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Year 11 English — Writing an analytical paragraph

Turn a chart or a table into one paragraph that reports what it shows, without listing every figure on it.

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.Complete with one word: The number of readers rose ____ 2019 and 2021.

  2. 2.Which of these has no place in an analytical paragraph?

    • a) A word that names the shape of the change
    • b) Every single figure from the chart, one after another
    • c) A sentence naming the highest and the lowest points
    • d) A closing sentence about the overall pattern

  3. 3.How should an analytical paragraph on a bar chart begin?

    • a) With a sentence saying what the chart shows
    • b) With a list of every figure on it
    • c) With the highest bar
    • d) With your own opinion of the figures

  4. 4.Match each kind of change to the word that describes it.

    • a large rise
    • a small rise
    • a large fall
    • a small fall
    • no change at all
    • an up-and-down movement
    • soared
    • plunged
    • held steady
    • slipped
    • fluctuated
    • edged up

  5. 5.Which sentence reports a trend rather than a single figure?

    • a) The chart has five bars on it.
    • b) In 2021 the figure was ninety-five.
    • c) The number rose steadily until 2021 and then fell.
    • d) There were sixty readers in 2022.

  6. 6.Put the sentences of this analytical paragraph in the order they should come.

    • Overall, the library was busier at the end of the period than at the start.
    • It then dropped in 2022 before recovering a little in the following year.
    • The bar chart shows the number of readers at the village library over five years.
    • Use rose sharply from 2019 to 2021, when it reached its highest point.

  7. 7.Sort each sentence by where it belongs in an analytical paragraph.

    Groups: Opening · Body · Close

    • The chart below gives the number of readers over five years.
    • Taken together, these figures show a library in better health than five years ago.
    • Numbers rose sharply between 2019 and 2021.
    • Overall, use of the library grew across the period.
    • The bar chart shows how many readers used the library each year from 2019 to 2023.
    • After a dip in 2022, they recovered a little in 2023.

  8. 8.Which verb form fits the sentence that introduces a chart: "The graph ____ the rainfall over five years"?

    • a) showed
    • b) has been showing
    • c) shows
    • d) will show

Answer key — Year 11 English — Writing an analytical paragraph

  1. 1. between
  2. 2. b) Every single figure from the chart, one after another
  3. 3. a) With a sentence saying what the chart shows
  4. 4. a large rise → soared; a small rise → edged up; a large fall → plunged; a small fall → slipped; no change at all → held steady; an up-and-down movement → fluctuated
  5. 5. c) The number rose steadily until 2021 and then fell.
  6. 6. 1. The bar chart shows the number of readers at the village library over five years. 2. Use rose sharply from 2019 to 2021, when it reached its highest point. 3. It then dropped in 2022 before recovering a little in the following year. 4. Overall, the library was busier at the end of the period than at the start.
  7. 7. The bar chart shows how many readers used the library each year from 2019 to 2023. → Opening; The chart below gives the number of readers over five years. → Opening; Numbers rose sharply between 2019 and 2021. → Body; After a dip in 2022, they recovered a little in 2023. → Body; Overall, use of the library grew across the period. → Close; Taken together, these figures show a library in better health than five years ago. → Close
  8. 8. c) shows