English for Academic Purposes II Lesson 5: Describing Trends

A. Read the definitions and then do the crossword.

1. expand to become bigger in size or in number 2. trend overall movement in a particular direction 3. reflect to show what you see 4. enroll to join a course at a university or college 5. faculty a department or group of departments in a university or college 6. predict to say what you think will happen in the future 7. approximately more or less, almost the same, roughly 8. overall in general, generally, not specific 9. statistics numerical data; numbers about a specific subject

Across

1. According to ...... , Cairo is the largest city in Egypt.

3. The busy roads ...... the large number of cars.

7. We used to have one shop. We needed to ...... , so now we have nine.

8. He was promoted to Dean of the ...... of Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University.

9. More and more Qataris are attending universities every year. There is an increasing ...... for higher education.

2. I don’t remember the exact time of the accident, but it happened at ......

1 English for Academic Purposes II Lesson 5: Describing Trends ten ‘o clock.

4. They ...... that the temperature would reach 55º today.

5. Leqhwiya lost a few matches, but ...... the season was very successful.

6. I wanted to improve my writing so I decided to ...... in a creative writing course.

Enrolment Statistics at Coral University 2000-2001 2006-2007 Subject men women men women Arts 495 989 560 1020 Medicine & Industry 154 186 130 230 Information & Technology 108 72 140 86 Engineering & Technology 245 119 264 123 Law 300 103 353 196 Economics & Commerce 461 466 467 407

B. Look at the table in detail. Read the text about changing trends at Coral University. Complete the paragraphs with words and phrases from the box.

nearly the same just under three-quarters twice as many a. There has been an overall rise in the numbers of students enrolling in higher education in the last twenty years. It is clear that the subjects chosen by students reflect trends in the job market as well as changes in the students’ field of interest and research. b. The table shows the numbers of students enrolled at Coral University for the years 2000- 2001 and 2006-2007, according to subjects studied. Firstly for the academic year 2000-2001, the most popular subjects for both men and women were in the arts, with 1……….…………….…. ………. 500 men and approximately 2……….…………….….………. women studying these subjects. In Economics and Commerce the numbers of men and women were almost 3……….…………….…. ………. in that year. However, Engineering and Technology were more popular with male students that year, with only 119 women, compared to 245 men choosing these subjects.

2 English for Academic Purposes II Lesson 5: Describing Trends

Information Technology was also more popular with men, with 108 male and 72 female students, and in Law just under 4……….…………….….………. of the total number were men.

c. The academic year 2006-2007 saw a general increase in student numbers, as most faculties recorded a rise in enrolment. For example, the number of men studying IT rose significantly from 108 in 2000 to 140 in 2006, and numbers studying Law rose to over 350 men and 5……….…………….….………. 200 women. However, there were also some decreases. The number of men studying Medicine and Dentistry dropped to 130, and the number of women studying Economics and Commerce also fell sharply by 60, to 407.

Skills Focus Interpreting data When you interpret figures, look first for general patterns  words of quantity and comparison such as majority, twice as many, the same as  approximations such as almost, nearly, approximately, (just) over/under Then look in more detail at the actual figures or values. Are these real numbers, percentages, or other values? Identify equivalents, for example, one in ten = 10%, a quarter = 25%

C. Some of these words were used in the passage. Use your dictionaries to find the meaning of the words you don’t know and write them in the box. rise decline increase remain stable fluctuate fall grow reach a peak decrease go up go down stay the same change frequently peak

…………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …… …… …… …… …… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …… …… …… …… …… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …… …… …… …… …… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …… …… …… …… ……

D. Look at the verb + adverb taken from paragraph C. Note how they’ve been changed to adjective + noun. Does the adjective and adverb describe a large change or a small change? verb + adverb adjective + noun large or small change rose significantly a significant rise large fell sharply a sharp fall large

Complete the table with adjective + noun. verb + adverb adjective + noun large or small change

1. rose dramatically 1. …….. 1. …..……………………. 2. fell substantially …………………………………...…… …… 3. increased 2. …….. 2. …..……………………. considerably …………………………………...…… …… 4. dropped slightly 3. …….. 3. …..……………………. 5. decreased …………………………………...…… …… noticeably 4. …….. 4. …..……………………. 6. climbed rapidly …………………………………...…… …… 5. …….. 5. …..……………………. …………………………………...…… …… 6. …….. 6. …..……………………. …………………………………...…… ……

E. Correct the wrong information of each graph.

1. The numbers 2. Prices fell grew dramatically substantially and and after then fluctuated. remaining stable, ……………. decreased slightly. ………… sharply ……………. ………… ……………. …………

3. After a sharp 4. The value rise, the number dropped sharply peaked at 100 and and then then declined remained stable. slowly. ……………. ……………. ………… ………… ……………. ……………. ………… …………

F. Replace the underlined words or phrases with words or numbers from the box. 90% 47% 70% of nearly two-thirds a quarter 1. Seven in ten students live in university accommodation. …………………………………….. 2. 25% of arts students work in education. …………………………………….. 3. Nine out of ten factory workers are men. …………………………………….. 4 English for Academic Purposes II Lesson 5: Describing Trends

4. 64% of jobs in the textile industry are in South-East Asia. …………………………………….. 5. Almost half of office workers travel to work by car. ……………………………………..

G. Look at paragraph C. Underline the nouns and verbs that refer to changes. Circle the prepositions that go with them. Example increase in

H. Look at the graph below and complete the gaps with a suitable preposition.

There was an increase 1………. the number of people who worked in the oil industry between 2000 and 2006. From 2o00 to 2001, the number rose 2………. 40,000 but there was a slight drop 3………. 10,000 in the following year. Numbers rose again in 2003 4 ………. 60,000 and reached a peak 5 ………. 70,000 in 2004. It then came down 6 ………. 50,000 in 2005. The number stayed the same in 2006.

I. Look at the graph below and follow the instructions carefully.

1. Unscramble the introduction below. Sweden in 2012. The shows the percentage graph academic books of students buying in. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

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

………………………... 2. Add suitable prepositions in each of the spaces. From January to March the percentage of students dropped steadily ………….. one third ………….. 30% ………….. 20%. 3. Describe the trend from March to August. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 4. Change the verb + adverb in bold to an adjective + noun. Rewrite the sentences.

Then in August the number increased significantly by 90%. It then dropped sharply to 30% in the next month. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

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………………………... ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 5. Describe the trend from October to December. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………... ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... J. Describe the trends for this graph.

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