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Lesson

Vocabulary: Describing trends in Task 1

Rise, plummet, fluctuate, level off: the verbs, nouns, adverbs and prepositions you need to describe changes in graphs accurately and without repeating yourself.

Vocabulary Band 5.5–6.5 · B2 13 questions Sign in to save

Verbs and nouns for change

DirectionVerb (past)Noun
Up ↑rose, increased, grew, climbeda rise, an increase, growth
Down ↓fell, decreased, declined, droppeda fall, a decrease, a decline, a drop
Up and downfluctuateda fluctuation
No changeremained stable, stayed the same, levelled offstability
Highest pointpeaked (at)a peak
Sudden big fallplummeted, plunged

Show how fast and how much

Adverb (with verbs)Adjective (with nouns)
slightlya slight rise
gradually / steadilya gradual / steady increase
significantly / considerablya significant / considerable decline
sharply / dramaticallya sharp / dramatic fall
Sales rose sharply. = There was a sharp rise in sales.

Prepositions decide the meaning

The price rose from $40 to $60. (start and end points)
The price rose by $20. (the amount of change)
The price peaked at $90. (the highest value)
There was an increase in the number of tourists. (what changed)
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Questions 1–5

Match each expression with its meaning, A–F. There is one meaning you don't need.

A
go up and down several times
B
stay at the same level
C
go up slowly over a long period
D
reach the highest point
E
stop rising and start falling
F
fall a lot, very quickly

  1. fluctuate

  2. peak

  3. remain stable

  4. plummet

  5. rise gradually

Questions 6–9

Choose the correct preposition.

  1. Sales rose ___ 20% to 35%.

  2. Unemployment fell ___ 3%, from 10% to 7%.

  3. The price peaked ___ $90 in March.

  4. There was a sharp increase ___ the number of tourists.

Questions 10–13

Choose the correct word in brackets and write it in the gap.

  1. There was a rise in prices. (gradual / gradually)

  2. Prices rose after the new tax. (sharp / sharply)

  3. The figure for 2020 showed a slight . (fall / fell)

  4. Car sales dramatically in 2009. (dropped / drop)

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