EXAMINATION CARD 19

1) What language should you use to interpret tables and graphs?

2) What is topic sentence?

3) Summarise the following text in one paragraph

1) Words which discuss extremes cannot generally be intensified (e.g., you cannot say complete apex or absolute nadir). These would be TAUTOLOGIES.Choose adjectives and adverbs carefully. While they can add detail, accuracy and analysis to your writing, they can also be unnecessary. Collocation is a particularly important issue in this field.

The following aspects of grammar are commonly used when interpreting tables and graphs:

• the passive voiceespecially with expressions using as (e.g., as can be seen/as is shown) • com par at iveand su perla tiv eforms • impersonal expressions • the present perfect and past simple verb forms

Ten top tips for using tables and graphs successfully• Ensure that you use the appropriate type of graph, i.e., the graph which will most clearly show the main points you will focus on. Graphs used frequently in academic writing are line graphs, pie charts, bar graphs and histograms. • Label your graphs clearly and appropriately (especially the axes and the legend), otherwise the information will mean nothing to the reader. • Give an appropriate title to the table or graph. It should be brief and concise, and does not necessarily have to be grammatically ‘perfect’ (e.g., often no verb will be included). • Provide a caption/label for the graph so that it can be easily referenced in the text. • Include raw data in an appendix if you feel that it might be useful or interesting to the reader. • Compare two or more graphs/tables for effective analysis. • Use a range of appropriate reporting verbs to interpret the graphs/tables. • Scan in tables and graphs from original sources carefully. Poor-quality images will not be clear to the reader. If the original source is poor quality, it may be necessary to create the table or graph yourself electronically. • Learn more about this topic by assessing the way in which professional writers interpret tables and graphs. • Remember that the connotations of the language you use are very important.

2) It is commonly argued that a good paragraph has three specific aspects ...

The topic sentence is the most important sentence in the paragraph. It almost always appears

as either the first or second sentence of the paragraph. Its function is to:

• illustrate the central theme of the paragraph

• act as a platform for the rest of the paragraph

• get the reader interested and give an idea of the direction in which the paragraph is going

Topic sentences tend to be relatively short, concisely written and full of c o n t e n t w o r d s .