Day Two A类小作文(二)
饼图
饼图(pie chart)一般会伴随其他图表或者是多个饼图一起出现,其写法很类似于柱状图,只不过需要注意的是描写饼图时往往需要有总体与各组成项目之间总分关系的陈述。单个的饼图几乎和柱状图的写法一样,如比较极值、寻找类似或相同项、项目过多的需要排序和归类等;两个以上的饼图的处理则应参照多柱图来写,先确定一个参照点(一般是第一个图),然后在此基础上将后面的图与之进行比较。有时候多个饼图间如有连续项还要写出趋势。此外因为饼图涉及的数据往往比较多,所以也要注意相关数据的选择。
下面我们先来看一个单个的饼图,原题中这个图是和一个流程图一起出现的:
从上图可以看出巧克力的定价包括五部分(总分),而成本占了最大的一部分(极值),而第二大部分(排序)则是体现在超市的利润上。鉴于该图是和步骤比较烦琐的流程图一起出现,所以第一、二大部分可以合并到一起,即要考虑的最大因素是成本和零售商利润,并与农民所占份额相比较(极值比较)。至于其他两项(归类)只是作为价格整体的一个组成部分稍微一提即可,不必写得太过详细。但是饼图中会反复出现类似的句式和“占……比例”这样的表达,这就需要单词和句式的灵活运用,考生可以分别从项目名称、所占比例、主动被动句等多个角度来展开句子。请看以下几个范例:
【原创范例】
The pricing of chocolate concerns 5 factors, among which 37%,the largest share, goes to the cost of ingredients and overheads, several times as much as that of farmers.
The cost of ingredients and overheads and the supermarket are the two largest parts of the price division of chocolate,37%and 34%respectively, and farmers only get the slightest.
The rest of the price covers the tax and the chocolate company, averaging 25%.
上述几个实例中,有定语从句表示的总分关系和最大值,有同位语结构,有用平均数表示的原始数据,以及用不同的主语引起的句式等,这些地方都需要考生平时在基本功方面多加训练,才能在考场上运用自如。
接着我们来看一个复杂但更具有代表性的双饼图,这也是出题频率很高的一种题型:
这两个饼图中所列示的项目都不止4项,所含数据也比较多,因此我们首先应该进行数据的筛选,留下极值、类似点或其他特殊点,然后套用适当的句式将其表达出来即可。
【原创范例】
The first chart reflects the course choices of certain employees, which consisted of 5 types of classes. Among them, full-time course took up the most outstanding share,38%.And the second largest section was for the self-taught employees, the number of which was 1/4.By contrast, those who never took any course only accounted for 5%,the least percentage in the chart.The other learners took part-time courses either during the work hour or at night, but with quite similar proportions.
For the second diagram, the illustration of the impetus for their study highlights holiday travelling, covering nearly half of the sampled subjects. Plus another travelling for business(18%),the two items made up about 2/3 of all the reasons for language study.The remaining 1/3 fell onto communication of overseas relative, study as interest, and meeting people, all with a percentage of 10%to 14%.
Thus, it can be concluded that the growing number of international visits might help boost foreign language learning.
原创范例中有两段类似的极值比较、总分、排序等内容,但表达方式却不相同:既有直截了当地写出某个项目占最大比例,也有含蓄表明一个图表中凸显某个项目;既有以一个行为的发出者为句子的开始,也有以所占比例或者项目名称引出的;表示所占比例的既有谓语动词(took up, made up),也有非谓语动词(covering),还有用介词(with)以减少动词的出现频率;既有对极值的突出,也有对中间其他项目的略过,使得数据的选取详尽而又有代表性。此外除了极值、比较、归类等前面提到的单个饼图的逻辑分析方法,因为是两个饼图,所以最后一段还简单概括了一下这两个图之间的联系。词汇和句式形式多变、数据有所选择且分析出所选原因,应该说这段范文的表达还是比较充分的。
饼图范文
The pie charts give information about the water used for residential, industrial and agricultural purposes in San Diego County, California, and the world as a whole.
It is noticeable that more water is consumed by homes than by industry or agriculture in the two American regions.By contrast, agriculture accounts for the vast majority of water used worldwide.
In San Diego County and California State, residential water consumption accounts for 60%and 39%of total water usage. By contrast, a mere 8%of the water used globally goes to homes.The opposite trend can be seen when we look at water consumption for agriculture.This accounts for a massive 69%of global water use, but only 17%and 28%of water usage in San Diego and California respectively.
Such dramatic differences are not seen when we compare the figures for industrial water use. The same proportion of water(23%)is used by industry in San Diego and worldwide, while the figure for California is 10%higher, at 33%.
饼图小贴士
饼图中的每块数据都是用百分比(percentage or proportion)来表示的。拿到饼图后我们依然是先审题,找到描写对象以及时间,这样会有利于引言段的改写以及时态构思方向的确定。另外,每块饼中的数据相加一定等于100%,所以这一点不用提。
饼图正确的分段方式是按照每个饼中的内容或项目来划分,项目的英文叫item或category。换言之,如果一共有四块饼(比如四个不同的国家),每块饼中都有三个内容(比如工业用水、农业用水及家庭用水),那么就应该分成三个小段来写,而不是四个,这样我们就可以根据每种不同的用水类型在四个国家之间进行有意义的对比。(在后面的组合图部分我们会详细说明)
一开始提到的percentage和proportion是饼形图的数据形式,在具体描写时,我们可采用一些表示“占……比例”的用词,请参考如下的例句:
Laborers account for 88%of the workforce in the construction industry.
Farmers make up a significant proportion(about 56%)of the community.
Italian racing cars hold a considerable share(approximately two fifths)of the domestic market.
除此以外,还可以使用take up, constitute, occupy等近义词表示占比结构。