Работа с текстом:преобразование и интерпретация информации

17.02.2016

“Interpreting visual aids”

Aim: Improving vocabulary used to describe numerical information.

Activity: Table description.

Level: Intermediate to upper-intermediate

Sample task

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Write a report for your school teacher

describing the information in the table below. You should write at least 150 words.

Hours of leisure time per year in Australia.

	Teens	20s	30s	40s	50s	60s	70s+
Watching TV/videos	1,200	700	400	500	600	700	1,100
Socialising with 4 or less people	150	150	300	250	250	200	200
Socialising with 4 or more people	350	350	50	50	25	25	25
Individual exercise	150	100	200	200	50	75	150
Group exercises/sport	450	350	200	150	50	0	0
Cinema	100	75	50	25	25	50	75

Your report should be structured simply with an introduction, body and

conclusion. Tenses should be used appropriately.

Exercise 1

Present the table using the following verbs show, outline, list, represent, depict.

Exercise 2

Use your dictionary to look up the meanings of the verbs and then answer the following questions.

1 plummet	7 increase
2 peak	8 soar
3 rocket	9 fluctuate
4 level out	10 drop
5 decrease	11 decline
6 rise	12 fall

1. Which 5 verbs mean go up?

2. Of these, which 3 mean go up suddenly/a lot?

3. Which 5 verbs mean go down?

4. Which verb means reach its highest level?

5. Which verb means stay the same?

6. Which verb means go up and down?

Exercise 3

Decide which parts of the table, showing selected activities performed in free time, can be described using the verbs given.

Exercise 4

Using the verbs above, complete these sentences using the information shown on the table.

1. According to the figures, as people age their social lives……………………….. .
2. The total hours of socialising in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s………………………

     (between 300-350).

3. Socialising with more than 4 people………………….to 50 hours in the 30s and 40s age groups.

Exercise 5

Changes can also be described in more detail by modifying a verb with an adverb. Using a verb and an adverb make sentences describing the changes for the hours shown.

Increase, decrease,	slightly, rapidly, moderately, slowly,
decline, fall,	steadily, dramatically,
rise, drop	sharply, gradually

0. 450-0

Hours spending on doing sports decreased/dropped dramatically/sharply.

1. 350-25
2. 150-150
3. 150-200

Look at the following 2 ways of expressing the same idea:

-       Hours spending on doing sports dropped dramatically from 450-0.

subj.+ verb + adverb

-       There was a dramatic drop in hours spending on doing sports from 450-0.

there was/were + adj. + noun + in + sth

Turn the sentences you made in exercise 5 into similar sentences with an adj.+noun

Exercise 6

Choose a preposition from the box to go into each of the gaps in the sentences.

from    to          between               in

Socialising with more than 4 people drops………50 hours in the30s and 40s age group and only 25……….50 years old. The total hours of socialising…….their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s………..300-350.

Exercise 7

We use words to express approximation when the point we are trying to describe is between milestones on the graph.

Now put the expressions from the box on the left into the table on the right, from the greatest amount to the smallest.

well over just under almost/nearly well under exactly just over

well over      just under      almost/nearly      well under      exactly      just over

half

Look at the tables below for other ways to express amounts:

Approximations                                     Comparison

a little/slightly far a lot much considerably significantly

more than less than {+uncountable noun} fewer than {+countable than}

approximately around about roughly more or less

half

Exercise 8

The table above illustrates the total number of people of different ages spending their free time. In the main body there are some factual errors. Using the table, underline the mistakes and then rewrite the text, making the corrections necessary.

The table shows how people in different age groups spend

their leisure time in Australia over the course of a year. It

can be clearly seen that the amount of leisure time available

varies slightly across the age groups and that people of

different age levels have very different ways of spending their

leisure time.

According to the figures, as people age in Someland their

social lives stay constant. Teenagers and people in their twenties

spend on average 350 hours per year on socialising and 450

hours of that time is with a group of more than 4 people.

Although the total hours of socialising in their 30s, 40s, 50s

and 60s is fairly constant (between 300-350), socialising with

more than 4 people climbs dramatically to 50 hours in the 30s

and 40s age groups and only 25 from 50 years old. Group and

individual exercise follow a similar pattern.

People of all ages spend a good part of their leisure time on

entertainment such as TV/video viewing and cinema. In both

cases, teenagers and retired people spend around thrice as

much time as those who are at working age. Home

entertainment ranges from well over a thousand hours for

teenagers and retired people and an average of 600 hours for

everyone else. Cinema accounts for 1,200 hours of the

teenagers and retired people’s leisure time and 25-50 hours

for the rest.

To sum up, we can see there is a significant trend towards

solitary and smaller group activities as people grow older and

that teenagers and retired people spend a lot more time on

entertainment than those of working age do.