上文中,介绍了无关型饼图及相关型饼图的思路分析方法,在本文中,我们将继续探讨饼状图相关的词汇句型和写作套路。
2. 相关句式
1)基本句式
由于饼图主要以比例说明和数字列举为主,我们需要在考前准备好以下素材:
① 动词“占”的表达:
account for, hold, make up, take up, constitute, comprise, represent
② 百分比的表达
percentage,proportion, share, 某些情况下可以用rate,如literacy rate
③ 约数表达
the majority of, most of, a considerable number of, a minority of , just over…, slightly more than…/less than…, nearly half… 等
④ 确切数字表达
分数与百分比的转化:one third, two fifths,one tenth
常见表达:a quarter, a half
⑤ 句式
要灵活运用以上的词汇结合一定的句子,变换表达方式。
例:亚洲人口占世界比例近50%。
— Asia accounts for almost a half of world population.
— Nearly 50% of people in the world come from Asia.
— The percentage of Asian in the world population is slightly less than a half.
— Asia has the largest percentage of population in the world( approximately 50%).
⑥ 排序段
在列举饼图数据时,为了防止单调枯燥,我们常常运用排序的方式进行说明:
— China takes the lead in world population.
类似的表达还有“be leading, the majority, mostly, most等”
— Next comes food, whose percentage is higher than that of clothing.
类似的表达还有“follow”
— People seem to show no interest in reference books, which lies last in the percentage.
类似表达还有“fall behind other items, the lowest proportion”.
我们来看一段排序的完整例子:
Heating rooms and water account for the largest proportion (52.5%) of the electricity used. Next comes the demand of ovens, kettles and washing machines, which makes up 17.5%. The electricity consumed for lighting, TV and radio equals to that for vacuum cleaner, food mixers and electric tools, representing 15%.
如果能用好排序段,在描述饼图数据时,能起到事半功倍的效果。
1)思维套路
在描述不相关饼图时,由于各图之间联系不强,考生只需将各图表的要素做一定排序即可。以图一的第二个饼图为例:As can be seen from the second pie chart, Asia is where 57% of total population lives, followed by Europe and Americas, with 14% for each. There is 10% of population from Africa and the rest proportion goes to other regions.
对于相关型饼图,以图二为例,如果仅仅只是将图表转化成为线图,对于上升下降等趋势进行描述,就忽视了饼图展现百分比的这一特性。我们可以首先对较大的几项或者最值得注意的一项进行说明。
It is apparent that people mainly relied on fossil fuel including oil, natural gas and coal. In particular, oil was still the major energy, despite a slight drop from 42% to 33% in 1980s. Natural gas and coal were the next two items, altogether constituting over half of total energy consumed. The former shows a 1% decline while the amount of latter climbed from 22% to 27%.
对于剩下的一些项目,我们可以按照一定的规律进行说明,如时间趋势或者是对比结果。
The reliance on nuclear power shows a double increase from 5% to 10% while the percentage of hydroelectric power kept steady at 5% during the same period.
因此,相关型饼图的分析思路就是:在多个饼图关注其中一项或是几大项,说明其在图中的比例特征,剩下的比例可以找出一定规律进行分析说明。参考句型如:The rest proportion can be divided among…
我们来看一个完整的段落(高分范文第五版P224):
Accommodation and food were the two biggest items of expenditure. Altogether they constituted around 60% of the total students’ expenditure in all the three countries. The difference is that in country A and B accommodation spending exceeded food spending while the reverse was true for country C.
The rest of students’ spending was divided among leisure, books and other items. Leisure spending constituted a larger percentage (around 20%) of student expenditure in both country A and country B, while in country C more money was spent on books (21%) than on leisure (12%).
笔者建议,考生可以结合高分范文和剑桥雅思后面考官的文章进行练习。
总而言之,饼图可以称得上是图表作文里最为简单的一类,数据和特征都较为单纯明了。建议考生要留心观察认真把握图表规律,在日常学习中练习分析思路,以期在考试较短的时间内能够尽快动笔。在实际写作中,在基本表达的基础上,要加强句式和词汇的变化,不可“得过且过”,切记“精益求精”。