Introduction - Giving an overview

In the second part of your introduction, you should give an overview of the main trends, features or data points in the chart/ table/ diagram/ map.

You should look for the most obvious trends or features in the data. At this point you should not describe any aspects of the data in detail, but instead, give a very general overview of the data. Ask yourself what do I immediately notice when I look at the chart/ diagram etc.? Where are the biggest increases or decreases? Where are the biggest or smallest changes over time?

Let’s look at a few examples:

In this chart, you can immediately see that more tickets are sold between 9am and 12pm, and on weekends than at other times. This then is my overview:

Overall, it can be seen that the largest number of tickets are usually sold between 9am and 12pm and that the weekends are far busier than weekdays.

Notice the use of a superlative “the largest” and a comparative “far busier”. It is common to use these in overviews as they should describe the biggest changes.

In this task it makes sense to divide the process into two main stages; in the first stage the sugar cane is grown and harvested, and in the second stage it is processed and turned into sugar.

So, the overview would be:

Overall, the process involves two main stages. In the first stage the sugar cane is grown and harvested, while in the second stage it is processed and turned into sugar.

Notice that we are grouping a process with many stages into two main stages. In this way, we can write a general overview.

Exercise:

Choose 2 appropriate overview statements for each of the following charts, diagrams etc.:

A In the first two years shown in the data, there is an increase in spending by consumers in all four countries.

B The largest decrease in expenditure occurred in Spain in 2020.

C Norway experienced the smallest fall in consumer spending.

D There was a drop in consumer spending in every country in 2020.

A The proportion of people working in Service and Sales jobs in 2001 was approximately double the proportion of 1991.

B The most significant changes occurred in the Service and Sales and Other categories.

C The largest percentage of people were working in the Other sector in both years.

D There was approximately the same percentage of Professionals in 1991 as 2001.

A The amount of orange juice consumed rose steadily between 1990 and 1996.

B The quantity of pomegranate juice that people drank did not change considerably over the time period.

C The amount of apple juice and pomegranate juice consumed in 2010 was approximately the same as in 1990.

D There was a clear increase in the consumption of orange juice and cranberry juice over the period shown.

A The proportion of people using Internet Explorer and Edge fell most dramatically.

B A much larger percentage of internet users browsed with Firefox in 2010 than in 2020.

C The use of Google Chrome grew enormously between 2010 and 2020 compared to other internet browsers.

D There was not a significant change in the proportion of people using Opera.

A The main school building was the only area that did not change in any way between 1990 and 2010.

B Between 2000 and 2010 a large car park was added in front of the main school building.

C The farmland which was adjacent to the school was turned into a sports field between 1990 and 2000.

D The territory around the school was significantly redeveloped in order to accommodate new school facilities.

A In 2021 there was an enormous increase in electric vehicle sales.

B There was a huge increase in sales of electric vehicles during this period.

C The largest increases in sales occurred in Europe and China.

D Far fewer electric vehicles were sold in the United States than China.

A Plastic bottles are broken down and turned into raw material.

B The raw plastic is used in the production of new products.

C Before crushing, the plastic bottles are compressed into blocks.

D The plastic is made into raw material by heating the pellets.