图表写作讲义（二）

第二节 表作文写作步骤

　　一般说来，图表写作可分为四个步骤：观察图表，组织材料，描写图表和修改成文。

　　1 观察图表

　　观察图表是为了准确理解图表所传递的信息。考生首先要认清图表的形式，抓住其特点。统计图表一般有两种形式，一种是把统计的数字和被说明的事物直接用表格的形式表示出来，这就是统计表（table，见例1）。另一种形式是统计图（graph），如曲线图（line graph），条形图（bar graph）和扇形图（pie graph）等。观察图表①要看清楚图表的文字说明，以确定其主题，②仔细研究图表，以发现数据的主要特征或变化趋势，如例2的标题表明本图为1960年至1990年中国普通专职教师每年的总人数，曲线的形状显示了教师人数随时间发生的变化。③要认真研究图表，进一步发现图表中包含的一些意想不到的趋势和特征④要仔细审查图表中的一切有用信息，诸如数据单位、备注、图例解释等。

　　2 组织材料

　　构思选材时应注意图表描写时不一定要把其中的数据一一陈述出来，关键是要把数据所呈现的总的变化趋势或主要特征描写清楚。因此，动笔之前要明确哪些数据体现了总的变化规律或主要特点而需要着重描写，哪些数据不能说明主题或无关紧要而可以忽略，如例2中的教师人数的变化规律应是描写的重点，而每一年具体的教师人数并不一定要一一说明。由此可见，在组织材料时，考生必须既照顾到报告的完整性，即重要信息不能有任何遗漏同时又要考虑到报告的突出特点——即抓住主要的趋势进行交待。

　　3 描写图表

　　图表写作要尽量做到主题明确，资料恰当，条理清楚，文字简炼。通常这类文章都开门见山说明图表的主要内容，然后描写数据的主要趋势和特征，结尾是归纳。

　　例1

　　Economic and Social Indicators for Japan,CanadaandPeruin 1994.Indicators Japan Canada Peru Annual income per person (in $US) 15760 11100 160 Life expectancy at birth 78 76 51

　　Adult literacy rate (%) 99 99 68

　　本表标题为 “1994年三个国家的经济与社会指标"。继续观察，可以发现数据之间存在着一定的关系：富有国家的各项指标都高于贫穷国家。因此在描写这份统计表时，首先要说明表的主要特征以及数据的主要特点：This table illustrates the economic and social conditions inJapan,Canada, andPeruin 1994. It reflects the great differences that exist between wealthier and poorer nations.

　　接下来要用具体的数据来说明这一特征，可以按统计表上的三个指标分别加以说明，比较三个国家之间的差别，从而支持主题：The table shows thatJapanandCanadahad annual incomes of $15,760 and $11,100 per person respectively. These figures were overwhelmingly greater than the corresponding figure of $160 inPeru. Life expectancy at birth was higher among the economically developed countries.Japanreported the highest life expectancy, whilePeruthe lowest. Literacy rates among adults were also higher in wealthier countries.JapanandCanadaboth reported literacy rate of 99% each whilePeruclaimed 68%.

　　最后从数据分析中得出以下结论：The data appears to confirm the link between national wealth and health and educational standards.

　　例2

　　Number of fulltime teachers of regular schools (in millions) in China (1960～1990)

　　例2表示的是1960年至1990年中国普通学校专职教师每年的总人数。图中曲线的高低体现了教师人数随时间发生的变化。在描写此类线形图时，要着重描写数据的变化趋势（trend）。例2可做如下描述：This graph shows the number of fulltime teachers of regular schools in China between 1960 and 1990. According to the figure, there was a sharp decrease in the number of teachers from 1960 to 1962, which was followed by a rapid increase over the next three years. The number dropped again from 1965 to 1966 and then went up gradually until 1976 when there was a leveling off for the next ten years. The years from 1986 to 1990 saw a steady rise in the number of teachers. Although there were fluctuations in the number of teachers from 1960 to 1990, the trend was towards an increase.

　　例3

　　Participation in Higher Education inAustraliain 1989

　　此条形图表明了1989年澳大利亚城市、乡村以及边远地区接受高等教育的人数。从图表上可以清楚地看到各组数据之间的差异，城市接受高等教育的人数高于乡村以及边远地区，同一地区内接受高等教育的女子人数要多于男子人数。根据以上分析，可以对例3描写如下：This bar chart describes the participation in higher education by males and females in urban, rural and remote areas inAustraliain 1989. It can be seen from the chart that significantly fewer students in higher education came from rural areas than from urban areas, with an even smaller number coming from remote areas. In all locations, female students outnumbered male students in higher education in Australia in 1989.

　　例4

　　Average weekly expenditure per family inBritainin 1977

　　本图表示1977年英国家庭的各项平均消费占总费用的比例。从图中的扇面大小可以很容易地看出各种花费所占的比例以及它们之间的差距。在描述扇形图时要注意描写的顺序，一般是从占比例最大的开始依次描写下去，必要时可进行比较。例4的扇形图可以简单地描写为：This pie chart represents the average weekly family expenses inBritainin 1977. 26% was spent on food and drink, 19% on housing and power, 14% on transport and communications, 9% on recreation and education and 8% on clothing. The remaining 24% was used to meet all other expenditures.

　　4 修改成文

　　图表描写完后，要进行修改。首先检查写的内容是否有遗漏，是否准确传达了图表上的信息；其次是检查段落结构，条理是否清楚，主题是否突出；最后修正句子和用词，注意语法和拼写错误。

　　5 图表作文范例

　　下面我们看一看完整的学术类写作Task 1的范文情况：

　　These two pie charts show the differences between two groups of Australians (25 to 34 and 55 to 69 years old) in terms of their post school qualifications.

　　The first point to note is the huge increase in the number of people with qualifications. The younger group is more than three times bigger than the older group (347,500 compared to104,800).

　　Comparing the two groups, architecture and medicine have experienced a decrease in popularity with younger graduates; medicine declined by almost 4%. However, the biggest loss was to engineering, which decreased from 19.27% to 9.35% of the whole.

　　Some subjects were more popular with the younger age group. The biggest gains in graduate numbers were made by Science, Maths and Computers which, as a group, have increased by over 8%. Administration has gained by 4.1%.

　　To sum up, the graphs show a threefold increase in the number of graduates. The most noticeable change in subject percentages is the decrease in the number of engineering graduates.

　　导言总体介绍图表情况

　　总人数的不同情况

　　不同领域的人数减少情况(%)

　　不同领域的人数增加情况(%)

　　结尾重复最突出的特点

　　注意：此范文只是一种好的写法，采用其他写法也是可以的。