Eight Lines, Eight Verbs
Find your line first. The verb follows from the shape.
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Find your line first. The verb follows from the shape, not the other way round.
Choose a trend verb that matches how steep the line really is, and learn which ones never take an object.
Preview · progress not saved — Chapter 1 is free
Each of these verbs already contains a steepness. The wrong one contradicts your own data.
Task 1 vocabulary is not an open field. It is a closed set — perhaps thirty words that do almost all the work. That is good news: you can finish it.
The first thing to understand is that these verbs are not neutral words for change. Each one already contains a steepness.
Find your line first. The verb follows from the shape.
Find your line first. The verb follows from the shape, not the other way round.
Match each verb to the line it describes.
Terms
Definitions
Three decisions with real numbers. Does the movement justify the verb?
Chain 1
The data: the figure moved from 40% to 41% over ten years.
Candidates: rose / surged
The expert chooses:
Because:
Chain 2
The data: unemployment fell from 11% to 3% in eighteen months.
Candidates: declined / plummeted
The expert chooses:
Because:
Chain 3
The data: sales rose until 2015, then stayed at almost exactly the same level for five years.
Candidates: fluctuated / levelled off
The expert chooses:
Because:
A full Task 1 answer with six gaps. The figures are in the text, so check them.
The chart below shows household internet access in three countries between 2000 and 2020.
Overall, access increased in all three countries, though the pace of change varied considerably.
In Country A, access steadily from 20% in 2000 to 78% in 2020, gaining roughly three points each year with no reversals.
Country B saw the most dramatic change. Access from 12% to 61% in the four years after 2010 alone — a near-vertical climb on the chart.
Country C followed a less predictable path. Between 2000 and 2012 the figure , moving repeatedly between 30% and 45% with no clear direction.
After 2015, growth in Country A slowed markedly and the line at just under 80%, remaining almost unchanged for the final five years.
Meanwhile, the cost of a monthly connection gradually across all three countries, falling by around 40% over the period.
It is worth noting that no government in the study taxes on internet services during these years.