Describing Graphics
Graphics
• Graphics are indispensable in technical
writing. They not only supplement the text
but present the information that words can
not adequately or effectively convey.
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Graphics
• There are various types of graphics,
including tables, graphs, charts, diagrams,
drawings, and photographs. Each type of
graphics has its own strengths and
weaknesses. Therefore, to use graphics
effectively, we must know when to use
graphics, what kind of graphics to use,
how to make them, and how to interpret
and integrate them with the text.
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Tables
• Tables are usually used to give order to a lot of
data, or to present data for comparison and
contrast.
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Describing a table
• In 1987 the government spent $500 million
on education. This figure increased by
$100 million in the following year to cover
an expansion of adult education. In 1989
expenditure maintained the same level,
but during the next two years it rose
considerably as a large number of new
colleges were built. First, in 1990 there
was an increase of 50%; then, in the.
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• following year expenditure doubled. After
this expansion the figure fell by $400
million in 1992.
1987 1988
1989
1990 1991
1992
Education
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• Practice:
1987
Revenue 1 bn
1988
1989
1990
500 mn 500 mn 1.2 bn
1991
1992
1.5 bn
1.3 bn
In 1987 the company’s revenue was $1 billion. This
figure __________________ in the following year when
its new product seemed unprofitable. In 1989 the
revenue _____________________ but, fortunately, in
the next year there _____________________ as the
next-generation cells became very popular. In 1991 the
figure _____________________ although in the final
year of this period there ______________________.
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Graphs
• Graphs are an excellent tool to show a
trend, a direction, or a pattern of change in
the data. The horizontal axis is usually
used to plot the independent variable,
while the vertical axis is for the dependent
variable.
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Graphs
• The horizontal axis in the graph is the 24
hours in a day divided into 8 periods of
time; the vertical axis is the number of
passing vehicles in hundreds.
• It is clear from the graph that garbage men
should clean the roads between 12
midnight to 3 o’clock in the morning since
it is the period of time there is the least
traffic on the roads.
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Describing a graph
– Trend: upward/downward trend, fluctuate,
climb up to the peak, drop to the valley
– Verbs: increase/rise/climb/soar/rocket
decrease/fall/drop/decline/slide/crash
hold /remain /maintain steady
level off, stabilize
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Describing a graph
– Nouns: (same as verbs)rise, increase, drop,
fluctuation, recovery, stabilization
– Adjectives and Adverbs: steady/steadily,
slow/slowly, gradual/gradually, slight/slightly,
substantial/substantially,
considerable/considerably,
rapid/rapidly, swift/swiftly, sharp/sharply,
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• As shown in the graph, Company B
enjoyed the most rapid productivity growth
in the last five years (1987-1991).
Compared to Company B, Company A
had even more rapid growth from 1987 to
1988, but productivity rate dropped from
1988 to 1989. Then it climbed up again.
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• The two almost parallel lines for 19891991 showed that the two companies had
very similar productivity growth in this
period of time. Company C had a stable
but only modest productivity growth in the
years studied. As a result, its productivity
was the lowest among the three
companies in 1991.
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• Based on the collected data, we would
urge Company C to take some measures
to speed up its productivity growth.
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