56. Data presentation 2 PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH IN USE FOR MEDICINE

PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH IN USE FOR MEDICINE

56. Data presentation 2

A	Line graphs Notice the verbs used to describe changes over a period of time.
B	Pie charts Pie charts are an effective way of showing the relationship of parts to a whole; the complete circle of pie represents the whole, while the parts are represented by segments or slices. In this pie chart, which shows a health authority’s costs, the orange slice represents costs of hospital services. So, hospital services account for 60% of the costs.
C	Describing trends The bar chart below the prevalence of HIV in different countries HIV rates have fallen in some countries as a result of safer sex, but the overall trend is an increase in HIV infections. The steepest increases in HIV infections occurred in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and East Asia; but sub-Saharan Africa continued to be the most affected part of the world. Adult infection rated in Kenya have dropped from a peak of 10 per cent in the late 1990s to 7 per cent in 2003. HIV rates in pregnant women in Zimbabwe also fell over the past two years.

EXERCISES

56.1	Complete the table with words from A above. Put a stress mark in front of the stressed syllable of two-syllable words. The first one has been done for you.
56.2	Choose the correct words to complete the description of the bar chart. Look at A and C above to help you. Figure 6 shows that the overall number of cases of HIV (1) ____________(dropped/remained the same) yearly until 1988, then (2) ____________(rose/dropped) (3) ____________(sharply/gradually). Cases in heterosexual men and women
56.3	Which type of graph would best represent the following data? 1 Birth rates in the UK from 1980 to 2010 2 Incapacity die to five different causes from 1995 to 2005 3 Sources of ionizing radiation in the UK

Answer key