Graph can be a very useful tool for conveying information, especially numbers, percentages, and other data. A graph gives the reader a picture to interpret. That can be a lot more efficient than pages and pages explaining the data.
图表是一种非常有用的工具，可以用来传递信息，尤其是数字、百分比和其他数据。图表可以用图片给读者解释，这比一页一页解释数据高效得多。
Graphs can seem frightening, but reading a graph is a lot like reading a story. The graph has a title, a main idea, and supporting details. You can use your active reading skills to analyze and understand graphs just like any other text.
图表可能看起来很难懂，但阅读图表就像阅读故事。图表有标题、概述和细节。你可以像阅读其他文本一样，运用你的阅读技能来分析和理解图表。
Most graphs have a few basic parts: a caption or introduction paragraph, a title, a legend or key, and labeled axes. An active reader looks at each part of the graph before trying to interpret the data. Captions will usually tell you where the data came from (for example, a scientific study of 400African elephants from 1980 to 2005). Captions usually summarize the author's main point as well. The title is very important. It tells you the main idea of the graph by stating what kind of information is being shown. A legend, also called a key, is a guide to the symbols and colors used in the graph. Many graphs, including bar graphs and line graphs, have two axes that form a corner. Usually these axes are the left side and the bottom of the graph. Each axis will always have a label. The label tells you what each axis measures.
大多数图表分为几个基本部分：说明或引言段落、标题、图例（键）以及标记的轴。积极的读者在试图解释数据之前会先查看图表的每个部分。说明通常会告诉你数据来源（例如，1980年至2005年对400头非洲大象的科学研究），通常还会总结作者的主要观点。标题非常重要，它通过说明所显示的信息来告知图形的主要思想。图例，也称为键，是图表中使用的符号和颜色的指南。许多图表，包括条形图和折线图，都有两个轴构成一个角。通常这些轴位于图表左侧和底部。每个轴都有一个标签，说明每个轴的测量值。
Bar Graphs
条形图
A bar graph has two axes and uses bars to show amounts. In Graph 1, we see that the x-axis shows grades that students earned, and the y-axis shows how many students earned each grade. You can see that 6 students earned an A because the bar for A stretches up to 6 on the vertical measurement. There is a lot of information we can get from a simple graph like this (See Graph 1).
条形图有两个轴，使用条形图来显示数值。图1中，我们可以看到x轴表示学生的成绩，y轴表示每个成绩的学生人数。你可以看到6名学生获得了A，因为A的条形图在垂直测量上延伸到6。我们可以从这样一个简单的图中获得很多信息（见图1）。
image.png
Graph1. Student Performance on Social Studies Quiz
图1：学生社会学考试成绩
Line Graphs
折线图
A line graph looks similar to a bar graph, but instead of bars, it plots points and connects them with a line. It has the same parts as a bar graph - two labeled axes - and can be read the same way. To read a line graph, it's important to focus on the points of intersection rather than the line segments between the points. This type of graph is most commonly used to show how something changes over time. Here is a graph that charts how far a bird flies during the first five days of its spring migration (See Graph 2).
折线图看起来和条形图类似，但没有使用条形，而是绘制点并用线将它们连接起来。它与条形图有相同部分，都有两个标记的轴，用相同的方式阅读。要阅读折线图，重要的是要关注交叉点，而不是点之间的线段。这种类型的图最常用于显示事物是如何随时间变化。下图描绘了一只鸟在春季迁徙的前五天飞行的距离（见图2）。
image.png
Graph2. The Pipit's Spring Migration
图2：云雀的春季迁徙
The unit of measurement for the x-axis is days. The unit of measurement for the y-axis is kilometers. Thus we can see that, on the first day, the pipit flew 20kilometers. The line segment goes up between Day 1and Day 2, which means that the bird flew farther on Day 2. If the line segment angled down, as between Day 4and Day 5, it would mean that the bird flew fewer kilometers than the day before. This line graph is a quick, visual way to tell the reader about the bird's migration.
x轴的测量单位是天，y轴的测量单元是公里。因此，我们可以看到，在第一天，云雀飞了20公里。线段在第1天和第2天之间向上，这意味着鸟在第2天飞得更远。如果线段向下倾斜，如在第4天和第5天之间，这将意味着鸟飞行的距离要比前一天少。折线图用一种快速、直观的方式告知读者鸟类的迁徙情况。
Pie Graphs
饼图
A typical pie graph looks like a circular pie. The circle is divided into sections, and each section represents a fraction of the data. The graph is commonly used to show percentages; the whole pie represents l00 percent, so each piece is a fraction of the whole.
典型的饼图看起来像一张圆形的饼。圆被分成多个切片，每个切片表示数据的一部分。该图通常用于显示百分比；整张饼代表100%，所以每个切片表示一小块饼。
A pie graph might include a legend, or it might use icons or labels within each slice. This pie graph shows one month's expenses (See Graph 3).
饼图可以包含图例，也可以在每个切片中使用图标或标签。下面这张饼图表示一个月的支出（见图3）。
image.png
Graph 3. Amy's June Expenses
图3：艾米的6月花费
Food $25 食物 25美元
Movies $12 电影 12美元
Clothing $36 衣物 36美元
Savings $20 储蓄 20美元
Books $7 书籍 7美元
网友评论