Writing about survey results

Look at the pie chart and text and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

Preparation

Circle True or False for these sentences.

1. Your writing should have an introduction, main body and conclusion. True   False
2. You should include your opinion about the results of the survey. True   False
3. You should try to mention or summarise all the information given. True   False
4. You should use a variety of expressions for describing percentages and proportions. True   False
5. You don't have to use connectors or link ideas together. True   False
6. In your conclusion, you should focus on the most important figures or trends. True   False

1. Check your understanding: multiple choice

    Circle the best answer to complete these sentences.

1. The text summarises teenagers' answers to ___ about their TV viewing habits.

a. one question b. two questions c. three questions

2. The proportion of teenagers that did something else while watching TV was ___.

a. more than 50 per cent b. more than 75 per cent c. more than 80 per cent

3. We don't know from the survey results ___ while watching TV.

a. what percentage of teenagers read b. if teenagers talk to their families c. if teenagers do more than one other activity

4. The most common activities to do while watching TV were ___.

a. chatting to families and reading b. eating and checking phones or tablets c. eating and chatting to families

5. The top two activities done while watching TV could show ___.

a. a general trend b. a very surprising change c. that teenagers’ habits are the same as they’ve always been

6. The proportion of teenagers that do nothing else while they watch TV is ___.

a. surprisingly small b. unknown c. significant

2. Check your writing: matching

    Match the amounts with an expression from the box which has a similar meaning.

quite a lot                nearly a third                the majority of        double the number of           over three-quarters            over two-thirds

1. more than 75% _________________________
2. more than half of _________________________
3. more than 66% _________________________
4. 31% _________________________
5. twice as many _________________________
6. a significant number _________________________

3. Check your writing: gap fill

   Write one word in each gap to complete the second phrase so that it has the same meaning as the first.

1. We can see that …
    It can _______________ seen that …

2. Over 50% said …

    _______________ than half said …

3. More than 75% of the teenagers surveyed …

    _______________ three-_______________ of the teenagers surveyed …

4. Most of the teenagers asked said …

    The _______________ of the teenagers asked said …

5. Nearly one in every three people surveyed …

    Nearly a _______________ of people surveyed …

6. Quite a lot of teenagers said …

    A significant _______________ of teenagers said …

7. On the other hand, a significant number …

    _______________, a significant number …

8. To conclude, …

    In _______________, …

Discussion

What do you do while you are watching TV? Have you carried out any surveys or questionnaires?      What did you find out?

KEY

Preparation
1. True 2. False 3. True 4. True 5. False 6. True

1. Check your understanding: multiple choice
    1. a 2. b 3. c 4. b 5. a 6. c

2. Check your writing: matching

1. over three-quarters
2. the majority of
3. over two-thirds
4. nearly a third
5. double the number of
6. quite a lot

3. Check your writing: gap fill

1. be
2. More
3. Over / quarters
4. majority
5. third
6. number OR proportion OR percentage
7. However OR Nevertheless OR Nonetheless
8. conclusion OR summary