常見的圖表類型有：①表格，它表示多種事物的相互關系；②曲線，它常表示事物的變化趨勢；③柱狀，它用來表示幾種事物的變化情況及相互關系；④餅狀，表示各事物在總體中所占的比例及相互關系。
    
　　表格和曲線作文的審題與其他類型的作文相比難度較大，主要表現在考生不易準確、全面地把握圖表顯示的信息。這類作文提供了大量數據，但題目往往要求少用所給數據，避免簡單羅列數據。一般用一般現在時，如果圖表提供了時間參數，則應采用相應的時態。
    
　　圖表作文的寫作步驟：①分析圖表及說明性文字；②分析數字所反映的主旨，得出中心論點；③列提綱；④寫作。
   
　　關于圖表式作文的描述方法：
   
　　第一種情況：橫向對比。描述這種圖表需要對比各數據間的差別，主要以數值、倍數、排列等方式來描述。
   
　　常用句型：
   
　　①A department has the lowest sales figure in the three departments，followed by the B department and C department.
   
　　②The figure of A is about twice as much as that of B.
   
　　③The income from sales is 10 million，making the company the highest one in sales.
   
　　④The A's income reaches 20 million，which is in the middle of the list.
   
　　第二種情況：縱向說明。只要指出不同單位之間的比較，描述如何增減，增減幅度如何，反映出什么問題，就可以了。描述這樣的圖表時，可用以下詞匯和句型:
   
　　①The rise lasted for two weeks and then began to level off in June.
   
　　②The trend/increase slowed down in May.
   
　　③The trend of increasing working hours began to gain momentum in January. (開始走強)
   
　　④Prices went up by 50%， but the number of smokers maintained.
   
　　⑤It picked up speed at the end of this year.
   
　　常用詞匯及表達法：increase，decrease，rise，fall，slow down，level off，pick up speed，maintain，drop，the trend reverses，decline，gain/lose momentum, a steady/ substantial（實質性的）increase，a minor/slight/dramatic drop。
   
　　第三種情況：縱向、橫向均有的說明。這種圖表不僅要注意同一事物的變化趨勢，也要注意不同事物之間的差距及變化。
   
　　表示百分比常用句型：
   
　　①It accounts for 30% of the total population.
   
　　②There are 4 members with master's degrees，making up nearly a quarter of the workforce.
   
　　③Doctors make up 40% of the staff in the hospital.
   
　　表示增長率的常用句型：
   
　　①The figure of income increased by about 200% as compared with ten years ago.
   
　　②The number of students has reached 200，indicating a rise of 4%，compared to last year.
　
　　Example：
   
　　The two bar charts indicate the annual emissions of CO2 per capita and populations of seven countries. Industrialized countries certainly contribute more to the CO2 levels in the atmosphere，with the US at the top -3.93 tons per capita per year. It is followed by Japan and the UK，with emissions of 3.32 tons and 2.15 tons respectively. Though these countries usually don't have large populations，they consume disproportionately large quantities of natural resources and therefore are more blamed for global warming. Developing countries，on the other hand，usually have lower levels of emissions. China，for example，has the largest population in the list. Yet its emission of CO2 per capita is only 980 kg，being about a quarter of the emission level of the US. Another good example is Korea. Its population is the smallest in the list，so is its per capita emission of CO2，The charts show no correlation between emission levels of CO2 and the sizes of population.
   
　　本文比較了7個國家二氧化碳排放的變化幅度，及相互對比關系。
   
　　其它圖表式作文的常用句型：
   
　　①The curves show__in a certain year.
   
　　②It can be seen that__(sth)fluctuates quite substantially in this year.
   
　　③It just increases slightly.
   
　　④The pie charts show the changes__in some place in 1999
   
　　⑤It can be seen from the chart that the proportions of  A   and  B  are going down, though the falling level of the latter is a lot higher/lower than that of the former.
   
　　⑥The expansion is more noticeable during the second half of the 8--year period.
   
　　⑦It falls from 30% of the staff in 1990 to 20% in 1998 and then the trend reverses， finishing at 34% in 2000.
   
　　⑧And A is higher than B except for the months June to September.__drops dramatically from about__in January to__in June.
   
　　⑨The falling trend levels off from__to__，__(sth) goes all the way up to__and then it begins to drop to.