Introducing Your Graph Description

Look at the following graph and analyze both the descriptions.

Option 1:
The graph illustrates shifts in the amount of fast food consumed in the UK between
1970 and 1990. Several trends are apparent. Firstly, the UK population are eating more
and more fast food. Secondly, the type of fast food has changed.
In 1970, the most popular fast food was pizza. Over 300g were consumed each week. By
1990, however, this had fallen to just over 200g - a 50% drop. Consumption of other fast foods
such as fish and chips and hamburgers increased, however. The number of hamburgers eaten
shot up from about 20g a week to more than 270g, overtaking pizza in the late 1980s. Fish and
chips consumption also increased, rising from about 80g in 1970 to 500g in 1990.
Accompanying this change in the choice of foods was an overall increase in the amount
of fast food consumed. In 1970, British consumers ate about 450g a week of fast food. In 1990,
on the other hand, this had more than doubled, to almost 1000g.
Option 2:
The graph shows the amount of fast food eaten between 1970 and 1990 in grams per
person per week. Overall, the amount of fast food consumed more than doubled during
the period.
 The amount of pizza eaten declined slightly. In 1970, the consumption was about
300g/week. This fell to 220g/week in 1990.
In contrast, sales of hamburgers and fish and chips rocketed. In 1970, very few
hamburgers were consumed - less than 50g/week. This rose to 280g/week by 1990. In the same
period, fish and chips sales shot up by more than 500%, from 80g/week in 1970 to 500 grams in
1990.
In conclusion, although there was a big increase in the consumption of fish and chips and
hamburger, sales of pizza decreased.
Analysis:
There are two parts to the introductions:
1. What the graph shows
2. The overview
1. What the graph shows
This part of the introduction must answer the following questions:
1. What type of graph are we describing?
2. What is the information?
3. How is this information measured? (i.e. millions of pounds, kg, meters, liters
etc..)
4. Is there a time period?
These questions can be answered by paraphrasing the title of the graph and using
information from the x and y axis. See how the title of the above graph has been changed into
the first line of the introduction:
The graph illustrates shifts in the amount of fast food consumption in
Introduction the UK between 1970 and 1990. Several trends are apparent. Firstly, the
1 UK population are eating more and more fast food. Secondly, the type of fast
food has changed.
The graph shows the amount of fast food eaten between 1970 and 1990
Introduction in grams per person per week. Overall, the amount of fast food consumed
2 more than doubled during the period.

Note: Keeping some words the same or changing the order of the words is acceptable, but you
cannot copy the title or large parts of the title, so you need to paraphrase –
Language
1. Tense - Use the present simple to say what the graph shows.
2. Phrases - You can use phrases like these to introduce the graph (never use the same
phrase as the question):
The graph illustrates…
The graph shows …
The graph depicts…
 The graph compares …
The graph provides information about…
Exercise 1
Now analyze the following three graphs. Write one (or more) sentences, paraphrasing the
title to explain what the graph is about.
a) The graph shows the number of books read by men and women at Burnaby Public
Library from 2011 to 2014.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
c. The graph shows the population change between 1940 and 2000 in three different counties
in the U.S. state of Oregon.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
2) Overview
After you have introduced the graph, you need to identify one or sometimes two main
patterns or trends. To do this, think of the graph like a picture or a pattern. What are the most
important things that have happened?
Normally one or two pieces of information in the graph can be chosen. It´s particularly
important to write an overview, since according to the IELTS band score guidelines, you must
have an ‘overview’ in your graph description to get a band 6 or higher under the marking
criteria for ‘task response’.
Example 1: “Overall, the amount of fast food consumed more than doubled
during the period.”
Overview Example 2: “Several trends are apparent. Firstly, the UK population are eating
more and more fast food. Secondly, the type of fast food that they eat has
changed.”
Notice that the overview examples above don´t mention any statistical information about the
graph (i.e. numbers, percentages, figures etc..). If you mention specific data it may appear
like you are jumping straight into the description and you may lose points for not providing
an overview.
*You can use the overview in the introduction or as your conclusion at the end of the graph
instead – either way is great providing you follow guidelines. If you think that you don´t have
enough words in your description, a good trick is to paraphrase the ‘overview’ sentence that you
used in the introduction of your description and place it as a conclusion as well but remember
this is not necessary as long as you have included it once. Remember that a conclusion is not
necessary in this part of the exam.
Recommendation: Always include the ‘overview’ in the introduction because if you run out of
time in the exam and do not do an overview at the end, then you will lose marks under ‘task
response’.
Exercise 2:
In order to write a good overview, you need to first, choose the key features.
This exercise will test your ability to identify the most important features in a data source
correctly. Look at the following graphs and decide what the key features are for each.

The graph above shows the stock price of four technology companies between 2011 and 2016.
Choose 2-4 key features to include in your overview.
1. …………………………………………..
2……………………………………………
3……………………………………………
4……………………………………………