Academic Writing for International Students of Business

The language of numbers

(Past tenses in brackets)

152 Part 2: Elements of Writing

Verb Adverb Verb Adjective + noun

grow (grew) slightly drop (dropped) a slight drop

rise (rose) gradually fall (fell) a gradual fall

increase (increased) steadily decrease (decreased) a steady decrease

climb (climbed) sharply decline (declined) a sharp decline

also: a peak, to peak, a plateau, to level off, a trough

Average temperatures rose steadilyuntil 2012 and then dropped slightly.

There was a sharp decreasein sales during the summer and then a gradual rise.

 Study the graph below and complete the following description with words from the
table above.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

%

Figure 1 Inflation January–December

The graph shows that the rate of inflation was 2% in January, and then

(a) _______________ to 2.5% in February. After that it (b) _______________ until April,

and then (c) _______________ (d) _______________ to over 4% in July. Inflation fell

(e) _______________ in August, but (f) _______________ to a (g) _______________ of 5%

in September. Subsequently, it (h) _______________ (i) _______________ to below 2%

in December.