Describing Trends in Graphs

an upward trend(a rising trend)

GO UP -

GROW GROWTH

RISE RISE

INCREASE  INCREASE

IMPROVE IMPROVEMENT

- UPTURN

SOAR  -

JUMP  JUMP

(SKY)ROCKET -

SURGE SURGE 

- UPSURGE

TAKE OFF TAKEOFF

SHOOT UP -

LEAP LEAP

PEAK/REACH A PEAK PEAK

TOP OUT -

a downward trend (a falling trend)

DECREASE DECREASE

GO DOWN -

DECLINE  DECLINE

DROP DROP 

FALL (OFF) FALL

SLIP SLIP

- DOWNTURN

SLIDE SLIDE

DIP DIP

PLUNGE  PLUNGE

PLUMMET  PLUMMET

NOSEDIVE  NOSEDIVE

SLUMP SLUMP

CRASH CRASH

SINK -

TUMBLE TUMBLE

ECONOMICS IS FLYING (AIR)

•PLUMMET

•COLLISION

•TURBULENCE

•NOSEDIVE

•FREE-FALL

•SPIRAL

•LANDING

•GO THROUGH THE ROOF

“When interest rates went through the roof, so did Mr Macdonald!”

ECONOMICS IS DIVING (WATER)

•PLUNGE

•FLOAT

•DIP

•DIVE

•SINK

ECONOMICS IS MOVING ON THE GROUND

•TUMBLE

•JUMP

•TOPPLE

•SLIDE

•SLIP

•WOBBLE

•STAGGER

•STUMBLE

Change of direction

to recover

to rebound

to revive

NO CHANGE

•to remain stable

•to level off/out

•to stay at the same level

•to remain constant

•to stagnate

•to stabilize

a dramatic fall

a substantial increase

Peaks and troughs

• If a figure rises to a level and then stops rising, remaining at that level, it levels levels off/outoff/out and remains steadyremains steady or stablestable.

• If a figure reaches its highest level – a peakpeak – and then goes down, it peakspeaks at that level.

• If it reaches its lowest level – a troughtrough – and then bottoms outbottoms out, it falls to that level and then starts rising again.

Boom and bust

• A boomboom is when there is rising demand, and other indicators are strong.

• StagnationStagnation is when the economy is growing slowly, or not at all.

• StagflationStagflation is when slow growth is combined with prices that are increasing fast.

• RecessionRecession is a period when there is negative negative growthgrowth, a period when the economy is producing less. A slumpslump is a very bad recession. A depressiondepression is a very bad slump.

A dramatic fall to fall …………………

An abrupt rise to rise ………………..

A sudden decline to decline ………………

A moderate growth to grow ………………

A slight increase to increase ……………..

A rapid drop to drop …………………

A gradual decline to decline ……………

A steady recovery to recover ……………

Erratic sales to sell …………………..

A constant levelling off to level off ………………

Adjectives can be used to describe the Adjectives can be used to describe the degree degree or or speedspeed of of change. Do you know the corresponding adverbs ?change. Do you know the corresponding adverbs ?  

dramatically

rapidly

gradually

steadily

erratically

constantly

moderately

slightly

abruptly

suddenly

Choose the correct verbs and try to connect them with appropriate graphs according to the type of change they describe:

SLUMP RISE RECOVER PLUNGE

PICK UP PLUMMET DROP SOAR

BOUNCE BACK TAKE OFF CLIMB

RALLY FLUCTUATE FALL CRASH

HOLD STEADY FLATTEN OUT SLIDE

ESCALATE DECLINE ROCKET DIP

5

5

5

5

1

1

1

1

2

2

3 3

7 4

4

4

4

6

6

6

6

4

1

Production started climbing steadily but flattened off at a level of around 70. Since then, it has fallen steadily.

2

Production grew more and more rapidly over the first three quarters but then reached a peak. Since then, it has quickly dropped.

3

Production grew rapidly in the first quarter, but reached a plateau of about 70. Since then it has remained more or less stable.

4

Production has dropped slowly but steadily over the year.

5

Production started the year in a stable position, but then plunged in the third quarter. It has now flattened out at a level of 20.

6

Production fell considerably over the first three quarters, bottoming out at 20. Since then it has staged a partial recovery.

7

Production has fluctuated all year.

8

Production started off steady, but fell sharply in the last quarter.

9

Production showed a marginal rise in the first three quarters, but then suffered a sharp drop.

DRAW GRAPHS USING THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

• After a three-year period of stability, the level of investment soared.

• Since the late 1990s, immigration has been rising in most OECD countries. This followed a sharp downturn from the start of the decade.

• After a sharp rise, sales levelled off during the period September-November, when they plunged again at the end of the year.

• Sales crashed last week following a slight rise.• Despite a rise in May the situation worsened again

in June and prices slumped once more to another all-time low at the end of July.

• At the end of June, sales stood at $ 76m, having fallen from a previous all-time high of $136m in May.

Suggested video

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Mr-O9AGmw