Describing Graphs
Before You Read
What do you know about the stock market?
Have you invested in the stock market? Why or why not?
Have you made presentations where you have to describe graphs increases and decreases?
This is what I read in the financial news this morning that made me nervous.
“Fears that the global economic recovery has stalled pushed the Dow Jones industrial average below 12,000 for the first time since March and drove the stock market lower for the sixth straight week.”
As an investor in the stock market I have to decide whether it’s better to sell or keep my shares. I have shares in an airline, a mining company, and a construction company. If you look at one of my shares below, a mining company, then you can see ups and downs. Actually, this company is very profitable and has increased as a result of China’s demand for metal used in construction etc. However, I’ve seen a drop off since about the end of March and that has been due to people being nervous about the future. You can see that in March the price declined, this was due to worry that the Chinese economy was slowing down and demand for raw materials from mining would decrease. About the middle of May you can see that the price started to rebound, but about May 27 there was a sell-off of shares again because of problems in Greece that caused investors to be nervous.
Guessing Meaning From Context
Now, match the letters of the phrasal verbs/words with the closest numbered meaning in the right column. The answers are at the bottom.
This week 3 of these phrases are commonly used for describing graphs when making presentations and have the same answer.
|
stalled |
A |
1 |
Increases and decreases |
|
drove the stock market lower |
B |
2 |
Something happens because of some other action |
|
ups and downs |
C |
3 |
Decreasing, but not quickly |
|
as a result of |
D |
4 |
To return |
|
drop off |
E |
5 |
Stopped by something else |
|
due to |
F |
6 |
Big decrease |
|
slowing down |
G |
7 |
Something caused something to decrease rapidly |
|
rebound |
H |
|
|
|
because of |
I |
|
|
A=5, B=7, C=1, D=2, E=6,F=2, G=3, H=4, I=2
This week I have put the example sentences first so you can see how to make sentences using “due to/because of/as a result of”, because these phrases are very helpful for describing graphs when you are doing presentations or explaining changes in a report.
Some Questions to help you use the new words/phrases
1. The sales of some vegetables in Europe have stalled as a result of health concerns.
2. Worry about debt in some countries in Europe has driven the share market lower.
3. If you want to invest in the share market, then you need to be prepared for all the ups and downs.
4. The price of crude oil has increased due to trouble in Libya.
5. There has been a drop off in tourism because of the increase in air ticket prices.
6. The price of bread has increased as a result of a bad weather that has caused less wheat to be grown.
7. The world economy is slowing down due to worries about U.S. economy.
8. The NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) rebounded after the good news about the U.S. economy.
9. The share price in Samsung and LG has increased due to more demand for smart phone memory chips and screens.
Some Questions to help you use the new words/phrases
Answer as many of these questions below using “as a result of/because of/due to. For example, “I think that LG Electronics has increased in price due to the increased demand of smart phone sales”
1. What do you think could cause the KOSPI (The Korean share market) to stall?
2. If oil increases a lot in value, do you think this will drive the stock market lower? Why?
3. Think of a company you know and describe what ups and downs that company has had.
4. What do you think caused a drop off in sales of Toyota cars from Japan?
5. This last month the buying of normal cell phones has been slowing down. Why do you think so?
6.
ECK Education
