 and 2010?
Ho Ngoc Minh Thu - Ho Chi Minh City University of Education

4.3. Complete the sentences with the most appropriate tense of the verbs in
brackets.
1. The figures for UK households …… (remain) fairly steady between 2000 and
2002 then …… (begin; increase). By 2007, UK household wealth …… (rise)
from £4,500 billion to just under £7000 billion.
2. Between 200 and 2007, both the government and household wealth ……
(show) positive figures that gradually …… (increase) over time.
3. While both the household and government net wealth …… (drop) significantly
in 2008, the government’s net worth …… (fall) so much that it actually ……
(go) into negative figures in 2010.
4. Between 2000 and 2010, the total net worth of the UK …… (follow) a similar
pattern to that of the households and the government.
5. Although the net worth of businesses in the country …… (improve) from 2000
and 2002, this trend …… (not last) long and …… (begin; worsen) again only a
year later.
6. From 2005 to 2007, although the rest of the country …… (experience)
continued growth, the wealth of businesses …… (return) to the levels of 2000.
7. The data for the business community …… (reveal) the opposite trend to that of
the rest of the country. At the same time that the wealth of households and the
government …… (grow), the wealth of businesses …… (decline).

4.4. Look at the sentences in 4.3 again. Which sentences are

A. describing a pattern or trend in one sector
B. pointing out the similarities in data for two or more sectors?
C. contrasting data from two or more sectors?
Ho Ngoc Minh Thu - Ho Chi Minh City University of Education

5. Language practice

5.1. Fill in the report below using the following verbs. You must put the
verbs in the correct form and tense. Each verb can be used more than once.

to be to see to study to illustrate to show to choose to learn to prefer

The bar chart below shows the number of research students studying different subjects
in 2005.

The bar chart (1) …… how many male and female research students (2) …… six
different subjects (linguistics, psychology, natural sciences, engineering,
programming and mathematics) in 2005.

Overall, there (3) …… more male research students than females in 2005. Although
the most popular subject for both genders (4) …… natural sciences, men least (5)
…… linguistics and women (6) …… little interest in mathematics. Linguistics was
the only subject that (7) …… favoured by women more than men.

There was a similar number of men and women in three subjects. There were equal
numbers in research students (200) (8) …… natural sciences. There was a difference
between the genders of about 25 in psychology and linguistic with more women (9)
…… linguistics (around 110) and more men taking psychology (200).

A difference of about half (10) …… evident in engineering and programming where

150 men chose both subjects. By contrast, 200 men selected mathematics which was
approximately five fold that of women (about 40).
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5.2. Write an introduction and overview for the bar chart below

5.3. Write a full essay (minimum word count: 150 words) for the bar chart
below