图表作文要求的不是对图表的简单叙述，而是抓住图表所反映的主要问题。因为图表式作文所要讨论的现象和问题都隐含在数据里，所以考生常会感到比较难写。因此要想抓住主旨，就要分析图表中那些最有代表性、规律性的数字，或变化大的数字。它的写作误区是报流水账，对数据面面俱到，却不能指出图表所反映的中心，也不能利用数据进行有力的论证。
    
    常见的图表类型有：①表格，它表示多种事物的相互关系；②曲线，它常表示事物的变化趋势；③柱状，它用来表示几种事物的变化情况及相互关系；④饼状，表示各事物在总体中所占的比例及相互关系。
    
    表格和曲线作文的审题与其他类型的作文相比难度较大，主要表现在考生不易准确、全面地把握图表显示的信息。这类作文提供了大量数据，但题目往往要求少用所给数据，避免简单罗列数据。一般用一般现在时，如果图表提供了时间参数，则应采用相应的时态。
    
    图表作文的写作步骤：①分析图表及说明性文字；②分析数字所反映的主旨，得出中心论点；③列提纲；④写作。
    
    关于图表式作文的描述方法：
    
    第一种情况：横向对比。描述这种图表需要对比各数据间的差别，主要以数值、倍数、排列等方式来描述。
    
    常用句型：
    
    ①A department has the lowest sales figure in the three departments，followed by the B department and C department.
    
    ②The figure of A is about twice as much as that of B.
    
    ③The income from sales is 10 million，making the company the highest one in sales.
    
    ④The A's income reaches 20 million，which is in the middle of the list.
    
    第二种情况：纵向说明。只要指出不同单位之间的比较，描述如何增减，增减幅度如何，反映出什么问题，就可以了。描述这样的图表时，可用以下词汇和句型:
    
    ①The rise lasted for two weeks and then began to level off in June.
    
    ②The trend/increase slowed down in May.
    
    ③The trend of increasing working hours began to gain momentum in January. (开始走强)
    
    ④Prices went up by 50%， but the number of smokers maintained.
    
    ⑤It picked up speed at the end of this year.
    
    常用词汇及表达法：increase，decrease，rise，fall，slow down，level off，pick up speed，maintain，drop，the trend reverses，decline，gain/lose momentum, a steady/ substantial（实质性的）increase，a minor/slight/dramatic drop。
    
    第三种情况：纵向、横向均有的说明。这种图表不仅要注意同一事物的变化趋势，也要注意不同事物之间的差距及变化。
    
    表示百分比常用句型：
    
    ①It accounts for 30% of the total population.
    
    ②There are 4 members with master's degrees，making up nearly a quarter of the workforce.
    
    ③Doctors make up 40% of the staff in the hospital.
    
    表示增长率的常用句型：
    
    ①The figure of income increased by about 200% as compared with ten years ago.
    
    ②The number of students has reached 200，indicating a rise of 4%，compared to last year.
    
    Example：
    
    The two bar charts indicate the annual emissions of CO2 per capita and populations of seven countries. Industrialized countries certainly contribute more to the CO2 levels in the atmosphere，with the US at the top -3.93 tons per capita per year. It is followed by Japan and the UK，with emissions of 3.32 tons and 2.15 tons respectively. Though these countries usually don't have large populations，they consume disproportionately large quantities of natural resources and therefore are more blamed for global warming. Developing countries，on the other hand，usually have lower levels of emissions. China，for example，has the largest population in the list. Yet its emission of CO2 per capita is only 980 kg，being about a quarter of the emission level of the US. Another good example is Korea. Its population is the smallest in the list，so is its per capita emission of CO2
    
    The charts show no correlation between emission levels of CO2 and the sizes of population.
    
    本文比较了7个国家二氧化碳排放的变化幅度，及相互对比关系。
    
    其它图表式作文的常用句型：
    
    ①The curves show__in a certain year.
    
    ②It can be seen that__(sth)fluctuates quite substantially in this year.
    
    ③It just increases slightly.
    
    ④The pie charts show the changes__in some place in 1999
    
    ⑤It can be seen from the chart that the proportions of  A   and  B  are going down, though the falling level of the latter is a lot higher/lower than that of the former.
    
    ⑥The expansion is more noticeable during the second half of the 8--year period.
    
    ⑦It falls from 30% of the staff in 1990 to 20% in 1998 and then the trend reverses， finishing at 34% in 2000.
    
    ⑧And A is higher than B except for the months June to September.__drops dramatically from about__in January to__in June.
    
    ⑨The falling trend levels off from__to__，__(sth) goes all the way up to__and then it begins to drop to.