Useful phrases for describing figures

The site below, that introduced by Mr Rick is very helpful for me. It's always confusing for me to describe figures.
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/

Here, I will post some useful phrases. I hope it will also help others when writing reports.

Describing trends

The graph shows that there has been a Figure 2  reveals that there has been a

slight steep sharp steady gradual marked

fall rise drop decline increase decrease

in the number of divorces in England and Wales since 1981.

Describing high and low points in figures

Oil production peaked in 1985.

The peak age for committing a crime is 18.

The number of Xs reached a peak during …

Gas production reached a (new) low in 1990.

Projecting trends

The number of Xs The amount of Y The rate of Z

is likely to will probably is expected to is projected to

fall increase level off drop sharply remain steady decline steadily

after 2020.

Examples as additional information in a sentence

Young people begin smoking for a variety of reasons, such as pressure from peers or …

The prices of resources, such as copper, iron ore, and aluminium, have declined over …

Many diseases can result at least in part from stress, including: arthritis, asthma, and migraine.

Gassendi kept in close contact with many other scholars, such as Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and …

Pavlov found that if some other stimulus, for example the ringing of a bell, preceded the food, the …

Introductory Sentences: Differences

X is different from Y in a number of respects.

X differs from Y in a number of important ways.

There are a number of important differences between X and Y.

Women and men differ not only in physical attributes but also in the way in which they ….

Smith (2003)

found observed

distinct significant notable considerable major only slight

differences between X and Y.

Jones (2013) found dramatic differences in the rate of decline of X between Y and Z.

Areas where significant differences have been found include X and Y.

The nervous systems of X are significantly different from those of Y in several key features.

Introductory Sentences: Similarities

The mode of processing used by the right brain

is similar to that is comparable to that is comparable in complexity to that

used by the left brain.

There are a number of similarities between X and Y.

The effects of X on human health are similar to those of Y.

Both X and Y generally take place in a ‘safe environment’.

Numerous studies have compared Xs in humans and animals and found that they are essentially identical.

Comparison within one sentence

Oral societies tend to be more concerned with the present

whereas while

literate societies have a very definite awareness of the past.

Whereas While

oral societies tend to be more concerned with the present,

literate societies have a very definite awareness of the past.

In contrast to oral communities, it is very difficult to get away from calendar time in literate societies.

Compared with people in oral cultures, people in literate cultures organise their lives around clocks and calendars.

This interpretation

contrasts with that differs from that is different from that

of Smith and Jones (2004) who argue that ….

Indicating difference across two sentences

It is very difficult to get away from calendar time in literate societies.

By contrast, In contrast, On the other hand,

many people in oral communities have little idea of the calendar year of their birth.

Indicating similarity across two sentences

Young children learning their first language need simplified input.

Similarly, Likewise, In the same way,

low level adult L2 learners need graded input supplied in most cases by a teacher.