Understanding Charts
AdvancedUnderstanding Charts.
- Four steps to read a chart: title → axes (units) → legend → trend
- Trend words: rise steadily · peak · drop sharply · level off
- Compare with multiples: S5 students spend almost twice as much time as S1 students.
文體小知識：Read titles, axes, legends, trends before interpreting data.
§Text Passage
1The chart shows the average weekly screen time of secondary school students in one Hong Kong school. It was produced by the guidance team after a survey of eight hundred students. The horizontal axis represents the six forms, from S1 to S6. The vertical axis shows hours per week, and the legend tells us that the data cover phones, tablets and computers.
2The figures rise steadily from S1 to S5: 15, 18, 22, 25 and 28 hours. S5 students spend almost twice as much time on screens as S1 students. The peak, 28 hours, appears in S5, perhaps because older students use laptops for research and revision. However, the trend changes in S6, when screen time drops sharply to 20 hours because of public exams. Form prefects also note that many students use screens quietly under their desks during lessons.
3The chart suggests an overall increase of 3 hours between S4 and S5, and an average of about 21 hours across all forms. Parents are worried because 28 hours a week is equal to four hours a day. A teacher commented that not all screen time is wasted; online lessons and e-books also count. The question is how to decrease the time spent on scrolling and games. The school plans to run workshops on managing screen habits next term.
§Sentence-by-sentence translation Sentence-by-sentence translation
The chart shows the average weekly screen time of secondary school students in one Hong Kong school.
這個圖表顯示香港一間中學學生的平均每週螢幕時間。
It was produced by the guidance team after a survey of eight hundred students.
這個圖表由輔導組在調查八百名學生之後製作。
The horizontal axis represents the six forms, from S1 to S6.
橫軸代表中一到中六六個年級。
The vertical axis shows hours per week, and the legend tells us that the data cover phones, tablets and computers.
縱軸顯示每星期的時數，而圖例說明數據涵蓋手機、平板同電腦。
The figures rise steadily from S1 to S5: 15, 18, 22, 25 and 28 hours.
數字由中一到中五穩步上升：十五、十八、二十二、二十五同二十八個小時。
S5 students spend almost twice as much time on screens as S1 students.
中五學生花在螢幕的時間幾乎是中一學生的兩倍。
The peak, 28 hours, appears in S5, perhaps because older students use laptops for research and revision.
最高峰二十八個小時出現在中五，可能因為高年級學生用電腦做研究同溫習。
However, the trend changes in S6, when screen time drops sharply to 20 hours because of public exams.
不過，趨勢在中六出現變化，螢幕時間因為公開試而急跌至二十個小時。
Form prefects also note that many students use screens quietly under their desks during lessons.
班長亦留意到，不少學生上課時會在桌底偷偷用電子產品。
The chart suggests an overall increase of 3 hours between S4 and S5, and an average of about 21 hours across all forms.
圖表顯示，中四到中五整體增加了三個小時，而各級平均大約是二十一個小時。
Parents are worried because 28 hours a week is equal to four hours a day.
家長很擔心，因為每星期二十八個小時等於每日四個小時。
A teacher commented that not all screen time is wasted; online lessons and e-books also count.
有位老師說，不是所有螢幕時間都是浪費；網課同電子書都計在內。
The question is how to decrease the time spent on scrolling and games.
問題是怎樣減少花在滑手機同打電動的時間。
The school plans to run workshops on managing screen habits next term.
學校計劃下學期舉辦工作坊，教大家管理螢幕習慣。
1Summary 重點摘要
Understanding Charts.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
Visual data display.
X/Y line.
Key explaining colours.
Direction of change.
Go up.
Go down.
Highest point.
Mean value.
3Step by step Steps
- TitleRead the title first. Example: this chart shows the average weekly screen time of secondary school students — one line tells you the subjects (teenagers) and the unit (hours per week).
- AxesRead the axes second. Example: the horizontal axis lists the six forms from S1 to S6, and the vertical axis shows hours per week — without units the numbers mean nothing.
- LegendRead the legend third. Example: the legend says the data cover phones, tablets and computers — miss it and you will mix up the coloured lines.
- TrendDescribe the trend fourth. Example: the figures rise steadily from 15 hours in S1 to 28 hours in S5, then drop sharply to 20 hours in S6 — rise steadily, peak and drop sharply are must-know trend words.
- Passage dataMemorise the core figures: S1 to S5 are 15, 18, 22, 25 and 28 hours; S6 falls back to 20; the average is about 21 hours; S5 spends almost twice as much screen time as S1.
- ComparisonsUse multiples and conversions: S5 students spend almost twice as much time on screens as S1 students, and 28 hours a week equals four hours a day — both make description far more powerful.
- Cause with careCorrelation is not causation. Example: for the S6 drop, the passage supplies a reason — public exams — so that cause is supported; the prefects' note about phones under desks is only extra colour.
5Worked example Example
Using the screen-time chart in the passage, describe the trend with trend words: how does screen time change from S1 to S5? And in S6? What is the average?
- Step 1: Start with the title and axes — average weekly screen time; the vertical axis shows hours per week.
- Step 2: Describe the rise — The figures rise steadily from 15 hours in S1 to 28 hours in S5.
- Step 3: Compare with a multiple — S5 students spend almost twice as much time on screens as S1 students.
- Step 4: Describe the peak and the fall — The peak is 28 in S5, but in S6 it drops sharply to 20 because of public exams.
- Step 5: Sum up — The average is about 21 hours across all forms.
- Answer: The chart shows the average weekly screen time of secondary students. The figures rise steadily from 15 hours in S1 to a peak of 28 hours in S5, which means S5 students spend almost twice as much time on screens as S1 students — perhaps because they use laptops for research and revision. However, the trend changes in S6, when screen time drops sharply to 20 hours because of the public exams. Overall, the average is about 21 hours a week.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1First step?
Q2Line graph shows?
Q3Pie chart shows?
Q4Bar chart shows?
Q5rise sharply?
Q6level off?
Q7When is the peak?
Q8How many hours in S6?
Q9Does screen time rise from S1 to S5?
8Recap Recap
- Four steps to read a chart: title → axes (units) → legend → trend
- Trend words: rise steadily · peak · drop sharply · level off
- Compare with multiples: S5 students spend almost twice as much time as S1 students.
- Convert data into feeling: 28 hours a week = four hours a day
- Correlation is not causation — back causes with evidence (public exams)